- I'm really excited that this year,
I get to take part in the Maratona dles Dolomites.
It's a sportive that I've been wanting to race,
oh, I mean, participate in, for years now.
It's in a really beautiful part of the world,
in the Dolomites, and it's a really iconic, tough sportive.
It's just a bit of a hitch,
and now that I'm presenting at GCN,
I don't have quite so much time to train,
because, you know, it takes up a lot of hours of the day,
you know, analysing wind-tunnel test results,
and learning to mispronounce Spanish names,
and checking whether those hacks survival.
So, I'm gonna have to learn to train in a
more time-efficient way.
Now, this is a problem
that I know a lot of you contend with.
Cycling's a very time-consuming sport,
and if you're planning to take part in a long event,
like, how on earth do you fit in all those training hours
around your job, your family,
I mean, maybe even a social life?
Well, the good news is
that you can actually structure training
to be really time-efficient,
and les-timing consuming,
and still make real fitness gains to withstand
your good stead if you're a bit tired.
All it takes is a bit of planning, organisation,
and discipline.
Yep, self-discipline is clearly a major factor,
because once you've planned the training,
you still have to actually do it.
The good news is that I'm pretty certain
that self-discipline is also trainable,
which is good news for those of us, like everyone,
who is secretly lazy on the inside.
Now, you might be wondering,
who the hell am I to give advice on training
around a job and the time constraints?
Well, I was extremely fortunate to be a professional athlete
for a few years, when I could train full-time.
But actually, for many years,
I combined racing at the highest level with a job.
Although, to be fair, for a few years I did work part-time,
and I could be pretty flexible with my hours,
but I did still have to learn to juggle work and training
and I'll give you a few more tips on that later.
(laid-back music)
First, I need to plan my Maratona training.
And I thought I'd ask Matt for some advice here.
(footsteps echoing)
(door closing) Hi, Matt.
So, Matt - Hey.
- Raced very successfully
whilst having a full-time job.
In fact, he was national champion of what, like,
seven to nine hours of training in a week?
- Yeah. - So, I think,
his advice is pretty worth listening to.
- Well, Emma, thanks for having me along,
but what exactly can I help you with?
- Well, I'm planning to ride the Maratona this year.
And you've done it yourself,
and so you know it's pretty challenging.
And, you know, back in the day, I do a lot of long rides
and races and riding with friends who are trying to get fit,
but I just, I don't have as much time now.
So I was wondering, maybe you could tell me what, like,
really, key sessions I have to fit into a week.
- Well, the key element of riding
something like the Maratona,
or a sportive of similar distance and a similar terrain,
is endurance, basically, 'cause they're long events.
And also, of course, the very long climbs
that you have to tackle in the Dolomites, for example.
- Yeah, and like around Bath, there are no climbs
as long as those Dolomite mountains.
So, I mean, I'm gonna be totally rubbish.
What can I do?
- Well, you can be far better than totally rubbish.
You don't necessarily need a climb to improve your climbing.
You need to train your FTP,
so you need to aim to include
between one and two FTP sessions per week in your training.
- [Emma] That sounds a bit painful, to be honest.
- It's painful, but very, very effective,
and it doesn't take too long at all.
A session like three by eight minutes, 110% of your FTP,
does the trick.
Or, an hour at sweet spot, which is around
80 to 90% of your FTP,
with some acceleration spaced out throughout the hour.
You're writing all this down,
aren't you? - Yeah.
- [Matt] You just need a quieter section of road
so you avoid stop pedalling by sitting.
- [Emma] Yeah, or I guess an indoor trainer
could be pretty helpful for this kind of session.
- [Matt] Oh, definitely.
It's a real controlled environment,
and I must admit, I used a hand trainer at least
two or three times a week when I was training full-time.
- [Emma] Wow.
I've, yes, I've seen that somewhere,
you've got a 20-minute FTP session up there.
- It is. - Super time-efficient.
- It is pretty brutal, it's one of our hardest.
It's the 20-minute HIIT session.
A couple of those a week will really see massive benefits.
- Yeah, wow, cool.
So, that's pretty good.
Is there anything else I should include in my plan,
you think?
- You definitely want to make sure that you include
variability in your training plan.
It will help keep you fresh,
and also help maintain your enthusiasm.
So, I recommend some shorter hill reps,
so basically, HIIT sessions on climbs.
- [Emma] Ouch.
- There's a lot of ouch - Yeah.
- [Matt] But it's a lot of bang for your buck.
- Yeah, good point.
Okay, thanks, Matt.
What about strength endurance?
So, I've got friends who race,
and they are mad on this strength endurance,
like it's over-geared stuff.
- Strength endurance is something that I put in
when I'm out on the road, and also, on the indoor trainer.
So basically, we're in the sweet spot session.
I might throw in five or six one minute reps,
but really over geared and out of the saddle.
Again, it's essential, like gym training on a bike.
- Cool.
So that's great, I mean, it's like,
between SE and sweet spot and functional training power and
threshold power and endurance, I mean,
I'm gonna have sessions every week, great!
- [Matt] Now, you shouldn't be doing
a hard session everyday.
That's a real common mistake.
You'll end up very tired, and actually,
you'll lose the efficiency and the efficacy
of your training.
Make sure you have a couple of rest days
and arguably, more importantly,
even a nice café stop with a bit of cake.
- (chuckles) That is the kind of advice that I like.
Thanks, Matt. - Of course.
- And any more tips?
- A good tip is, first of all, is to plan your training.
So, write it down.
That way, you're far more likely to stick to it
as you're doing that.
But, don't only write it down.
Actually, record your results,
and most importantly, how you feel.
It gives you a nice journal to reflect back on,
and you can basically see if you've made any mistakes,
or weigh if you've particularly done things well.
That basically positively affects the training.
- Awesome.
Thanks, Matt.
That's brilliant.
(laid-back music)
- Right.
So, to summarise what I should try and fit
into a weekly training pattern.
An FTP session once or twice per week,
high intensity interval training once a week
around FTP training,
An endurance ride once or twice a week,
and a strength endurance or core once or twice or week.
Oh, and a coffee ride once a week, at least.
(inhales deeply)
So, that's the plan.
Now I've got to try to implement it,
so I'm gonna give you seven of my tips
for how to try and stick to training pattern.
(rock music)
As Matt said, it really helps to follow the plan
if you've written it down.
I mean, that's a method of feeling accountable,
and that's a way to help with your self-discipline.
But when you're making the plan,
you have to be realistic and honest about
what you can fit into the week.
I mean, it's fantastic to be enthusiastic.
It's essential to be motivated, in fact.
But if you're unrealistic and overambitious in your plan,
then there's a strong chance
that you won't be able to stick it,
and you'll end up feeling disappointed and guilty.
If you overtrain, your work and your family life will suffer
and there's also a strong chance
that you'll stick to it for one week
then not at all, and that is no help in getting fitter.
Consistency is the important thing.
One huge session or one huge week
does not make you fit.
Whereas chipping away week after week
is what makes the difference.
So, you're better off erring on the side of caution
when planning your training.
(rock music)
As I said before, consistency is key,
and you can help yourself to be consistent
by making your training part of your weekly routine.
And by being smart with use of time.
So, if, for example, you have to commute to work
and it's possible to do it by bike,
that's a great opportunity to make use of the time to train.
A few mid-week sessions.
You can extend your ritual if it's not long enough.
(rock music)
An indoor trainer can be hugely helpful
in terms of getting training sessions done
with minimum fuss, especially those more intense FTP
and high intensity sessions.
It doesn't take long to set up.
It doesn't take long to get dressed.
I find that minimum layers are best,
because indoor training is always a sweat-fest.
And there's also no time wasted on free-wheeling,
traffic lights, punches,
I mean, not to mention the fact that the weather
is not a factor at all.
So, if you have access to indoor trainer, use it.
In fact, I did most of my intense training for the
Taiwan KOM last year, or my Oahu Kicker, using Zwift.
I even quite enjoyed it.
That's the advantage of smart trainers and Zwift.
(rock music)
Right.
Personally, I like to get any hard training done
first thing in the morning
rather than leaving it to the evening,
because it sets me up for a good day,
although, potentially, also nodding off at GCN HQ.
But, (yawning)
everyone is different, and some people
do prefer to train in the evening.
I just know that if I'm tired or something comes up,
my training is likely to suffer or just fall by the wayside.
So I'd rather get up a bit earlier and get it done.
(laid-back music)
Training with other people also helps
because if you've arranged to meet someone for a ride,
that's another form of accountability,
not to mention that it's also more fun to have company,
and I think fun is important
because cycling should be fun. (laughs)
I mean, if you enjoy your training,
you'll stay enthusiastic and motivated.
I know that riding with people stronger than me
is what really helped me to become a better cyclist,
and I made some really great friends along the way.
(laid-back music)
Now, to a topic that I really love, snacks.
Planning nutrition and be smart with meals.
Remember that you need calories both to fuel
good-quality training and to recover afterwards.
And you're better off getting those calories
from a well-balanced meal or a healthy snack.
If you plan ahead
and take a healthy lunch or breakfast into work with you,
it can help you to resist the temptation
of the relatively unhealthy or, not to mention, expensive
food that is so readily available.
Me, I'm very into my snacks,
and I often take my breakfast into work
to eat straight after training.
(laid-back music)
You have to plan recovery into your week.
Training itself doesn't actually make you fitter.
It's the recovery to train stimulus that makes you stronger.
Skip out on the recovery, and you won't make improvements.
Training hard is already an extra load
added into your busy life.
And when time is short, I know that
I often tend to sacrifice sleep,
which is stupid, because if you don't recover well,
you risk getting over-trained or sick,
and neither of those will move you forward in your goals.
So, listen to your body.
Make sure to plan in the time to recover.
As Matt said, a coffee and cake ride at least once a week.
I hope this helps if you're planning to take part
in a big event in 2018.
I know you'll get real satisfaction
from training efficiently,
so feel free to leave your comments or questions below
and give it a thumbs up.
Coming up, I'll show you a few of those training sessions
built into my work commute.
It's the commuter session series.
So, watch out for those videos.
And in the meantime, check out this video that Matt made
for indoor training sessions.
Just 20 minutes long to train your FTP with surges.