Superb content - evidence based, to the point. Fast becoming one of the best cycling training and performance related channels on youtube. Many thanks for doing this.
Note to everyone... creating videos for UA-cam takes a lot of time. If Dylan is also training and coaching he may not have time to answer all questions. Thanks for the videos Dylan!
Hahahha same same , sorry dylan but I cant share this tip until I win a race hahaahhaa. Last time I used this I miss the podium half a wheel length. Th terrain is 3 short 200m climbs and flat out finish. I lost my sprint legs due to climbs iam 155 lbs that time and I was racing with 75ish lbs cyclist. Hahahaha
Man, I wish I had known this stuff years ago when I was killing myself 6 days a week and chronically tired... Fantastic stuff, thanks for putting this out.
LOL! Man, that's pretty straight no chaser. I usually watch these videos just before turning in for the night. Fitness is definitely a priority, but with 2 hours a day of daily commuting and family life (picking kids up 2 to 3 days a week from sports, tutoring, or music lessons) I'm definitely pushing it at 3 to 4 hours a week, regularly. No excuses, will definitely review and see what the schedule will allow. Might not be able to do more regularly, but I'm sure that I could find a little space that will allow for more. Thanks for the good info! Ride hard! Lean harder!
First of all, thanks for your great contents! Regarding the 6 hours, some people with full time job and family really struggle to find that time, especially in order to avoid conflicts with the spouse and feel guilty why not dedicating enough time to the kids. It is about keeping everything in balance. I "can" train 3 times per week and, living in Austria, in winter time I can just ride indoors my road bike. So 3-4 hours on the trainer doing intervals mostly and some Zwift race. So all 3-4 hours are pretty intense. In the summer I manage to have a 3h group ride on the weekend, so 5-6 hours per week in total.
Agree, I'm in a similar boat, I just can't ride 5 days a week along with all my other responsibilities and be a good husband. I train 3 days a week in the winter and managed to make some really good improvements. I think Dylan sometimes forgets that non pros and other amateur riders also like his content. I think the 6 hour comment was more directed at people trying to race seriously. There is no reason you cannot improve an 3-5 hours a week, that is plenty of time to do good, targeted training. I've gained about 80w in 8 months avging 4-5 hours per week.
You've put some useful information which is not just some random examples, but rather a way of training in general, the mindset and how to deal with time you have, which is invaluable. That's a lot for that.
Every part of the video was extremely helpful for me, especially because I have to commute to and from work 30 minutes each way 5 days a week. I know I need to step up some long rides. But that last bit about priorities and time management is important to acknowledge. Thanks for the push to take my training more seriously
Nice work. The intervals during the weekdays and a long ride on the weekend make a lot of sense. Appreciate you taking the time to put this together for us!
I went from July of last year weighing 265lbs with a newborn child and a full time job, and an ftp of 230. To now being 165 lbs and an ftp of 335 on about 6-8 hours a week
@@kirkshammett94 thanks, any tips on where to start? I'm overwhelmed with information, I weight almost the same as where you started. I started using a zwift ftp builder plan, then saw Trainer Road was better and was about to try it. And now I read that the absolute best is polarized training lol. I do 2 moderate fast group rides per week.
For someone like myself with bodybuilding as first priority and cycling 2nd with two hard and I mean HARD leg workouts with weights a week how shoukd I set up training to be a fast 1 hour racer. 4-5 hiurs training a week. I do 10+ hours in the gym a week. Right now I race on zwift 5 days a week riding races from 10 min to 70 min going basically as hard as I can every time. I suck at 60 min (can do 265 watts at best. 20 min 300 watts. But for 1 min im just under 800 watts. 5 sec is 1400. So im like best at 30 second sprints really but want to be really good at 20 min ftp effort.
Dylan, Thank you for the secret sauce. I have have 6 hours or maybe a little more. I wasn’t a long ride person, but I have switched thanks to you and my legs really like the long rides at level 2 and seem to get stronger later in my ride. I haven’t ride 2 hours on a day so e I was younger, but I will be adding that soon. I will definitely be a regular follower and look forward to your new videos.
Just discovered your channel today, what a treasure trove of information. I was lightly cycling for a number of years, 1-2 hours a week then when it was warm and three days a week on the elliptical and 5 or 6 months a year all training on the elliptical. I bought a good road bike in late 2017 and in 2018 enjoyed it a LOT, so I bought an indoor direct drive trainer. My FTP last October was 216 watts. Today it's about 270-275, hoping to get to 280 or so by mid/late October and be at 300 by next April. Needless to say these videos have been fantastic. Now, on to my questions, here's my workout schedule as it sits now, I just built this plan about 6 weeks ago due to plateau. Monday - Recovery Ride, a real recovery ride, about 35-40 mins in length, TSS score is roughly 16-20. Tues - 2x15 threshold intervals (277w), then some Z2/Z3/Z4 work after the intervals, typical ride length 1:10-1:25 and TSS of 90-110 Weds - Gym TSS 40-50 Thurs - Rest day (do nothing, literally nothing) Friday - Z2 workout approx 1:00-1:25, TSS roughly 55-60 Saturday - Group ride, varied intensity 40-55 miles, 2.5-3hrs and TSS 160-200+ Sunday - Anaerobic Intervals ride length 50-55 minutes TSS score 95-108 (I hit this hard), I come home, change clothes and hit the gym, mainly focused on upper body but I do hit the legs a bit (they're usually tired) with squats, extensions and hamstring curls, TSS of 50ish. After watching a few of these videos I really think I may need to move my intense intervals to Friday before my group ride and Sunday should be a Z2 ride before going to the gym? With a wife and two kids and a full time job, I don't have a lot more time in the week to workout, but am trying to squeeze in 7 to 8 hours on the bike and 2 in the gym. Any other recommendations on optimizing?
I have already finish 12 week time crunched cyclist plan ( TCC ) by Carmichael I always have big big problem with time with small children , work and wife. I am after 40, 3 seasons Ago I had about 10 hours per week , FTP around 310-320 - it was my best season, after that I become a father…. twice. In this season I train 3-4 time in a week 50% trainings was very short - 45-60 mins but intensive ...people says - too much intensive trainings , you are overtrained… maybe.. and I stuck arround 275W.... in March-April May with this number... Then I found this book, I made +-12 weeks plan - exercises in the book are little different but I think idea is the same. I still made 4 trainings per week - 2 of them were short 45-60 min, (but mosty very hard ) one about 90 min and one 120-150 min - more or less 5- to 6.5 hours r week... EFFECT ? I made my PB on 8min even better than few years ago in my best season ( however other parameters were little worse ) . My FTP rise about 10 to 15% from 275 to about 310 - average 1hour race power ( excl zeroes ) from 280 to 320 - for me it is BIG I expect 10- 20 watts but 40 is much more than I expect - so IT WORKS :)
I get 6 to 8 hours per week and do all the above intervals and agree with the importance of the long rides,however as a near 50 year should l swop out some rides for gym strength work? To keep muscle mass/strength.great advice btw.
The answer is not a yes or no. It will require dialogue. That’s going to be a charge. Not a freebie. Suffice to say absolutely gym training is paramount. How much, what exercise and rep configurations and more is required to answer.
Answer is yes. Most long cyclists are extremely weak. Don’t repeat their mistakes. If your goal is fitness then strength exercise is must. Cycling one day a week is enough.
We know how serious of a rider you are Dylan and your tips are excellent. Could you please explain to the public what it takes to be a endurance athlete at your level. Give us vivid detail of your recovery times and how to stay positive. When you raced you seem to have a more positive attitude for this sport than most others and it showed.
I'm so happy that I "found" your channel. Your content is among the VERY best quality on youtube. The fact that you make this information accessible for free is just amazing. Thank you!
Thanks for these videos! This and the 10-hour version go into a good amount of detail on how to structure a training week, but would it be possible to go into a bit more detail on your recommendations for structuring individual sessions? An interval session or an endurance ride can mean different things in different contexts, and it would be great to hear your thoughts about how best to design these kind of sessions depending on how much time you have, what sort of event you are targeting and how long until the event.
In particular, it would be great to hear your thoughts on what factors you consider when deciding on length, intensity, gradient and number of intervals, and what to shoot for in endurance and recovery rides
I spend an hour on the trainer every other day and have been focusing on sweet spot and Vo2 max intervals ranging from 10-40 minutes. It's tough to add in more time as I also spend 5 hours in the gym each week (some of that is leg training). This vid makes me want to squeeze out more time but at the same time I'm not a pro athlete, lol.
@@gerrysecure5874 That comment was from a few years ago. These days I still do some sweet spot in the off-season but accompany it with as much z2 as I can stand indoors. I think skipping sweet spot in the off-season would be a mistake. I think it prepares the legs for harder efforts later in the off-season. What do you do in the winter?
@@bluemystic7501 Hi, I do polarized Training year round. Mostly Zone 2 and occasionally 1-2x per week Z5 intervals. Only in summer shortly before competition (Olympic Tri) I do sweetspot and threshold to get a feel for the intensity. Its more mental than physicsl preparation. Almost inverse of what you do. But seems there is more than one way to skin a cat. I just ended a 90min Z2 Trainer ride on my veranda. When I was young (now I am 61) I did mostly sweetspot and threshold. I was not bad but not really good either. Felt always tired. I noticed after very long rides my performance jumped up noticably but I was too lazy for regular long rides > 3hrs. I tried to do it with lot of around 1hr threshold intensity work, but did not work out too well.
@@gerrysecure5874 Two years ago I did strictly polarized training as prescribed by Dr Seiler. The balance was better than the trainer road sweet spot method but there were still holes in my cycling abilities come race season. These days I still do the 80/20 approach but the '20' varies based on the time of the year. Right now my '20' is sweet spot. Next month I'll work on threshold. Come spring I'll hit Vo2 max. Always lots of z2 but my '20' changes over the year. It reminds me of something I heard on the trainer road podcast. Curious if you agree or not. 'You cannot neglect a skill in training and expect it to be there come race day'.
@@bluemystic7501 Completely agree. I don't do bike races, I do triathlon. Bike races have much more variability than tri which is basically a TT. My initial comment referred to sweetspot training which for me is pure specific race preparation and not part of build. I believe specifity is overrated in performance build. If you want to throw a spear you don't throw 100000 times. You build strength in the gym and throw for technique. Similarly you train muscular endurance and metabolism separately from max oxygen consumption. The combined result is better performance. I must admit however the publication of Nils van der Poel, a 10'000m Ice Skater, he did 7hrs daily of low intensity combined with shitloads of threshold turned my house of cards partly upside down. I recommend you google his publication how he prepared for Olympics. Interesting.
Hard truths and sound advice. Wow. You would have made a great Drill Instructor! Thank you so much for taking the time to make this AWESOME video. So much has been cleared up in my head. 👍🏽
This is so helpfull getting me on a higher level after recovering of an injury. Gives a good view into my own calender/schedule of the amount of hours available and needed. 👍🏻
I wish i found this channel soonner. I love GCN but mostly they talk about recipe while you talk about fundamental. I would love to try this type training but I have a problem about a bad traffic. I only have Sunday for less disturbed riding. Usually I used it for either 20x2 threshold or 2 hours tempo. From Monday to Saturday I can only patiently ride between cars before 20 mnt climbing in middle (2:30 hours z3). So - Sunday 20x2 over FTP. - Bike to work - bike to work. - Wednesday 1 hrs z3. + z4 20 mnt climbing + 1 hours sweet spot. - bike to work - bike to work - Saturday either 5 mnt vo2max x 5 or same as wednesday. - Sunday bike to work - bike to work - bike to work - Wednesday same - bike to work - bike to work - Saturday 5mnt x 5 vo2max - Sunday 2 hours less disturbed tempo.
Now that I finally get my cycling shoes, I'm gonna start to schedule my training following the advice you give in this video. Thank you for this information. Great video!!!
Just recently stumbled upon your channel really enjoying it. Could you do one for someone that can commuting Monday to Friday hour each way. Can dive on some week days. Keep up the good content
Thank you. This same plan can be applied to a commuter. Mondays and Fridays are good rest days if you can ride on the weekend. On your interval days do your intervals either on the way to or from work, whichever you prefer and have the other ride be easier. Hope this helps.
Great video again...... I'm planning to race the True grit 50 in a few weeks, and eventually the BCBR in July. Are you planning to create a video on preparation for a multi-day event?
I’m living your channel!! Thanks for the informative content!! I’d love a video on what I should do to taper for a road race. I can’t afford a coach and never fell I get taping quite right. I train about 12-15 hours a week by the way 😜
Thank you so much for your informative video. I'm not a bike racer, but definitely keen to improve my fitness through cycling, and this is very valuable information. Thanks again.
A couple seasons ago I rode only on the weekends with some buddies. 4hr MTB rides with very long climbs where we smashed each other. Rested all week basically. I will say I was pretty fit that fall. Rest is so important.
Very nice content! This channel will grow fast, subscribed! I ride MTB marathons in The Netherlands, so I am interested in your content. How do you train the week prior to a marathon?
Thx for the helpful information. I’m wondering how I can add some endurance training to my powerlifting. My goal is not to race. Since lifting is my main sport. But I want to do some bike packing and trail riding again. Mountain biking was for me a huge hobby 15 years ago. I would like to get back some of my old skills :).
I think it's a common misconception that it's about time. It's about motivation and energy which is a regenerating resource that depletes during the workweek. It's a resource that you spend on something that your job pays for. What keeps me from riding more is not the lack of time but a lack of energy and/or motivation. What I need time for is distraction free planning that helps me build up motivation for the workout. However it's nearly impossible to do after I get home from work with a million things still in my head.
I am 63, retired...have all the time in the world, but I just do 2x a week intervals...40 secs on x 20 off x 10x, the other session 8 secs on x 12 off x 20 mins. ..and add 2 rides one a 2 hr one, and another of 3 hrs, I do the intervals fasted...I practice IF, and Yoga helps inmensely!!
Anecdotally, I dropped my running mileage down to about a 3rd of what I was doing, and almost exclusively went into weight lifting. I still signed up for 5ks and 10ks, because racing is fun even when you aren't taking them seriously (maybe even MORE fun). My times improved dramatically. This is exactly what I did. Even if I did no running all week, I did not skip the long run. It sounds like endurance training patterns are true across multiple sports. That's comforting. It is a lot more difficult for me to get out for a ride than it is for me to go out for a run, so I was worried I just didn't have the time to pivot into mountain biking. Thanks for the content!
Dylan, really interesting videos! You mentioned leaving comments, wondered what you would suggest for someone like myself who works 12hr weekend shifts Fri-Sun. I have Monday to Thursday to ride my road bike, I’m 41, 83kgs and 3.5w/kg. Currently tend to do two wattbike sessions a week, one speed based on Monday and one endurance based on Thursday and usually will have a 2-3hr road ride on a Tuesday then Wednesday is a rest day. As the weather changes here in the UK I would aim to switch to all riding outdoors. Aiming to get fitter and be able to ride higher intensity for longer, have a 140mile Sportive with a lot of climbing in June but no racing or anything of that kind of intensity. Cheers!
I would do the reverse of this video. Higher volume during the week and try to fit in a short high intensity session in the weekend if you can. Thank for the comment!
Awesome video! As a roadie who wants his Cat 2 upgrade and who works a full time job with family/friends/life obligations, this video really hit home. I rarely post comments on UA-cam but your video(s) deserves it. Keep up the great work.
You're totally right about the schedule part. Nobody's that busy. Do less of something else to fit in more bike hours throughout the week. Quality content my guy!
Great training videos! I’m quickly becoming a fan. One question - You mention the fat burning adaptation that comes at the latter part of longer rides. Should I not refuel during longer training rides, to encourage that adaptation? I’ve been having a gel about every hour on my 2 and 3 hour rides.
This is a slippery slope as you DO NOT want to bonk but yes riding with low glycogen stores has been shown to have beneficial effects. This has been tested more with fasted training but in the latter part of a long ride you are also glycogen depleted so it would have the same benefits.
Many many great videos Thx I might be wrong but I can’t see you recommending over/under’s at any point. OU’s seem ideal for specific long climb preparation.
Hi Dylan! I'm just new in your channel and I love it ! The science behind all your speech. I've got a big questions. I signed up for a moutain bike race for October for a 40K with more than 3000mts, but I do also have a Xterra Triathlon race so I need to out some running and swimming as well. My strength is the run for sure and I do need to improve a lot my biking. But since I have every day a training besides Sunday. Currently I do bike 3 times per week. What do you think j about that .. Any suggestions. Again thank you for all this time you are putting in !
These videos are amazing. I always struggle with where to fit techy mountain bike rides that aren’t structured but definitely don’t fit into the Z2 rides without getting off and pushing. Would these be good to substitute into the easier tempo interval days? They’re usually a mix of sweet spot, threshold, and anaerobic efforts so they don’t fit in great for a normal interval session.
Great video. A video about "how much do I need to ride to maintain my current fitness level" would also be nice. I train around 8-13 hrs in the week and find it okay to get a medium high fitness.
"If you're training for an ultra endurance event." Probably train more than 6 hours a week. :D I actually did this with a fairly short ramp up to 8-10 hours at the end for a 60+ milers 9-12 hours depending on how fit you are. I was at the tail end of that, the lack of miles in training definitely showed. Love the insight on these vids BTW, great work!
Hi I got the book and it really helps for a registered nurse like me working 12 hour shifts a day. This content is a Godsend. Question, would you still need a long off-season like 4-6 months whilst on the 6-10 hour/week training? Thank you.
Great vid! I am following your recomendations but am wondering if commuting is benificial or not. I ride 13km to get to work and back. Total km that is. Thanks!
Hey Dylan. Awesome videos! With the weekend (and great weather here) coming up. At what pace should I do my endurance rides? I have a power meter. Thx!
Hi Dylan, love the videos. Question: your endurance or Zone 2 miles seem to be done at about 40 TSS per hour. I've been doing endurance rides at between 68-72% FTP, which works out to about 50-52 TSS per hour, and generally has my HR in mid Zone 2, trending towards high Zone 2 by the end of the ride. Do you think I would get more out of these rides (in terms of necessary endurance adaptations) by dialing it back a bit and staying lower in Zone 2?
My problem is long rides inside are essentially impossible. I have not found a way to not go numb on a long ride (took me a while to find a way to not go numb on a short ride). The other problem is finding a safe place to ride without a lot of lights close to home, which then adds to the time of training.
Hey Dylan, great content! Not sure if this has been asked in the comments, but where would you recommend inserting weights on your 5 day 6 hour training example?
just started training but more seriously and found this channel and I think I’ll spend a lot of time here! didn’t realise training was going to be so complicated Haha I downloaded a sufferfest plan onto training peaks Callander but then to make it work for me, I follow the plan in the correct order but write them out on paper and just do them on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. I do a long ride on Sunday. and then Tuesday and Thursday are gym days with a upper/lower split. Saturday is a rest day/girlfriend day 😂 I mtb so my ‘long’ ride is usually only 3 hours with a coffee stop. Week is as follows - 3 sufferfest turbo trainers to plan = 3 hours (ish) 3 hours on Sunday (best case) = 6 hours 2 hours in gym = 8 hours per week my weeks feel pretty hard but that’s still only 8 hours a week! 😩 Does that amount of training warrant a rest week? I Ride with a power so can keep my Sunday’s in zone 2-3. Appreciate anyone’s opinion on what I could change/improve
I know this video has been around for a few years, but I have a questions regarding prescribed cadence during an interval. I'm following your 6h training plan purchased from Training Peaks. I'm in my 3rd week of the plan and wonderfully suffering for the gains. For the long threshold intervals, I have trouble meeting the cadence range and need to pedal around 10 RPM lower in order to not blow up to complete the 4x15 intervals. I'm riding this indoors using ERG mode. I wonder if I should turn down the difficulty in order to hit the cadence target, or soldier on at the set power with a lower cadence? I guess the ultimate question is what to choose between. Pick higher power at lower cadence, or lower power at higher cadence? Thanks in advance. Your videos helped me make many leaps in cycling.
Hi Dylan, this is really a great video! Thanks! Just curious if there is a good ressource for interval progressions? Would that be the time crunched cyclist or elsewhere?
yes, but power meter is more efficient as it helps you to lock you in, into the right training zone. Using HR as a reference has more risk to be off, as the HR can vary depending on how fatigues you are, outside temp etc.
@@rcs2003 I guess for someone with tons of experience. Depending on how the week went so far my PRE was all over the place. Some days felt easy, the other days felt impossible. Certainly a power meter helped me a lot. Only issue here: If you did not go to your maximum during FTP test, the power zones are also off.
Love your videos man! I am experimenting with heart rate variability (HRV) to optimize my training. I am so stuck on time :-). I am so wondering what your take is on HRV in general and what your tips and tricks are.
Thanks for this helpful video. I found it interesting and motivating. What do you thing of this: Monday: endurance (or gym?) - 1hr Tuesday: rest Wednesday: hiit / vo2 - 1,5hr Thursday: rest Friday: threshold - 1hr Saturday: rest Sunday: MTB social ride Z3 - 1,5hr followed by a 1hr endurance ride (back home) So my "training week" starts Wednesday so to speak. I've got 3 to 4 days a week to ride (I work full-time and want to see my gf from time to time) The Sunday mtb ride is fixed. Is it possible to ride a MTB ride in zone 3? Does it Make sense to do a endurance ride afterwards?
I like to go for the, " RIde until you're not depressed anymore." Method.
Same
@@2120musiclover Same
Me too
Word
Yea, true...
Superb content - evidence based, to the point. Fast becoming one of the best cycling training and performance related channels on youtube. Many thanks for doing this.
Thanks Steve!
heyyy buddy, wouldn't you want to do a specific training week for xc racing? @@DylanJohnsonCycling
I teach physiology at a large university. This is a great channel and I love the citations to primary literature.
Note to everyone... creating videos for UA-cam takes a lot of time. If Dylan is also training and coaching he may not have time to answer all questions. Thanks for the videos Dylan!
You got drunk by listening to the video..
10:14 - "But you've just watched a 10+ minute video, and let me guess, you're probably about to watch another one" :O I feel personally attacked
attac not attack ;)
I swear I only watch youtube on rest days...
It’s all so good. I’m just worried the other riders in my age group will find this.
@Matteo Brayden Yup, I've been watching on flixzone} for since december myself :)
haha. which age group are you
Hahahha same same , sorry dylan but I cant share this tip until I win a race hahaahhaa. Last time I used this I miss the podium half a wheel length. Th terrain is 3 short 200m climbs and flat out finish. I lost my sprint legs due to climbs iam 155 lbs that time and I was racing with 75ish lbs cyclist. Hahahaha
Tried this approach and got significant improvements just after 10 weeks! Thank you!
Man, I wish I had known this stuff years ago when I was killing myself 6 days a week and chronically tired... Fantastic stuff, thanks for putting this out.
LOL! Man, that's pretty straight no chaser. I usually watch these videos just before turning in for the night. Fitness is definitely a priority, but with 2 hours a day of daily commuting and family life (picking kids up 2 to 3 days a week from sports, tutoring, or music lessons) I'm definitely pushing it at 3 to 4 hours a week, regularly. No excuses, will definitely review and see what the schedule will allow. Might not be able to do more regularly, but I'm sure that I could find a little space that will allow for more. Thanks for the good info! Ride hard! Lean harder!
This is one of my fav channels on youtube. Fantastic all around.
straight up life advice about priorities at the end of this video. key to productive life, not just cycling.
First of all, thanks for your great contents! Regarding the 6 hours, some people with full time job and family really struggle to find that time, especially in order to avoid conflicts with the spouse and feel guilty why not dedicating enough time to the kids. It is about keeping everything in balance. I "can" train 3 times per week and, living in Austria, in winter time I can just ride indoors my road bike. So 3-4 hours on the trainer doing intervals mostly and some Zwift race. So all 3-4 hours are pretty intense. In the summer I manage to have a 3h group ride on the weekend, so 5-6 hours per week in total.
Agree, I'm in a similar boat, I just can't ride 5 days a week along with all my other responsibilities and be a good husband. I train 3 days a week in the winter and managed to make some really good improvements. I think Dylan sometimes forgets that non pros and other amateur riders also like his content. I think the 6 hour comment was more directed at people trying to race seriously. There is no reason you cannot improve an 3-5 hours a week, that is plenty of time to do good, targeted training. I've gained about 80w in 8 months avging 4-5 hours per week.
I've just spend six hours watching youtube tips, now I need to have to incorporate my rest days.
As someone new to “properly” cycling for a few months with the aim to maybe compete in a year I find this information amazing. Thank you. 🙌🏻
You've put some useful information which is not just some random examples, but rather a way of training in general, the mindset and how to deal with time you have, which is invaluable. That's a lot for that.
Every part of the video was extremely helpful for me, especially because I have to commute to and from work 30 minutes each way 5 days a week. I know I need to step up some long rides. But that last bit about priorities and time management is important to acknowledge. Thanks for the push to take my training more seriously
Nice work. The intervals during the weekdays and a long ride on the weekend make a lot of sense. Appreciate you taking the time to put this together for us!
You're putting out some great content, dyude. Keep it up!
Dyude! Thanks man. Giving this youtube thing a go.
DW in tha house!
Really enjoying your simple, well informed, common sense training advice. Much appreciated. Thank you.
I went from July of last year weighing 265lbs with a newborn child and a full time job, and an ftp of 230. To now being 165 lbs and an ftp of 335 on about 6-8 hours a week
On this training plan alone?
@@jonhalda not really I mostly did my own training plan
@@kirkshammett94 thanks, any tips on where to start? I'm overwhelmed with information, I weight almost the same as where you started. I started using a zwift ftp builder plan, then saw Trainer Road was better and was about to try it. And now I read that the absolute best is polarized training lol. I do 2 moderate fast group rides per week.
What did your training look like? How many days on the bike each week, and how much zone 2 and intensity?
Great summary for the keen amateur cyclist with a job and family!
One of the best cycling coach channels on YT!
For someone like myself with bodybuilding as first priority and cycling 2nd with two hard and I mean HARD leg workouts with weights a week how shoukd I set up training to be a fast 1 hour racer. 4-5 hiurs training a week. I do 10+ hours in the gym a week. Right now I race on zwift 5 days a week riding races from 10 min to 70 min going basically as hard as I can every time. I suck at 60 min (can do 265 watts at best. 20 min 300 watts. But for 1 min im just under 800 watts. 5 sec is 1400. So im like best at 30 second sprints really but want to be really good at 20 min ftp effort.
Oh wow. Random Greg Doucette comment from 3 years ago before the channel was big.
@@Raumance I only know the guy by name, where is he now ?
@@FlyingPastilla He has a million subscribers on his channel...
@@Raumance You don't say...
I meant cycling-wise, I don't take advice from roidies lmao
This is quality right here!
Thanks Josh!
Bravo. Young and Smart. The way I like it. Just in time video for being a mastermind of the own training approach. Thank you very much!
Dylan, Thank you for the secret sauce. I have have 6 hours or maybe a little more. I wasn’t a long ride person, but I have switched thanks to you and my legs really like the long rides at level 2 and seem to get stronger later in my ride. I haven’t ride 2 hours on a day so e I was younger, but I will be adding that soon. I will definitely be a regular follower and look forward to your new videos.
Just discovered your channel today, what a treasure trove of information. I was lightly cycling for a number of years, 1-2 hours a week then when it was warm and three days a week on the elliptical and 5 or 6 months a year all training on the elliptical. I bought a good road bike in late 2017 and in 2018 enjoyed it a LOT, so I bought an indoor direct drive trainer. My FTP last October was 216 watts. Today it's about 270-275, hoping to get to 280 or so by mid/late October and be at 300 by next April. Needless to say these videos have been fantastic.
Now, on to my questions, here's my workout schedule as it sits now, I just built this plan about 6 weeks ago due to plateau.
Monday - Recovery Ride, a real recovery ride, about 35-40 mins in length, TSS score is roughly 16-20.
Tues - 2x15 threshold intervals (277w), then some Z2/Z3/Z4 work after the intervals, typical ride length 1:10-1:25 and TSS of 90-110
Weds - Gym TSS 40-50
Thurs - Rest day (do nothing, literally nothing)
Friday - Z2 workout approx 1:00-1:25, TSS roughly 55-60
Saturday - Group ride, varied intensity 40-55 miles, 2.5-3hrs and TSS 160-200+
Sunday - Anaerobic Intervals ride length 50-55 minutes TSS score 95-108 (I hit this hard), I come home, change clothes and hit the gym, mainly focused on upper body but I do hit the legs a bit (they're usually tired) with squats, extensions and hamstring curls, TSS of 50ish.
After watching a few of these videos I really think I may need to move my intense intervals to Friday before my group ride and Sunday should be a Z2 ride before going to the gym?
With a wife and two kids and a full time job, I don't have a lot more time in the week to workout, but am trying to squeeze in 7 to 8 hours on the bike and 2 in the gym.
Any other recommendations on optimizing?
Yup, I’d recommend moving the intervals to Friday. I think your schedule looks very good. Keep it up!
I have already finish 12 week time crunched cyclist plan ( TCC ) by Carmichael
I always have big big problem with time with small children , work and wife.
I am after 40, 3 seasons Ago I had about 10 hours per week , FTP around 310-320 - it was my best season, after that I become a father…. twice.
In this season I train 3-4 time in a week 50% trainings was very short - 45-60 mins but intensive ...people says - too much intensive trainings , you are overtrained… maybe..
and I stuck arround 275W.... in March-April May with this number...
Then I found this book, I made +-12 weeks plan - exercises in the book are little different but I think idea is the same. I still made 4 trainings per week - 2 of them were short 45-60 min, (but mosty very hard ) one about 90 min and one 120-150 min - more or less 5- to 6.5 hours r week...
EFFECT ? I made my PB on 8min even better than few years ago in my best season ( however other parameters were little worse ) . My FTP rise about 10 to 15% from 275 to about 310 - average 1hour race power ( excl zeroes ) from 280 to 320 - for me it is BIG I expect 10- 20 watts but 40 is much more than I expect - so IT WORKS :)
It’s crazy that all of this info is free. Thanks Dylan!!
I get 6 to 8 hours per week and do all the above intervals and agree with the importance of the long rides,however as a near 50 year should l swop out some rides for gym strength work? To keep muscle mass/strength.great advice btw.
The answer is not a yes or no. It will require dialogue. That’s going to be a charge. Not a freebie. Suffice to say absolutely gym training is paramount. How much, what exercise and rep configurations and more is required to answer.
Answer is yes. Most long cyclists are extremely weak. Don’t repeat their mistakes. If your goal is fitness then strength exercise is must. Cycling one day a week is enough.
Solid content. Thanks for the great videos and best of luck with your channel. Subscribed!
Awesome! Thanks.
We know how serious of a rider you are Dylan and your tips are excellent. Could you please explain to the public what it takes to be a endurance athlete at your level. Give us vivid detail of your recovery times and how to stay positive. When you raced you seem to have a more positive attitude for this sport than most others and it showed.
I'm so happy that I "found" your channel. Your content is among the VERY best quality on youtube.
The fact that you make this information accessible for free is just amazing.
Thank you!
Thanks for these videos! This and the 10-hour version go into a good amount of detail on how to structure a training week, but would it be possible to go into a bit more detail on your recommendations for structuring individual sessions? An interval session or an endurance ride can mean different things in different contexts, and it would be great to hear your thoughts about how best to design these kind of sessions depending on how much time you have, what sort of event you are targeting and how long until the event.
This would be great for another video. Thanks for the suggestion.
Dylan Johnson thanks!
In particular, it would be great to hear your thoughts on what factors you consider when deciding on length, intensity, gradient and number of intervals, and what to shoot for in endurance and recovery rides
Dang giving it to us straight about priorities. Love it!
I spend an hour on the trainer every other day and have been focusing on sweet spot and Vo2 max intervals ranging from 10-40 minutes. It's tough to add in more time as I also spend 5 hours in the gym each week (some of that is leg training). This vid makes me want to squeeze out more time but at the same time I'm not a pro athlete, lol.
I would skip the sweet spot and concentrate on longer Z2 (endurance) and shorter above threshold vo2max intervals.
@@gerrysecure5874 That comment was from a few years ago. These days I still do some sweet spot in the off-season but accompany it with as much z2 as I can stand indoors. I think skipping sweet spot in the off-season would be a mistake. I think it prepares the legs for harder efforts later in the off-season. What do you do in the winter?
@@bluemystic7501 Hi, I do polarized Training year round. Mostly Zone 2 and occasionally 1-2x per week Z5 intervals. Only in summer shortly before competition (Olympic Tri) I do sweetspot and threshold to get a feel for the intensity. Its more mental than physicsl preparation.
Almost inverse of what you do. But seems there is more than one way to skin a cat.
I just ended a 90min Z2 Trainer ride on my veranda.
When I was young (now I am 61) I did mostly sweetspot and threshold. I was not bad but not really good either. Felt always tired. I noticed after very long rides my performance jumped up noticably but I was too lazy for regular long rides > 3hrs. I tried to do it with lot of around 1hr threshold intensity work, but did not work out too well.
@@gerrysecure5874 Two years ago I did strictly polarized training as prescribed by Dr Seiler. The balance was better than the trainer road sweet spot method but there were still holes in my cycling abilities come race season. These days I still do the 80/20 approach but the '20' varies based on the time of the year. Right now my '20' is sweet spot. Next month I'll work on threshold. Come spring I'll hit Vo2 max. Always lots of z2 but my '20' changes over the year.
It reminds me of something I heard on the trainer road podcast. Curious if you agree or not. 'You cannot neglect a skill in training and expect it to be there come race day'.
@@bluemystic7501 Completely agree. I don't do bike races, I do triathlon. Bike races have much more variability than tri which is basically a TT.
My initial comment referred to sweetspot training which for me is pure specific race preparation and not part of build.
I believe specifity is overrated in performance build. If you want to throw a spear you don't throw 100000 times. You build strength in the gym and throw for technique. Similarly you train muscular endurance and metabolism separately from max oxygen consumption. The combined result is better performance. I must admit however the publication of Nils van der Poel, a 10'000m Ice Skater, he did 7hrs daily of low intensity combined with shitloads of threshold turned my house of cards partly upside down.
I recommend you google his publication how he prepared for Olympics. Interesting.
Hard truths and sound advice. Wow. You would have made a great Drill Instructor! Thank you so much for taking the time to make this AWESOME video. So much has been cleared up in my head. 👍🏽
This is so helpfull getting me on a higher level after recovering of an injury. Gives a good view into my own calender/schedule of the amount of hours available and needed. 👍🏻
I wish i found this channel soonner. I love GCN but mostly they talk about recipe while you talk about fundamental.
I would love to try this type training but I have a problem about a bad traffic.
I only have Sunday for less disturbed riding. Usually I used it for either 20x2 threshold or 2 hours tempo.
From Monday to Saturday I can only patiently ride between cars before 20 mnt climbing in middle (2:30 hours z3).
So
- Sunday 20x2 over FTP.
- Bike to work
- bike to work.
- Wednesday 1 hrs z3. + z4 20 mnt climbing + 1 hours sweet spot.
- bike to work
- bike to work
- Saturday either 5 mnt vo2max x 5 or same as wednesday.
- Sunday bike to work
- bike to work
- bike to work
- Wednesday same
- bike to work
- bike to work
- Saturday 5mnt x 5 vo2max
- Sunday 2 hours less disturbed tempo.
I know my problem will be solved by a trainer. But yeah the problem is the money. I don't like cheap trainer. Tried one and so meh...
Now that I finally get my cycling shoes, I'm gonna start to schedule my training following the advice you give in this video. Thank you for this information. Great video!!!
Excellent video! Great advice and analysis!
Thanks!
Just recently stumbled upon your channel really enjoying it. Could you do one for someone that can commuting Monday to Friday hour each way. Can dive on some week days. Keep up the good content
Thank you. This same plan can be applied to a commuter. Mondays and Fridays are good rest days if you can ride on the weekend. On your interval days do your intervals either on the way to or from work, whichever you prefer and have the other ride be easier. Hope this helps.
Great video again...... I'm planning to race the True grit 50 in a few weeks, and eventually the BCBR in July. Are you planning to create a video on preparation for a multi-day event?
Yes! I'll be doing some stage racing myself so expect that.
I’m living your channel!! Thanks for the informative content!! I’d love a video on what I should do to taper for a road race. I can’t afford a coach and never fell I get taping quite right. I train about 12-15 hours a week by the way 😜
Great idea!
this guy deserve more subscribers!
Thank you so much for your informative video. I'm not a bike racer, but definitely keen to improve my fitness through cycling, and this is very valuable information. Thanks again.
A couple seasons ago I rode only on the weekends with some buddies. 4hr MTB rides with very long climbs where we smashed each other. Rested all week basically. I will say I was pretty fit that fall. Rest is so important.
Very nice content! This channel will grow fast, subscribed! I ride MTB marathons in The Netherlands, so I am interested in your content. How do you train the week prior to a marathon?
Your honesty is so motivating! Really! Thanks for your videos! 🙂👍
Spot on, this guy is the best I have seen yet!
Great info Dylon
Great, i needed to rewatch that. Shared it with 10 ppl similar to me. Great stuff i really enjoy ur videos
Great quality to length ratio for those of us working on power to weight.
Thx for the helpful information. I’m wondering how I can add some endurance training to my powerlifting. My goal is not to race. Since lifting is my main sport. But I want to do some bike packing and trail riding again. Mountain biking was for me a huge hobby 15 years ago. I would like to get back some of my old skills :).
I think it's a common misconception that it's about time. It's about motivation and energy which is a regenerating resource that depletes during the workweek. It's a resource that you spend on something that your job pays for. What keeps me from riding more is not the lack of time but a lack of energy and/or motivation. What I need time for is distraction free planning that helps me build up motivation for the workout. However it's nearly impossible to do after I get home from work with a million things still in my head.
Thanks for this one Dylan, exactly what I needed!
I am 63, retired...have all the time in the world, but I just do 2x a week intervals...40 secs on x 20 off x 10x, the other session 8 secs on x 12 off x 20 mins. ..and add 2 rides one a 2 hr one, and another of 3 hrs, I do the intervals fasted...I practice IF, and Yoga helps inmensely!!
Love to see an update.
thanks dylan for another great content 🙏👍
Another great video!
Becoming even more relevant in lock down. I miss riding outside
Anecdotally, I dropped my running mileage down to about a 3rd of what I was doing, and almost exclusively went into weight lifting. I still signed up for 5ks and 10ks, because racing is fun even when you aren't taking them seriously (maybe even MORE fun). My times improved dramatically. This is exactly what I did. Even if I did no running all week, I did not skip the long run.
It sounds like endurance training patterns are true across multiple sports. That's comforting. It is a lot more difficult for me to get out for a ride than it is for me to go out for a run, so I was worried I just didn't have the time to pivot into mountain biking.
Thanks for the content!
Great info, good point on time management. Some constructive criticism or just knit-picking but your audio has a lot of reverberation.
Dylan, really interesting videos! You mentioned leaving comments, wondered what you would suggest for someone like myself who works 12hr weekend shifts Fri-Sun.
I have Monday to Thursday to ride my road bike, I’m 41, 83kgs and 3.5w/kg. Currently tend to do two wattbike sessions a week, one speed based on Monday and one endurance based on Thursday and usually will have a 2-3hr road ride on a Tuesday then Wednesday is a rest day.
As the weather changes here in the UK I would aim to switch to all riding outdoors. Aiming to get fitter and be able to ride higher intensity for longer, have a 140mile Sportive with a lot of climbing in June but no racing or anything of that kind of intensity.
Cheers!
I would do the reverse of this video. Higher volume during the week and try to fit in a short high intensity session in the weekend if you can. Thank for the comment!
@@DylanJohnsonCycling Thanks for the reply much appreciated.
Great content. My hours lately seem limited by weather. Thanks for the explanation on where to add time to your rides
Awesome video! As a roadie who wants his Cat 2 upgrade and who works a full time job with family/friends/life obligations, this video really hit home. I rarely post comments on UA-cam but your video(s) deserves it. Keep up the great work.
You're totally right about the schedule part. Nobody's that busy. Do less of something else to fit in more bike hours throughout the week. Quality content my guy!
Thanks. great helpful video for my schedule. Curious what is considered "Tempo" ? Is that 75-90% of FTP? Thank you
Great training videos! I’m quickly becoming a fan. One question - You mention the fat burning adaptation that comes at the latter part of longer rides. Should I not refuel during longer training rides, to encourage that adaptation? I’ve been having a gel about every hour on my 2 and 3 hour rides.
This is a slippery slope as you DO NOT want to bonk but yes riding with low glycogen stores has been shown to have beneficial effects. This has been tested more with fasted training but in the latter part of a long ride you are also glycogen depleted so it would have the same benefits.
Great content, thanks dude!
Thanks Dylan, excellent
I like this and I'm going to give it a try
I found the Endurance rides at 50% FTP like cycling air as my FTP is low. So I did it as Z1/s sub MAF HR (
Great content and keep sharing 👍
Great video loaded with content.
Many many great videos Thx
I might be wrong but I can’t see you recommending over/under’s at any point.
OU’s seem ideal for specific long climb preparation.
Certainly makes a lot of sense as measured against my experiences.
Solid information,
excellent presentation, very helpful, thanks for taking the time to put this together in a way that is very practical, easy to understand and apply.
Hi Dylan! I'm just new in your channel and I love it ! The science behind all your speech. I've got a big questions. I signed up for a moutain bike race for October for a 40K with more than 3000mts, but I do also have a Xterra Triathlon race so I need to out some running and swimming as well. My strength is the run for sure and I do need to improve a lot my biking. But since I have every day a training besides Sunday. Currently I do bike 3 times per week. What do you think j about that ..
Any suggestions. Again thank you for all this time you are putting in !
These videos are amazing. I always struggle with where to fit techy mountain bike rides that aren’t structured but definitely don’t fit into the Z2 rides without getting off and pushing. Would these be good to substitute into the easier tempo interval days? They’re usually a mix of sweet spot, threshold, and anaerobic efforts so they don’t fit in great for a normal interval session.
Great video. A video about "how much do I need to ride to maintain my current fitness level" would also be nice.
I train around 8-13 hrs in the week and find it okay to get a medium high fitness.
"If you're training for an ultra endurance event." Probably train more than 6 hours a week. :D
I actually did this with a fairly short ramp up to 8-10 hours at the end for a 60+ milers 9-12 hours depending on how fit you are. I was at the tail end of that, the lack of miles in training definitely showed.
Love the insight on these vids BTW, great work!
Haha very true!
I feel kinda bad that I only put 12 hrs a month on my bike...
Hi I got the book and it really helps for a registered nurse like me working 12 hour shifts a day. This content is a Godsend. Question, would you still need a long off-season like 4-6 months whilst on the 6-10 hour/week training? Thank you.
Thank you . This is good
I’m watching it during my coffee break 😎
Great vid! I am following your recomendations but am wondering if commuting is benificial or not. I ride 13km to get to work and back. Total km that is. Thanks!
Thanks for the content! In your examples you have Tempo sessions and Steady State sessions. Could you please explain the diffrence? Thanks a lot!
Hey Dylan. Awesome videos!
With the weekend (and great weather here) coming up. At what pace should I do my endurance rides? I have a power meter.
Thx!
Hi Dylan, love the videos. Question: your endurance or Zone 2 miles seem to be done at about 40 TSS per hour. I've been doing endurance rides at between 68-72% FTP, which works out to about 50-52 TSS per hour, and generally has my HR in mid Zone 2, trending towards high Zone 2 by the end of the ride. Do you think I would get more out of these rides (in terms of necessary endurance adaptations) by dialing it back a bit and staying lower in Zone 2?
My problem is long rides inside are essentially impossible. I have not found a way to not go numb on a long ride (took me a while to find a way to not go numb on a short ride). The other problem is finding a safe place to ride without a lot of lights close to home, which then adds to the time of training.
Hi Dylan, really great content! Are sweet spot sessions worth including as intervals during winter?
Hey Dylan, great content! Not sure if this has been asked in the comments, but where would you recommend inserting weights on your 5 day 6 hour training example?
just started training but more seriously and found this channel and I think I’ll spend a lot of time here! didn’t realise training was going to be so complicated Haha
I downloaded a sufferfest plan onto training peaks Callander but then to make it work for me, I follow the plan in the correct order but write them out on paper and just do them on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. I do a long ride on Sunday. and then Tuesday and Thursday are gym days with a upper/lower split. Saturday is a rest day/girlfriend day 😂
I mtb so my ‘long’ ride is usually only 3 hours with a coffee stop.
Week is as follows -
3 sufferfest turbo trainers to plan = 3 hours (ish)
3 hours on Sunday (best case) = 6 hours
2 hours in gym = 8 hours per week
my weeks feel pretty hard but that’s still only 8 hours a week! 😩
Does that amount of training warrant a rest week?
I Ride with a power so can keep my Sunday’s in zone 2-3.
Appreciate anyone’s opinion on what I could change/improve
I know this video has been around for a few years, but I have a questions regarding prescribed cadence during an interval. I'm following your 6h training plan purchased from Training Peaks. I'm in my 3rd week of the plan and wonderfully suffering for the gains.
For the long threshold intervals, I have trouble meeting the cadence range and need to pedal around 10 RPM lower in order to not blow up to complete the 4x15 intervals. I'm riding this indoors using ERG mode. I wonder if I should turn down the difficulty in order to hit the cadence target, or soldier on at the set power with a lower cadence?
I guess the ultimate question is what to choose between. Pick higher power at lower cadence, or lower power at higher cadence? Thanks in advance. Your videos helped me make many leaps in cycling.
Hi Dylan, this is really a great video! Thanks! Just curious if there is a good ressource for interval progressions? Would that be the time crunched cyclist or elsewhere?
"The Time-Crunched Cyclist: Race-Winning Fitness in 6 Hours a Week" is possible to do it without a power meter?
yes, but power meter is more efficient as it helps you to lock you in, into the right training zone. Using HR as a reference has more risk to be off, as the HR can vary depending on how fatigues you are, outside temp etc.
@@danb7808 Maybe if you feel right the perceived effort that can help a lot.
@@rcs2003 I guess for someone with tons of experience. Depending on how the week went so far my PRE was all over the place. Some days felt easy, the other days felt impossible. Certainly a power meter helped me a lot.
Only issue here: If you did not go to your maximum during FTP test, the power zones are also off.
Love your videos man! I am experimenting with heart rate variability (HRV) to optimize my training. I am so stuck on time :-). I am so wondering what your take is on HRV in general and what your tips and tricks are.
Awesome, there is a bit of science on HRV and I think it's a great metric to use. I'm planning to do a whole video on it at some point so stay tuned.
Thanks for this helpful video. I found it interesting and motivating. What do you thing of this:
Monday: endurance (or gym?) - 1hr
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: hiit / vo2 - 1,5hr
Thursday: rest
Friday: threshold - 1hr
Saturday: rest
Sunday: MTB social ride Z3 - 1,5hr followed by a 1hr endurance ride (back home)
So my "training week" starts Wednesday so to speak.
I've got 3 to 4 days a week to ride (I work full-time and want to see my gf from time to time) The Sunday mtb ride is fixed. Is it possible to ride a MTB ride in zone 3? Does it Make sense to do a endurance ride afterwards?
Good Stuff. Thank You.