Doing some core strength work will do your climbing. There are a wide array of resources out there on the interwebs. Yoga and pilates are also fantastic activities to pursue. I've included some useful links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVeHIDTy6MA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ic0URFZrzw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_nzO_bm05s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mROpewU414

The one thing I will say is to not try and copy some of the advanced exercises you may see the pros doing. Start with the basics, do them well and go from there. My athletes normally get an assessment from a strength and conditioning coach and then work off an individualised program. If you feel like going down that path, ask around and find someone in your area.

First up on the program is a 20 minute power test. Before starting the test, you will need to do a brief warm up:

- Ride at your general riding pace for at least 10 minutes.
- Do a progressive effort where you start at a pace a bit harder than general riding pace and over 4 minutes to build up to your TT pace.
- 4 min easy
- 3 x 20 second sprints / 4 min easy
- 10 min easy
- 20 min TT effort (want to finish exhausted)


Head out to a relatively flat road that will allow you to do a 20 minute effort uninterrupted. Use the lap function to record the average power for the 20 minute test.

So what is all this for? We are going to try and APPROXIMATE your Functional Threshold Power (FTP). Functional Threshold Power is supposed to be the power at which you could hold for 1 hour. A colleague of mine commonly calls FTP the Failure To Perform and in a sense he is right. A lot of athletes think that successful riders have high FTP's. But successful athletes win races. Training with FTP is a tool and a guide, not the be all and end all.

You may not always be able to achieve the wattage that your FTP suggests. Mental stress creates physical stress. FTP's are not the be all and end all, sometimes it will feel like a struggle to hit your power targets while others it will feel a lot easier. Be prepared to listen to your body and adjust the intensity of future sessions based on how you feel.

Download the attached document, have a read, do the test and then go to the settings section on TrainingPeaks and set training zones for yourself.

If you feel like you paced this poorly, you could attempt it again on Sunday.

This is a touch easier than sweetspot or subTHR efforts, but noticeably harder than your general riding pace. Refer to your training zones document for a detailed guide.

2 x 25 min tempo session (on flat terrain or a mild gradient (less than 4%). Keep the cadence above 90rpm.

10 minutes active recovery between each effort.

Doing some core strength work will do your climbing. There are a wide array of resources out there on the interwebs. Yoga and pilates are also fantastic activities to pursue. I've included some useful links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVeHIDTy6MA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ic0URFZrzw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_nzO_bm05s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mROpewU414

The one thing I will say is to not try and copy some of the advanced exercises you may see the pros doing. Start with the basics, do them well and go from there. My athletes normally get an assessment from a strength and conditioning coach and then work off an individualised program. If you feel like going down that path, ask around and find someone in your area.

SubTHR or Sweetspot sessions are the bread and butter of most endurance athletes.
The aim of this session is to tap into that aerobic system, not to exhaust yourself. While knowing your FTP is handy for this session, it is not necessary. If you follow the common sense guide below you will be fine. Once you've done a few of these sessions, you should be able to do the session by feel.

4 x 9min subT with 4 min recovery between each effort

Power: 85 - 90%FTP
HR: 80 - 90% THR HR
RPE: 6 out of 10

You should still be able to breath regularly. Recommended Cadence is 90 - 95 rpm. Go out to a flat road or track where you won't get stopped by traffic lights or intersections. Alternatively, use a home trainer.

Anywhere between 45 min to an hour is fine. Keep it social, have a coffee, ect. Avoid longer and faster group rides. The aim is to recover!

Feel free to do what bunch ride takes your fancy. At this stage in the season, try and stay in the "endurance" zone for as much as possible. The benefits of doing longer rides at this intensity are immense!

Having said that there's no harm in riding up a climb hard, or doing the local club race though. So be social and enjoy!

There is flexibility with this ride too. Feel free to do it on Sunday if you have more time then. Also if you'd like to ride on both days of the weekend then go for it. My advice would be to either repeat this session or repeat the subTHR session from earlier in the week.