Manon Lloyd: Over the past six weeks we have been following a training plan, but not any
old training plan. Oh, no. Oliver Bridgewood: Yes. We've been doing the
Wahoo SUF Training transition plans. These plans differ from pretty much every other
plan out there, in that they're designed to be the ultimate off-season plan.
Manon: We're nearing the end of the plan and we thought we'd go through our final session
with you and chat through how the plans have been going for us.
Ollie: Let's do it. [music]
Manon: Before we get started, let us take you through these transition plans that we
have been doing. You may have seen on the GCN Show that we've been doing weekly updates
on how it's been going. Ollie: Oh, I nearly forgot. If you'd like
to try the transition plan yourself, well you can do, it's completely free and no obligation,
simply download the Sufferest app on your phone or your laptop and then put in the code
'TRANSITION30' and yes, give it a go. [music]
Manon: I have been following the Transition Down plan, the lower volume of the two plans.
Ollie: I've been doing the Transition Up plan. Both plans have involved a mixture of interval
workouts on the bike and also yoga sessions and strength sessions that you can just do
in the comfort of your own home. The idea is that they get you ready for the season
ahead, and 2021, when we're hopefully going to be catching up on lots of missed races
and events that we haven't had this year. Manon: Getting ready for a big year. It was
around four hours a week, so it's quality, not quantity. The aims of the plans weren't
necessarily to get fitter but get ready for our next phase of training. As some of you
may know, I had to isolate for two weeks. Two whole weeks, 14 days. Couldn't leave my
house whilst I was doing this plan, so this plan really was a lifesaver for me in that
two weeks. It gave me some structure to my day. It gave me some motivation and I feel
like if I didn't have that plan, I probably wouldn't have exercised at all because I just
wanted to sulk because I couldn't leave the house.
Ollie: What's your favorite session's been? Manon: My favorite session? The pedaling technique
one. I haven't done anything like that in-- I don't think I've ever done anything like
that. I feel like that's something that a lot of people forget about is the way you
pedal. You just kind of get on the bike and it's all about power, but that session was
really about focusing on your hand position, your shoulders, your core, your heels. It
went through everything. Ollie: Yes. I think one of the biggest things
that can help people improve, that people often forget, is variety and doing things
that you don't just do. It's easy to get stuck in a rut and do the same things over and over
again, but you do improve by mixing it up. For me as well, yes, doing low-cadence work
and- Manon: Those sessions were hard.
Ollie: -the pedaling technique things as well. I've found myself now, even when I'm going
out on my bike on a normal ride, I'm thinking about it, and trying to be smoother and pedalling
in circles more and getting it good. Manon: Not rectangles.
Ollie: Yes. Definitely, it's helped. What about the yoga? Can you touch your toes yet?
Manon: I can actually, yes. I really liked the yoga sessions. Yoga's been something I
have avoided. I've always been told I need to stretch more, be more flexible and I've
just not done it. These plans, it was only 15 minutes a day which is nothing, and doing
them every day it's really helped me and I've really enjoyed them as well.
[music] Ollie: I feel my core's improved.
Manon: Are you stronger? Have you got bicep muscles now, yes?
Ollie: Yes, got biceps Manon: Yes, there they are. [chuckles]
Ollie: That's not the point. The point wasn't to build massive biceps because-
Manon: That's just impossible for Ollie. Ollie: -it's cycling functional strength exercises.
It's things that are going to improve you on the bike. At the same time, the strength
work that you do in this plan isn't designed to just turn you into Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It is about learning foundational movements and getting correct technique and not overloading
you, so that then you can move into the next phase of training like we mentioned before,
and then start doing more serious weights and heavier loads, and then start really building
from there. It is that just setting the foundation. Manon: We're saying that this plan wasn't
a walk in the park though. Especially my Transition Down plan, I thought it might be a nice gentle
plan, but my heart rate was hitting some high numbers in some of those. Yes, got a good
workout. Ollie: I think we should see where we got
to and do the fitness tests. Manon: Is it time?
Ollie: Yes. Manon: It's time.
[music] Manon: I'm going to be doing the Half Monty
Fitness Test. Now, this is the same test as I did at the start of the plan and there's
basically two parts to it. There's a ramp test and then a 20-minute steady-state effort
where I have to keep the same pace for the whole 20 minutes. Now, this is a really good
fitness test if it's going to be one of your first fitness tests, or if you're halway through
your plan and you don't want the test to take too much out of you, because some tests can
be really savage. I've got a few minutes now before I start the ramp. Wish me luck.
[music] [music] Manon: I'm glad that's over. That was pretty
savage. I think my numbers were around about the same but we'll find out in a minute. Ollie,
you're up. [music]
Ollie: I'm just cooling down now. That was absolutely horrendous. I feel like I'm going
to puke. I'm just getting the results up. I can see my neuromuscular performance has
actually improved slightly. I'm a bit less crap at sprinting than when I started, [chuckles]
which is good but my other numbers have declined a bit but they've declined only slightly.
The great thing here is that this whole plan hasn't been about getting me into the best
shape of my life. What I'm delighted about is, I've done a good job of improving in some
areas and maintaining my fitness in the others without doing a huge amount of volume. It's
been very efficient. This is the key, I think, combined with what my weight is right now.
This is, without a doubt, the best numbers that I've done in December in my life really.
I'm going into next year in the best shape I've been in. Should be a great platform.
Normally, I just hit December and hit the mince pies hard and the tins of chocolates
and just kind of drop off the wagon. I'm feeling good.
For those interested in the numbers, my FTP came out at 300 watts, my 5-minute was 384
watts, my anaerobic capacity was 462 watts and my 5-second was 781 watts. Yes, that's
over 1 horsepower. Now, my FTP and my 5-minute is lower than when I was at peak fitness earlier
this year. What is cool, and probably a better comparison, is that compared to the 4DP test
I did this time last year, I'm higher on every single metric. My FTP was 288 watts this time
last year and my 5-second power, just 760 watts. I'm not a sprinter.
Manon: My results weren't too different; 3 watts better actually, but that's what we
wanted from the plan. The plan's aim was to keep us mentally and physically refreshed,
which I feel it has done. Usually, in December, I feel worn out and in need of a rest, but
I actually feel ready to hit whatever's next. Where do we go from here? I spoke to one of
the world's leading coaches, Neal Henderson to find out.
Thanks for coming on and giving us another chat, Neal. I just wanted to start with how
important is it to have a transition period? What would happen if athletes didn't take
that downtime and just trained really hard, just didn't have a down phase? How would that
then affect them in the upcoming season? Neal Henderson: The transition serves a couple
of purposes, a little bit of it a physical reset, pulling back a little bit, letting
your body rebuild. Throughout the transition plans, we've had that integration with some
of the other movement, with yoga and some strength training, mobility, getting things
in a good place so that you can go and turn things up from a physical sense.
There's also the mental side of things where, if you're just on it all the time, you can
run out of that bit of motivation that you really need when the going gets tough from
when you're doing that hardest level of training. There's also a part that we're trying to pull
back that mental strain. The way I sometimes describe it too is like driving a manual stick
shift car. To shift gears you have to actually put it in the clutch, get off the gas, shift
gears and then get back on it. The transition is pretty much that clutch where you put it
in so you can shift gears. Sometimes you downshift to pull back a little bit and then other times
we're going to upshift, which is probably what most people are getting ready to do to
get into the new season. Manon: This is definitely the best I've ever
felt for December. I've had off-seasons in the past where I've had two weeks completely
off and I've got on the bike and I have felt terrible and regretted it instantly. I feel
like the transition plan is something that I wish I had when I was an athlete. One thing
I did really like about the Transition Down plan was the variety of sessions. One of the
sessions was the yoga sessions. I hadn't really done any yoga before. Is that something that
I could carry on going forward in the future or was it just a winter thing? Something that
we do in the winter? Neal: For most folks, adding in some yoga
throughout the rest of their year not just over this winter period is really going to
be helpful for them to stay-- basically, have the mobility and maintaining that body and
a good structural sense as they go forward. In some cases you also find that it does provide
that little bit of a slowing everything down, focusing on just what you're doing and letting
the rest of the world go away where we don't always get a lot of opportunities for that,
we don't always take those opportunities. That's another really positive reason to keep
that going throughout your season. Just like some of the strength training. If
you're young, in your 20s, the strength isn't as much of a limitation, but if you're a rider
who is in their 40s or 50s or 60s and beyond then that importance of maintaining some strength
training throughout the rest of the year is also important and yoga has a level of strength
there. It's not quite as intense, but still can be quite beneficial for most folks without
overloading you. Manon: Now that we have finished the transition
plans, we've finished the six weeks, where do we go from the back of the these plans?
Neal: We often recommend, between plans, that you do take a little bit of a break, often
a week between one plan to the next. In that time period, in some cases, it's a complete
week off especially if it's been a longer 10 or 12-week plan that you've done. The Transition
plans are a little bit shorter so what we would often say is pick a couple of sessions
during that week in between just to keep a little bit of activity before then started
into your next plan. The best thing right now might be a week or
so here with the holiday to pull back, do just a little bit of maintenance, one or two
sessions. Then go ahead and apply a new plan starting beginning of the year and have those
next 10, 12 weeks progressing, building up that fitness and being ready for a great 2021.
Manon: Thanks, Neil. We're going to be on fire for 2021.
Ollie: Yes, sure are. Let us know in the comments any challenges you'd like us to do in 2021
and we'll make a video about it. Have you got anything you want to do?
Manon: I have actually, but I'm going to keep it a secret. You have to wait and find out.
I don't think you actually know. Ollie: I don't.
Manon: No, you don't. No. Ollie: Well, I feel left out.
Manon: It's okay, You'll find out. Ollie: Let us know how you get on with the
transition plan if you've been doing it yourself and also if you do a 4DP test let us know
how you get on with that as well because they are absolutely savage. If you've enjoyed this,
then please give it a thumbs up and we'll see you in the next one.
[00:13:45] [END OF AUDIO]