Target-setting is the secret to successful progression, but how can we stick to them? Rob Wakefield, coach with propello.bike, tells us his top tips…
1. Be more than smart
“Goals always need to take you outside of your comfort zone — but chiefly they should be bounded by time, so ‘I will achieve X by Y’ and it should be difficult but possible.”
“Ask yourself, what level of success am I looking to achieve and when by? Then grab a diary to use as a training journal and flick forward to the date, race or event you want to have hit that goal by.”
2. Find your time frame
“Work back from that goal in the diary and plan out how each weekly and even daily session will look in order for you to achieve your target. Keep a note of what you eat and how you sleep too. Tear out the weekly plan and pin it to the fridge or the wall beside your bike — use it to identify the intermediate steps you’ll cover — and be willing to share it with those whose help or understanding you’ll need over that time span such as your family and cycling buddies.”
3. Track your progress
“Goals might be Functional Threshold Power improvement by a certain date or mastering a technique,” says Wakefield. “Whatever it is build in allowances for missed sessions, injuries or set-backs. If they do happen and you haven’t allowed for them in your plan then the realistic element becomes hard to control.
“Read through your journal to look for patterns that may show-up as to why you’re not hitting the micro-goals — like a bad night’s sleep before you recorded one of your poorer times.”