It can be difficult – even impossible – to maintain your fitness levels when on vacation. After all, it is a time for relaxing and chilling out with your family and friends, so your cycling training program tends to take a back seat.
But lazing on the beach or enjoying a few holiday cocktails does not mean you have to throw your training regime totally out of the window. On the contrary, you can still maintain your fitness: the challenge is being creative with your time to achieve this.
Finding the time without compromising your loved ones can be a challenge, but it can also be fun. So I have devised a training program to ensure you don’t waste all the months of hard work you have put in while on vacation.
Here are my six steps that will make your vacation a training success:
1) Be proactive.
You can’t follow your regular training program when you are on vacation. You can’t train on your standard bike or ride your regular routes. Instead, focus on the possibilities and not the limitations. Cycling on holiday can be an excellent way of discovering new places: take in the sights and sounds of your new surroundings while simultaneously maintaining your fitness. Read more about being proactive.
2) Cut down on the number of training days.
Reducing your total training time may well be good for you. The optimal number of training days is three because you will tackle tough intervals every session. If you train fewer times per week, you will not get enough stimuli for your aerobic system.
3) Decrease the length of training sessions.
Going for shorter rides makes it easier to stay focused and concentrate. Consequently, you will get more quality into your training and fewer junk miles.
4) Interval training.
The real secret to succeeding with a dramatically reduced training amount is highly effective interval training. Doing intervals will get a lot of training with an intensity close to VO2 max. And that will largely compensate for the reduced training volume.
5) Use the 80/20 principle.
Focus on the things that improve your performance and leave the time-consuming tasks later. So it would help if you mainly focused on high-quality training sessions and (for a while) forgot about fine-tuning and polishing your bike and shaving your legs etc. To sum up, spend time away from your travelling partners wisely.
6) And don’t forget that first and foremost, you are on vacation.
The Magic 2 Hour Cycling Training Program
I have boiled these tips down to a ready-to-use training program for you. Since this program is highly time-effective, I have called it The Magic 2 Hour Cycling Training Program.
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
| 40min — 5min warm-up @5x (4+2min) (highest possible intensity, active recovery)5min cooldown | 40min — 5min warm-up @30x (40+20sec) (highest possible intensity, active recovery) 5min cooldown | 40min — 5min warm-up @30min time trial5min cool down |
| Monday | Wednesday | Friday |
| 40min — 5min warm-up @10x(2+1min) (highest possible intensity, active recovery)5min cooldown | 40min — 5min warm-up @30x(30+30sec) (highest possible intensity, active recovery)5min cooldown | 40min — 5min warm-up @30min time trial5min cool down |
Do you see? You can do it.
Have a great time on your vacation but don’t forget to find the time for my free Magic 2 Hour Cycling Training Program.
I hope you enjoy it, and I wish all of you the best of luck with it.
This is brilliant stuff and very good timing. Leaving for vacation tomorrow. Thank you, Jesper.
Thanks! Pretty close to my holiday program. I also did couple of cruises with “boatwithpedals” in Italian beach resort. My son was the captain of the ship and I was the one who got tired first..
30 x 40sec with 20 sec rest? That seems almost impossible – that,’s 30 min of 40 sec all out intervals separated by 20 sec rest – I don’t see how you could keep power high enough through the whole 30 min. I’m a pretty good Cat 3 racer, and I’m seeing huge power drop offs after 12 min…enough of a drop that I’m no longer hitting VO2.