16 Week BEGINNER LONG RIDE CYCLING TRAINING PLAN

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1 RG Active 16 Week Beginner Long Ride Cycling Training Plan Page 1 16 Week BEGINNER LONG RIDE CYCLING TRAINING PLAN

2 RG Active 16 Week Beginner Long Ride Cycling Training Plan Page 2 The NSPCC has teamed up with RG Active to be the charity s official training partner for running and challenge events. Putting together plans and providing tips and advice to make sure your training goes to plan and you stay injury free. Please find below a 16 week beginner cycling training plan to help you prepare for your long ride multi-day event such as London to Paris. If you have any questions about your training or need some advice on nutrition or injuries, please drop the team a line at Missed a session? From time to time your busy lives may get in the way of the training schedule, sometimes this is unavoidable, don t feel guilty! In this situation don t try and make up the session you ve missed, simply pick up your schedule as normal the following day. Refer to the session note on page 5 for further instruction on your weekly sessions.

3 RG Active 16 Week Beginner Long Ride Cycling Training Plan Page 3 MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Week 1 Session 1 - Test; complete once through to set yourself a benchmark for future efforts Week 2 Week 3 Session 1 - Repeat last week s effort aiming to beat power by 5-10W or Heart rate 5 bpm Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Session 1 - Complete the 4 min sets at as hard intensity as you can, then do the 6 min sets at RPE 5-6 Session 1 - reverse week; do the 6 min climb intervals first then the 4 min intervals Session 1 - alternate 4 min, then 6 min through this set Session 1 - Recovery week; complete only 2 of the 4 min and 6 min climbs Session - 4 free ride; gym bike/spin bike/turbo trainer low effort min. Just get the legs moving Session 2-2 x sets at a RPE 4-5 to set a benchmark for your easy effort Session 2-3 x set at the same level as your benchmark Session 4 - Spin class. Or gym bike with some music alt. fast and slow with music, make it up as you go along Session 2-4 x sets at same speed/power/intensity at week 5 Session 4 - Spin class or gym bike 60 min; Increase effort every 20 min. RPE 5, 6, 7 Session 3 - (60 min) Steady ride; get to know your bike, experiment with gearing and any new kit; shoes etc Session 3 - (75 min) Steady ride. Maintain a constant effort and smooth peddle movement Session 3 - (85 min) explore new roads and look for hills on your route Session 3 - (90 min) focus on endurance, trying to finish the ride in good form, don't set off too hard Session 3 - (1h 45m) experiment with fuelling on the bike. Work hard up the hills Session 3 - (2 hr) steady effort Session 3 - (2h 15m) - work in some hard efforts on the hills, recover on the flats. Session 3 - (2h 30m) - find a hilly route, expect lower average speed, but still working hard

4 RG Active 16 Week Beginner Long Ride Cycling Training Plan Page 4 MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Session 1 - all 4 min efforts, but higher RPE 7-8 Session 1 - all 6 min efforts with RPE 5-6 Session 1 - Start with an RPE 5 on the 4 min sets and work to an RPE 6 on the 6 min sets Session 1 - Increase efforts across the 4 & 6 min efforts RPE 5,6,7,5,6,7 Session 1 - reverse week; do the 6 min climb intervals first then the 4 min intervals Session 1 - all 6 min efforts with RPE 6-7 Session 2-4 x sets, first two at original effort level, second two at higher intensity. RPE 5-7 Session 4 - Spin class or evening ride if daylight/weather permits Session 2-4 x sets, each set getting harder than the previous. RPE 5, 6, 7, 8 Session 4 - "free ride", complete which ever session you'd like Session 2 - go out hard, put all your effort into the first set so that you experience fatigue on the following sets Session 2 - "Negative split" complete each interval at a slightly higher intensity than the previous Session 3 - (3 hr) do the route you did for your 90 min twice, and see if you can do each lap at the same speed Session 3 - (4-5 hour) easy effort as this is a large time increase. Add a rest stop Session 3 - (4-6 hours) add in some fast/hard hills Session 3 - (4-6 hours) steady ride, testing out any nutritional products that you may use on the day Session 3 - (5-6 hr) Try to ride with others to get used to working in a group Session hours, try to cover at least full distance so you know what to expect. Week 15 Session 1 - alternate 4 min, then 6 min through this set Session 2 - Switch to 10 min low gear high cadence, 5 min high gear low cadence Session 3 - (3-4 hr) taper distance Week 16 Session 1 - Taper week; complete only 2 of the 4 min and 6 min climbs Session 2 - taper week; complete only twice through but at high intensity Race day! Good Luck!

5 RG Active 16 Week Beginner Long Ride Cycling Training Plan Page 5 Session Information Session #1 - Climbing (Indoor; turbo/gym/watt bike) Approx 1 Hr Warm up: RPE 6 Main Set: 4 RPE 7-8 climbing (in saddle) 2 recovery 4 RPE 7-8 climbing (out of saddle) 2 recovery 4 RPE 7-8 climbing (in saddle) 2 recovery 6 RPE 7-8 climbing (out of saddle) 3 recovery 6 RPE 7-8 climbing (in saddle) 3 recovery 6 RPE 7-8 climbing (out of saddle) Cool Down: 10 RPE 5 & stretches Measure effort using indoor bikes power output (W) or rate of perceived exertion (RPE). You may do this session outside if you've a good size hill near you that takes around 4-6 min to ascend and do repeats, ideally with a little flat ground in between. Session #2 - Strength vs. Cadence (indoor or outdoor) min Warm up: 10 RPE 6 Main Set: 10 min high gear/over gear (cadence rpm) RPE 8 5 min low gear/light (cadence rpm) RPE 7-8 Cool Down: RPE6 & stretches This session is aimed at strengthening your legs and giving you a variety of cadence options to find your sweet spot, generally though a cruising cadence should be around 90 rpm. While midweek sessions may be more practical on an indoor trainer if, with longer daylight hours, you've the opportunity for riding outside in the week then add this in too. Session #3 - "Just ride", outdoor cycle The focus of this session is to just get out on the road, learn your bike, get used to time in the saddle and improve bike handling. This should be a low to moderate intensity session overall but you can add in random efforts when you feel such as attacking a hill or working hard on your favourite flat section. Explore a variety of routes, ride alone, with a friend or head out as a group. Try out hydration and nutrition that you might want to use. Depending on your starting ability aim to increase this steadily up to near the distance you'd be expected to ride in a day. Session #4 - Long ride alternative training (beg/int only) Longer event rides are particularly tough on first timers or those not used to the distance. Preparation for these events is about gaining fitness but also enjoying the event and training for it. Session 4 is your change to change up your training and give you a little freedom while also learning bike skills and improving cycle stamina. Here are some ideas; spin classes, Turbo training, commuting, rides with friends or family, or even just getting on a gym bike with some music on.

6 Rate of Perceived Exertion We will use the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale illustrated below to determine the intensity of your sessions. RG Active 16 Week Beginner Long Ride Cycling Training Plan Page 6 These will be highlighted in each session text to make it clear as to what is expected. This table helps you understand exactly how you should feel when executing the training session. Due to the nature of the scale, it is subjective and requires you to feel how your body is responding to the exercise, when doing this consider how your heart is pumping, how quickly you are breathing, how much you are sweating and how much discomfort you are experiencing in your legs. Please remember that everybody s RPE figure could be different to yours when exercising at the same speed because we all respond differently to exercise. RPE 0 Complete rest 1 Very Weak: I am just about moving 2 Weak: I am walking at a faster pace and can hold a conversation easily DESCRIPTION 3 Light: I am beginning to sweat a little, but can hold conversation throughout 4 Moderate: I am very happy at this effort 5 Somewhat Strong: I am sweating more heavily and starting to feel my breathing is becoming more stressed 6 Strong: I am beginning to feel more out of breath but could maintain this pace for a few hours 7 Very Strong: My breathing is very laboured, but I can still maintain pace for an hour without slowing 8 Hard: I am starting to struggle to hold this pace and my heart is racing and am sweating heavily 9 Very Hard: This is hurting and I can only hold this effort for up to 5mins 10 Extremely Hard: I am absolutely flat out and this is sprinting. I will need to stop after 30secs