Following a hiatus from MTBing over lockdown, I’ve got back on the bike and my fitness and confidence are at an all time low. I think building up my fitness will give me the energy to be able regain my confidence. I know what I am supposed to be doing on the bike, I’m just too exhausted to give it the welly.

This has been popping up on my FB for a few months and I’m wondering if it’s anygood, or if there are better plans out there.

I am not a gym goer, and don’t plan to be. I have made time for one ~2hr offroad ride a week, can fit in another during the weekend which could be longer.

I have a very, very rudimentary turbo trainer and singlespeed road bike, I could borrow the missus’ running machine, have resistance bands from physio on a previous injury.

Or should I just ride my bike.

Yes. Its excellent.

I have no doubt that there will be someone on here who will be able to show on an excel spreadhseet why its not very good and you need to use more maths etc… but for someone in your position – the same as me – it works really well.

I actually bought into the plan right when Matt first launched it, and I’ve run through the 12 week plan 3 times now. I’ll be kicking it off at the start of 2022 again to build for the Spring/Summer. I am now much, much better at stretching, knowing my body etc. It stopped me going backwards as I age (I’m 36) and I think I’m fitter/faster at 36 than I was at 33.

I’ve combined with Zwifting for both intervals and winter miles.

Or should I just ride my bike.

I had always done this. I’ve never been in a gym in my life. You will not, EVER, get above a certain level by just riding more. I now realise that. That level comes down I think as you get older too.

I reccomend. Join the FB group too. Theres usually a ‘group start’ a couple of times a year too which is good.

Few resistance bands, kettlebells, a mat, its all you need.

I’ll start by saying that I have never heard of the plan, let alone used it.
It seems to consist of mainly quite long resistance band sessions supplemented by 2 interval sessions on the bike.

I wonder how useful/ enjoyable the resistence band sessions will be in terms of regaining general fitness.

The interval sessions would probably be OK on your trainer

Its good to have a ‘hook’ and a plan to follow when comitting to getting fit but it also has to be something you can sustain.

Zwift is good for the social side, but you would have to rethink your equipment in all probability.

I tried and quite liked the Adidas training app – lots of sets of body weight exercises that are easy to do.
A couple of kettlebells and YouTube can also go a long way.

Some winters I just put the lights on and ride my bike.

Good luck!

Yes, I bought the plan earlier this year and was following the sessions blending the gym sessions and band/bodyweight home stuff if I couldn’t get to the gym for any reason.

I was seeing good improvements in my riding and overall strength, unfortunately I sprained my AC joint in my left shoulder back in June so had to stop training (also ended up in hospital for a month after my appendix ruptured two weeks later) have been given the all clear to start training again, will be starting the plan again from day one.

This has been popping up on my FB for a few months and I’m wondering if it’s anygood, or if there are better plans out there.

I followed that a couple of years ago.  There are other plans, I don’t know if any are better but I do know that one worked for me.  Definitely felt the benefit on the bike.

Or should I just ride my bike

I wouldn’t do it instead of riding my bike, riding is what I enjoy.  Doing it on top of riding your bike when you can is ideal I think.

I may well do it again in the future, for this winter I’m smart trainered up and subscribing to Wahoo SYSTM instead.  Bottom line is for a somewhat less than elite athlete like me any plan that I can stick to and gives me a bit of stretching and strength training reaps benefits I can feel.

Yes, I have it and find it to be very good.

The guy who wrote it is very accessible, he replies to loads of FB comments and if you email him with a particular issue around an exercise that you can’t do for whatever reason he will help you with an alternative.

He sends emails daily if you sign up to the them (you don’t have to buy anything for this) that are usually relevant and informative, if sometimes a little repetitive after 6 months or so but I don’t mind being reminded of certain things every so often.

I don’t follow it exactly, but I have adapted some things to suit my equipment to give me the same type of workouts and it has given me a structure that I use now.

If you have a basic turbo and a compatible iPhone / android phone you could buy a seperate Bluetooth speed sensor for your rear wheel and use trainer road as another option. If you added a Bluetooth heart rate strap as well that’s not a bad setup.

I found that quite quickly improved my fitness alongside normal riding. I do quite a lot of weight training anyway alongside my riding – added heavy leg sessions in once a week and that has made quite a big difference to stamina downhill in big days / uplift days.