I just started to think a little bit about the on/off season here in the cold North. Naturally, when winter kicks in and inside riding is the only option, I ride less hours, but more quality training. Now its springy outside, and the urge to get outside, be in nature or just ride quaint contry roads is kicking in. Usually my volume goes up in the on season, but is this a problem that needs to be mitigated somehow? I think my indoor winter season is about 7-8 hours, but spring/summer/late summer can sometimes be 12 hours or more. Its a lot of easy rides, and races, but how should one think when balancing this up?
@Silje progressively increasing volume each week starting in Spring so that you get to 12hs a week is not a problem, as long as you still have recovery days (can still go outside but keep it easy and to 1h), and not all days are 2-3 hs long.
As you build volume progressively, your body adapts, and for fit riders that is sustainable until the Fall. I do this every season.
My outdoor season weeks typically look like this:
Monday- 1h easy spin
Tue- 90 min workout
Wed- 90 min workout
Thu- 90 min workout
Fri- 1h easy spin
Sat - workout or group ride - 2-4hs
Sun - workout/group ride/solo ride - 3-4hs
Then once every few weeks I’ll have a longer ride or a race. For longer rides I don’t change volume much but for races I reduce volume and if it is an A race, I also reduce intensity.
My main racing season is in the Fall, so at that point the volume goes down considerably and my workouts become very CX-specific, because I race every week for 3 months at the end of the year.
Does this give you an idea?
@dfriestedt does much longer events and rides, so he can get up to 10 hs on weekends alone during outdoor season.
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Yes, thank you for your reply! It makes sense 