Winter base training

Who is this for?

People who want to train smart through the winter periods and not be overtrained by February

Suggested plan length

12 to 24 weeks

Benchmarks to focus on

• 20 minutes

What this plan will help you develop

Help you build your cycling base in a sustainable way with a few cheeky efforts thrown in to keep things exciting. Overall, you ride this plan coming off a little break and want to build your cycling up before you switch to a goal specific e.g. Road Race training plan

Tips and tricks to think about

• Don’t think you need to smash here. Let the training fatigue come to you. If you’re riding this plan in the winter months, the cold and dark nights are tough enough. Don’t look to max it out.
• Training in the winter is a great time to test different nutrition strategies. If you get a crook stomach, you’ve only learnt what you can’t handle
• You want to enjoy the structured work you’re doing. Look to introduce technically challenges too, for example hold a particular cadence or position that you need to dial in for your event.

Training plan breakdown

Foundation 1 +

Suggested weekly volume (will vary on ambition for goal)

• Beginner: 1 to 5 hrs
• Intermediate: 4 to 8 hrs
• Expert: 6 to 10 hrs

Difficulty

• 3/10

Notes

• Overall the training efforts are pretty controlled as it’s meant to be
• Tie up some of the shorter efforts with some Strava segment to set some new benchmarks (not matter how bad the fitness is)
• Look familiarise the different efforts with the new terrains

Foundation 2

Suggested weekly volume (will vary on ambition for goal)

• Beginner: 1 to 6 hrs
• Intermediate: 5 to 10 hrs
• Expert: 7 to 12 hrs

Difficulty

• 4/10

Notes

• Look to increase your weekly volume, but only slightly. Not need to smash it yet.
• There will be a few longer steady zone 3 efforts. A great way to keep you warm on a cold evening.
• Start to ride some strength work, where you lower the cadence to 60-70 rpm for your zone 3 and 4 work. Remember to keep it controlled.

Foundation 3

Suggested weekly volume (will vary on ambition for goal)

• Beginner: 2 to 8 hrs
• Intermediate: 7 to 13 hrs
• Expert: 10 to 17 hrs

Difficulty

• 5/10

Notes

• The volume is now picking up. In this phase, you may ride the most volume with the least amount of intensity
• Your zone 4 efforts now have become progressively longer. Look to ride a consistent effort, so pacing is key
• There will be a couple of sprints in the plan. Challenge your mates to see how has the strongest kick.

Build 1

Suggested weekly volume (will vary on ambition for goal)

• Beginner: 1 to 6 hrs
• Intermediate: 5 to 9 hrs
• Expert: 7 to 12 hrs

Difficulty

• 6-7/10

Notes

• The first build phase, means there is a lift of intensity so Spoked suggests for you to reduce your volume slightly to ensure you don’t overtrain
• Now the vast majority of your training efforts are longer that is looking to help develop you a stronger FTP
• Mentally start to prepare for some hard efforts to come.

Build 2

Suggested weekly volume (will vary on ambition for goal)

• Beginner: 1 to 7 hrs
• Intermediate: 5 to 11 hrs
• Expert: 8 to 14 hrs

Difficulty

• 7/10

Notes

• There will be a number of zone 5 efforts to help improve your FTP. Becoming more powerful, trains a different system and help you feel more comfortable at the higher power ranges
• Go back to those Stava segments you tested yourself early on in your training plan. It’s a great way to measure progress
• By now you should have refined your nutrition strategies and know exactly what your body needs

Build 3

Suggested weekly volume (will vary on ambition for goal)

• Beginner: 2 to 8 hrs
• Intermediate: 6 to 12 hrs
• Expert: 9 to 16 hrs

Difficulty

• 8/10

Notes

• This is the most challenging block of training, so it’s ok to have higher amounts of fatigue than normal. Lean on the Spoked readiness score to ensure you’re not over doing it too much
• For your longer efforts, it’s generally best practice to ride them on the turbo. However, don’t rely on ERG. mode too much, you want to be able to feel the power.
• If you want to increase your stress on the body, look to ride back to back days to create mini blocks

Recovery

Suggested weekly volume (will vary on ambition for goal)

• Beginner: 1 to 4 hrs
• Intermediate: 3 to 6 hrs
• Expert: 4 to 7 hrs

Difficulty

• 3-4/10

Notes

• Recover, recover, recovery
• Don’t look to play catch up, enjoy the downtime. Because when it comes to start training, you need to be ready to go again

Peak

Suggested weekly volume (will vary on ambition for goal)

• Beginner: 1 to 5 hrs
• Intermediate: 4 to 7 hrs
• Expert: 5 to 9 hrs

Difficulty

• 6/10

Notes

• A great week to test your FTP marker
• It’s all about freshening up
• Start to think about what plan you should ride next

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