SwissVan Posted July 17, 2012 Share 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 trick in this situation is to optimize your available time and to eliminate waste mileage / time. Have a goal and train towards that, if possible get a training program from a coach with your goal in mind. Spend more of your valuable time doing quality training instead of “just going out for a ride” with no clear goal. 8 – 10 hrs is more than enough for the average person to achieve a great result in your typical 100km road event or mtb XCO / marathon event. Enticement 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oltremo Posted July 17, 2012 Share 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.Thanks for that input ... It is motivating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bianchisti Posted July 17, 2012 Share 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! From what kinda base would that be? Sounds a bit extreme if we talking about an athlete who is in decent shape already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zook Posted July 17, 2012 Share 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. Agreed. Ages back, when I thought Lance was the bees knees, I realised "If Lance was doing my job, no way would he be riding all week and weekend. He'd be doing what his job was, as well as he could." So I love riding and my weekly effort wanders between 0 and 12 hours depending on the goal and season, but my life isn't about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wipeout2 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Agreed. Ages back, when I thought Lance was the bees knees, I realised "If Lance was doing my job, no way would he be riding all week and weekend. He'd be doing what his job was, as well as he could." So I love riding and my weekly effort wanders between 0 and 12 hours depending on the goal and season, but my life isn't about that.+1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 17, 2012 Share Training fro 5150: 1 hour weights, 1 hour spinning, 45min swim.Some days I'll swap the Weights for Running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiny K Posted July 17, 2012 Share I do 5 hours a week max (4hr weekend rides and try get a 1hr IDT in during the week in the winter) and do quite well in the alphabet soup (PPA). My mileage is based on quality, not quantity. I have been cycling, 98% road, since October 2009 - did a 2:53 Argus this year from the A bunch Edit: my focus is more on family life and not being a racing snake....... although I do kill myself trying to do so in races....... Edited July 17, 2012 by Tiny K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rattlesnake Posted July 17, 2012 Share I think one should focus on training smart, not just hard.Fixation on hours should not be the focus. I monitor my hours, but I use the total hours per week to break it down into the different training modes; - Endurance- Tempo- Speed- Recovery I spend 60-65% of hours in endurance zone and then do 1-2 focused tempo / speed / climbing sessions of 60-120 minutes, the type depending on how far away I am from my target event and the characteristics of the route. Oh, and I take 2 days out of every 7 off my legs completely. i.e. no weights training or cycling I always follow a tempo session up with a recovery ride the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goya-goya Posted July 17, 2012 Share If you like cycling... do it as much as you like - (more pictures for the juveniles) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bianchisti Posted July 18, 2012 Share I do 5 hours a week max - did a 2:53 Argus this year Edit: my focus is more on family life ....... Thanks for making us all feel slow and bad for not spending enough time with our families. Edited July 18, 2012 by Androni Giocattoli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Break Posted July 18, 2012 Share Thanks for making us all feel slow and bad for not spending enough time with our families. Don't stress, I have the solution for you. Andro, MTBcrazy and Tiny K 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissVan Posted July 18, 2012 Share Training fro 5150: 1 hour weights, 1 hour spinning, 45min swim.Some days I'll swap the Weights for Running. they now have triathlons with weight lifting as one of the events, is this beofre or after the swim? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometime Posted July 18, 2012 Share I do 5 hours a week max (4hr weekend rides and try get a 1hr IDT in during the week in the winter) - did a 2:53 Argus this year from the A bunch 2h53 Argus puts you in the top 200 of the race this year with almost the same time as the winning ladies and serious veteran riders like Robert Sim (Masters leader of Cape Epic this year until his partner crashed), Shan Wilson (Multiple Epic class winner), the Beneke brothers etc. I know they all put in multiples of 5 hours a week to achieve those results - you've obviously got real cycling talent and should consider giving up your day job and becoming professional. cadenceblur 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let's Ride Posted July 18, 2012 Share 2h53 Argus puts you in the top 200 of the race this year with almost the same time as the winning ladies and serious veteran riders like Robert Sim (Masters leader of Cape Epic this year until his partner crashed), Shan Wilson (Multiple Epic class winner), the Beneke brothers etc. I know they all put in multiples of 5 hours a week to achieve those results - you've obviously got real cycling talent and should consider giving up your day job and becoming professional. It's like Lance saying he did 1 hour a week. Take what is said on the hub with loads of salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometime Posted July 18, 2012 Share It's like Lance saying he did 1 hour a week. Take what is said on the hub with loads of salt. Don't worry I keep a bucket of salt at my desk when I'm reading the Hub and it suddenly got a lot emptier this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bianchisti Posted July 18, 2012 Share 2h53 Argus puts you in the top 200 of the race this year with almost the same time as the winning ladies and serious veteran riders like Robert Sim (Masters leader of Cape Epic this year until his partner crashed), Shan Wilson (Multiple Epic class winner), the Beneke brothers etc. I know they all put in multiples of 5 hours a week to achieve those results - you've obviously got real cycling talent and should consider giving up your day job and becoming professional. 196 to be exact. I think this small K has some explaining to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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