3 day a week training plan

It is best to works on your weekneses first all the time, racing to see your weeknes is best way , other than that 3 days week can be divided by one long cycling day (mininmum 3-5 hours %70-75 mhr) , tempo workout and (1-2 hour or better at %80-90 mhr after a warmup) the 3. day interval, hill workout or sprint workout depending on your week point IMO . Also recovery ride for about 10-15 mins after hard days will be best if you ever have chance...

hakan_the_rider said:

It is best to works on your weekneses first all the time, racing to see your weeknes is best way , other than that 3 days week can be divided by one long cycling day (mininmum 3-5 hours %70-75 mhr) , tempo workout and (1-2 hour or better at %80-90 mhr after a warmup) the 3. day interval, hill workout or sprint workout depending on your week point IMO . Also recovery ride for about 10-15 mins after hard days will be best if you ever have chance...

Go ride and have fun! Ride the terrain where you hope to perform.

I am looking for a basic program that will provide continuous improvement. I have 3 days a week to train, 1 time per day at up to 2.0 hours per day. Tuesday, Thursday, and Weekend.I ride in very hilly events in the mountains of NC 5 times per summer spaced fairly evenly and those are what I want to train for.

The answer lies in the question: go hammer those hills. with only 3 days a week (max 6 hours per week) it's unlikely that you'll over-do it, unless you're really starting from scratch. You'll simultaneously be hitting terrain specific to your goals, while also getting in solid threshold/tempo efforts most of the time which is the biggest bang for your buck on limited time.

-Mike

The answer lies in the question: go hammer those hills. with only 3 days a week (max 6 hours per week) it's unlikely that you'll over-do it, unless you're really starting from scratch. You'll simultaneously be hitting terrain specific to your goals, while also getting in solid threshold/tempo efforts most of the time which is the biggest bang for your buck on limited time.

-Mike

The local hills require repeats or hard efforts from one to the other. Most only take 2 to 7 minutes to complete. I can easily do (2 or 3) x 20's and hit lots of hills and if I understand, a longer ride on the weekend with a lower overall intensity is not as beneficial.

Mish said:

...The local hills require repeats or hard efforts from one to the other. Most only take 2 to 7 minutes to complete. I can easily do (2 or 3) x 20's and hit lots of hills and if I understand, a longer ride on the weekend with a lower overall intensity is not as beneficial.

Tough call. Ideally you want to sustain efforts for at least 10 minutes per intervals. If your descents aren't too steep you can use all your gears and try to hold steady power on the descents but typically rolling terrain is tough for SST/L4 work. A series of 5 minute hills at L4 followed by rests is very different in terms of engaging your sustainable metabolic processes compared to steady 10 minute or longer efforts at the same intensity. Seek out longer hills and or flatter terrain where you can stay in level for longer periods if that's possible.

Also don't dismiss the value of a longer ride on the weekends if you have the time and terrain. I'm a big advocate of focused SST/L4 training, but some longer Tempo rides are really useful as well. If you can really only train 3 days a week then I guess I agree with the posts above the suggest really hitting those days hard as in nothing but SST/L4 work but is there any chance you can get as little as half an hour on other days? It's just tough to build much fitness when you rest more days than you train.

Good luck,
-Dave

Mish said:

I am looking for a basic program that will provide continuous improvement. I have 3 days a week to train, 1 time per day at up to 2.0 hours per day. Tuesday, Thursday, and Weekend.
I ride in very hilly events in the mountains of NC 5 times per summer spaced fairly evenly and those are what I want to train for.
I can ride road, mountain, or fixed (road or mountain).
Can someone point me in the right direction. Books, threads, or just give me your opinion. I've read enough to understand the technical terminology.
Thanks

I've done a 3 x week plan by necessity, and you can get impovement. Last year Bicycling magazine published a Chris Charmichael workout for ths time of year based upon 3 brief hard workouts per week. Below find the link. I have used this workout with some success and modifications. But it might be what you are looking for if you want a specific structured workout for a few weeks.
[url="http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-4-403-15997-1,00.html"][u]bicycling.com0,6610,s1 4 403 15997 1,00.htmlOpen ↗[/u][/url]

daveryanwyoming said:

Tough call. Ideally you want to sustain efforts for at least 10 minutes per intervals. If your descents aren't too steep you can use all your gears and try to hold steady power on the descents but typically rolling terrain is tough for SST/L4 work. A series of 5 minute hills at L4 followed by rests is very different in terms of engaging your sustainable metabolic processes compared to steady 10 minute or longer efforts at the same intensity. Seek out longer hills and or flatter terrain where you can stay in level for longer periods if that's possible.

Also don't dismiss the value of a longer ride on the weekends if you have the time and terrain. I'm a big advocate of focused SST/L4 training, but some longer Tempo rides are really useful as well. If you can really only train 3 days a week then I guess I agree with the posts above the suggest really hitting those days hard as in nothing but SST/L4 work but is there any chance you can get as little as half an hour on other days? It's just tough to build much fitness when you rest more days than you train.

Good luck,
-Dave

I'll have to do the steady efforts on the flat. I could find 30 minutes on the other days in the early am but not much more. What would you suggest for those 30 minutes or so.

Mish said:

I'll have to do the steady efforts on the flat. I could find 30 minutes on the other days in the early am but not much more. What would you suggest for those 30 minutes or so.

5-min warm up followed by 20+ min at TT pace and a couple of min cool down.

Alex Simmons said:

5-min warm up followed by 20+ min at TT pace and a couple of min cool down.

+1 on that!

Get a good solid 20 minute effort in the SST/L4 range depending on your larger weekly plan and it will do wonders to avoid train/detrain cycles resulting from only 3 days a week.

-Dave

daveryanwyoming said:

+1 on that!

Get a good solid 20 minute effort in the SST/L4 range depending on your larger weekly plan and it will do wonders to avoid train/detrain cycles resulting from only 3 days a week.

-Dave

Ok, I can do Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday and maybe two 30 minute mornings. Should I do "2 a days" or do my 30 minute workout on an off day?

Mish said:

Ok, I can do Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday and maybe two 30 minute mornings. Should I do "2 a days" or do my 30 minute workout on an off day?

either, just be consistent with overall training

Alex Simmons said:

either, just be consistent with overall training

Thanks for the help.
I have a RealAxiom trainer and a Kinetic with the cheap Power Computer that works with it. I'll test for FTP again. When outside I can only use how I feel as a guage as to what level I'm training at. Looking to raise the FTP quite a bit this year.

Mish said:

Thanks for the help.
I have a RealAxiom trainer and a Kinetic with the cheap Power Computer that works with it. I'll test for FTP again. When outside I can only use how I feel as a guage as to what level I'm training at. Looking to raise the FTP quite a bit this year.

Keep us up to date by posting back here every so often - we could use another mini "it's killing me..." thread (no offense Tyson) - it's good to see how others go.

Mish said:

Thanks for the help.
I have a RealAxiom trainer and a Kinetic with the cheap Power Computer that works with it. I'll test for FTP again. When outside I can only use how I feel as a guage as to what level I'm training at. Looking to raise the FTP quite a bit this year.

If you don't have any way to monitor what you're doing when training on the road then I'd recommend a cheap Polar HRM if you don't want to, or are unable too, lay out the significant sum of money for a power meter. As long as you keep things in the right ballpark you'll be OK. You don't NEED to be able to record data in order to get a sucessful session in but it is nice to go back to look at the sessions after they've been downloaded as it's a very easy way to start a training diary.

It's as boring as hell, *queue Darth Vader voice* but never underestimate the power of 2 hour sessions on the trainer.....

... well, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Fun level = 0 but the potential for progress in huge.

If you go that route I'd recommend a few things, but which ever way you go - good luck with the events.

1. Huge towel. Cover your bike - bigger towel makes it easier to wipe you too.

2. Huge fan with remote. Bigger is better. Remotes are good if you train at different times of day. A 6am session typically requires less "breeze" than a 6pm one... and if you stop during the session you probably don't want the hurricane setting blasting you out. Heat related problems are probably the biggest cause of discomfort on a trainer and therefore probably the biggest cause of unsucessful training sessions indoors too. Insufficient cooling raises HR and PE without you actually going faster.

3. Inspirational music.

4. Plenty of fluids - but don't be driven into thinking that you need a huge amount of carbs and calories even if you may be expending more than 1000Kcals per hour. Most cyclists could do with losing a few pounds anyway.

You may want to split that up depending on happy your "nether regions" are with sitting on a saddle for that long. You may want to stop every so often or maybe you just want to do what I used to do and throw it in your biggest gear for a couple of minutes and ride out of the saddle with the trainer resistance on high.

Mish said:

I am looking for a basic program that will provide continuous improvement. I have 3 days a week to train, 1 time per day at up to 2.0 hours per day. Tuesday, Thursday, and Weekend.
I ride in very hilly events in the mountains of NC 5 times per summer spaced fairly evenly and those are what I want to train for.
I can ride road, mountain, or fixed (road or mountain).
Can someone point me in the right direction. Books, threads, or just give me your opinion. I've read enough to understand the technical terminology.
Thanks

I've been training on 3 day program for the passed 3 to 4 years and have progressed from vet C grade to A grade in that time. Tuesday and Thursday are almost always on a mag trainer with the use of a dvd/TV to relieve bordom a fan and a HRM (just started to use). One day is hard aerobic progam off a dvd for 1hr40min lots of stand and change gears and cadence the other day is 1hr 40min of interval work targeting what ever zone or zones I'm aiming to improve that month. Sunday are club races sometimes with extra rides to and from the race.

I've found that this works for me and my family as if I'm needed at home I'm there. I use "The cyclists training bible" to guide my choice of monthly Zones to target so that I can peak for certain race ( easier said than done) But with consistent and persistent training my goal are being met, hay I reached A grade 6mth ealier than planned.

You have to workout your stenghts and weakness before you can target them in your training. In other word you have to know where you are before you can workout how to get to where you are going. If you don't have it I recomend get "The cyclists trianing bible" it has good base knowlege that you can draw on to workout where you are and set up you own program to target the races you want to hit hard.

daveryanwyoming said:

Tough call. Ideally you want to sustain efforts for at least 10 minutes per intervals. If your descents aren't too steep you can use all your gears and try to hold steady power on the descents but typically rolling terrain is tough for SST/L4 work. A series of 5 minute hills at L4 followed by rests is very different in terms of engaging your sustainable metabolic processes compared to steady 10 minute or longer efforts at the same intensity. Seek out longer hills and or flatter terrain where you can stay in level for longer periods if that's possible.

Also don't dismiss the value of a longer ride on the weekends if you have the time and terrain. I'm a big advocate of focused SST/L4 training, but some longer Tempo rides are really useful as well. If you can really only train 3 days a week then I guess I agree with the posts above the suggest really hitting those days hard as in nothing but SST/L4 work but is there any chance you can get as little as half an hour on other days? It's just tough to build much fitness when you rest more days than you train.

Good luck,
-Dave

It's been a month and I've done 2 x 20's and 2 x 30's with a longer ride on the weekends. During the longer ride I hit all the hills I can find and hammer those. I've also tried to get in a 30 minute interval session (trainer) when possible on the usual off days. I only have power on a trainer so I don't know how I'm going but I will say that the last 2 rides I did a personal best over my 25 mile test loop. Now to "peak or not be tired" in 3 weeks going to Mt. Mitchell

Mish said:

... Now to "peak or not be tired" in 3 weeks going to Mt. Mitchell

Good job, sounds like it's working for you.

I don't know your total CTL or training load, but I'd be surprised if you have enough accumulated base to justify much of a taper. I'd recommend staying with your standard weekly training plan till the final week before your ride. Don't try to play catch up or load up on big weekend rides, just keep plugging away with the schedule you described above.

In the final week do the same basic plan but back off 15-20% in duration and if you're feeling tired back the L4 work down to high Tempo. Take a rest day two or three days before your event, make sure you do an openers ride the day before to loosen up your legs. The openers ride only needs to be an hour or so with a few minutes of Tempo or L4 and perhaps a few minutes of harder work and then cruising just to make sure your legs aren't stiff and blocked up on the day of your event.

Pay extra attention to refueling with carbs and a bit of protein after your training rides as your event draws nearer to make sure you're topped up on glycogen but you don't need any fancy carbo loading cycles. Just don't start the event low on muscle glycogen because you forgot to refuel after your workouts. Then show up prepared for a good ride.

Good luck and let us know how it goes,
-Dave

daveryanwyoming said:

Good job, sounds like it's working for you.

I don't know your total CTL or training load, but I'd be surprised if you have enough accumulated base to justify much of a taper. I'd recommend staying with your standard weekly training plan till the final week before your ride. Don't try to play catch up or load up on big weekend rides, just keep plugging away with the schedule you described above.

In the final week do the same basic plan but back off 15-20% in duration and if you're feeling tired back the L4 work down to high Tempo. Take a rest day two or three days before your event, make sure you do an openers ride the day before to loosen up your legs. The openers ride only needs to be an hour or so with a few minutes of Tempo or L4 and perhaps a few minutes of harder work and then cruising just to make sure your legs aren't stiff and blocked up on the day of your event.

Pay extra attention to refueling with carbs and a bit of protein after your training rides as your event draws nearer to make sure you're topped up on glycogen but you don't need any fancy carbo loading cycles. Just don't start the event low on muscle glycogen because you forgot to refuel after your workouts. Then show up prepared for a good ride.

Good luck and let us know how it goes,
-Dave

Rode the "3 Mountain Madness" in a better time than last year and didn't cramp like last year. A week later I did the "Assault on Mt. Mitchell" in nearly the same time as last year. This year was 15 to 20 degrees hotter and it really didn't hurt me much. My right leg started out feeling numb and dead but I ignored it and worked through it over the first 50 miles. I felt great and finished strong. My times weren't exceptional but my fitness level and enjoyment of the rides were way up. I'm gonna stay with the 3 day plan and bridge to Tyson.
Thanks for the advice. I have 2 months before the next challenge.

Mish said:

I am looking for a basic program that will provide continuous improvement. I have 3 days a week to train, 1 time per day at up to 2.0 hours per day. Tuesday, Thursday, and Weekend.
I ride in very hilly events in the mountains of NC 5 times per summer spaced fairly evenly and those are what I want to train for.
I can ride road, mountain, or fixed (road or mountain).
Can someone point me in the right direction. Books, threads, or just give me your opinion. I've read enough to understand the technical terminology.
Thanks

By Chris Carmichaels' books. They worked for Lance.