21 Weeks to Pro Cycling Fitness | Training Analysis

Digging into every detail on a 21 week training cycle training for the Australian Road Nationals, where I reached my best ever physical fitness.

0:00 Intro
1:05 Base Training
9:45 Sickness
12:21 Diet to lose weight
14:42 Build 8 minute power
22:03 Heat acclimation & taper
32:55 Race week

[Reply]

Awesome vid Jesse, would love to see a bit of a race breakdown from your perspective, and thoughts on what you might do differently or plan to do if you complete again next year.

[xuchenglin]

This is the most valuable/informative video about cycling training or endurance training in general as I have ever seen! (and I have seen a LOT...) Few points stands out: 1. Frequency is over everything. To get fitter, the simplest/easiest approach is just, run/cycle/swim everyday. This is the most overlooked aspect of the training and is my biggest "discovery" of my own. I made the most of my fitness gain when I simply challenged myself to cycle or run everyday. It's more effective than anything else, like workout structure or even intensity distribution. Unfortunately cycling is too much time consuming that I couldn't "afford" to do everyday, but luckily running is very feasible. I now run everyday and the fitness gained from running everyday actually translate very well into cycling, it's more effective than when I only do 2-3 big rides (with complicated "training" target) every week and rest all the other days. 2. The volume is HUGE. We all heard the anecdote that pros training up to 20 hrs a week, but most sources couldn't reveal more. Your video is the first time that I actually have seen someone actually doing that in real life, with everything fully disclosure. This eagle view is so sick... That I actually have a hard time to believe when I saw your 20hr/week "build" and 27hr/week "sharp" phase. This is just... Insane... It's not something that you can do on your part time. It's a full time job. 3. We don't deserve it (400w FTP), and shouldn't worry about it. After seeing the time and effort commitment you put in there to "get back" that 400w, for the first time in my head the voice says "oh man you should let this go, it just doesn't worth it". I don't even want to do this anymore. However there's also a big relief, that if guys like you can only maintain a "321w FTP" when you are just living your life, then we normalings should be more than happy to just have something like 300w and enjoy riding.

Really great effort into this and this video itself! Keep doing it!

[alfkro]

Wow, managed to squeeze a wedding into a 5 months 27hr/week training effort. Good race result for sure! Kudos to you and your lovely angelically patient wife!

[marcus_velo_]

You 'talk the talk, walk the walk', a clear demonstration of commitment and effort which brought about a very successful outcome. how many pro teams in that race had failures on the day, hot heads, poor tactics, maybe riders who just didn't prepare as well, the wrong mindset, where here you are a one man band, supremely prepared, don't be surprised if you get a call from some pro team outfits who want you to coach their riders. Just shows unless you can demonstrate what you say just shut up.

[jongoerke]

Wonderful! As a numbers guy, really appreciate the detail. You’re hitting numbers that are long gone for me (65 yo), but loved every second of this. Congratulations on your training and success!

[Air_R]

Your (the) best videos on training by far. This is pure gold, simple effortless, natural and well built. Thanks for this you're truly a pro.

[francoishofmeyr]

Hi Jesse.

Just want to say I really enjoyed this video. Not many people make these videos and I think this might be a gap in yourube cycling. The insights and personal preferences aren't shared commonly.

Just one point that I wanted to add with the cutting fibre the day before. I found that if I cut fibre out 3 days before the race I am able to loose 1-3kg depending how much fibre I've been eating previously day to day. Not only do I feel lighter, but I actually am. Maybe just something others might want to consider.

Once again keep up the work!

[anandachu]

Really like the video and the fascinating insights into your training and preparation mate! I think the fact that you started off in mid-August with relatively low fitness levels shows that you don't always need to have your fitness at 100% the whole season, and that it is ok to take periods of rest in the season if your target events/races are several months away - assuming of course you already have a strong aerobic foundation from years of riding.

[StephanieLuff]

Thank you so much for sharing! I love talking data. I greatly appreciate your transparency, including mentioning what was easy and what was hard.

[pjetrs]

Thanks for this video, so much more insightful than the sensory overload of most other training videos and you really boiled it down to the most important things and did mention why things worked for you specifically. Often people talk about doing 18 hour training weeks as if that is normal for everyone and forget that most people didn't have a previous 400 watt ftp, more like 200.

Also quite motivational, I was thinking about the possibility to raise my 305 ftp (all time high) to 350 and wasn't sure if that was too much of a goal for a time crunched athlete, but this motivates me to just go for it, even with limited training time

[dustind]

Glad to have learned a bit more about your training. Found my way here from a couple of the guests you've had on your podcast/other channel with your buddy. Appreciate you taking the the time to walk us through your training leading up to your A event.

[jfreck]

Epic. Appreciate the effort you put into this

[jeronimosuarez]

My favourite video on your channel! Performance focus, personal experience, prep for a specific event. Top!

[andrewsugden]

Incredible preparation and race Jesse. WELL DONE!

[colmsheahan]

Transparency at its finest. Brilliant and insightful video Jesse. Big fan of this channel.

[burnsideisback]

Oh man I needed this. Racing 1 month away and got sick. Ftp 345... trying to get to 360 about same weight as you. So frustrating. Going to do what you did.

[neilmckenna]

Mate, that was a brilliant and extremely interesting watch. Really enjoyed it! Big well done on a first class preparation and execution!! Just a wee follow up from the Nero show and your 'what shall i do now?' I know its easy for me to say but you should capitalise on all those gains and see how far you can push things 😀👍👌

[jasoreed]

I’ve never had any formal road training or coaching in 20 years of cycling, still rode the amateur Roubaix, just love riding your bike.

[matejburian]

Thank you Mr. Coyle, No BS just straight to the point and a really good showcase study

[cfau]

So much value in this! Thanks for making the effort doing this video!