What does this plan do?
This is a two-week plan designed to achieve peak form for your A-priority race.
There are two options for Week 2, depending on whether your race falls on a Saturday or Sunday. This is why the plan appears to last three-weeks, but is only a two-week plan.
The plan follows peaking and tapering best practices derived from scientific literature alongside over 10-years of coaching and racing experience. You can read more about our views on tapering and the scientific evidence here: https://www.highnorth.co.uk/articles/paper-review-training-and-peaking-for-an-olympic-gold
Generally-speaking, you'll want to implement a longer taper for longer events, and a shorter taper for shorter events. Accordingly, this plan has a very small reduction in training load in the first week, and a more pronounced reduction in week two.
Who is this plan for?
This plan is suitable for endurance cyclists targeting any longer-duration events, such as sportives, gran fondo, gravel and MTB marathon events.
The plan is specifically designed for athletes who have been training between 7-9H/week in the recent past. We recommend that you aim to precede this plan with 1-3 consecutive weeks of training in the region of 8-9H/week, in order to see the biggest benefits.
Key Features
We believe our plans stand our from the crowd. We’ve done our very best to provide an experience that’s as close as possible to having on-hand coach support, with ample guidance on how to get the most out of our plans, and clear information on what we’re trying to achieve both session-by-session and week-by-week to keep you motivated.
This plan includes:
- A comprehensive PDF user guide, providing information on how to implement the workouts correctly and how to adapt the plan if necessary
- Structured sessions, meaning all sessions can be automatically exported to your headunit or synced to training platforms like Zwift or TrainerRoad and are ridable in ERG mode
- Each workout’s purpose and key adaptations clearly communicated, including references to scientific papers
- Notes summarising the week's training and the goals for the next training block, so that you always know where your training is heading
High North Performance is a cycling training and metabolic testing consultancy based in Harrogate, UK. We provide customised training programs and performance diagnostic services to professional and amateur athletes using both established and novel training methods, leading testing and analysis technology, as well as a scientific and strategic approach to planning and preparation.