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16 hours per week training program

August 26, 2006 by Jesper Bondo Medhus 8 Comments

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This training program is designed for serious riders who already have a solid mileage. I will recommend that you use a heart rate monitor or even better a power meter in your training.

During short intervals a heart rate monitor is worth nothing because the reactions from the cardiac system are delayed with a few minutes.

This article is very useful for beginners: Introduction to training with power meters. A heart rate monitor is still valuable, it is motivating to train with and it is a good education to see how your body performs and reacts during training. So don´t throw your heart rate monitor away!

In this program Tuesday and Thursday are the days for interval training. Mondays and Saturdays are recovery days. I suggest you do a short 5 min interval the day before the race day. After three weeks of intensive training I recommend you take a recovery week with less training, less intervals but at the same high intensity as usual. It is also important to be serious when you are not training. I am talking about optimizing your recovery.

When you are ready to spend 16 hours per week on training, you should at least consider why you are doing it. Try to write down some of the goals you want to achieve. Also remember to write down your performance in some kind of a diary. It can be very useful for you later. I will come back later with an article about how to write a training diaries.

Here is the training program:

ÂMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
app.16hr1,5hr recovery4hr
—
3x(3+3)min
V02 max
3hr
—
4x200m sprint
3,5hr
—
2x10min AT
Rest1hr easy ride.Race, 3hr.
app.16hr1,5hr recovery4hr
—
3x5x(40+20)sec. V02 max
3hr
—
4x200m sprint
3,5hr
—
4x(3+3)min V02 max
Rest1hr easy ride.Race, 3hr.
app.16hr1,5hr recovery4hr
—
2x10min AT
3hr
—
4x200m sprint
3,5hr
—
3x5x(40+20)sec. V02 max
Rest1hr easy ride.Race, 3hr.
app.10hrRest2hr
—
2x(3+3)min VO2 max
2hr
—
4x150m
2hr
—
2x4x(40×20)sec VO2 max
Rest1hr easy ride.Race, 3hr.

.

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About Jesper Bondo Medhus

I am a medical doctor with a special interest in cycling training. I work at the Hospital of Vejle using clinical physiology and nuclear medicine to diagnose cancer and heart patients. I have written two e-books: Time Effective Cycling Training and 12-Week Winter Training Program.

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Comments

  1. Simon Burgess says

    August 5, 2008 at 10:13 pm

    Great website! Loads of useful information.
    Just one question:
    My commute takes me 2 hours (its a flat ride) slightly more if I keep hr < 60% (like on a Monday rest day) .
    The other option is to do 40 mins spin at work on the spinner bikes.
    Which is the better option for a monday rest day (40 mins spinner bikes or 2 hours commute?)
    NB: I have been racing for a while now with good results and progression up to elite mtd, nowadays I am road racing and working my way up the categories there. I have just bought a powertap instead of the HRM, I am wondering if you would like to use me for some power tests or anything in 2009?

  2. jack says

    March 24, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    Can someone please tell me what means “2×4x(40×20)min VO2 max” and “2×10min AT”. thanks

  3. marvin says

    September 18, 2009 at 12:06 am

    same question as jacks, please tell me what is “2×4(40×20)min and whats the difference between vo2max and threshold

  4. Jesper Therkildsen says

    September 18, 2009 at 6:58 am

    I’m talking about seconds, not minutes. Please look at the training program again. 🙂

    Jesper

  5. rob says

    April 12, 2010 at 5:27 am

    does this program repeat itself after the 4 weeks are up? does it get more complex?
    thanks, excellent site

  6. steve says

    September 24, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    sup peps just had quick look at website……. its pretty helpful when it comes to training for cycling events. =)

  7. maziar farzad says

    July 6, 2011 at 12:32 pm

    Please comment on the training track and the speed for me! Planning and implementing training
    thank you.maziar farzad

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