In the first 'Lesson' on how to use the Spinervals Cycling Series, I went into some background of the Series and offered an example of a basic rotation or program. In this article, I'd like to address a few more details regarding the Spinervals Series and give you some more insights on how to incorporate them into your winter training program, especially during the month of December and into January.

"Professor" Coach Troy teaching a Spinervals 101 Class.

Winter used to be a time when cyclists hung the bike in the garage and called it quits. Now, winter is the perfect opportunity to actually hone various cycling skill sets as well as to build fitness in preparation for the outdoor riding season of spring and summer.

The key to maximizing your indoor bike-training program is to have a plan. While random training that is unstructured can certainly maintain your fitness, it is unlikely to give you significant gains, especially if you've been training consistently for a period of three years or more. And why waste time? If you're going to invest in a program and commit the time and energy, you may as well achieve your best results. Every workout should have a purpose and that's the intent of the Spinervals Series.

The first thing to do is to define your cycling goals. Since there are as many goals one can have as there are grains of sand on the beach, I'll use the example of completing a century bike ride (100 miles) comfortably and at your best pace in September, or roughly 8-10 months from now. Once you have your 'priority one' event in mind, you can work backwards to start laying out your training routine.

As any serious cyclist knows, the principle of 'periodization' (the idea of varying your training throughout the year) is crucial to successful training over the long term. Using this principle, now is the time that I'd recommend my athletes focus on developing their aerobic base (or foundation) along with focusing on improving their pedaling mechanics (i.e. the ability to pedal comfortably and efficiently at high cadence and to maximize power output with the least energy cost). At the same time, it's important to activate each energy system and muscle fiber composition type so that your gains from the past season don't decline. This is all good news because it means that you can have variety in your training routine and variety is important for motivation and maintaining a strong desire to ride.

Therefore, in December and January, the focus will be on aerobic base building and skill development with a touch of 'anaerobic work' to keep those fast twitch muscle fibers strong and sharp, along with the nerves that are responsible for making them spring into action.

As most people who are familiar with my training philosophy know, I believe that frequency on the bike is a key to success on the bike. The more often you hop on the bike, the better. If you have 6 hours a week to ride, I'd rather see you ride 30 minutes on 6 days a week than 2 hours on 3 days a week.

So, assuming you can ride 4-6 days a week and keeping the points in mind I mention above, here's a sample week of training for the rest of December, targeting the recreational rider with around 5-hours a week to commit to their cycling program.

SAMPLE DECEMBER SPINERVALS TRAINING WEEK: INTERMEDIATE RECREATIONAL/FITNESS CYCLIST

Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: Spinervals 21 (1 hour of steady state aerobic base workout)
Wednesday: Spinervals 12 (a 45 min. technique workout)
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Spinervals 101 -- Workout B (30 min. intermediate speed and anaerobic power session)
Saturday: Spinervals 25 ( 2 hrs of aerobic base training)
Sunday: Rest Day

This program outlines a 4-day training week consisting of around 5 hours of cycle training. On Tuesday and Saturday the focus is on aerobic base training with 'aerobic intervals' as well as some technique work. Monday and Thursday are 'rest days' from the bike and could be used as strength training days or cross training cardio days where you hop on the elliptical machine at the gym or go for a swim. (NOTE: Strength training is not the focus of this article but it is recommended that athletes add a strength training component to their fitness routine, at least 2-3 days per week.) Wednesday is a technique focused workout where you'll focus on leg speed and pedaling mechanics and Friday (Spinervals 101) includes a short (30 minute) but intense workout with a variety of sets that will target your anaerobic energy system.

Overall, this sample week of training works to accomplish the goals of aerobic base building, skill development and will keep your muscles 'sharp' and 'quick' and prepare it for even harder training in the future. There are almost an unlimited number of choices contained in the Spinervals Series that will enable you to meet the basic rotation as shown in the sample workout above.

Have fun with the program and train with a purpose this winter!

To view the entire Spinervals Series, Click HERE. Members of CoachTroy.com receive 20% on all DVDs at Checkout!

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