Levels of Coaching explained

Training Plans

These are fixed training plans to help you achieve a certain goal or improve an aspect of your fitness such as your climbing or your FTP (often called ‘threshold’) for instance. You will be asked to fill out an online questionnaire so that I can choose the right plan for you. The plan is delivered via a free basic Training Peaks account with a Start guide to help you.

The plans are professionally produced – ensuring you target certain training zones, cadences etc to achieve the required training effect in a ‘smart’ way, paying attention to the order you do sessions and ensuring measured progression with appropriate recovery to build your fitness efficiently. However these plans are fixed – so if you want to ride more or less, or change the days you can ride etc you will need to organise this yourself. It is a great way to enjoy the benefits of coaching on a budget.

See Training Plans

 

Coaching Packages

The next step up is to buy one of our Coaching Packages. There are a couple of main benefits to this;

Individualisation;

For our coaching packages there is a more detailed consultation via email. Your training plan is personalised – based on your training history and lifestyle. By finding out more about your training history, recent level of activity and current fitness I can make the plan specific to you. It will be ‘smarter’ than a fixed plan. The 16 week plan will focus on your one personal goal or event – whatever it may be  – and work around your lifestyle so that you train on the days that you have most time. Minor changes may be possible with enough notice (eg changing days for sessions) a maximum of once per week/14 days/month depending on the package.

Individualisation is important – it is one of the basic tenets of training. A well formulated fixed plan will help you improve. It is designed following all the principles of training. This means most people will improve a significant amount if they follow the plan. However, we are all different. Some people will improve more, some less. Certain types of sessions benefit certain people in different ways. By tailoring the sessions to the individual you can be sure to train smarter and improve more!

Feedback;

At this level there is some interaction between the athlete and the coach. The athlete will enter brief comments on Training Peaks about how the training sessions went. The coach takes this into account and will respond with some brief feedback once per week/14 days/month depending on the package. Some of the feedback might advise you how to perform the sessions better, remind you not to miss sessions, or give encouragement for a job well done! Knowing that your coach is following your progress provides extra motivation for when it is difficult to find the time to fit in your sessions or when you struggle to complete them.

See Coaching Packages

 

Fully Personalised Coaching

This is the ‘gold standard’ in coaching. It offers the ultimate in individualisation, data analysis, monitoring, feedback and responsiveness. Very few coaches really offer this level of input. Time and again I hear of athletes who complain about ‘cut and paste’ plans which offer no useful feedback and don’t respond to the riders’ changing fitness, goals or general life circumstances.

Right from the start when you have KOM Coaching Fully Personalised Coaching everything is focused  on you as an individual. I will follow up on the in-depth consultation via email, text, messenger apps or phone – however suits you, to ensure that everything is set up specifically for you and your goals. I will analyse your historical data and then continuously monitor all your files including Heart Rate, Power and other data using both Training Peaks and WKO5. In depth data analysis using WKO5 provides the ultimate in individualisation as it allows specific target based training designed around your own unique power profile and physiological characteristics. With access to the most powerful training software available plus the vast experience and knowledge of a Level 3 British Cycling and Level 2 certified Training Peaks coach you can be sure that you are targeting exactly what you are looking to improve in the most effective way possible.

The benefits don’t stop there – your plan will be regularly updated, I’ll make unlimited changes wherever necessary to scheduling and prescribed sessions according to ongoing data analysis, review of your feedback and your lifestyle. All your goals are taken into account in setting your training and together we will formulate process goals to ensure your continuous development. Advice and help in technical and tactical matters plus pacing strategies to aid you in all your target races/events, nutritional advice regarding training and racing/event strategies and help with mental preparation and competition techniques where necessary are all available to you as an athlete when you commit to this level of coaching.

 

Communication is the key here, with as much two way dialogue as is required to ensure that your training plan is focused on exactly what you personally need, in respect of your strengths, weaknesses and unique physiological characteristics in order to get the best out of yourself and perform to the very peak of your ability.

See Fully Personalised Coaching