Get fitter with one ride a week

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well it kind of is… but if you only have limited time or days to ride each week, then setting aside one ride as an all-out onslaught on your itness will reap you long-term benefits. Below are three training ideas to implement during a short to medium-duration ride on your local trails that should see you riding up and down faster and with more confidence. Invest a little, reap a lot!

1 SHRED SPRINT SHRED

Find a steep but steady hill with a good surface but preferably off-road. First though, ride for at least 15 to 25mins, starting slow but making sure to inish hard and shred some good trails for your warm-up. Once you’re at your hill, complete 4 5 reps of 20sec max-effort sprints from standing. Rest, play and relax for 4mins between reps. Once you’ve inished all the sprints, get back to shredding and inish your ride off in style!

2 TRAIN FOR PURPOSE

This is a variation on a classic enduro racer’s training session. Choose your favourite trail, anywhere in duration from 40secs to 3mins long. Complete a 10sec sprint from a standing start. Stop, rest and recover for anywhere from 10secs to 1min after your sprint. Change the length of your rest depending on what the trail demands or how fatigued you want to be when riding.

3 AGAINST THE CLOCK

Choose a loop, whether at a trail centre, in your local woods or a mix of whatever is available. Get the stopwatch out (phone, Strava, etc) and get to work. Riding under the accountability of the clock is priceless for improving itness. You can choose a loop that demands more or less pedalling, technical climbing, descending or repeat sprints as you like! Working on areas or weaknesses you want to improve is highly effective under the eye of the clock, as improvements are easy to measure.