[Closed] How do you train over the winter?

Why does your training have to be different?

@PhilFive - Isn't the case that typically people will train over the winter for the race season Spring - Autumn? So during the summer, competing in the actual events keeps you fit?

Depends surely what the proper training plan is aiming to achieve? Fitness for a specific event(s) or just a general increase in fitness year on year?

Over the years I have built up quite a bit of decent winter clothing, I now look out for reduced price kit in spring to replace any worn out items for the next winter. Having good quality winter kit just makes it all so much nicer.

My Sunday ride tends to still be a long ride, but midweek I do probably substitute about 50% of my rides for a turbo session.

This year I do intend to try and keep most of my training at a low level over winter. Not been doing events for long so in the past I have just ridden, this year I want to see if building a base works for me. I hope to build up my mileage for spring beyond what I would have been doing in the past, and then start adding in more intensity.

I will tick over with base and strength with a bit of speed work thrown in and then step up speed work as I get closer to the start of the season.

Edit; this year will be slightly different though as I'm still racing cyclocross. Season finishes on 26th December so i'll have a couple of weeks off before I start prep of a winter crit series. I am also doing more gym work concentrating on core, upper body and flexibility.

Typically during the winter period intensity and duration is reduced.

e.g. my Sunday ride would usually be 4-5 hrs but over winter this drops to 3 hrs max and will be fairly slow.. This helps as I’m not out in the cold for as long. I try and do a bit of running too as an alternative.

Same but with a jacket and a light

i make a new winter plan every year. every year i do less of it than i thought. every spring i am less fit than i hoped.

this years wonder plan is to ride audax. 😉

I ride a bike without gears off road

I ghave occassionally done hill reps

I find it gets harder with age as you are just managing decline rather than getting fitter. Tbh and I have done enough character building rides in my life that sometimes I just dont bother

Turbo if i realy have to

Still get 3 rides a week in usually might do a run if it is really bad weather and very cold

I don't follow a proper training plan. However, what I do is ride as much if not more in the winter than the summer (as usually I am busy with other stuff in the summer). In the winter it's more XC bridleway than trails (as they tend to be drier) and when the weather is bad I ride in the woods out of the worst of the weather. I find a winter ride uses a lot more energy as the ground conditions are not as smooth running shall we say. So I get more out of a given amount of time on the bike.

In the winter I normally wrestle polar bears to keep fit.
In the Summer, when the savannah is in full swing, I get into tussles with lions and tigers and the like.....

Around mid Autumn, I smash down ancient oak trees with my bare fists, and in spring I carbo load on Easter Eggs....

Doesn't everyone?

DrP

Doesn't everyone?

Tigers in the Savannah?

By getting out and getting on with it.

It's cold and wet so accept that you'll get a bit cold and a bit wet.

A certain amount of MTFU helps too...

Tigers in the Savannah?

They travel for the sport..... (shhhhh!)

DrP

My programme for this winter is very focused on enduro racing so I am going to be building on the areas I need to develop - namely speed training on my 29er, cardio with running and swimming, strength work using bodyweight & in the gym and then riding on my bigger bike to sharpen technical skills further.

I'll also be doing as many of the 661 mini DH series and similar as possible on my 6" bike to develop handling further in a range of conditions.

All about mixing it up and using multiple things to get the most out of any programme.

It's also well worth checking out James Wilson's site - he trained Aaron Gwin among many other top riders. www.bikejames.com

🙂

I ride my bike.

A mixture of short intervals sessions on the road (~1hr duration and perhaps done with night lights).
If weekend weather weather and light is good then a longer road ride.
Otherwise, turbo training.

It really depends what you are training for and what your goals are for next year. I started my new training plan last week, for 3 base periods i'm working on endurance, strength and speed skills. Most of my training is Z2 work which i don't really agree with but what do i know! Its roughly 2/3 chaingangs, 2 gym sessions and 2 roller sessions a week. I have an 18 hour training week to build up to as well 😯

Roll on summer for racing, fast chaingangs and more intense work! 8)

Thats sounds like a Joe Friel plan

Thanks for the veritable feast of info so far…

So, I will be training for two things which are probably poles apart from the point of view of having a do-it-all training plan – 1) road racing and 2) MTB endurance events.

I think what I am getting at is that the internet is awash with loads of information which contradicts each viewpoint, so I was just looking for people who have properly trained over a winter (wrestling polar bears etc) and have actually seen a positive outcome in the spring – even better if you would be willing to share some specifics!

I know just ‘riding a bike’ over the winter is a good start, but it’s the first winter where I want to give it some real focus, hence the question.

Cheers

I’d suggest following a specific plan.

I’ve used Joe Friel (loosely as I’ve never actually managed to stick to it 100% yet) but I’m sure there must be others.

Whilst I’ve no scientific evidence to support it, and don’t race much, I am definitely a stronger rider since using it – I can tell my how I compare to friends I ride with, my avg speed etc.

The main reason I use it is give me some focus and so I don’t spend all year ‘just riding my bike’.

1) road racing and 2) MTB endurance events

Train for mountain biking not road racing as you will then have a natural crossover to road.

Mountain bike training is all about explosive power and recovery so in the build up to the season you should be looking at HIIT. A lot of the endurance and strength will need to be done over the winter with a bit of the HIIT thrown into the mix.

I trained for mountain bike last winter with the help of a good PT and it helped loads, and the transition onto the road was easy because of the type of training I was doing.

My email is in my profile, drop me a line and I will be able to point you in his direction. He has a few top national mtb riders on his books and was a great help to me.

I was with him last year for 6 months and I went from being a back of the field racer to a top 15 rider with his help. I am curently just outside the top 10 overall in my class in this seasons wessex cyclocross league and a best result of 5th a couple of rounds ago.

I can't recommend him highly enough and a few from here have used him too.

I can't recommend him highly enough and a few from here have used him too.

Sounds very interesting, I'll drop you a line later on. Cheers

[i]Mountain bike training is all about explosive power and recovery[/i]
You could argue that is more needed for road riding (bridging gaps to groups further down the road, attacks etc.)

For me I am quite lucky in that I have a few mornings a week free so I can get out on the winter bike (cross bike with mudguards). I also tend to do a lot of base training ride ; low intensity, low heart rate in winter and try to mix it up a bit with night rides on the SS where I will often do some hill reps and a slightly higher intensity or do some more technique training. This helps to stop everything getting boring.

There are a lot of different theories about training and a lot of new sports science that hasn't been implemented yet. For example I read a while ago that a new study had found that doing sprints was just as beneficial to aerobic capacity as doing longer low intensity rides. Then a lot of Wiggins' success this year has been put down to his new training regime that is the same as a swimmer's. High intensity all year round but fewer races which runs against the common held theory in cycling.

No intense routine or structure, but just commit to ride. Usually something like this.

Sat CX race or steady club run
Sun CX race or long fast club run
Mon 1-2 hours on turbos just pedaling or winding down.
Tue 45 min- 1 hour turbo session or CX training
Wed MTB night ride
Thu night road pootle or an hour on turbos listening to music
Fri the same or nothing.

Over the Christmas break I try and cram in 500km in a week to kick start the specific training in late winter early spring

Obviously I have a job that can blow it all apart at any time.

I am following the same plan for winter as I done in summer.

I don't train I just enjoy riding my bike.

Mine is very weather dependant. Last year was ok weather wise but preparation for getting married at the beginning of March and a three week pasta binge in Italy meant I started the year heavier than I've been in 5 years and slower. Took me till June to get fit again when I came 10th in the GT7.

Year before was apocalyptic snow so and so cold that riding was hard - especially with any kind of structure or distance.

This year (as always) I'll continue to keep riding to work and up the ride to an hour on the way home (from 30 minutes) when time and weather allows. Thursday nights will be night rides and I'll try and do something on the weekend which will either be a longish mtb ride, cx race or maybe a road run if it is not icy. Most mountain biking will be done on a rigid singlespeed which helps when the gears and suspension com back in spring.

Up until February it is mostly about damage limitation in terms of fitness then I will start to up miles as the weather turns nicer. I am planning to take a few lon weekends in March if the weather is nice to kick start the year.

No real goals as of yet for next year so looking for general fitness rather than race performance -might spend the winter looking at maps as my aim was for exploration and adventure rather than races...

I'm training with the Gorrick spring series & Swinley 100 in mind.

Like last year, I shall do one long ride at Z2/base at the weekend, and 1 or 2 short rides, 1 being a 40k ride-at-intensity Road ride with 3 Cat 4's in it (aim is 90 minutes max, beating my time each ride), the other being a ride-as-fast-as-i-can MTB loop.

All dependant on kids, work, beer etc of course...

commuting to and from work - the arrival of mini-mashiehood has thrown all my plans out the window 😐

Presumably the training you do over winter is going to heavily depend on what you're training for, the amount of time you have, and the amount of winter riding gear you have!

I'm officially off the bike at the moment, but am trying to do 2-3 structured turbo sessions a week, I don't foresee me having enough commitment to really keep it up, but when I can I'll get back outside and just ride my bike! If I emerge into the spring with any fitness I'll be happy...

Saturday club run, 1/2 chaingangs in the week and one casual ride.