CoachingAnswer

HOW SHOULD A MASTERS CYCLIST STRUCTURE THEIR WEEK?

By Anthony WalshRoadman CyclingUpdated 26 May 2026

WHO THIS IS FOR

IS THIS YOU?

The masters rider who has never structured their week deliberately

You ride when you can and sometimes push hard — but you don't have a framework for the week.

The experienced amateur who feels perpetually tired

You're training hard but going backwards — the weekly structure is probably where the problem lives.

THE ROADMAN VIEW

Joe Friel's ideal training week for a masters cyclist is not complicated. Anthony went through it in detail on the podcast: two genuinely hard bike sessions (don't add a third), two strength sessions, everything else easy. The simplicity is the point — mastering the basics delivers more improvement at 50 than chasing complexity.

Where masters riders most commonly go wrong is distributing intensity too evenly across the week. Instead of two hard sessions and the rest genuinely easy, they end up with five medium-hard ones. That feels productive; it's actually the training pattern that produces the most fatigue for the least adaptation. The grey zone again.

The strength sessions get dropped first when life gets busy, which is exactly the wrong priority call. Riding is replaceable with easier variation; strength is not. You can swap a Tuesday threshold ride for a long easy ride and lose little. You can't swap a Tuesday strength session for a ride and maintain what the strength was preserving.

EXPERT EVIDENCE

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY

Joe FrielAuthor of Fast After 50 and The Cyclist's Training Bible
The ideal masters training week is built around two hard cycling sessions and two strength sessions, with everything else kept genuinely easy. Adding a third hard session almost always increases fatigue more than fitness at this age. Simplicity and consistency outperform complexity and variety.
Hear it: Joe Friel's Cycling Training Plan Structure | Roadman Cycling
Dr David LipmanPhysician specialising in masters athlete performance
Masters athletes who structure their week with two hard cycling sessions and two strength sessions consistently outperform those running higher total intensity spread across more sessions. The pattern allows full recovery between hard efforts, which is the mechanism where adaptation actually happens.
Hear it: How to Beat 99% by Getting Faster with Age | Dr David Lipman

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

DO THIS WEEK

Build your week around Monday as a rest day
Monday rest, Tuesday hard ride + evening strength, Wednesday easy, Thursday VO2 max or second hard ride, Friday easy, Saturday long easy ride, Sunday second strength session. Adjust to your schedule but protect the two-easy-days rule between hard efforts.
Classify every ride before you do it
Write 'easy', 'threshold' or 'VO2' next to each planned session. If you have more than two non-easy sessions in a week, remove one. The clarity prevents the grey-zone drift that accumulates over weeks.
Block a deload in the calendar now
Before the next block begins, put a deload week in your calendar every fourth week. 50–60% volume, no intervals. It looks like lost training. It's actually when the fitness consolidates.

COMMON MISTAKES

WHAT CYCLISTS GET WRONG

MISTAKERunning three or four hard sessions a week and wondering why you're always tired.
FIXTwo hard sessions is the sweet spot for masters riders. Three is occasionally warranted; four is rarely recovered from. Cut hard sessions before adding them.
MISTAKEDropping strength sessions when the week gets busy.
FIXDrop an easy ride, not a strength session. Strength is the hardest to replace and the most consequential to maintain after 40.
MISTAKENot scheduling rest days — resting reactively rather than proactively.
FIXBook rest days in advance like appointments. A planned rest day is used well. A reactive one often comes too late to prevent accumulated fatigue.

FAQ

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many hours a week should a masters cyclist train?

8–12 hours is a realistic and effective range for most masters amateurs. Less than 6 hours makes it hard to maintain a useful aerobic base. More than 14 hours without careful management tends to compress recovery to the point where quality sessions suffer.

Should masters cyclists ride every day?

Not necessarily. At least one full rest day per week is standard. After 50, two easy or rest days provides more consistent training quality across the week than riding every day at reduced effort.

What should the day after a hard session look like?

Genuinely easy — zone 1 or zone 2, conversational pace, below 75% of max heart rate. Not 'easier than normal'; actually easy. The recovery day is what makes the hard day work.

How should I fit strength training into a busy week?

Stack it on the same day as a hard ride — hard ride in the morning, strength in the evening, or vice versa. This concentrates fatigue and keeps easy days genuinely easy. Two 40-minute sessions are manageable even in a busy schedule.

Should masters cyclists do a long ride every week?

One long easy ride per week — 90 minutes to 3 hours in zone 2 — remains one of the highest-value sessions for aerobic base maintenance. It's especially important for riders targeting sportives or gran fondos.

Can I use group rides as hard sessions?

Yes, if the group ride genuinely delivers threshold-level or higher intensity for a meaningful portion. The risk is that group rides are unpredictable — they can be harder than intended and blow the recovery structure for the week. Count them as hard sessions and plan accordingly.

RELATED EPISODES

HEAR THE CONVERSATIONS

Joe Friel's Cycling Training Plan Structure | Roadman Cycling

How to Beat 99% by Getting Faster with Age | Dr David Lipman

Hard Truth: Why Cyclists Over 40 Slow Down & How to Beat It | Rdmn Podcast Clips