Training hours per week vs results

[Craig Slow]

Hi,

 

Just interested in how many hours per week people are training vs their results.

 

I've been riding about two years, train 4-5 hours a week. My results are currently around mid-table in 30-50km events. (Age43)

[SciencetoSport]

It is quality over quantity when it comes to training. You can Ido 15hrs a week and get no result instead of doing 10 hrs and get a positive response to your training.

[Agteros]

Result on training will also be a function of natural ability and historical training, strength etc

[Azonic]

The only thing 15 hours a week has brought me right now is the worst flu I've had, ever.

[Agteros]

The only thing 15 hours a week has brought me right now is the worst flu I've had, ever.

Happened to me too last year. Up to 10+ hours of running and cycling per week = bronchitis

[rouxtjie]

Quality training + quality rest = results.

[goya-goya]

I have been busy with a Tour de France challenge... 3 hours a day on the indoor trainer at threashold... in 16 cycling days - 45 hours - I have only missed one day - exhaustion!... I do not feel ill at all... in terms of results... I think this is more bad than good! However... just to point out that training long hours is not bad if you eat well and do it indoors 60cm away from your TV!

[Mellow]

Important is to start off and decided how long you want to race. Your training should in part reflect at least 90% of your race time. The shorter the duration of your race time the more you should/can focus on the intensity. Longer races the endurance part takes over and you need long rides and training times.

 

30km races in Pretoria the winning time should be around 1hour (depending on climbing and technical difficulty) 5-6hours a week with a focus on intensity should get you close to a top 10% time. Unfortunately the youngsters are natural performers over the short distances.

 

50km races you will look at around 2hours race time. You will need at least a 3hour ride a week with tempo to keep the avg speed high. My estimate will be 8-12hours a week for top 10% finish.

 

As said training history and natural ability/crazyness play big part.

[NotSoBigBen]

10hrs a week and I'm riding the best I ever have, still a crap rider though ....

 

Then again I just love riding bikes so it depends why you ride? If it's all about results you should concern yourself with what you do in the hours more than how many ....

[Joe Low]

To me the OP is average age, doing the average training and coming halfway up the field - nothing wrong.

 

I found 6 hrs training a week made a big difference in race results, probably because there is a big tail off with most people not willing to make that extra time to train.

 

4-5 hrs is two average rides at the weekend and a spinning class. But, as others have said, it depends on intensity.

[Let's Ride]

Do you just ride on the weekends?

 

I can do 24 hours a week but if it's at a snails pace then no point.

 

So rather cut down the time but make the rides valuable. Push hard and ride.

 

Well that's what I do and it seems to work.

 

Edit: Sat and Sun club ride + - 5 hours.

 

Spinning class + - 2 hours.

 

Riding to work/shops etc + - 6 hours, but not always fast.

Edited July 16, 2012 by Let's Ride

[Enticement]

Training means nothing if it is not focused - the "riding vs training" argument. My Epic athletes do around 12-15(at the most) hours per week and achieve top performance. The question is always how many hours should one spend, well that is determined by the level of performance you expect, and then it is about optimizing the time you have to your disposal. If you follow the right sequence and do the right things right, you can improve strength with 60% within 3 weeks!

[Cheese]

Do around 8-10 hours a week. That gets me a 38-42 km/h avg in most races and around 36km/h at the Argus

[Bos]

I Find I cant sustain more than 10hours a week for to long. In fact mostly even when Im training hard I dont do much more(not saying you wont benefit from it) Its just very hard to have a balanced life, wife social life and be fair on people around me when doing more than 10 hours a week.

 

I got to a 2:54 argus time with roughly 10 weeks of specific and well structured training. I was aiming for a 3 day stage race 2 weeks before the Argus, so I followed a training programme for stage races.

 

I read Joe Friel's training bible and trained according to his "crash-training" plan. I customised it to the period I was willing to spend in a structured plan :10 weeks

3 weeks Increasing time in saddle (BASE)

2 hard weeks followed by a recovery week (build 1)

2 harder weeks followed by recovery week(build2)

one week taper before event.

 

If one is not aiming for one specific event, does one just keep putting in those "build " weeks around a month before bigger races and keep the volume up inbetween? I would like to know how thee guys putting in 20 hours keep track of riding or does racing become your intensity training and the rest of the time its 5 days riding 3-4 hours a day to keep the miles in the legs?

[Craig Slow]

Wow. Some really great advice. Thanks all for interesting views.

 

Tough commuting, working, family, social and training 8+ hours a week.

 

Sport is boring unless it is done at the top of one's potential. I guess stationary cycling the way to go.....

[The_Break]

I am a roadie. I rode for a couple of years fulltime overseas and was doing as much as 30hours per week at times of the season. I would say there is a definite truth in the more hours in the saddle the better your results will be, however it comes with deminishing gains from about 20 hours up. You do still gain over 20 hours however it is like the difference between a Ferrari vs a Lambo, not much in it. But yeah, the more you can train the better so for the average Jo who has a job there is no real limit to how much one should train other than how much rest can you get in and how well structured is your program from a recovery point of view.

 

The question you should ask yourself though, and trust me because I have been in almost all scenarios, is: What are the most important things in your life to you. Spend time on those things in quantities in the same order.