Welcome to the 1st Phase of The Bonebell Program! If you didn’t do so already – read the introduction of how to interpret the schedules below at the 2012 PROGRAM page.
Phase 1
This is the introduction phase to get you moving in the right direction for achieving your goals in a safe and understandable way. As with all phases, it will last a period of 6 weeks and at the end of the 6 weeks, there is a group ride oriented in capitalizing on your gained fitness level. The first phase is both the easiest and the hardest of the phases because it is lower volume with no hard efforts, but the challenge lays in learning the discipline of sticking to the program. If you start steadily and consistently, you will feel and see good results. Weekly training notes will be posted on our Facebook Page so follow along and spread the word. We are doing this for anyone to consider following as a first route to successful riding this year.
Chart Legend
The day will be noted as Mon/Tue/Wed/Thur/Fri/Sat. The amount of bike time is noted by HR or MIN. The effort is noted on a scale of 1-5. So Monday would like –> Mon 30MIN/1 (Monday, 30 minutes at 1 effort). The total hours show you what your hourly target is for the week – it will grow over the phases. It also gives you a snapshot to know how much time you have to set aside for the coming weeks. The ‘Focus’ section will give you some pointers on what to concentrate on for the six weeks.
Core Workouts
Core workouts are for everyone at any level. Core is important to do at least twice weekly and shouldn’t be more than a 45 minute effort. You can do them on the days you have less ride time. If you do more, great, but keep in mind that recovery overall is what is important for the totality of your efforts. The understanding you should have is that like the phases of the cycling program, doing core workouts in 30-45 minutes increments at least twice a week for over 6 weeks is greatly beneficial and even moreso over the course of 12 weeks. Your body adapts and starts the process of increasing metabolism of which you won’t entirely notice or feel until after the first six weeks – which is why you MUST be PATIENT! Once the body starts adapting to the phases, fitness improvements are more noticeable and felt with the efforts you give and again, at the fitness check we will schedule at the end of the phases to test your newfound fitness out.
Core workouts are easy – we advocate a basic home program of push-ups, crunches, and pull-ups. A variety of core excercises are available online so you can do some homework here. If you are gym member or do a program like P90X, then you have ample routines to incorporate. Remember Rocky kicked Drago’s ass on nothing but rudimentary style fitness (don’t burst my bubble I know it’s a movie!).
Good luck riders – be well be safe – right now ride venues are not as important as it’s the 1st phase, we’ll get into ride locations for specific workouts in Phase 2. At this phase it’s getting back into the swing of the schedule or getting used to it especially if you are a first timer. Ride outside when possible because we firmly believe trainers are an incredibly boring way to get the time in but sometimes a necessary evil.
Beginner Schedule
Week 1: Sun 1HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 1.5HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2HR/2
6.5 Hours
Week 2: Sun 1HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 1.5HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2HR/2
6.5 Hours
Week 3: Sun 1.5HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 1.5HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2.5HR/2
7.5 Hours
Week 4: Sun 1.5HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 1.5HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2.5HR/2
7.5 Hours
Week 5: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 1.5HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2.5HR/2
8 Hours
Week 6: Sun 1HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 30MIN/1 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat OFF
3.5 Hours
FOCUS: Form form and form! Get comfortable, note how your body feels on the bike – do you feel oddities, pain, or discomfort, address it NOW through a bike fit at your local bike shop. You don’t need a computer based fitting session, a simple low cost method from your friendly bike shop folks or friends will do to ensure you are in the best position to avoid injury or discomfort. Do not stress about the distance you go on the bike or the speed you are going – the time is important regardless of how far you go. It’s about getting used to time in the saddle so don’t fret the distance, keep to the tempo and time.
Intermediate Schedule
Week 1: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 1.5HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2HR/2
7.5 Hours
Week 2: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 1.5HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2HR/2
7.5 Hours
Week 3: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 2HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 3HR/2
9 Hours
Week 4: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 2HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 3HR/2
9 Hours
Week 5: Sun 3HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 2HR/2 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 3HR/2
10 Hours
Week 6: Sun 1HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 30MIN/1 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat OFF
3.5 Hours
FOCUS: Form is still important, but given your experience, this is where you want to feel your nutrition and hydration out, start experimenting now with cheap nutrition in how they sit well with the 2-3 hour endurance efforts. The boring part here is distracting yourself from not going hard on the longer rides, keep it to Level 2 max, enjoy the ride, and at these hours, definitely keep it outside as much as possible. Enjoy the scenery, this base will be critical for your harder efforts in Phase 2.
Advanced Schedule
Week 1: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/3 – Wed 1.5HR/3 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2HR/3
7.5 Hours
Week 2: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/3 – Wed 1.5HR/3 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 2HR/3
7.5 Hours
Week 3: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/3 – Wed 2HR/3 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 3HR/3
9 Hours
Week 4: Sun 2HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/3 – Wed 2HR/3 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 3HR/3
9 Hours
Week 5: Sun 3HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/3 – Wed 2HR/3 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat 3HR/3
10 Hours
Week 6: Sun 1HR/2 – Mon 30MIN/1 – Tue 1HR/2 – Wed 30MIN/1 – Thur OFF – Fri 30MIN/1 – Sat OFF
3.5 Hours
FOCUS: Notice the time is same as Intermediate, but the effort is greater. You have a different focus – drills with one legged efforts of equal short periods of time throughout your rides alternating legs. In addition, build on your strength from cyclocross racing by mashing a very hard gear for short periods (no more than 15 minutes) smoothly and out of the saddle with good form, no sprinting! Just keep a steady rhythm pushing a tall gear – it’s like weight lifting for your quads. In the shorter 1HR efforts, focus on spinning an easy gear without going into Level 4 – high RPM is considered above 80RPM but below 110RPM – find the sweet spot, got a SS, use it!
Group Ride Tenatively Scheduled for February 12th expect a great venue and challenge!
