Tried the 2 week trial and was very impressed with the Sufferfest, especially the Yoga, Strength, and Mental Toughness options in addition to the cycling workouts. The coaches’ postings on the forum and very informative and extremely well presented.
However, I’m not sure what Sufferfest has to offer for a cyclist like myself.
I’m 64 yo, have been road cycling for 3.5 years and through cycling and along with lifestyle and diet changes, was able to lose a solid 40 pounds during that time. Current FTP approx 260 W, 3.0 W/kg.
Between riding on the roads here in the San Francisco Peninsula area and on the indoor trainer, I’m averaging 8-12 hours/week, 200-300 km. I have enjoyed long group rides with the local club and participated in various Century events.
I want to maintain my overall cycling fitness and want to improve core strength, and a side benefit would be to lose another 5-10 pounds (really DIFFICULT).
So then, what plans does Sufferfest have for a cyclist such as myself with a goal of maintaining fitness and improving core strength?
For me, the primary benefit is the community. You won’t find a better place to discuss any aspect of cycling than Sufferlandria. Add to that being able to represent our nation in the most prestigious UCI events known to man.
Where else do you get to race against Vincenzo Nibali, Peter Sagan, Chris Froome and countless other Pro riders up mountains, over cobbles and commiserate with vanquished foes in the Nine Hammers Tavern?
Over summer, I’ll have a strength and a yoga plan running in parallel on the Sufferfest app, and I do all of my riding outdoors. Having strength and yoga available makes the subscription excellent, year-round value.
In winter time, I usually pick a cycling plan that fits with my goals for the next season to add to the yoga and strength that I’m already doing. If you’re doing century rides, perhaps you could pick one of the longer-distance plans, and then pick and choose from the workouts whether you want to do them inside or outside.
I don’t stress about missing some of the plan workouts, even though I realize it means I’m not getting the full benefit from the plan - life gets in the way some times, and for me, it’s all about being able to find the right balance, and enjoy my time on the bike.
You’ve got about 8 years on me, but I find that training with SUF lets me ride at the front with ease in my group rides. I also compete a little in hillclimbs and cyclcross, so it helps with the competitive side too. My goals are similar to yours though: stay fit and healthy. I think you have to find what works for you. I love the training plans with yoga and strength. If I am on a plan in the summer and want to ride outside with my biddies, I just try to align the plan with my outside rides. Then once winter sets in I can commit to the whole plan and not feel any guilt when I eat at Thanksgiving anc Christmas!
I think you know you’ve already found your training destination!
You’ve accomplished a lot in the last few years but you’ll continue to benefit with Sufferfest for many of the reasons you and others have mentioned. For overall fitness maintenance you need something comprehensive, not just one dimensional. Sufferfest has that with the strength, yoga, etc options you mentioned and you can also immerse yourself in the Sufferlandrian culture.
There are a variety of excellent training plans available that will help you improve on your weaknesses and maintain your strengths. It is good to pick an event or an objective for yourself, and then find a plan that aligns with that. Alternatively, you can pick workouts on your own. They are all great “fun”, but this approach might be a bit random unless you have a good idea of what kind of training objectives you need to address. By following a plan, you’ll have to trust that they were put together by people who know what they’re doing (and believe me, the coaches at Sufferfest certainly do), but it gives you a structure and purpose to your training and eliminates the guesswork that you would otherwise need to do; in other words, it’s a lot easier because someone else has done the deep thinking.
Based on what you wrote, it sounds like you enjoy the long rides so maybe that should be your cycling objective and you could consider following one of the Century or Gran Fondo plans.
I’m a similar kind of cyclist, focused on Gran Fondos and long group rides, along with maintaining general fitness. I joined Sufferfest to add more structure to my training as I felt like I was reaching a plateau and neglecting my weaknesses.
After completing the intro and 4DP test I have now begun the 12 week All-Purpose Road plan and the workouts are certainly pushing me out of my comfort zone, which is what I really needed. Adding in strength and yoga sessions is perfect too.
Perhaps most importantly of all I’m finding the workouts fun, despite being very challenging at times. Before I discovered Sufferfest I found interval training immensely boring and would often miss sessions and just ride randomly instead. I also badly neglected my strength training and found it hard to fit in with my riding. Now having a complete Integrated plan seems much easier to follow.
Thanks to all of you for your input and sharing your experiences.
Ok, I’m in and will probably start with the 12 week all purpose road plan. Looking forward to starting and also including the strength, yoga, and mental toughness.
You sound like me except for age and time cycling. I will be 51 my next birthday and have been cycling almost 20 years. I really got back into cycling last summer late after taking about 3 years off. I use to ride Sufferfest back in the old days and ways. Until I got a smart wheel off trainer, I had no idea what Sufferfest could really do for me.
The community to boot is close knit and no cycling snobs to degrade your efforts no matter your level of riding. Remain and keep riding the Sufferfest way to increase your baselines. I also subscribe to other online cycling formats like TACX which has nice real video riding that reacts with my trainer well. But if I had to pick just one…I would choose to live in Sufferlandria any day!