Why Your Winter Training Stops Working
So, you've had a short break or some easy riding, and now you're getting back into things. You want to be fitter next year. You're sick of being dropped by the younger riders on the group ride. You come up with a plan and, for a few weeks, things go well.
Then your initial progress starts to stall. Six weeks in, nothing much seems to be happening. You keep going, repeating the same week, and come March you're still in much the same place. You've trained hard, followed your structured plan and been consistent. Gotta be your age or your genes, right?
Six weeks isn't a fixed deadline, but the pattern is familiar. Repeating sessions gives you time to see how you adapt and whether you're improving. There is no need to invent a different workout every Tuesday. However, indefinitely repeating the same training, at the same workload, can leave you plateauing.
As your fitness improves and the rate of improvement slows, you may need to adjust your training. You also need to know when to keep the sessions unchanged and give yourself time to adapt. One poor session doesn't mean the plan is wrong and everything will crash down on you. Bad sessions are normal. If you keep having them, though, it's time to look at your training and recovery.
There are several levers you can adjust: intensity, volume, recovery and session structure. Sometimes you need to increase the intensity. Sometimes it's the overall volume, or the amount of work within an interval session. You might adjust the recovery between intervals, or change the session itself.
Those changes need a reason. Making every session harder simply because another week has passed isn't a progression strategy. Equally, if you're still improving and recovering well, you don't need to change everything just to keep the plan looking interesting.
The worst combination is flat legs and constant fatigue, with power plateauing or decreasing. That can mean the plan has pushed for too long, or that your FTP is set too high. I know, I know, you want it to be 200 W. But if it's currently 180 W, setting your sessions against 200 W makes everything harder than intended.
Keep forcing that and you can end up accumulating fatigue rather than fitness. Poor sleep, under-fuelling and stress outside cycling can compound the problem. You may need an easier week, although that doesn't mean everyone needs one every fourth week.
Kevin, one of the riders I've coached, is a good example of progress continuing beyond the first few weeks. Training for approximately eight hours a week, he increased his FTP by 20 watts in his first 13 weeks with me, then added another 20 watts over the following year.
At 60, he also recorded six personal bests in the South Downs Hill Climb Series, won his age group in seven of the eight events and took the overall veterans' series title.
Kevin's results came from individual coaching, with a programme built around him. The principles were progressive training, appropriate recovery and a structure that fitted his fitness, goals and available time. His progress continued well beyond that initial burst of improvement.
As cyclists, we can spend hours researching a new pair of wheels or tyres. Which are the most aero? Which have the lowest rolling resistance? Can we save a few watts? I like new equipment as much as anyone, but how much attention do we give the training that powers it?
If you're spending five hours a week or more riding, it's worth having a plan that helps you make good use of those hours. Your winter deserves more thought than repeating the same week until March.
MAP: The Build puts those training principles into practice. A CycleCoach coach builds your next four weeks around your current fitness, goals and available time, with your completed training informing the next block. Your sessions are delivered into TrainingPeaks.
It costs £25 every four weeks, with no minimum term, or £275 for a year. If you're getting back into training now, this is a good time to start building towards next season.