Is it possoble winning a major Italian Granfondo with only ten hours of training a week? The answer is yes. Let us see how.
Granfondo are very competitive cycling races. Depending on their length, a cyclist must climb at least 1300-1500 VAM to win this type of competition. Andrea (The winner of the lask Grandondo MERCKX ) has a significant engine (VO2max) with much potential.
However, at the same time, he is limited by the type and hours of work, a typical problem for many cyclists at the amateur level.
A shift worker’s job involves working even during the night, altering the normal sleep-wake cycle without taking away from the fact that nutrition management is only sometimes easy. That is why sometimes it is necessary to take a step back because greater volume only sometimes goes hand in hand with more significant performance gains.
With Andrea, much attention was paid to finding the right balance between volume, intensity, recovery days and improvement, keeping the athlete’s subjective perception monitored.
The tactical positioning of some high-intensity sessions and the lowering of the monotony index through the exploitation of long sessions on days off from work resulted in a significant performance improvement (+39 watts at the anaerobic threshold) over the several months of preparation, considering an already high starting level. Taking into account and adapting training to the extra sporting commitments of an amateur cyclist can make the difference between a bad and an excellent performance.”
The advantage of using the Overvam app is remarkable. With a simple click and a few seconds, it allows you to customize and manage even the nutritional part in people who work night shifts, with unparalleled convenience and usability.
Stefano Nardelli
Ex PRO Cyclist
BSc, MSc, Performance Coach and Scientific Consultant at OVERVAM
