12 Week Pre-Season Training Program
The fastest cyclists will put in training time during Winter and Spring. How fast do you want to be for the upcoming season?
Here's what it looks like:
- Full plan is 12 weeks long
- Starts March 31st→June 21st, 2025
- Jump in any time, but more riding = better fitness
- It’s free to team members and coaches
- This is meant to be an easily executed, excellent program for any of our adolescent riders. Coaches, feel free to jump in if you want to keep up in the Fall.
- Workouts are based on RPE (your perception of how hard you are working on a 1-10 scale)
- These training sessions will be posted on Stack TeamApp weekly in pdf format
- You can print them out or follow the instructions on your phone or tablet
- Best if completed using a heart rate monitor
- Each Sunday I will post the weekly workouts
Workouts will post in the documents section on Stack TeamApp,
- Each week includes 6 days of awesomeness:
- 2 strength sessions (done w/ basic strength pdf or thru Hansen Athletics if you choose)
- 2 interval sessions (I'll provide the pdf file for download each week)
- 2 fun ride/long ride days
- 1 rest day (Ride hard, recover harder!)
Anyone who plans to do the preseason workouts will need the following:
- A Strava account (this is how we track your rides). Join the Pocatello Pioneers group to track your mileage.
- A smartphone or tablet
- A speed sensor for your bike
- A trainer (smart or old school trainer will work)
- A tracking app (Wahoo, Garmin, TrainerRoad, etc) to track your rides
A Wahoo speed sensor is $39, the Garmin Speed Sensor 2 is $34. Both serve the same purpose. Both will pair to the Wahoo app on your phone, and the app can be linked to Strava. Either sensor can strap to your rear hub and record distance, speed and time for your training sessions.
Let us know if you have questions. Our coaches can walk you through it.
Please consider pre-season race opportunities. Pedalfest is traditionally held the 3rd weekend of May.
The Intermountain Cup series in Utah is a great series. Please take advantage of any and all races leading up to July. It gives you great experience and lets you measure up with competitive riders in your age group. https://www.redrockbicycle.com/articles/intermountain-cup-pg1261.htm
Want to train but don’t have a trainer?
Our team purchased 3 Feedback Sports trainers for riders to use during the off season. They can adapt to be used on most any size or type of bicycle. These can be checked out for the Winter/Spring for preparation for our season. Since these are limited in number if you choose to utilize one you will be expected to fully participate in the preseason training plan.
If you are interested, please contact Russ Bartholet or Jordon Marshall to get you set up.
Please text, email or call with any questions. Happy winter training!
Files coming soon.
Off-SeasonWeekly StrengthWorkouts
Strength Intro
Here’s the progression folks. All of our home strength sessions will go in this order with the changes being the exercises in each section and sets and reps. After a few weeks this will be easy to do and remember.
**You should be able to complete each Strength workout in 45min - 1hr. easy...
- Warmup: yes, even you young people need to warm up before using those muscles. Try to feel like you’re starting to sweat by the end of your warmup. That means you are ready to go.
- Examples: easy bike spin, balance board, juggle, chase a chicken like Rocky Balboa
- Core: You are going to work your abs (6 pack), your obliques (love handles), and back. Each of these areas gets a dedicated exercise because all 3 are important.
- Push/Pull: just like it sounds, pushups and pullups, or similar movements
- Squat: We’re going to strengthen your quads (front of your thighs), hamstrings (back of your thighs) and glutes (butt muscles) to make you a stronger pedaler and hopefully help you pedal longer
- Single Leg RDL's: This works your posterior chain (the back of you). This is key to dial in your attack position for descending and also helps with pedaling.
- Explosive movements: These are to tie together your strength session and the aerobic component of cycling. This makes you strong while moving your muscles quickly, instead of in slow repetitions.
- Soft tissue work: Think of this as muscle maintenance (like lubing your bike chain and topping off your tire sealant). Soft tissue work keeps the muscles moving smoothly and helps you avoid injuries. It’s also pretty relaxing if you add in some chill music and/or mindfulness training (more to come on that later)
The key here is not to do fancy complicated lifts, but to do basic, but important movements over and over for weeks and months and years to continue getting stronger and avoid getting injured.
Strength training, if done consistently, will make you a stronger, faster cyclist!
Strength Training
World-Class Strength Coaching
Hansen Athletics has created an off-the-bike training program for aspiring race winners! They provide a strength program that can be done remotely at home or in their gym. You will have access to strength certified individual coaches/trainers that can help you along the way.
Check them out at hansenathletics.com.