My, not so, scientific approach to winter training

[olebole]

Hi!
I thought that I would share my own plan for the off season build up. The reason for this is to hopefully get some good input from you ww's and also to keep myself motivated

First some background info
29yo
178cm
68kgs
2-3 years of racing experience, mostly cx racing.

I'm a med student so I like to have a somewhat scientific approach to my training. Earlier this year I stumbled upon this study from the Univesity of Lillehammer in Norway.
I found the results really interesting and started to design a winter training schedule in my head based on the concept of block periodization.

My idea is to cut back on one of the "easy" weeks compared to the study, making a 3-week block consisting of 1 "hard" week and 2 "easy" weeks.
Hard weeks consisting of 4-5 high intensity interval sessions, easy weeks only 1 but with as much z1-2 training as possible.
There will be different focus on each block, something like: VO2max/VO2max/FTP and then repeat the 9 week cycle (maybe I'll throw in some anaerobic work during vo2max weeks).
I will also try to add some gym sessions to this. Once a week I will perform heavy/explosive lifting at the gym, maybe twice a week during the easy weeks if there is time.

I've come up with a test protocol that will be performed prior and after the "intervention" to see if I've made any results. It's not at all final but my idea looks something like this:
warmup - 1min all out - 10m cool down - 5 min all out - 10m cdown - 20m all out - cdown.
I know that I will probably not hit PR's on the 5 and 20mins but it should be OK for comparing before and after data? Of course I will try to make the tests be as similar as possible concerning caloric intake before and during the test, time of day, etc.

Most of the hard stuff will be performed on the trainer with my stages power meter as guidance so I'll be able to adjust the intensity along the way if needed. The z1-2 stuff is mainly extra long school commutes.

Since cyclocross season is upon us I'm planning to start in december, after the swedish national cross series are over and done.
The reason I'm posting this already is to get some ideas and input from experienced forum members. Does this sound crazy? Am I doing to need more/less rest? Will I be able to keep motivation?

Here's some of my numbers from 2 months with a power meter, unfortunately only one road race included and no real maximum efforts in the 15m+ range.
5s: 1298w
1m: 610w
5m: 360w
20m: 283w


I hope all this nonsense is somewhat understandable, if not then dont hesitate to ask!

[Donkey]

You can read all the texts on Training and end up not do any training or riding. Complete waste of time and a way to habituate bad habits. Keep it simple and find what works for you. Many pages of advice have bee produced on this very board. Totally rubbish. You could eaither spend the time reading and trying to decipher what the author means, or be actually doing it.

[olebole]

Or you can, like in my case, read a lot of texts on training, be inspired and end up doing more training and riding. I guess we're all different in that aspect.
Off course this plan will not be as static as it looks. I know that life (kids, school, illness and so on) will get in the way and I'll have to skip sessions. That's why I like to have a framework to stick to, to make it easier to get back after absence.
If you look at this training plan its actually really simple: 1 week hard, 2 weeks easy. No fixed days at all since I never really know when I have the extra time for a quick session.

[HillRPete]

Interesting approach, just make sure not to miss the point in time when the gains of the hard weeks get smaller, so you can change the programming. You are speaking of a program for winter while the study lasted 12 weeks. Personally I would probably try to move to longer intervals (often called "FTP" type) after 8-12 weeks, trying to extend the time you can hold a certain power. Good luck.

[olebole]

That is a really good point and I will keep it in mind. Swedish winter is dark and long so my guess that the program will last about 18 weeks.
If I will be able to keep up that is

[mr4fox]

would love to hear feed back on this after your 12 weeks is up!!

[olebole]

I will absolutely do a follow up. I will also try to add some reports during the training period!

[olebole]

So I did a 20min test this morning, figured this could replace my initial test design.

Managed 292w, I guess this is what three weeks of just some z1-z2 training does to me. But at least, now I have some initial numbers to beat.
The rest of the week will be super easy then I plan to hit the first "hard" block next week, wish me luck

[ShutUpLegs4]

9 watt increase is good!

[olebole]

9 watt increase is good!

I agree, that if my previous 20m value was from an actual 20m test and not from some gravel road riding for fun earlier this summer

[olebole]

So I got through the first hard week. I was planning to to 5 interval sessions but had to skip the last one because of some sort of stomach virus that got me. The myalgia after 4 hard interval sessions, 1 gym session and a viral infection on top was interesting

My week looked like this

Mon: 3 sets of 13 30s on 15s off @ 120% ftp
Tue: 4x8min @ 105%
Wed: 2x20 @ 100%
Thu: Gym (squats etc)
Fri: Same as monday.

FTP was set at 280w based on the previous 20min test.

[ITTY]

Putting that many consistent hard efforts into one week seems counterproductive. It seems like your body would make gains a lot more easily if you had some recovery built in there. Although, supposedly, that is what the study disproves.

[olebole]

Yes I decided to trust the norwegians on this one.
But if I start to feel too beat up and not able to recover enough during the easy weeks I will make adjustments accordingly.

[olebole]

I had to put in another easy week for recovery from all sorts of things but now I managed to go through the second intensive block.


Tue: 4x8/2min high cadence @ftp
Wed: 4x4min low cadence 120%
Thur: 3x10min 1x5min FTP, going up to 115% in the last minute of each interval
Fri: Gym session
Sat: A club favourite called achtung, 70mins which involves pretty much everything and leaves you dead
Sun: CX fun/technique with some 15 mins of hard work

FTP was set to 290 to add some progression.

Feeling pretty sore right now, looking forward to some recovery sessions!

[RL7836]

You can read all the texts on Training and end up not do any training or riding. Complete waste of time and a way to habituate bad habits. Keep it simple and find what works for you. Many pages of advice have bee produced on this very board. Totally rubbish. You could eaither spend the time reading and trying to decipher what the author means, or be actually doing it.

This is such a false 'either/or' premise that I laughed when I first read it -- you either or train or read - it's not possible to do both?? LOL

Personally, I wasted a lot of time training without any coaching (or reading). Now I'm using TrainerRoad (& reading Coggan) & making more progress than any time in my past.

Good luck to the Op - keep up the work & let us know how you're doing.