Westportif Training Plan Week 4

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At last a recovery week, but this does not mean you can binge on cakes just yet. You can save that luxury for after you finish the Westportif. A recovery week is a week for reduced training volume as you have 4 rest days this week. Concentrate on drinking plenty of water, eating plenty of good food and getting a good nights sleep to aid the recovery of sore muscles and an adapting body. Next week we start to work again.

• Week 1: Build
• Week 2: Build
• Week 3: Build
• Week 4:  Recovery
• Week 5: Build
• Week 6: Build
• Week 7:  Recovery
• Week 8: Build
• Week 9: Build
• Week 10:  Recovery/Westportif Event

Week 4 beginner plan for 80K route:

What do the various Training Levels mean?

Base
This effort is around 5 out 10. It should feel fairly easy and be manageable for a long duration of exercise. You should be able to hold a conversation.

Tempo
This effort is around 7 out of 10. It should feel fairly hard but manageable for medium length efforts, it will be used often in the plan.

Threshold
This effort is around 8-9 out of 10, used in short to medium length intervals and will form an important part of the plan.

Max
10-10 maximum efforts only held in short bursts to build your high end speed.

Spinning
Don’t spin in the big ring on the front of your bike. Always stick to the bottom ring if you have two or the middle ring if you have three rings. This will increase your cadence (leg speed), using cardio not muscular effort.

Core

1. 3 x 5 to 10 push ups (If you are starting off try 5 reps.)
2. 3 x 5 to 10 sit ups  (If you are starting off try 5 reps.)
3. 3 x 10 to 20 seconds plank  (If you are starting off try 10 seconds.)

Building up your core strength is important in helping you become a better cyclist. Don’t neglect it.

We will be back with more training advice over the coming weeks so check out www.westportif.ie.

Happy training
The FitScience Team