Originally Posted by
livedarklions
Naah, that's a one size fits all approach. Regimens are not for everyone. Some of us achieve intensity by just riding without any particular goals in mind other than to have fun and try to go as fast as possible when conditions are good. For me, labeling what I'm doing as some sort of drill and charting blah, blah, blah, etc. would just serve to take the fun out of it, and I'd probably end up doing less, not more "training". Also, unlike you, I do think quantity of riding at any intensity makes a difference to overall fitness and strength. The training needed for being a racer is really irrelevant to someone who's just looking to be able to climb hills with a reasonable effort.
To be clear, I'm not knocking the benefits of training for people who want to train, I'm pushing back on this notion that I think will discourage people from "just riding". The health benefits of just riding is actually the appeal of bicycling for very many people who engage in the activity.
It’s not “one size fits all,” as my comment was directed to the OP specifically, who, it bears noting, has been “just riding” for 2 years already and still can’t get up the hill but does want “to improve.” Obviously a training regimen is one way to help them reach their goal to improve their climbing, and far from being one-size-fits-all, should precisely and specifically be based on the OP’s current fitness and personal goals.
And, without being judgemental because I don’t know anything about the OP other than what they’ve said, being at only 20 mile long, flat road rides after 2 years does not sound like someone who, as you say, can “achieve intensity by just riding without any particular goals in mind other than to have fun and try to go as fast as possible when conditions are good.” That sounds more like a person who’d benefit from some structure.
I reject the notion that structure, purpose (or whatever you want to call it) is necessarily onerous and un-fun. The absolute explosion of training plans over the past several years, and especially on online platforms like Zwift, strongly suggests that many others feel the same as I do, and in fact, I find that purposeful training is efficient, effective, and enhances riding enjoyment.