Training Program

Generalized

Team Penta Weekly Training Programs by Season

Winter (October - December)

The objective during this period of time is to build base, burn off excess fat, and to recharge your batteries, both physically and mentally. Utilize cross training that is not cycling related if when possible. Options here include ball sports, jogging, in-line skating, hiking, going to the Gym, etc.

Cycling wise, there are many options to keep your legs (and butt) in shape without killing yourself. When riding the road, take this time to spin, avoid the big ring all together. If you have a fixed gear bike use it most of the time. This is the time to practice your form, your spin, and to build a base. Building base basically means putting in Long Distance Spin (LDS) rides. This will develop the capillaries within your leg muscles to better deliver oxygen to them when the pace begins to pickup later on during the spring stage. For those of you who mountain bike, spend some time getting into the great outdoors and off the roads. Once again do not spend time pushing big gears. Optionally, if you have the energy to still race, even after a tough cycling season, consider Cyclocross. This sort of goes against the grain of recharging your batteries so it is recommended not to race too often. Another possibility is BMX. This is a great way to build handling skills, keep competition in your diet, and not spending a lot of time burning yourself out. Remember the important aspect of the season for Team Penta (Team Penta) is Road and Mountain during the racing seasons.

Most importantly do not make every training ride a race during this period. Testing yourself, seeing what you have, measuring up against other riders, etc. is counter productive during this time of year. No one can maintain top fitness year around. If you try, the result will be never truly peaking but only maintaining what your body can maintain which is not top fitness. Some may say, I see so and so and they are always flying, how can they stay fast all the time? Consider this, if they had a program with peaks and valleys could they be even faster?

Weekly Program

Spring (January - February)

During these months the intensity should begin to pick-up, intervals will be added to the training schedule, and Road and Crit racing will begin. Remember, each ride should have an objective and every ride should not include high intensity. Too much high intensity burns you out physically and mentally and does not allow for proper recovery.

Weekly Program

Summer (March - July)

Now we are in full race form and full race training. Continuing to follow the basic rule of quality training while assuring successful recovery is important. More is not always better.

Weekly Program

Fall (August - September)

Now the year is beginning to taper off relative to road but there is still plenty of MTBing left. Now we will cut out the speed and sprint work and replace it with riding that will benefit MTBing.

Weekly Program

Getting the Most Out of Your Training

There are certain practices that should be implemented to assure you get the most out of your training. These include quality, structure, and ride objective. We have all over trained at one point or another. This means we are practicing quantity rather than quality. "If I ride more and harder I will get faster." Not true. Too much means an inability to recover. The recovery process is just as important as the actual training. If you can not fully recover you can not achieve quality training at the proper intensity. If you feel over-trained i.e. high resting heart rate, can not drive your heart rate up during a ride, and feel flat take a day or two off completely. This will help you to quickly get back on track. By structure I mean, following a program with consistency. Up one week and down another will not be productive, it will be depressing, and will kill your ability to consistently perform at a high level at the races. Lastly, each ride should have an objective. You should know the objective before beginning the ride. Even if it is just to go out and mess around or ride with your girlfriend or wife. Just taking off and figuring it out as you go will only undermine your overall training program. Stick to the plan for a consistent result.

Supplements

There are many supplements out there that help performance before, during, and after the race, for training, and then overall

Vitamins - It is recommended to take a multi vitamin on a regular basis. This will help to assure you are getting the needed minerals and such. I also recommend 500 to 1000 milligrams of vitamin C on top of the multi vitamin. Vitamin, being an antioxidant, helps to rid the body of free radicals which definitely affect recovery and performance.

Iron and E - Additionally, to help your body transport oxygen to your muscle cells, supplement Iron and Vitamin E. Both of these are integral in the process of delivering oxygen to muscle cell. It is recommended to take about 45 milligrams of Iron and 1000 IU of E. Obviously this is optional but it does seem to increase performance at the top end. It can be found at vitamin stores under the label of "Blood Energizer." Do not go over 45 milligrams per day since it can become toxic. The average male requires about 10 milligrams per day. This could be discontinued during the off season.

Recovery - As mentioned above, recovery is the most important part of training. If we can not recovery, we can not train effectively. As we age this becomes more of an issue to consider. Endorox R4 is an excellent recover drink and also useful before and during racing. From the recovery standpoint, it delivers the right proportions of carbohydrates and protein to the muscles. It should be used within 1 to 1 1/2 hours of training. During a ride it helps to minimize lactic acid levels in the muscles. Optimal Muscle Recovery is a great book that covers recovery and discusses the benefits of Endorox R4.

Racing - Racing supplements go on forever. Primarily you need to consider hydration and carbohydrate supplementation. Extran or Cytomax are both great hydration drinks that provide the need electrolytes that are lost through sweating. PowerGel, HammerGel, and GU are some of the best carbo gels available. They taste good and go down easy. If it is cold though, keep a few in the leg of your shorts to keep them warm. In the cold they get quit thick. Extran also makes great liquid carbo drinks and powders if you prefer. In all cases ingest a GU or two or an Extran drink (follow their recommendations) before your race. This will help to assure you do not get into a deficit.

Techniques

Training is the time to practice your riding techniques. Pay close attention to your pedal stroke, spin circles, do not just push down on the down stroke. By spinning circles you will also be able to improve upon your spin. A good spin is critical for criteriums. Also pay close attention to your positioning on the bike i.e. seat height, bar height, stem length, saddle fore and aft position. While pedaling feel your legs as they complete each stroke, assure they are moving smooth and powerfully. Especially when you begin to get tired, your form will begin to deteriorate very quickly. Jim Baden, at Cycletek, should be consulted if you believe your technique is in need of attention. After going through a complete fit on Jim's fit cycle and then making a few simple positional changes on my bike, my form, comfort, and performance were improved. Every little bit counts...

Diet

For more, a lot more, detailed information see Getting Lean

But for now... Lets start with determining what your caloric intake should be. For the most part, you probably require about 2000 calories per day for NDA (Normal Daily Activities). This does not include any extra calories burned from cycling. Figure about 750 calories per hour burned during cycling. So if you cycle for a couple hours on a given day, you will need to take in at least 3500 calories in your diet.

Next is what to eat. You must always be considering both what you eat on the bike and off. This effects total intake as well as the mix i.e. percentage of carbohydrates, fat, and protein. We recommend a 50/30/20 percentage breakdown off the bike i.e. not including intake on the bike. Typically you have probably noticed the most hyped mix is 40/30/30, keep in mind this is for the general population. We as cyclists intake a substantial amount of carbohydrates during cycling which will impacts our percentages. Combining intake on and off the bike our break down would look more like 60/25/15 which is right on track with most sports nutritionists.

Generally speaking, to intake 3500 to 4000 calories per pay of the right food, you will want to eat a breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a snack during mid morning, afternoon, and evening. Always be considering what you eat as well. These diet suggestions assume you are eating the right foods. Get familiar with the labels on food packaging. Watch out for simple sugars, these can not be easily stored in muscles and will end up being stored as fat. ENSURE® is a great means of getting the calories you need quickly, if you must miss a meal, while still getting the required. nutrients. ENSURE PLUS® contains - 360 Calories, 13g Protein, 50g Carbohydrates, 11g Fat, and less than 5mg Cholesterol, and 1g Saturated Fat. If your caloric intake is too low you will find it hard to lose fat. This is due to being caloric deficient and your body reacting to the condition by retaining everything it can. Obviously, your performance will also suffer when in this mode. If you want to lose fat, try for about a pound a week. This can be accomplished by being about 500 calories below your burn rate per day. Any more than 500 calories could cause your body to react as mentioned above. We should be shooting for a body fat percentage of between 5% and 8%. Any less could be unhealthy. Keep in mind there are some individuals who have a low percentage naturally, but still do not get to low. There are many scales on the market now that measure percent body fat and cost about $100. This is a good way to monitor your weight and body fat.

Break Down

The last important aspect of your diet does not contain calories, its water. You must remain hydrated to perform well in training and racing. I recommend you drink between 1/2 gallon and 1 gallon of water per day. This does not include other liquids you might be drinking during a ride, during a meal, or whatever. Water is the best pure hydrator. Stay away from sodas unless they are diet or something like Pepsi One. Regular sodas have about 45 grams of sugar equaling about 180 calories. This quickly turns into fat unless it is immediately burned off.

To recap, drink a lot of water, eat enough, eat the right foods, eat often, and monitor your weight and body fat.

The new Team Penta training program is based on Joe Friel's Training Bible, Team Penta's 2003 program is not fully posted yet, check back after October 2003. Click HERE for a brief review.