DEVELOPED BY: IGNUS OOSTHUIZEN VIRGIN ACTIVE NATIONAL GROUP EXERCISE MANAGER AND EPIC CONQUEROR WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY: SONGO FIPAZA PROFESSIONAL SPORTSMAN AND FOUNDER OF SONGO.INFO
ONLY TRAINING CAN HELP YOU NOW It s 8 days of hills, valleys, hair-raising bends and the roughest of terrains. It s 658km and 13 530m of accumulated climbing. It s probably going to be one of the toughest challenges you ve taken on. But as long as you prepare yourself, your mind and your body, you ll make it to the end. And what bragging rights you ll have! As a headline sponsor and Official Health Club Partner, Virgin Active is proud to be prepping riders for this feat of all feats. It s the 2nd year we re on board and we re loving it. Our resident National Group Exercise Manager, Ignus Oosthuizen, has put together this awesome training programme so that you can, over time, really take your time in the saddle to the next level.
A BIT ABOUT OUR MAN, IGNUS In his more than 25 years of cycling, Ignus has been doing it competitively outside of work for just over 15 years. He s worked in the fitness industry for over 17 years and is a strength and conditioning specialist and qualified personal trainer. A few of his event highlights: 2017 - Absa Cape Epic finish 2017 - SA Road Champs 11th 2017 - Western Province Road Champs 2nd 2016 - Absa Cape Epic finish 2016 - Western Province Road Champs 2nd 2016 - Wine2Whales Race 21st 2013 - Gauteng Road Race Champs 2013 - SA Road Race Champs 2nd 2013 - Sani2C MTB Race - 14th overall At the moment, Ignus races for the Demacon Aurecon Cat team.
MORE ABOUT SONGO (IN CASE YOU DON T ALREADY KNOW ) Songo was born and bred in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch. A natural sportsman, he started with soccer, switched to athletics and now competes in triathlons, marathons and Ironman competitions around the world. With multiple Absa Cape Epic winner, Christoph Sauser, he founded Songo.info a non-profit MTB and BMX programme to introduce cycling to the Kayamandi youth. A few of his career highlights: Top 5 Western Cape cross country under 19, 1993 3 x Comrades Marathon 3 x Old Mutual Ultra Marathon 3 x full Ironman, 2 x half Ironman 7 x entries into Absa Cape Epic, 6 x completion Ran the New York Marathon in 3:15, 2008 Competed in the following: Eindhoven Marathon, Stockholm Half Marathon, Dublin Marathon and DBR mountain bike stage race
WHY THIS TRAINING? WHY NOW? AND HOW THE? We ve kept things really straightforward with this programme. Forget about getting too technical or worrying too much about the data. Just put in the hours and the intensity and you ll be ready. The hours in our programme takes into account the normal, working person. You can do more, but allow yourself recovery time too. We ve also incorporated some indoor training sessions, which are great for when the conditions outside aren t ideal. The indoor Wattbike really lets you focus on your efforts, without having to worry about cars and potholes.
SONGO SAYS Finishing an Absa Cape Epic builds up your confidence and prepares you for all of life s challenges. He gives some great advice for anyone getting ready for this truly epic race: Start early: I always try to stay fit throughout the year and start training specifically for the Absa Cape Epic at least three months in advance. This is when I focus on the technical aspects and do some long rides to get used to the saddle. I do HIIT (high intensity interval training) to push my heart rate and plenty of Ride classes at Virgin Active when I can t get out on the road. Get to know your partner: It s very important to follow a training program that suits both you and your partner. And to do as much of that programme as possible with your partner. Get to know each other really well - understand each other s strengths and weaknesses and learn to communicate constantly, especially on long training rides. The weaker partner, at any particular moment, should be allowed to set the pace. Train like you race: Plan a strategy and try to stick to that race pace during your long rides as it will help you to know where you need to improve. Go ahead with the planned ride whatever the conditions because you won t be able to pick and choose during the Absa Cape Epic you must be able to cope with anything and especially make sure you have ridden some hard climbs in hot conditions. Eat what you plan to eat during the race. Practice mechanics: The chances are pretty high that either you or your partner will suffer a mechanical issue during the race. Take the time to get to know your bike really well as you should be clued up on how to fix it both you and your partner, as this will hurry things up. Mix it up: Just grinding out the hours on the road can get dull and is very time consuming. The Virgin Active Absa Cape Epic Training Programme includes a good blend of Pilates, yoga, stretch and core classes as well specific work, outdoors and indoors, to build your power and pedal efficiency.
THE ROUTE TO END ALL ROUTES From Table Mountain to Robertson, from Robertson to Worcester, from Worcester to Wellington and eventually the Val de Vie estate in the Paarl/Franschhoek valley, this year s route is sure to keep every rider on their toes. As a reminder of what you re training for, go check out the route here.
MONTH 1 DATE DAY TRAINING PHASE TRAINING ZONES TIME OBJECTIVE WEEK 1 30-Oct Monday CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH / MASSAGE 31-Oct Tuesday ZONE 2 1:30 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 01-Nov Wednesday PHASE 1 - ZONE 3 1:00 INDOOR CYCLING CLASS 02-Nov Thursday ESTABLISH BASE ZONE 2 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 03-Nov Friday ENDURANCE PILATES 04-Nov Saturday ZONE 2 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 05-Nov Sunday ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 2 9:00 06-Nov Monday CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH / MASSAGE 07-Nov Tuesday ZONE 2 1:30 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 08-Nov Wednesday PHASE 2 - ZONE 3 1:00 INDOOR CYCLING CLASS 09-Nov Thursday IMPROVE ZONE 2 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 10-Nov Friday EFFICIENCY PILATES 11-Nov Saturday ZONE 3 4:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 12-Nov Sunday ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 3 10:00 13-Nov Monday CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH / MASSAGE 14-Nov Tuesday ZONE 3 2:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 15-Nov Wednesday PHASE 3 - ZONE 4 1:00 INDOOR CYCLING CLASS 16-Nov Thursday IMPROVE SUSTAINABLE ZONE 3 2:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 17-Nov Friday POWER PILATES 18-Nov Saturday ZONE 3 4:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 19-Nov Sunday ZONE 3 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 4 12:00 20-Nov Monday - MASSAGE 21-Nov Tuesday ZONE 2 1:30 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 22-Nov Wednesday PHASE 4 - CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH 23-Nov Thursday REGENERATION & ZONE 2 1:30 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 24-Nov Friday ACTIVE RECOVERY YOGA 25-Nov Saturday ZONE 2 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 26-Nov Sunday WEEK 5 6:00 27-Nov Monday - MASSAGE 28-Nov Tuesday ZONE 3 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 29-Nov Wednesday PHASE 1 - ZONE 3 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 30-Nov Thursday IMPROVE ZONE 2 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 01-Dec Friday EFFICIENCY PILATES 02-Dec Saturday ZONE 3 5:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 03-Dec Sunday ZONE 2 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 16:00
MONTH 2 DATE DAY TRAINING PHASE TRAINING ZONES TIME OBJECTIVE WEEK 1 04-Dec Monday - MASSAGE 05-Dec Tuesday ZONE 2 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 06-Dec Wednesday PHASE 2 - ZONE 3 2:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 07-Dec Thursday ESTABLISH SUSTAINED BASE ZONE 2 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 08-Dec Friday ENDURANCE CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH 09-Dec Saturday ZONE 3 6:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 10-Dec Sunday ZONE 2 4:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 2 18:00 11-Dec Monday - MASSAGE 12-Dec Tuesday ZONE 2 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 13-Dec Wednesday PHASE 3 - ZONE 3 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 14-Dec Thursday ESTABLISH SUSTAINED BASE ZONE 2 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 15-Dec Friday ENDURANCE CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH 16-Dec Saturday ZONE 3 6:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 17-Dec Sunday ZONE 2 5:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 3 20:00 18-Dec Monday - MASSAGE 19-Dec Tuesday ZONE 2 4:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 20-Dec Wednesday PHASE 4 - ZONE 3 4:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 21-Dec Thursday ESTABLISH SUSTAINED BASE ZONE 2 4:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 22-Dec Friday ENDURANCE CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH 23-Dec Saturday ZONE 3 6:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 24-Dec Sunday ZONE 2 4:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 4 22:00 25-Dec Monday - MASSAGE 26-Dec Tuesday 27-Dec Wednesday PHASE 5 - ZONE 2 2:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 28-Dec Thursday REGENERATION & - MASSAGE 29-Dec Friday ACTIVE RECOVERY 30-Dec Saturday ZONE 2 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 31-Dec Sunday 5:00
MONTH 3 DATE DAY TRAINING PHASE TRAINING ZONES TIME OBJECTIVE Week 1 01-Jan Monday - MASSAGE 02-Jan Tuesday ZONE 3 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 03-Jan Wednesday PHASE 1 - ZONE 4 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 04-Jan Thursday IMPROVE SUSTAINABLE ZONE 3 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 05-Jan Friday POWER 06-Jan Saturday ZONE 3 4:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 07-Jan Sunday ZONE 3 4:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 2 14:00 08-Jan Monday 09-Jan Tuesday ZONE 4 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 10-Jan Wednesday ZONE 3 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 11-Jan Thursday PHASE 2 - PUSH THRESHOLD ZONE 4 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 12-Jan Friday 13-Jan Saturday ZONE 4 4:00 MTB RACE PACE 14-Jan Sunday ZONE 2 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 3 12:00 15-Jan Monday - MASSAGE 16-Jan Tuesday ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 17-Jan Wednesday PHASE 3 - - MASSAGE 18-Jan Thursday REGENERATION & ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 19-Jan Friday ACTIVE RECOVERY 20-Jan Saturday ZONE 2 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 21-Jan Sunday WEEK 4 7:00 22-Jan Monday 23-Jan Tuesday ZONE 4 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 24-Jan Wednesday ZONE 3 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 25-Jan Thursday PHASE 1 - PUSH THRESHOLD ZONE 4 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 26-Jan Friday 27-Jan Saturday ZONE 4 4:00 MTB RACE SIMULATION - CLIMB 28-Jan Sunday ZONE 2 3:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 5 12:00 29-Jan Monday 30-Jan Tuesday ZONE 5 1:00 HILL REPEAT INTERVALS - 10 X 3 MINUTES 31-Jan Wednesday PHASE 2 - ZONE 4 1:30 HILL REPEAT INTERVALS - 3 X 10 MINUTRES 01-Feb Thursday SUSTAIN HIGH MAX ZONE 5 2:00 HILL REPEAT INTERVALS - 3 X 20 MINUTES 02-Feb Friday AEROBIC POWER 03-Feb Saturday ZONE 5 4:00 MTB RACE SIMULATION - CLIMB 04-Feb Sunday ZONE 2 2:00 80-100 RPM 10:30
MONTH 4 DATE DAY TRAINING PHASE TRAINING ZONES TIME OBJECTIVE WEEK 1 05-Feb Monday - MASSAGE 06-Feb Tuesday ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 07-Feb Wednesday PHASE 4 - - MASSAGE 08-Feb Thursday REGENERATION & ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 09-Feb Friday ACTIVE RECOVERY 10-Feb Saturday ZONE 2 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 11-Feb Sunday WEEK 2 7:00 12-Feb Monday 13-Feb Tuesday ZONE 5 1:00 MTB SPEED INTEVALS - 10 X 20 SECONDS 14-Feb Wednesday PHASE 1 - ZONE 4 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 15-Feb Thursday INCREASE ANAEROBIC ZONE 5 2:00 MTB SPEED INTEVALS - 10 X 30 SECONDS 16-Feb Friday CAPACITY 17-Feb Saturday ZONE 5 4:00 MTB RACE SIMULATION - SPEED 18-Feb Sunday ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 3 10:30 19-Feb Monday CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH 20-Feb Tuesday ZONE 2 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 21-Feb Wednesday ZONE 3 1:00 INDOOR CYCLING CLASS 22-Feb Thursday PHASE 2 - IMPROVE EFFICIENCY ZONE 2 1:30 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 23-Feb Friday CORE CONDITIONING & STRETCH 24-Feb Saturday ZONE 3 4:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 25-Feb Sunday ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM WEEK 4 10:00 26-Feb Monday - MASSAGE 27-Feb Tuesday ZONE 2 2:00 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 28-Feb Wednesday TAPER 1 - - MASSAGE 01-Mar Thursday REGENERATE & ZONE 2 2:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 02-Mar Friday ACTIVE RECOVERY 03-Mar Saturday ZONE 2 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 04-Mar Sunday 7:30
MONTH 5 DATE DAY TRAINING PHASE TRAINING ZONES TIME OBJECTIVE WEEK 1 05-Mar Monday 06-Mar Tuesday ZONE 2 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 07-Mar Wednesday TAPER 2-08-Mar Thursday REGENERATE & ZONE 3 1:30 ROAD - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 09-Mar Friday ACTIVE RECOVERY 10-Mar Saturday ZONE 2 3:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 11-Mar Sunday WEEK 2 6:00 12-Mar Monday 13-Mar Tuesday 14-Mar Wednesday TAPER 3 - ZONE 3 1:30 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 15-Mar Thursday REGENERATE & ZONE 2 2:00 MTB - Pedal efficiency 80-100 RPM 16-Mar Friday ACTIVE RECOVERY 17-Mar Saturday ZONE 2/3/4 1:30 LEG WARM UP WITH SHORT SPRINT INTERVALS 18-Mar Sunday ABSA CAPE EPIC ABSA CAPE EPIC WEEK 3 5:00 19-Mar Monday ABSA CAPE EPIC ABSA CAPE EPIC 20-Mar Tuesday ABSA CAPE EPIC ABSA CAPE EPIC 21-Mar Wednesday ABSA CAPE EPIC ABSA CAPE EPIC 22-Mar Thursday RACE ABSA CAPE EPIC ABSA CAPE EPIC 23-Mar Friday ABSA CAPE EPIC ABSA CAPE EPIC 24-Mar Saturday ABSA CAPE EPIC ABSA CAPE EPIC 25-Mar Sunday ABSA CAPE EPIC ABSA CAPE EPIC
TRAINING ZONES It s important to know what your ability or ceiling is. This is your maximum HR or Watts. Your zones and intervals are based on this max ability. Training Zones RPE % Max HR % of FTP Time in Zone Purpose Physical Adaptations Race Fitness Active Recovery Very light / 1 50-60% <55% Almost forever Regeneration and Recovery Increase blood flow to muscles to flush out waste products and provide nutrients Promotes recovery and therefore training response Zone 1 Light / 2 50-60% <55% 3hrs - weeks Establish base endurance Improves fat metabolism, gets muscles / tendons / ligaments / nerves used to cycling. Increases economy More efficient use of energy. Prepares body for harder training, works on technique / skill Zone 2 Light / 3-4 60-70% 56-75% 3hrs - weeks Improve efficiency Improves the ability to use oxygen, produce power and increases efficiency Able to produce more power with the same level of effort, works on technique / skill Zone 3 Moderate / 5-6 70-80% 76-90% 3-8 hours Improve sustainable power Improves carbohydrate metabolism, changes some fast twitch muscle to slow twitch Improved sustainable power, good for all cycling events Zone 4 Hard / 6-7 80-90% 91-105% 10-60 mins Push threshold up Improves carbohydrate metabolism, develops lactate threshold, changes some fast twitch muscle to slow twitch Improved sustainable race pace, useful during tapering or precompetition periods: too much time in this Zone can cause staleness Zone 5 Hard / 7-8 80-90% 91-105% 10-60 mins Sustain a high percentage of maximal aerobic power Develops cardiovascular system and VO2max, improves anaerobic energy production and speeds turnover of waste products Improved time trialing ability and resistance to short-term fatigue Zone 6 Maximum / 9-10 90-100% 106-150% 1-10 mins Anaerobic Capacity Increase maximum power output Increase maximum power output Supramaximal Maximum / 9-10 >100% >150% 5-10 seconds Increase sprint power output Increases maximum muscle power, develops neural control of pedaling at specific cadence Develop race-specific skills at race pace, starting power, sprint speed and the ability to jump away from the bunch
INTERVALS Build your strength and power by aiming for your maximal efforts/intervals. To increase your ability or to lift your ceiling, it s important to do zone 4 & 5 training sessions or intervals. INTERVALS 5 1 minute 1 : 2 10 1 minute 1 : 2 15 1 minute 1 : 2 5 3 minute 1 : 2 10 3 minute 1 : 2 15 3 minute 1 : 2 5 5 minute 1 : 2 10 5 minute 1 : 2 15 5 minute 1 : 2 SPEED INTERVALS 5 10 seconds 1 : 2 10 10 seconds 1 : 2 15 10 seconds 1 : 2 HILL REPEAT INTERVALS 5 3 minutes 1 : 2 10 3 minutes 1 : 2 15 3 minutes 1 : 2 5 20 seconds 1 : 2 10 20 seconds 1 : 2 15 20 seconds 1 : 2 5 5 minutes 1 : 2 10 5 minutes 1 : 2 15 5 minutes 1 : 2 5 30 seconds 1 : 2 10 30 seconds 1 : 2 15 30 seconds 1 : 2 5 20 minutes 1 : 2 10 20 minutes 1 : 2 15 20 minutes 1 : 2
THE WATTBIKE MAXIMAL RAMP TEST The test detailed assumes a high level of basic fitness and low risk category of cardiovascular events. Consult your doctor before you commence any of the Wattbike tests or training plans. A pre-participation health screen should be completed for all individuals wishing to take part in exercise or an exercise program. The Wattbike tests are not suitable if you are a beginner, have been recently ill or injured. Exercise prescription for minors should only be carried out under supervision of a qualified scientist. Any self exercise prescription participation is done at your own risk. Derived from the ACSM s exercise/test participation recommendations. Why complete this test? We recommend that you only undertake this test if you are overseen by experienced accredited sports scientist. This is the gold standard test designed to find your MMP, MHR and can also be used to calculate FTP. When to use the Max Ramp Test? Use this test when you want to find your true MMP and MHR. As mentioned above, only undertake this test if you are overseen by a qualified professional. What is the Max Ramp Test? It s an incremental test to exhaustion, the target wattage increases by a set amount every minute until failure. The final full minute completed is where MMP and MHR are recorded. How to complete the Max Ramp Test? 1. From the main menu select workouts/tests 2. On the test screen, select Max Ramp Test 3. Input your age, weight and gender and the Start and Stage Wattage, then press enter 4. Once the progress bar has disappeared, you can start your test 5. The live display will show time remaining in that stage, cadence, interval, wattage target, power perkily heart rate and peak power
SOME FINAL WORDS OF WISDOM What advice does Ignus have for you? Choose your partner well. Do the hours of training. Just do it. Rest well at least 2 weeks before the Epic a rested body is better than an over-trained body. Don t go too hard in the early stages. You ll pay later. Don t crash! Whatever you do, avoid this. You ll either have an expensive broken bike or an even more expensive (and out of action) body. Book your massages. Book a mechanic. Stay positive and when the going gets really tough, don t take it out on your partner. And last, but not least: Enjoy every moment of it! It really is an experience. GOOD LUCK!