Plyometrics...

As noted in my earlier blogs plyometrics will play a key role with my off-season training this year. Instead of lots of lifting I will try to build explosive power using my own body weight. 15 years ago my body responed well to these types of workouts and I noticed incresed power after 6-8 weeks. Heres how a workout will look like...



*workouts will total 1 hour min for the day*

Warm up: 5 minutes jogging
Stretching: 5 minutes

squat jumps
From a partial to full squat stance jump straight up and pull your knees to your chest. 10 reps.

1 leg jumps
From a partial to full squat stance same as above but you are jumping with only one leg and not so much pull to the chest. 8 reps per leg.

broad jumps
Again from a squat stance jump foreward as far as you can landing back in a squat. 16 jumps

slide board
After completing the workouts above hit the slide board until you have worked out for a total of 45 minutes.

Finish with a 15 minute jog



Yeah theres a lot of detail im leaving off like technique but heres a key point to what I will acomplish with this...... Explosive power workouts combined with a hard latic acid tolerance workout on a slide board will make my legs tougher than any bike ride can give me. If I had a nice long hill to climb every week it would give the same result but im in west Tennessee. If you dont think a slide board will make your legs burn think again. If I didnt have a slide board there are plenty of plyo workouts like low walks, skate strides, etc that would work.

Above all my HR on these days will stay pretty high in zone 3/4 range for the ENTIRE workout.

Little more *but not much* detail on how my cycling training will work for the next few months

These are my "must do's" for the next few months:

#1 I will be training 100% by power and using WKO to track CTL/ATL/TSS. Will use this data to calcuate easier weeks and how much I should eat based on the riding I plan on doing. It will take a few months to get good hard data (45 days min).

#2 Train at tempo pace until Jan 1st with one hard ride being Trinity. I am not "in shape" yet so that hard ride will drop me every week I bet. That is fine and will not discourage me one bit. You lose it fast but it also returns fairly quick. 4 months is not that long of a layoff IMHO.

#3. Jan 1st start sweet spot training (IE 2x30 minutes in SST zone three days a week). I will need to test my FTP around Jan 1st to see where I stand. Hoping that im back on track with the Trinity group and if so I can use my FTP from last year for now.

#4 March 1st start doing pure FTP intervals (IE 2x30 at FTP).

#5 April 1st start doing V02max intervals one day a week (IE 4x5 minutes at 112% FTP) & two days of 2x20 @ FTP. First race will be mid April.

Oh and one more thing....

#6 10% body fat or less by April 15th


Now this may be impossible but its still my target. I dont know my exact % right now but ill guess 17%. Where I am today really has no bearing on where I should be come spring. I plan on seeing a doctor for a true BF test this spring if possible

2010 off-season training program

I learned a lot last year about how weight lifting impacts cycling. Hitting the gym 3 days a week helped burn calories but in the end did NOTHING for my cycling. It did give me a break from riding the trainer 5 days a week so that was a plus. Running gave more bang for the buck as I got more cardio so that will stay in my program for this year. Also I started way too early last season (October), started racing too early (Feb), and tried to hold intensity through the year. It all came to a crashing halt in July.... Everybody is different and at least I found my limit. Now I can work with my lessons learned with this years plan. Every week I will update this blog with my plan and current status. Please comment, share, or flat out flame me for what I am doing wrong.

Posting my workouts helps keep myself in check and gives me a chance to "think out loud". This is my only reason for maintaining this blog.

For the next two weeks I am just going through the motions if you will working out every single day with no real direction except for time spent. My butt needs to get used to the saddle again and I dont want to injure myself. So for now im riding four days a week and going to the gym three *15 minutes cardio and 20 minutes doing a light full body lifting circuit*. After I complete the next two weeks my plan will be as follows..



Dec/Jan plan overview

Mon = Gym *30 minute running/cardio 45 minute light weight circuit*
Tue = Bike *Brother loop or trainer for 1-2 hours*
Wed = Phase 1 plyo workouts + slide board
Thurs = Bike *trainer for 1-2 hours*
Fri = Gym *30 minute running/cardio, 45 minute light weight circuit*
Saturday = Group ride or trainer build to 3+ hours in the saddle
Sunday = Solo ride or trainer build up to 3+ hours in the saddle

Goal here is for 9-12 hours of work per week SLOWLY ramping up the weights and watts each week

Feb/March plan overview

Mon = Gym *30 minute running/cardio 45 minute light weight circuit*
Tue = Bike *Brother loop or trainer for 1-2 hours*
Wed = Phase 2 plyo workouts + slide board
Thurs = Bike *trainer for 1-2 hours*
Fri = Phase 2 plyo workouts + slide board
Saturday = Group ride or trainer build up to 4+ hours in the saddle
Sunday = Solo ride or trainer build up to 4+ hours in the saddle

Goal here is for 12-14 hours of work per week SLOWLY ramping up the weights and watts each week


Ill detail what phase 1 and 2 plyos I have in mind next week.

I hit the reset button.....

Wow no posts in quite some time for me. Got burned out a little bit and had some life issues that required my attention. Things are starting to stable out a bit so im now back on the bike and training for next year. I did plan on taking a break in August until now so not that big of a setback....