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This Training Plan is the result of 25+ years of racing and coaching experience gathered while racing as a professional cyclist and later as a coach to many local and international amateur and professional cyclists. Some of my clients have won world championship medals, state, national, provincial, and local races, and even worn the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France!
Enjoy this training plan and the expert coaching tips you are about to receive over the coming week!
Training Plan Description
Everyone wants to feel stronger, ride stronger, and become better. A true measure of progress and improvements is objectively measured with a power meter. Even if you do not have a power meter, you can still perform the training in this training plan with a heart rate monitor.
To gain 20 watts of power over a time trial or breakaway type effort in just 4 weeks is a major improvement for a cyclist who has been training for a few years and has a high level of fitness. In this Training Plan I outline how you can achieve just that with highly effective and focused training!
Many cyclists reach a plateau or a wall and struggle to make improvements after training for many years. For example, your all time best 20 minute power is 200 watts and you just can’t seem to improve on this number.
What is it going to take, in terms of training, to help you get to that next level of strength and power? This plan is going to give you the type of training routine to boost your power output over the longer type efforts from 10-20 minutes, and take your performance to that next level.
Most recreational competitive cyclists participate in regular group rides which often include lots of very easy, “Zone 1” riding combined with some short, hard bursts of between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Very little time is spent at the intensities that boost your sustained “Threshold” power (unless you spend most of the ride pulling on the front). Doing lots of group rides often leads to hitting a plateau with your improvements.
How The Pros Train
Having raced professionally and having studied many of the top pros in training, I have observed that they train alone and spend more time at the intensity that is neither easy nor hard but is very fatiguing over time. This intensity is often called “Tempo”. The pros also perform lots of hard intervals over a long duration like 20, 30 and 60 minutes. This type of training is what gives you a big boost in your sustained power.
Your 4 Week Training Plan
This detailed Training Plan is designed to boost your 10-20 minute power output by 20+ watts in 4 weeks. When starting the plan you should have a good base of fitness and be somewhat rested. You agree you have no medical issues, and are fully cleared to do intensive training by a medical doctor. If you are not, then please consult with your physician before attempting intensive training.
Training Zones
The training zones described for this Training Plan are the zones developed by Andy Coggan. If you don’t have a power meter you can still perform the training using the heart rate zones or the perceived exertion table. Here’s how to determine your training zones >>
Warm-Up
All rides with intervals can be between 1-1.5 hours. Each ride should include 15+ minutes of warm-up in Zone 1-2 with a few minutes in Zone 3-4 and 1-2 X short sprints of 8-10 seconds each.
Week 1
In the week prior to performing the 4 week training plan, perform a 15-20 minute power test to evaluate your current level.
Monday – Rest day
Tuesday – 2 x 15 minute Zone 4 “Threshold” intervals with 10 minutes of easy cycling between intervals.
Wednesday – 1 x 45-60 minutes in Zone 3 “Tempo” in a bigger gear (70-80rpm)
Thursday – 2 x 15 minute in Zone 4 “Threshold” Intervals with 10 minutes of easy cycling between intervals.
Friday – Rest day or easy spin
Saturday – 2-3 hours with 1.5 hours in Zone 3 “Tempo”
Sunday – 2 hours “Ride on Feel” with group ride option.
Week 2
Monday – Rest day
Tuesday – 2 x 20 minute Zone 4 “Threshold” Intervals with 10 minutes of easy cycling between intervals.
Wednesday – 1 x 60-75 minutes in Zone 3 “Tempo” in a bigger gear (70-80rpm)
Thursday – 1 x 40 minute Zone 4 “Threshold” Interval.
Friday – Rest day or easy spin
Saturday – 2.5-3 hours with 2 hours in Zone 3 “Tempo”
Sunday – 2 hours “Ride on Feel” with group ride option.
Week 3
Monday – Rest day
Tuesday – 1 x 20 minute Zone 4 “Threshold” interval followed by 3 x 3 minute Zone 5 “VO2” intervals. Ride easy for 5 minutes between intervals.
Wednesday – Ride easy and include 2 x 10 minute high cadence intervals.
Thursday – 5 x 3 minute Zone 5 “VO2” intervals and 5 x 2 minute Zone 5 “VO2” intervals. Ride easy for 5 minutes between intervals.
Friday – Rest day or easy spin
Saturday – 2 hours with 50-60 minutes in upper Zone 3 “Tempo” and lower Zone 4 “Threshold”
Sunday – 2 hours “Ride on Feel” with group ride option.
Week 4
Monday – Rest day
Tuesday – 1 x 30 minute Zone 4 “Threshold” interval followed by 3 x 3 minute Zone 5 “VO2” intervals. Ride easy for 5 minutes between intervals.
Wednesday – Ride easy and include 2 x 10 minute high cadence intervals.
Thursday – 5 x 4 minute Zone 5 “VO2” intervals and 4 x 2 minute Zone 5 “VO2” intervals. Ride easy for 5 minutes between intervals.
Friday – Rest day or easy spin
Saturday – 2 hours with 50-60 minute Zone 4 “Threshold” interval
Sunday – 2 hours “Ride on Feel” with group ride option.
Once completed the 4 weeks of training you should feel much stronger on your local rides or races. To evaluate your progress, I recommend taking 2-3 days of very easy spinning then re-testing your power. Remember to repeat the exact same protocol as your initial test. Your week can look as follows:
Monday – Rest day or 30 minutes easy spin
Tuesday – Ride easy and include 2 x 10 minute high cadence intervals.
Wednesday – Ride easy in Zone 1 and include 3 x 30 sec hard sprints (Zone 5)
Thursday – Power Testing day! Give it your all and remember to visualize ahead of time breaking your record. Please let me know how it goes!
If you enjoyed this plan you may be interested in my TrainingPeaks versions of similar type training plans with much greater detail including personalized power targets, online training log, upload to Zwift, Garmin, Wahoo, TrainerRoad and more. You can see my TrainingPeaks power gain plans at this link >>
Wishing you all the best with your training! – Coach Simon
Plan Disclaimer
Simon Says Cycling, LLC Training Plans are only for individuals who are physically fit and have been recently cleared by their doctor to do intensive exercise, and are injury free, disease free, and pain free. No responsibility or liability is accepted and all responsibility and liability is hereby disclaimed for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of the use or misuse of any of the information or content in Simon Says Cycling training plans, and any and all liability for incidental and consequential damages is hereby expressly excluded.