Dealing with plateau's in training/racing
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,243
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Dealing with plateau's in training/racing
I feel like I've kind of hit a plateau in my riding. My power across the board is constant, my results in big races are consistently not stellar, my weight is consistent whether I try to lose weight or just don't care and eat whatever. I'm 26 and in my 3rd season of racing so I feel like I should still be getting better.
How do you guys deal with this? Keep going and just push through? Mix up diet/training? I had a kick ass coach so I'm gonna get with him and see what he thinks, but it's hard to no re-evaluate when things aren't going as well as you think they should.
How do you guys deal with this? Keep going and just push through? Mix up diet/training? I had a kick ass coach so I'm gonna get with him and see what he thinks, but it's hard to no re-evaluate when things aren't going as well as you think they should.
#3
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Redwood City, CA
Posts: 10,978
Bikes: aggressive agreement is what I ride.
Mentioned: 109 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 967 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
4 Posts
sometimes gains are so small they are hard to notice. I've been plateaued for a year or more physically, but have gotten better at racing. Also trying to fill in the physical weaknesses, even if the strengths aren't changing. Top numbers might not be moving, but repeatability hopefully is.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,840
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 31 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
great question.
athletes will see lots of gains in the early part of their training and racing, then they become much much harder to obtain and much much smaller as you work toward your potentials given genetic ceiling, available training time/effectiveness, and individual constraints. fitness ebbs and flows, question is whether you're in an ebb/flow or plateau, or if you've just ascended through the categories to a point that you're now more under the bell curve of the abilities represented. your coach should be able to help you with identifying those answers and where to go next.
good points by @Ygduf.
athletes will see lots of gains in the early part of their training and racing, then they become much much harder to obtain and much much smaller as you work toward your potentials given genetic ceiling, available training time/effectiveness, and individual constraints. fitness ebbs and flows, question is whether you're in an ebb/flow or plateau, or if you've just ascended through the categories to a point that you're now more under the bell curve of the abilities represented. your coach should be able to help you with identifying those answers and where to go next.
good points by @Ygduf.
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,243
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
good call @Ygduf I think my tactical skill is increasing but I would like to see some improvements in making it to the end of races consistently. That's my huge issue.
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Redlands, CA
Posts: 6,313
Mentioned: 31 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 842 Post(s)
Liked 469 Times
in
250 Posts
Luckily or unluckily for me, I haven't peaked. Hit a high wattage then lost it due to poor training and injury, now building back up. I think its important to push your limits when you're peaked but that's easier for a stranger to say than to actually apply.
For me training is this dance of managing the power curve, and choosing which part to improve. Before it was 1-15 second, now its ftp.
For me training is this dance of managing the power curve, and choosing which part to improve. Before it was 1-15 second, now its ftp.
#7
Version 7.0
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SoCal
Posts: 13,080
Bikes: Too Many
Mentioned: 297 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1319 Post(s)
Liked 2,411 Times
in
1,405 Posts
I feel like I've kind of hit a plateau in my riding. My power across the board is constant, my results in big races are consistently not stellar, my weight is consistent whether I try to lose weight or just don't care and eat whatever. I'm 26 and in my 3rd season of racing so I feel like I should still be getting better.
How do you guys deal with this? Keep going and just push through? Mix up diet/training? I had a kick ass coach so I'm gonna get with him and see what he thinks, but it's hard to no re-evaluate when things aren't going as well as you think they should.
How do you guys deal with this? Keep going and just push through? Mix up diet/training? I had a kick ass coach so I'm gonna get with him and see what he thinks, but it's hard to no re-evaluate when things aren't going as well as you think they should.
I have to mix things up which is one of the reasons I race track and have stuck with weight training. IMO, genetics are a major factor in determining potential but I also think they can be tricked...to an extent. Genes can express and not express themselves (turn on and off) that can affect performance and of course there is the brain that can control everything that we do and feel. Hitting the gym hard and working of strength while still maintaining aerobic fitness might help.
I have found working out at the track at high power and high cadence can break plateaus.
However, we are all going to be limited in some way such that improving power and strength performance incrementally over time is not feasible.
#8
fuggitivo solitario
There you go. I heard that after 25, it is all downhill.
I have to mix things up which is one of the reasons I race track and have stuck with weight training. IMO, genetics are a major factor in determining potential but I also think they can be tricked...to an extent. Genes can express and not express themselves (turn on and off) that can affect performance and of course there is the brain that can control everything that we do and feel. Hitting the gym hard and working of strength while still maintaining aerobic fitness might help.
I have found working out at the track at high power and high cadence can break plateaus.
However, we are all going to be limited in some way such that improving power and strength performance incrementally over time is not feasible.
I have to mix things up which is one of the reasons I race track and have stuck with weight training. IMO, genetics are a major factor in determining potential but I also think they can be tricked...to an extent. Genes can express and not express themselves (turn on and off) that can affect performance and of course there is the brain that can control everything that we do and feel. Hitting the gym hard and working of strength while still maintaining aerobic fitness might help.
I have found working out at the track at high power and high cadence can break plateaus.
However, we are all going to be limited in some way such that improving power and strength performance incrementally over time is not feasible.
#9
**** that
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: CALI
Posts: 15,402
Mentioned: 151 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1099 Post(s)
Liked 104 Times
in
30 Posts
I feel like I've kind of hit a plateau in my riding. My power across the board is constant, my results in big races are consistently not stellar, my weight is consistent whether I try to lose weight or just don't care and eat whatever. I'm 26 and in my 3rd season of racing so I feel like I should still be getting better.
How do you guys deal with this? Keep going and just push through? Mix up diet/training? I had a kick ass coach so I'm gonna get with him and see what he thinks, but it's hard to no re-evaluate when things aren't going as well as you think they should.
How do you guys deal with this? Keep going and just push through? Mix up diet/training? I had a kick ass coach so I'm gonna get with him and see what he thinks, but it's hard to no re-evaluate when things aren't going as well as you think they should.
For many if not most it's hard once you hit the p1/2's because then you're not moving up as fast as you used to be, it's frustrating no doubt. Have patience.
Also even though you may have peaked in terms of wattage, you can always get smarter. This is what I tell myself, considering my numbers haven't really changed all that much in the last year - if anything they've gone down slightly. But race placings have gotten better.
Since we're mostly doing pack racing, it's not really your wattage numbers that determine race outcome (at least past a certain point of w/kg), it's more about tactics, timing, positioning, etc. If you peak at that stuff then you really are doomed; but luckily every race is a chance to learn something, win or lose. So maybe focus on getting smarter instead of stronger, and see what happens.
#10
Ninny
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: The Gunks
Posts: 5,295
Mentioned: 53 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 686 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
I think it's beneficial to mix things up. If you do the same workouts all the time I think your body starts learning how to cope without adapting.
I took this article to heart earlier this year and I think it helped a lot in getting through a plateau period:
What to Do Next: A VO2Max Intensive Plan ~ Hunter Allen Power Blog
I took this article to heart earlier this year and I think it helped a lot in getting through a plateau period:
What to Do Next: A VO2Max Intensive Plan ~ Hunter Allen Power Blog
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,001
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
#12
Senior Member
3rd season for most people is where things start to plateau. As pointed out if you always improved incrementally then you'd turn pro in, what, 10 years? 20 years? The reality is that you're probably starting to hit some genetic limits and it'll be hard to make substantial gains. At some point it will be impossible to make any kind of meaningful gain.
However, as also pointed out, you can really improve your tactics/efficiency. This is the huge thing you can do. When I was your age I was substantially faster in the sprint than I am now. I had 11+ seasons under my belt, I felt super fluent in the field by April or May, I'd done a 10k mile year (stupid), a bunch of 45-50 race seasons (and this before any midweek training series), yada yada yada. In terms of fitness and speed I am terrible now compared to back then. But my placings weren't that different in the 3s. 20 years later I'm slower, heavier, have very different life priorities, and yet I'm doing consistently better.
You can also change how you approach races, see if different things work for you. I tried everything for about 10 years and then slowly narrowed my focus on what tactics I'd try, what kind of courses I'd race. Also change how you approach a season - my best seasons were when I intentionally tried to peak early on and found that what I thought was "my best" just got better and better until the season ended. Ends up that I could race and train much more than I thought possible, and by 10 years in I'd learned that by experimenting with starting my season earlier.
Also, as your body ages, you'll find yourself changing a bit and you'll need to adjust for that change. I only noticed this in my mid 30s initially (I rode much less as my mom was sick) then when I hit about 42 when my legs suddenly didn't work well anymore.
You have plenty of time to work things out. Enjoy the season, try new things in races and in training, and see how things go.
However, as also pointed out, you can really improve your tactics/efficiency. This is the huge thing you can do. When I was your age I was substantially faster in the sprint than I am now. I had 11+ seasons under my belt, I felt super fluent in the field by April or May, I'd done a 10k mile year (stupid), a bunch of 45-50 race seasons (and this before any midweek training series), yada yada yada. In terms of fitness and speed I am terrible now compared to back then. But my placings weren't that different in the 3s. 20 years later I'm slower, heavier, have very different life priorities, and yet I'm doing consistently better.
You can also change how you approach races, see if different things work for you. I tried everything for about 10 years and then slowly narrowed my focus on what tactics I'd try, what kind of courses I'd race. Also change how you approach a season - my best seasons were when I intentionally tried to peak early on and found that what I thought was "my best" just got better and better until the season ended. Ends up that I could race and train much more than I thought possible, and by 10 years in I'd learned that by experimenting with starting my season earlier.
Also, as your body ages, you'll find yourself changing a bit and you'll need to adjust for that change. I only noticed this in my mid 30s initially (I rode much less as my mom was sick) then when I hit about 42 when my legs suddenly didn't work well anymore.
You have plenty of time to work things out. Enjoy the season, try new things in races and in training, and see how things go.
__________________
"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
"...during the Lance years, being fit became the No. 1 thing. Totally the only thing. It’s a big part of what we do, but fitness is not the only thing. There’s skills, there’s tactics … there’s all kinds of stuff..." Tim Johnson
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,840
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 31 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
#15
Ninny
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: The Gunks
Posts: 5,295
Mentioned: 53 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 686 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
i've seen multiple people cook themselves because of that blog post due to reading the push yourself parts and not reading the rest and ez ride parts, or trying to do this too close to season start/mid season. IMO, this is a great umbrella, but to embark upon a training program this demanding (it has huge hours and huge time in L4) is going to require supervision for most athletes.
Increase stress by 20%, but rest every other day. Tall order.
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,602
Bikes: Ridley Noah fast, Colnago CLX,Giant Propel Advanced, Pinnerello Gogma 65.1, Specialized S-works Venge, CAADX,Cervelo S3
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 74 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I feel like I've kind of hit a plateau in my riding. My power across the board is constant, my results in big races are consistently not stellar, my weight is consistent whether I try to lose weight or just don't care and eat whatever. I'm 26 and in my 3rd season of racing so I feel like I should still be getting better.
How do you guys deal with this? Keep going and just push through? Mix up diet/training? I had a kick ass coach so I'm gonna get with him and see what he thinks, but it's hard to no re-evaluate when things aren't going as well as you think they should.
How do you guys deal with this? Keep going and just push through? Mix up diet/training? I had a kick ass coach so I'm gonna get with him and see what he thinks, but it's hard to no re-evaluate when things aren't going as well as you think they should.
#18
Senior Member
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
ToddTheBod
"The 33"-Road Bike Racing
54
06-27-19 08:32 PM
lily.lightman
General Cycling Discussion
10
07-05-14 10:09 AM
DGlenday
Masters Racing (All Disciplines)
64
12-02-12 10:54 AM