Cycling training: do's and don'ts

Marginal gains. Every cyclist is probably familiar with Sir Dave Brailsford's famous quote. What is often overlooked is that it refers to top athletes for whom the general principles of training theory and methodology no longer offer any relief. However, for those who are not top cyclists, it may be worthwhile to first check whether they are consistently applying these general principles before embarking on this – moreover expensive – quest for a percent.
We have listed some do’s and don'ts in relation to training practice and in relation to the pitfalls hidden in various training platforms.

Planning and periodizing

• Depending on the goal or goals for the upcoming cycling season, list the types of training sessions and plan how many and which training sessions will take place in which period: Do

• Divide this annual plan into meso- and micro cycles and ultimately into training units: Do

• Divide these cycles into the classic 4-week (CTL) and 7-day (ATL) approach and model everything nicely in the training calendar of a training platform: Don't
Agendas are made to manage appointments, not to regulate an athlete's physiological clock. Every body responds differently to training stimuli, and it would be a shame to let your body's response depend on the day of the week.

• Learn how your body responds to the imposed training workload, in other words, “monitor” your physical exertion: Do
This will take time, but the judicious use of the Rate of Perceived Exertion, Heart Rate Variability, and the exertion scores from the Extended Critical Power concept can certainly help.

• Let Artificial Intelligence or the Training Stress Score decide when your body is ready or not for the next physical exertion: Don't
The use of AI in physical training, at least as it stands in 2025, is a marketing stunt. TSS also misleads us. TSS can display the same value for completely different systems being used – with different recovery requirements as a result.

• Use the intensity of the training sessions and their distribution over time—the Training Intensity Distribution or TID—as a guideline for optimizing the training effect or avoiding overtraining: Do

• Choose from the Threshold, Polarized, or Pyramidal model based on what top athletes use in certain periods: Don't
What works for one rider does not necessarily work for another.

• Systematically build up the training volume based on training age rather than calendar age: Do

• Choosing a workout from the hundreds of workouts available on the internet: Don't
Creating interval training programs is always a challenge for coaches and their athletes. However, the fact that there are hundreds of variations on the same theme circulating on the internet is not proof of expertise but, on the contrary, demonstrates the guesswork of the creators.

• Creating an interval format based on your aerobic and anaerobic capacities and recovery characteristics: Do
As far as we can ascertain, the simulation tool based on the ECP/EXREC concept is the only tool that eliminates guesswork and can therefore be considered highly effective.

Winter training

• Include indoors strength training, based on your goals, in your winter program: Do

• Strength training on the bike: Don’t
There is one exception: aerobic strength-endurance. Endurance training on the mountain bike (gravel bike) along the waterline is particularly suitable for this goal.

• Strength training based on the 1RM approach: Don’t

• VBT or Velocity Based Training: Do
Speed ​​of execution during strength training is becoming increasingly popular. Creating a load-velocity profile is essential for mapping the rider's muscle power output. Because power output is the key factor in modern cycling, you can understand why you should utilize VBT.

• During the non-competitive part of the season, performing intense indoor training sessions such as VO2max intervals, offen offered by platforms such as Zwift and Rouvy: Don't
Such programs are designed to motivate groups of people and not to ensure that each individual receives the most optimal training stimulus. So, “fun” doesn’t mean “efficient”.
The winter season should serve to optimize your basic endurance, i.e., increase the number of oxygen factories. Endurance rides with an intensity that primarily stimulates fat burning are indispensable. If it is mentally unfeasible to ride at a monotonous pace on a trainer for hours, or if inclement weather conditions prevent hours of outdoor training, then split it up: half indoors, half on the road.

• Group training sessions with the aim of having fun or socializing: Do

• Rides with the club or team with “training” as the goal: Don't
The individual character of such rides is hard to find. You “train” – whatever that may mean – either too lightly or too heavily.

• The winter period is also intended to be mentally restful. Hang up your bike for a while and go on a cross-country skiing trip: Do

Road training sessions

• Let the cycle route determine the training stimulus: Don't
Completing a training session on a varied course can be tempting. However, keep in mind that the power output will then be very erratic. The average power may be within your target zone, but it is the result of intensities that are too high and too low.

• Determine the route based on your training goal: Do
A training session aimed at stimulating fat burning should therefore be done on a route where you can keep the intensity well within the limits of that zone.

• Perform the five necessary tests from the Extended Critical Power concept at regular intervals: Do
You may dread them, but they are necessary to quantify your physical abilities and establish training zones that match your metabolic profile.
You also need to understand the relationship between intensity and endurance time in order to properly assess short and long time trials, short and long climbs, prologues, and other intensive competition phases, all efforts within the time range of the above-mentioned test procedure.

• Use the MMP or mPD curve without real test values—even if those curves are based on months of competition- and training data—to determine your physiological profile and training zones: Don't