Training
Week
Templates
Guide
A practical resource of training week frameworks you
can use to optimally sequence your workouts for
greater adaptations and performance improvements.
Contents
‣ ABOUT THIS GUIDE
‣ BASIC WEEK STARTING WITH RECOVERY DAY
‣ BASIC WEEK STARTING WITH TRAINING DAY
‣ EXAMPLE HIGH VOLUME WEEK
‣ EXAMPLE LOW VOLUME WEEK
‣ BASIC RECOVERY WEEK
‣ BASIC WEEK INCLUDING FITNESS TEST
‣ EXAMPLE WEEK USNG “BLOCK METHOD”
‣ EXAMPLE TAPER WEEK
‣ PEAK RACE WEEK FOR SATURDAY RACE
‣ PEAK RACE WEEK FOR SUNDAY RACE
‣ ADDITIONAL TIPS
About This Guide
Laid out below is a collection of the training week frameworks you can use for different periods in your
season or stages towards your fitness goals.
This guide includes weekly frameworks for basic training weeks, those you might use on a training camp (where
you’re afforded more training time), important recovery weeks, as well as high priority race weeks, so that
you can set yourself up for the greatest chance of success.
With every training week, we’ve also included an explanation of why a particular sequence has been chosen, the
goal of that weekly structure, as well as notes on how you might modify the template, bearing in mind these
example weeks do not need to be copied outright and should be adapted to suit your unique needs.
As always, if you have any questions at all, you can send them through to [email protected] and we’ll get
back to you with any advice we can offer.
Many thanks,
Tom & Emma
#1 Basic week starting with a recovery day
This template will likely be the one used most often, given that it’s a standard week and allows for a day of
recovery after the weekend, where it’s likely a lot of the week’s training volume was concentrated. This
recovery day is then followed by an interval session. It’s important to do this interval session in a rested
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recovery. The same principle then applies to the 2nd interval session of the week, which will likely target a
slightly different area of your fitness, but still in a high intensity application. Over the weekend, where
there is usually more training time available, the focus will be on aerobic efficiency, where either tempo or
endurance workouts are recommended. The maintenance session and development sessions can be switched around to
suit your schedule.
#2 Basic week starting with a training day
This is a variation of the basic week above, but is ideal for using after a recovery week, which is covered
later in the guide. The same best practices are applied here: (i) coming into key interval sessions rested so
that you’re able to hit those sensitive intensity targets and achieve the desired adaptations, (ii) following
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training do within these weeks depending on time in the season, current fitness etc. In addition, try to
gradually increase the training load of such a week as you get fitter and progress throughout the season
towards your key event dates. Increase this volume primarily through low intensity training and not by adding
in significant amounts of high intensity training, which the body can only handle a finite amount of before
under-recovery, over-training and physical and mental burnout arises.
#3 Example high volume week
For those with more time to train (either on a regular basis or for just a short time, like on a training
camp/cycling holiday for instance), the example week above can be used. This sequencing will provide a high
training stress whilst still leveraging two days of recovery. Such a week limits the amount of interval
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whereas there is little to no shortcut for achieving the intended adaptations from long-duration endurance
training, which happen as a function of time spent riding and not intensity. If you’re a cyclist who
consistently has more time to train and uses high volume weeks often, consider using this example and an
expanded basic week (lengthened endurance sessions and 2-3 interval sessions per week) for variety.
#4 Example low volume week
Those with relatively little time to train, especially throughout the working week, can use a week template
similar to the above for a lot of their plan. The full recovery days are used here so that the little time
that is available can be put into purposeful sessions, rather than spending time on recovery rides that may
not be needed given the lower overall volume. It’s important to raise the average intensity of the week to
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incorporate some long-duration riding into your week to develop your aerobic efficiency; this cannot be short-
cut by making training shorter and more intense. Keep these weekend endurance rides low in intensity to
facilitate these adaptations. Then in the 2-3 interval sessions in the week, make sure you give your best
effort in order to hit the intensity targets and see the greatest returns from these, which will move your
fitness onwards and upwards.
#5 Basic recovery week
Recovery weeks will differ from athlete to athlete, but should have the overarching goal of allowing fatigue
to subside, mental and physical energy to be restored and to build up motivation and drive for the next
training block. These weeks can be included with regularity (e.g. every 3-4 weeks) or in an on-demand fashion
for those more experienced. Try to include 2x full days off the bike primarily for motivational reasons, and
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These two sessions should be enough to maintain your fitness over the easy 7 days, but not cause any residual
fatigue. Try to end the week with a very easy ride or a day off, so as to ensure you’re entering the
proceeding week ready to train well again. The recovery rides in the week as well as the reduced-volume
interval session you choose for this kind of week can be tweaked according to your regular training load,
training history and understanding of what has and hasn’t worked for you in the past.
#6 Basic week including fitness test
Including regular fitness testing, especially if training with power serves two important purposes: 1) to
calibrate or re-calibrate your training intensity zones, so that workout intensity targets are set correctly
and 2) to measure progress in this area of your cycling fitness. With the HR-based tests (Threshold HR and Max
HR) these alone cannot give much/any insight into fitness improvements, but can be useful for setting training
zones.
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If you are used to higher volumes, feel free to make both days easy rides and increase the duration, but keep
the training plan.
lead-up to any subsequent tests the same so that you have comparable results. If inexperienced with
testing, try to schedule a few in the early part of the season to get a larger spread of results, and consider
trying out some of the various FTP testing methods included in the Complete Workout Library to see which one
works better. After the test day, you will likely feel quite energised rather than fatigued, given the
effort(s) is relatively short, so it may be possible to perform an interval session the day after. If not,
then stick with an endurance-focused session, where the goal of such a workout can still be achieved in the
presence of fatigue, given you can ride at a low intensity and still achieve the desired adaptations.
#7 Example week using “Block Method”
The “block method”, which over the course of a mesocycle (e.g. a 4 week period) can be called “block
periodisation” (article here), is a way of creating a concentrated stress load on the body in order to cause a
super-compensatory response (i.e. a spike in fitness) when adequate recovery afterwards is provided. You can
use this block method in a number of contexts: (i) as a short-term tapering strategy between a string of races
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training plan.and proceeded by days with no training time (e.g. due to travel). The example above shows a
block of intervals, where the intensity gets lowered over the course of the three days and interval duration
rises. However, this is just an example; experiment to see what kind of approach brings you the best results.
It is important to also understand that it is not just interval training that can be used - it’s possible to
also incorporate long-duration, low intensity endurance training within a block.
#8 Example taper week (1 week out from race)
The purpose of a taper period or week as shown above is to facilitate ideal “form” (a combination of high
fitness and low fatigue) as well as to include workouts that are race-specific, so that you’re physically,
mentally and technically ready for the demands of competition. This reduction in fatigue is brought about by
reducing the overall volume of the week, where the duration of low intensity training is reduced. This then
frees up energy to be distributed and applied elsewhere, in this case for a slight increase in the intensity
of interval sessions. Days off can be taken during this week, though best practice and the findings from
observational studies of top performers suggest that riding every day (even for very short periods) often
leads to better readiness and a more effective taper. The most important thing in this kind of week (which
will typically fall 2 weeks out from your target race) is to eliminate almost all workouts that are of medium
intensity. Training during this period either wants to be “on” or “off”, i.e. hard workouts or very easy
sessions.
#9 Peak week for Saturday race
This example week is what you will use to put the finishing touches to your form coming into a goal race or
event. You’ll see that much like the taper week, there are only hard sessions and easy sessions, and the
overall volume is brought down significantly to ensure that any fatigue that may get in the way of peak
performance is gone. Generally, a recovery ride two days before a race and then an ‘openers’ session the day
before works well. You can experiment with B and C-priority races to find the best approach for you. We’ve
seen cyclists have good results with the order of the recovery ride and openers session switched around, for
example. Although the race specific sessions shown above feature anaerobic workouts (which would be applicable
for MTB XC races, criteriums, cyclocross and short-mid length road races), it maybe that you need to use
supra-threshold and VO2max sessions if your racing will be longer duration and more aerobic in nature. On the
day of your event, try to use one of the warm up sessions from the Complete Workout Library and aim to finish
this as close to the start of the event as possible. A day off is then scheduled for the Sunday after the
event, though this could be a ride if desired.
#10 Peak week for Sunday race
This example week is what you will use to put the finishing touches to your form coming into a goal race or
event. You’ll see that much like the taper week, this week features almost exclusively hard sessions and easy
sessions, and the overall volume is brought down significantly to ensure that any fatigue that may get in the
way of peak performance is gone. In this example of a Sunday race, having a medium length, but low intensity
session mid-week often works well to relax the mind without adding any more fatigue. Generally, a recovery
ride two days before a race and then an ‘openers’ session the day before works well. You can experiment with B
and C-priority races to find out what maybe the best approach for you. We’ve seen cyclists have good results
with the order of the recovery ride and openers session switched around, for example. Although the race
specific sessions shown above feature anaerobic workouts (which would be applicable for MTB XC races,
criteriums, cyclocross and short-mid length road races), it maybe that you need to use supra-threshold and
VO2max sessions if your racing will be longer duration and more aerobic in nature. On the day of your event,
try to use one of the warm up sessions from the Complete Workout Library and aim to finish this as close to
the start of the event as possible.
Additional Tips
Finally, here are a few suggestions to make using these example training weeks more effective and to help you
better apply them to your own training and preparation:
• The weeks above have not included core strength or heavy-load strength training (weight lifting). However,
if time and your capacity to recover permits, these are highly encouraged. Two sessions per week are
generally needed if you wish to improve your strength (recommended to take place in the build-up to your
race season). However, one session per week is sufficient for strength maintenance (this lower volume might
be better during the race season). To save time, we recommend combining a core strength session with heavy-
load strength training. These strength sessions may initially mean one bike workout is sacrificed, though
once the muscles have adapted and residual fatigue (DOMS) is no longer a big problem, it should be possible
to successfully combine strength and on-the-bike training.
• Always lean on the side of recovery and be conservative when increasing intensity. Keep in mind that good
training is a long-term play and that it’s very easy to get mentally and physically burnt out from high
intensity training when this goes beyond a certain level (typically greater than 2-3x per week).
• Try to fill your training plan with a lot of variety, taking full advantage of all the different workouts
available to train a specific aspect of fitness. This will prevent the body from becoming desensitised to a
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certain intensity and workout design, and will mean that the adaptations you get from training are
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training plan.
• As you progress through the plan, try to conservatively increase the duration of your low intensity
endurance training, given that the adaptations you’re seeking happen as a function of time spent riding and
not intensity. This can be done simply by adding 10-15 minutes onto your key rides in the week, week-on-
week. This increase in duration does not have to happen indefinitely, but for most riders, progressing up to
around 4 hours will be very effective, unless your cycling discipline or racing demands require ride times
much longer than this.
Thank You
We hope that the training week templates laid out in this guide help you to gain greater performance
increases from your training time and energy investment.
If you have any questions about how to best implement a particular weekly template in your own training,
please get in touch at [email protected]. You can also drop us an email if you’re interested in our
help in creating a customised training plan towards a particular race or fitness goal, or indeed enquire
about our one-to-one coaching or physiological testing services.
You can find more info on each by clicking here: Our Services
© 2020 High North Performance
