My MTB Training for 2017...some advice?

[nos]

Hi, I'm not a professional of this hobbie. I really like the MTB and I train to stay fit and perform marathons and stages races.

I know that if I have a personal coach I will get more performance but I like to learn and self-train. Apart, as I said, I do not dedicate myself professionally to it. The training for this year, done by me, is this:


BASE (10 Weeks) - Week 1:

The rest of the weeks would gradually increase the time.


BUILD (5 Weeks) - Week 1:

The rest of the weeks would gradually increase the time of repetitions.


INTERVAL TRAINING (4 Weeks) - Week 1:

The rest of the weeks would gradually increase the series.


TAPER (10 Days) - The 10 Days:

I listen to opinions, suggestions, etc. I hope they are constructive :P. I seek to improve and learn more . At the moment, I want a one peak of form.


Thanks in advance.

 

[nos]

Some help please? .

 

[Globalti]

Firstly that's too much riding; the improvement comes in the periods of descanso in between the periods of stressing your body. I would say that unless you are a professional with the best resources, diet, etc. you shouldn't ride more than three times a week.

Secondly, you don't really train on a mountain bike. Get a road bike and head for the Sierras and find some long steady climbs.

 

[S-Express]

I would say that unless you are a professional with the best resources, diet, etc. you shouldn't ride more than three times a week.

That's a very strange thing to say - and certainly not suported by any best practice evidence as far as I can tell. What's your reasoning behind it?

Countless numbers of 'non-pro' riders train more than three times a week, maybe five or six times in some cases. As always, the trick is to train at a level you can maintain, according to whatever your targets are.

 

[marzjennings]

Not a bad program if you can stick to it. Seems on track for C2 or even C1 class if that's your goal. 10 hours a week is a minimum for successful racing and you seem to have a program that covers that. Of course you can do all your training on a mountain bike, many cat 1 racers do, but having a road bike for basic z2 training is handy for poor weather days. Plus having a second bike reduces wear on your race bike.

edit...also want to add two important factors that I know my cat 1 friends use, plenty of sleep, don't attempt all that training if you don't also plan on getting a good nights sleep. And diet, all that training is going to make you hungry as heck, work out the difference between what your body needs rather than what you'd like to eat.

 

[nos]

About the weeks for each period, would they be okay or you they change something?.

Unfortunately, I only have a 29" MTB to train....

Would you change something about this plan? If is yes, what you change?


Thanks! .

 

[HarryTheDog]

I do have a coach, but I am training for short 40 minute or 1.5 hr races and I am an oldish gent ( mid 50's) my training is complicated by fitting in commuting to and from work as well so I end up on the bike 6 days a week. Commutes are Z2, ( 23 miles each way or 10 miles each way) I do long Commutes at Z2 , short at Z2 as well but 1hr turbo session in the evening if I did a short one for more power. Typically Friday off if racing on a Sunday (Just finishing racing CX for the winter). I end up doing 160-210 miles a week around 12 hrs. I do a skills/race team ride ( in a club with a fair few racers) set on the saturday if no race on sunday, as racing XC does require off-road skills.
As the first Xc race is coming I am now having a day of durring the week for a few weeks to go and do more skills training practice technical features etc.
So my programme looks quite a lot like yours hours wise and the amount of Z2 you do, apart from because I commute I can be doing 2 or 3 sets of cycling per day instead of one. Also I have to include off-road skills as all the fitness is done on road or on the turbo.
In my MTB club I am generally in the top 3 of miles done per week, in my road club I dont feature, the guys training for long road races quite often do 250+ miles per week. ( a ex pro in my club assures me 250 is ideal minimum) with maybe a 4+ hr ride on the weekend which I dont see in your programme.I race short races so my coach tells me the max I need to do is a 3hr ride.

My coach would ideally like me have 2 days off per week but as rides are done in Z2 and I have been riding 6 days per week for years he does not see it as too much of a problem.
For a guy training for Marathon races does not look like you are overdoing it but maybe yes another rest day may be of benefit. I see no off-road skills training but are you riding off-road on the Z2 rides? I would find that fairly hard to do because of the terrain. However I am no training expert, that's why I pay a coach.
good luck with your racing though.

 

[Globalti]

That's a very strange thing to say - and certainly not suported by any best practice evidence as far as I can tell. What's your reasoning behind it?

Not at all strange. My reasoning is that most athletes are actually in a state of almost permanent tiredness and have an irrational fear of inactivity. I believe most would benefit from training less and resting more because the improvement comes during the periods of rest and feeding.

 

[S-Express]

Not at all strange. My reasoning is that most athletes are actually in a state of almost permanent tiredness and have an irrational fear of inactivity. I believe most would benefit from training less and resting more because the improvement comes during the periods of rest and feeding.

Obviously you are entitled to your opinion. But as I said, most coaching advice and evidence-based best practice doesn't seem to agree with you. It's certainly not my own experience either. Most people agree that to be competitive at amateur level generally needs around 7-10 hours per week minimum (there will always be examples of others who do more/less), so I'm not sure how that kind of regime would fit into just three days per week. No reason why the human body should need four recovery days per week either.

As the old saying goes - the more you train, the more you can train.

 

[nos]

And...returning to the main topic, what look is it like my training? :P.

 

[S-Express]

And...returning to the main topic, what look is it like my training? :P.

I don't see too much wrong with it. Like most training programmes, you will probably need to adapt as you go along, as nothing ever really works out the way it looks on paper.

 

[nos]

I don't see too much wrong with it. Like most training programmes, you will probably need to adapt as you go along, as nothing ever really works out the way it looks on paper.

In that you have reason. Clearly this is a general scheme, after, I need to adapt to the circumstances.

So, you would not change anything? The weeks of each phase look good?


Thanks! .

 

[Tin Pot]

Hi, I'm not a professional of this hobbie. I really like the MTB and I train to stay fit and perform marathons and stages races.

I know that if I have a personal coach I will get more performance but I like to learn and self-train. Apart, as I said, I do not dedicate myself professionally to it. The training for this year, done by me, is this:


BASE (10 Weeks) - Week 1:

View attachment 334024

The rest of the weeks would gradually increase the time.


BUILD (5 Weeks) - Week 1:

View attachment 334025

The rest of the weeks would gradually increase the time of repetitions.


INTERVAL TRAINING (4 Weeks) - Week 1:

View attachment 334026

The rest of the weeks would gradually increase the series.


TAPER (10 Days) - The 10 Days:

View attachment 334027

View attachment 334028


I listen to opinions, suggestions, etc. I hope they are constructive :P. I seek to improve and learn more . At the moment, I want a one peak of form.


Thanks in advance.

So any plan needs to be to get from A to B, otherwise it's just burning calories.

So where are you now, and where are you trying to get to?

Are you coming last or first?

What are your bike handling skills like?

Where do you see your weaknesses during races?

What's your power to weight ratio?

Can you stand to lose some excess body fat?

Etc.

 

[S-Express]

So, you would not change anything? The weeks of each phase look good?

That is not something anyone else can answer. The plan is specific to you, so it only matters whether you would change anything. And you won't know that until you are working through the plan.