Perhaps the title should be “How to Survive Winter?” Here in Colorado our local downhill ski area reported 27 inches of snow over the weekend. My wife and I cross-country skied in a blizzard both Saturday and Sunday. Here are tips from our experience and working with one of my clients who is in Canada.
1. Develop the exercise habit
One of my favorite clients is in Alberta visiting her daughter who just started college and her parents. For weeks I’ve stressed consistency for her. Doing some sort of exercise five to six days a week. Right now I don’t care (too) much what she does as long as she does something. Last week she:
- Rode three days totaling 4:30 including an hour on the trainer
- Walked three days, 30 minutes per day
2. Consistency including recovery
I want her to ride three days plus four days of recovery. Three days are active recovery by walking.
3. Plan ahead
Each week I look at the weather forecast for Alberta (which may change). The weather is great the first three days:
- Monday the high is 9C (48F)
- Tuesday 15C (59F)
- Wednesday 14C (57F)
Her workouts are to ride 2:00 – 4:00 hours over those three days. Life happens so it’s fine if she rides just two of the days.
And then the weather changes. The remaining four days the high is 3 – 5C (37 – 41F) with snow showers. Her workouts are to do an intensity session on the trainer and to walk two days. Around the intensity session I want her to have several recovery days.
4. Be flexible
I program the type of workout and duration she should do each day of the week; however, her weather will change. Plus we can’t predict which days and how much time she’ll spend with family. The key targets for the week are:
- 5 days of activity
- 3 days of riding including 1 intensity session
- 2 walks
As long as she meets these targets I’m not concerned about which days she does them or how long a specific activity is.
5. Eat and drink before
Skiing in the blizzards it was too cold to eat or drink so my wife and I made sure we were fueled before heading out. And we keep bottles and snacks in the car for the drive home. Read more here:
6. Outdoor intensity
We went for short skis, each under an hour. With all the new snow it was (fun?) hard work breaking trail. We weren’t doing intervals; just skiing harder than normal. If your weather is challenging, go for a shorter, but harder ride. Read more here:
- Should You Do Intensity Training This Winter? (Part 1)
- Should You Do Intensity Training This Winter? (Part 2)
7. Dress in layers
Dress so you’re a little chilly at the start of your ride or other activity because you’ll warm up. Wear layers so it’s easy to take off something as you continue to warm up. We wore long underwear, a couple of thermal layers and parkas so it was easy to shed a thermal layer. We also wore wind mitts over our gloves and hats over our head scarves. Here are:
8. Declare victory
The wind was howling and breaking trail was hard so we declared victory and turned around early. Don’t force yourself to continue if conditions suck and you’re not having fun.
9. Split endurance workouts
Instead of suffering through a freezing two-hour ride or an agonizing two-hour trainer session, do an hour of exercise in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. Given your schedule and the weather you might be able to do an hour on the trainer in the morning and then ride outside in the afternoon. Read more here:
10. Outdoor and Indoor
If you plan a (almost) continuous multi-hour workout try to ride outdoors first and then finish indoors. Don’t start indoors and work up a sweat, which will chill you outdoors. Read more here:
11. Cross-train
Depending on the type of cross-training you do, you’re using your cycling muscles differently or using different muscles. Both are beneficial. And the variety helps to keep you motivated. My client in Alberta hopes this next storm brings enough snow she can start cross-country skiing, Read more here:
12. The winter blues
Shorter days, cloudy / dreary weather, cold temps and especially missing the fun of a summer ride all contribute to the winter blues and lost motivation to exercise. Read more here:
- Anti-Aging: 4 Tips for Winter Blues and Lost Mojo
- Anti-Aging: More on Winter Blues, Motivation and Goals
Resources
My eBook Productive Off-Season Training for Health and Recreational Riders explains in detail what you can do to become a better rider this winter. The book includes:
- A 12-week off-season exercise program to keep you healthy during the winter months.
- A 12-week, more intensive off-season program for recreational riders to build your endurance, power and speed, preparing for base training.
The 28-page Productive Off-Season is just $4.99.
If you’re in your 50s, 60s, 70s (like me) and beyond my eBook Off-Season Conditioning Past 50 includes recommendations for outdoor and indoor cycling, cross-training, circuit strength training, flexibility and core strength. I include a sample 12-week program incorporating all of these. I explain how to tailor the program to your own interests: health and recreation rider, club rider or endurance rider. You can also tailor the program if you have limited time to train or are a beginning cyclist. The 26-page Off-Season Conditioning Past 50 is just $4.99.
My 3-article Off-Season bundle includes:
- Productive Off-Season Training with:
- A 12-week off-season exercise program to keep you healthy during the winter months.
- A 12-week, more intensive off-season program for recreational riders to build your endurance, power and speed, preparing for base training.
- Year-Round Cycling: How to Extend Your Cycling Season I give you six factors to successfully ride year-round, with in-depth information on all: 1) Goal-Setting and Planning; 2) Training; 3) Clothing and Equipment; 4) Nutrition; 5) Technique; 6) Motivation.
- Gaining a Mental Edge: Using Sports Psychology to Improve Your Cycling Most cyclists can get greater improvement from investing some time each week in practicing mental skills than they could spending the same amount of time training! I show you how.
The 60-page Off-Season bundle is $13.50, a savings of $3.50 off the full price of purchasing all 3 articles individually.
Coach John Hughes earned coaching certifications from USA Cycling and the National Strength and Conditioning Association. John’s cycling career includes course records in the Boston-Montreal-Boston 1200-km randonnée and the Furnace Creek 508, a Race Across AMerica (RAAM) qualifier. He has ridden solo RAAM twice and is a 5-time finisher of the 1200-km Paris-Brest-Paris. He has written over 40 eBooks and eArticles on cycling training and nutrition, available in RBR’s eBookstore at Coach John Hughes. Click to read John’s full bio.
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Dave Minden says
John,
I was surprised you didn’t tell us what your client’s goals are. Doesn’t the level, type, duration, etc., of recommended exercise correspond primarily to what they want to do?
BTW, so jealous of your blizzards. Here in southcentral Wisconsin global climate change seems mostly to be warming our previously more snowy and cold winters, so no sign of the white stuff yet.
Dave Minden
Dallas John Pankowski says
The day after a hard workout, will I speed my recovery by being mildly active or doing a light workout? The idea being that the muscles will be warm and blood flow with increase. Dallas Pankowski