In order to improve as a cyclist, you must develop some structure and regularity to your rides. The body builds muscle strength as well as power and endurance by constantly being challenged by new and increasingly harder workouts. The key to timing your workouts is to go hard enough -- and frequently enough to challenge your body -- while still giving your body the time it needs to rest and grow stronger. Good timing and a few key workouts will help you become a better cyclist.
Beginners
Beginners will benefit from riding at least three times a week and adding some intensity to at least two of those days. A beginner who rides two to four times a week will quickly see an increase in fitness. Schedule your rides with rest days in between. If you must ride two days in a row, be sure that either one ride is easier than the other or they are both easy-to-moderately hard efforts. In the beginning, it pays to keep a workout log, detailing each ride and how you feel after. This will help you keep track of how many miles you're riding.
Experienced Riders
Once you have a few seasons or some racing in your legs, you may find it difficult to improve your speed or endurance as much as you did when you first started riding. Now is when the timing and intensity of your workouts will pay off. Add intervals to your rides. These can be a number of sprints during a ride or attacking hills when the terrain is varied. Experienced riders can do back-to-back days of riding, but it's suggested that you take at least one, if not two days off a week. Rest or perform easy active recovery rides on the day following a race or very hard effort.
Recommended Schedule
For a rider who's not training for a race, but who wants to improve his performance and stay in shape, try this workout. It consists of three weekly rides, but you can ride at an easier pace on rest days, if you prefer. One day, ride long. Begin with a long ride and then increase your mileage each week by 10 percent. Make this ride aerobic and challenging, but not hard. Another day, work just below your lactate threshold, which is 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Ride for at least an hour and perform three 10-minute steady state intervals with 5 minutes of rest in between. The final day, add speed. Do at least six, 30-second, all-out speed bursts as though you are sprinting and recover for a minute in between. Ride for at least an hour.
Recovery
Recovery is important for all cyclists as this is when the body rebuilds itself and grows stronger. Focus on getting at least seven hours of sleep each night, eating a nutritious diet and skipping or modifying your workout if your legs feel tired and heavy.
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