Training & Nutrition - Looking for some advice...

Hey everyone. Here is my situation: I am 19 years old, have been mountain biking seriously for probably 4 or 5 years, and this last summer I just started doing a little road biking (mainly to get me in better shape for mountain biking). I would not consider myself in very good shape! I have never really done a training program before, and I dont have a gym to go to(well, not at the moment). Starting in a few months I am going to be doing some road races (might be fun), followed by mountain bike races(REALLY looking forward to this - love mountain biking!).

Basically what I am looking for is some advice to get in shape for all of this, both training and nutrition. I suppose some vitals might help, so here is a quick rundown: 19 years old, ~135lbs(on the very skinny side), 5'9, havent done much training in the past.

If it makes any difference, I would like to train more for mountain biking, but I would assume that anything would carry over to both sports. I am sure there is a lot of information that you may need that I am forgetting, but hopefully this should do it.

Thanks in advance!

post your current training program.

Road and MTB training can certainly be done concurrently and have excellent crossover....both from a fitness and bike handling standpoint

Well, as far as a current training program, I haven't really got one. I do a few sets of pushups every night, but other than that, nothing much in particular. Thanks.

Get one.

Talk to members of your local club or guys you train with as to what their training loads are.

A structured training program is crucial to improving performance and if you plan to race MTB or road and be competitive, you'll need to be able to fit in quality training around work, school etc etc

There are plenty of sites on the net that will give you some ideas to get started.....so start there and have a crack at those road races!

good luck

Could you point me to any of those sites? I dont really know where to start with this. Also, is there anything I should know as far as what types of foods to eat, and what to avoid? Wheight gain? Muscle gain? Just stick with whatever I am in the mood for? :) Thanks a lot!

Ok, I found this site: http://www.netfit.co.uk/wkmen.htm . I really want to get a written schedule down that I can follow through on. Only problem is, there are a LOT of things on that site, and I dont really know where to start in terms of a good program. Are there any decent examples, or do you guys have some suggestions? Thanks a lot!

you should try to get at least a training programme. It dont have to be too specific sometimes. If you have a busy working life, maybe you can cycle 3-4 days per week. I think what matters most is to stick to a programme(be it a 4 week or 8 weeks or etc..) until the end. Normally, your first training programmes include most of the workouts just to increase you aerobic engine. Then, you might consider to change the programme to a more specific task such as sprinting or climbing. As far as i remember, there are some nice training programmes included on the latest Bicycling magazine. You might wanta check them out.