Why Your Winter Training Stops Working After 6 Weeks
By Ric Stern
So, you’ve either had a short break or some easy riding and you’re getting back into things. You want to be fitter next year, you’re sick of being dropped by the younger riders on the group ride. You come up with a plan and after a few weeks of following it your initial progress has started to stall. Six weeks in and nothing seems to be happening. So, you keep going, repeating the same week. And, come March you’re still in the same place. You’ve trained hard with your structured plan, you’ve been consistent, you’ve done the work. But, that’s it. Gotta be your age or your genes, right?
Six weeks isn’t a fixed deadline, but the pattern is familiar. Just repeating the same sessions is both correct and wrong all at once (repeating the same sessions gives you time to see how you adapt and progress. Indefinitely doing the same session can leave you stale and your fitness plateauing). As your fitness improves and the rate of improvement slows, you may need to adjust your training. You also need to know when to keep the sessions unchanged so that you can keep pushing gently in the correct direction. Bad sessions are normal. One poor session doesn’t mean the plan is wrong and everything will crash down on you — if you keep having bad sessions, then that’s different and suggests things need changing (probably reducing the intensity).
To progress training, there are several levers you can adjust: intensity, volume, recovery, and session structure. Sometimes you need to up the intensity, sometimes the overall volume or volume of the intervals, sometimes it’s about decreasing or increasing recovery times (especially between intervals) and in some instances it’s about changing the session itself.
The worst thing is flat legs and constant fatigue with a plateau or decreasing power. This can mean that the plan has pushed for too long, or your FTP is set too high. I know, I know, you want it to be 200 watts, but if it’s currently 180 watts, setting your sessions against 200 watts makes everything harder than intended. Keep forcing that and you can end up accumulating fatigue rather than fitness. Poor sleep, under-fueling, and stress outside cycling can compound the problem. You may need an easier week, although that doesn’t mean everyone needs one every fourth week.
Kevin, one of the riders I’ve coached, is a good example. Training for approximately eight hours a week, he increased his FTP by 20 watts in his first 13 weeks with me, then added another 20 watts over the following year. His progress continued well beyond that initial burst of improvement.
At 60, he also recorded six personal bests in the South Downs Hill Climb Series, won his age group in seven of the eight events, and took the overall veterans’ (masters) series title.
Kevin’s program was built around him, but the principles behind it are the same ones I use in MAP: The Build — progressive training, appropriate recovery, and a structure built around the rider’s fitness, goals, and available time.
Those results aren’t a promise of what everyone will achieve. They show what sustained, purposeful training can deliver — and why your winter deserves more thought than repeating the same week until March.
As cyclists we can spend hours researching a new pair of wheels or tires. Which are the most aero? Which have the lowest rolling resistance? Can we save a few watts? I like new equipment as much as anyone but how much attention do we give the training that powers it? If you’re spending five hours a week or more riding, it’s worth having a plan that helps you make good use of those hours.
MAP: The Build uses the same training principles behind Kevin’s progress, with your training blocks built individually around your current fitness, goals, and available time. It costs £25 (about $34) every four weeks, or £275 (about $375) for a year.
If you’re getting back into training now, this is a good time to start building towards next season. Join MAP: The Build here, and give your winter riding some direction.
Have a training question for Ric?
Ric Stern has spent decades answering riders’ training questions and has coached cyclists since 1997, from club racers to Paralympic medallists and Tour de France professionals. Cardiovascular fitness, strength training, VO2 max, race tactics, nutrition, or whatever is keeping you from a stronger season: ask away. We publish questions using your first name and last initial only.
Coach Ric Stern is the founder of CycleCoach. He holds a first-class degree in Sport Science, has published peer-reviewed research in exercise physiology, and has coached riders from track sprint through to ultra-endurance and the Tour de France.
At 57, he’s still racing himself and is fitter now than he was in his 20s.
