Hi Intervals.ICU Forum Members,
I asked this question on Trainer Day forum and Alex gave me a good respone and did suggest post here as other coaches have a chance to chime in.
I am looking for some advice on which training plan should I choose (from Trainer Day or create in Intervals.ICU) and how to go about increasing my riding ability and stamina. Any suggestions on which plan to choose or how to create a plan would be greatly helpful.
Thanks,
Sai
A bit of background:
I am novice cyclist. Just bought a Trek Verve 1 (April 21) and have been riding it for about 7-10 miles per day. A week ago I purchased Wahoo Kickr and have been trying out Zwift and Sufferfest. I am riding about 8-10 miles per day on Wahoo kickr. I havent ridden on bike outside as weather is not that great (raining for week now). On the analytics side, I am signed up with Intervals.ICU. Currently, I signed up for Intervals.ICU and Trainer Day Premium. Since Trainer Day syncs perfectly with Intervals.ICU, I would like to continue on Trainer Day for my workout planning on Wahoo Kickr.
On the diet side, I am on ketogenic diet and have been reading about being in Zone 1 and 2 until I am fully fat adapted. I havent checked my ketones, but I am positive that I will get adapted soon (2-3 weeks).
Couple of questions that will help tailor the answers:
What are your goals? Getting healthier, an event, etc
What do you enjoy?
I’m in no way a coach or even an overly experienced cyclist but personally I would just do whatever you enjoy and slowly up the time you spend on a bike. Try various different rides on zwift (workout, race, group ride, pace partner, EpicKom/AdZ etc), plan a slightly longer route and work towards that.
If you’re just getting started whatever you do will be progress so enjoy the ride and get used to spending more time in the saddle.
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Assuming your fitness is currently at a fairly low level and that you have no particular event you are training for other than to be a fitter and stronger rider then I would suggest the following:
First you need to build a good base, which means lots and lots and lots of steady riding, then you can build on that and start to increase intensity to build your muscular endurance and hence general average speed, for now I would forget anything of very high intensity and you could try this.
Week 1 - 4
On flat roads if possible (or trainer) Ride for 1 hour 4 times a week spaced out over the week, this should be done at a pace that you could still chat to somebody without getting too out of breath (just).
Week 5-8
Same intensity only make one of the rides 1.5 hours
Week 9-12
Same intensity only now increase to 5 rides a week, make one ride 2 hours, 1 at 1.5 hrs and the others 1 hour.
Once you can ride comfortably for 2 hours you can start increasing intensity, start to make 1 ride a week a hilly one if you can and on another start to do some tempo work. This means riding at a pace that feels like you are pushing it and breathing should be harder but not gasping for air, you could try this on one of the hour rides and do a 10 minute interval at tempo pace then build up over the weeks to 2x10, 3x10, then 2x15, 3x15, 4x15, 2x20, 3x20 etc. be sure to warm up properly before the intervals.
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The more base riding (as explained above) you do, the better it will set you up for the future. It might seem like you aren’t making progress, but you will see the benefits later.
“Consistency is the shortcut” ~ Kylie Francis
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Thank you all for the suggestions. I am working at it to at least be able to comfortably ride for 1.5 hours. I am almost there at 1.5 hours. I have not been able to up to 2 hours due to various activities at home. I am using Wahoo KICKR Bike and not riding outside at the moment.
My hourly suggestions were for outside, harder mentally to ride the same time on the trainer but you will get there, all good stuff.