Training FAQ: 12 questions - 12 answers
1. what is the minimum amount of time required for training?
Endurance training starts with three sessions per week. The minimum amount of time required to improve is around 5 hours a week - frequent cyclists spend 6 to 15 hours, competitive athletes even more. Professionals train for 30 hours or more.
2. how long do I have to recover from training?
This depends on your training status, age and the level of exertion. Normally, regeneration should be completed after 48 hours. However, violent actions and longer competitions can also result in much longer regeneration times, in extreme cases weeks.
3. should I exercise every day?
No. One or two rest days a week are always a good idea, even if you have a lot of time. You should make sure that your body really recovers thoroughly.
4 What is particularly important in endurance training?
Continuity. Strong endurance performance is only possible through many hours of training and a long-term build-up over the years. In second place is sufficient recovery to cope with training stimuli. Only those who recover sufficiently can become stronger. Recovery also includes sleep and nutrition. If you make compromises here, you limit your performance.
5 How do I know which intensity is right for me?
Around 80 per cent of your bike training should take place at an intensity that still allows you to talk to your training partner in full sets (basic training, GA1). However, not as relaxed as in the armchair, but a little more forced, so that after a set you are glad that the other person is now talking. Relaxed chatting characterises a more regenerative ride.
6 What does basic training mean?
Keep your cycling speed relatively low so that there is always enough oxygen available to optimise the use of your own body fat as fuel. During this moderate exertion, the body builds new cellular power stations and fine blood vessels to supply the muscles. The endurance muscle fibres are increasingly activated and learn to work together more efficiently. This training is the basis of all endurance training, hence the term "foundation".
7. can endurance training be shortened?
Only to a very limited extent. Absolute peak performance always requires a high time commitment. But you can organise training with varying degrees of efficiency within a given time budget and avoid so-called "junk miles" - periods of ineffective or even counterproductive training.
8 How important is talent for endurance sports?
Talent is necessary for absolute peak performance. But endurance is easy to train and always has a strong diligence component. Talent should therefore not be overrated. Outstanding performances are always the result of training diligence. Experts argue about whether there really are non-responders - people who do not respond to endurance training at all.
9. is training too slow?
From an efficiency point of view, yes. If the training is too light, it does no harm, but also achieves less than is possible. The very low intensity range (compensation range) is specifically designed to accelerate recovery after hard work.
10. how intensively do I need to train to get the best out of myself?
Pretty intense. But controlled. A maximum of 20 per cent of the training time is intensive; this also includes maximum loads, which are typical for races. The body is basically a lazy sock and does not do more than necessary. In order to trigger adaptations, it therefore needs new and powerful stimuli again and again.
11. can endurance training harm your health?
Yes, extreme endurance training with very high volumes over a long period of time is not ideal from a health point of view - just like any other high-performance training. For example, it can favour cardiac arrhythmia. When done in moderation, however, the health benefits far outweigh the risks. Short-term peak loads, on the other hand, are not considered harmful to the health of healthy people. It is advisable to have a sports medical examination before attempting high-intensity training for the first time.
12. what do I need to get started with the training?
A bike and a goal, nothing more. The training zones can be roughly categorised by feel. Heart rate monitors and power meters are additional aids for those who want to know more precisely.
