Is it better to focus on building hours or miles?

We ask the questions that beginners are dealing with and get answers from the experts...

ROB WAKEFIELD, LEVEL 3 COACH, PROPELLO.NET

“For a newbie cyclist the most important thing is just getting out on the bike frequently, having fun, exploring routes, getting to know your bike and understanding how your body feels when you put in certain levels of effort. Three rides a week is a good place from which you can make progress, gradually increasing the duration of your longest ride each week.

Don’t worry about mileage as this will be very dependent on topography. Start with say three times 60-minute rides in a week and build up to two times 90-minutes with one long weekend ride of three hours. Once you have progressed the volume of your riding to four to five hours a week you can then think about increasing intensity by including some hard efforts into your rides. For example, aim to keep your speed up on an undulating route by pushing harder on the up slopes and recovering on the downhill sections. Do this on a 60-minute ride and you will have a purposeful, unstructured interval session. Don’t try and PB every ride, wait until your legs feel fresh after a few days of rest. Now you will have progressed both volume and intensity to a level where following a training plan or engaging with a coach will be worth the expenditure.”

PAUL MILL, OWNER AND CYCLING COACH AT ELITECYCLING LTD “There are major benefits to both aerobic and anaerobic training sessions, but the key element in building a working training plan is to be honest with yourself and prescribe the right amount of training based on your life. Many coaches will identify this very early by asking for you to fill out a lifestyle audit form which includes your working hours, family commitments and any social or learning activities or regular meetings plus your time available for training and sleep. When it comes to miles or intensity my opinion is you need to include both – starting with a general aerobic-based plan for 12-14 weeks. The duration of hours would generally be prescribed at weekends but working closely with time available so not to disrupt the individual’s life. During the week there will be more emphasis based on slightly higher intensity but less volume and added workload for strength and flexibility. As the new year starts and we reach 6-8 weeks before events start the switch to the pre competition phase can start with volume now decreasing and intensity picking up. Working to specific goals is crucial – having these in place means a coach can periodise the training and work to help you achieve your perceived level and above for your major event. Mix your training up and to freshen things up work on different blocks of training.”

WORKING TO GOALS IS CRUCIAL A COACH CAN PERIODISE THE TRAINING AND WORK