Many of you are surely wondering just exactly how a pro trains: what do they do that you don’t do? We took it upon ourselves to interrogate Fabian Scholz, digging into his training schedule. Not only is he the German national champion but also the overall winner of the Specialized SRAM Enduro Series 2014 and a rider for the Focus Trail Team, so he’s not unfamiliar to riding at the top level.
Training plans are incredibly personal; not only are they tailored precisely to an individual athlete, but many athletes are often unwilling to share their recipe for success. Fortunately, Fabian Scholz has offered a week’s glimpse into his own bespoke winter training schedule, specifically created to fit his needs. And judging from his recent form, it has definitely paid off.
To consistently perform at the highest level when racing, a structured training plan is essential.
Monday Morning
Fabi’s week kicks off with a 90-minute strength training session. Not only does he focus on his legs and core, but also his arms. After a short warm-up, he does 4 x 8-10 reps at an intensity of around 90%, before rounding off the session with a 20-min cool down.
Afternoon/evening
Monday evening calls for two further sessions: 60 minutes steady riding followed by stretching.
Tuesday Morning
Tuesday morning sees him undertake 30 minutes of core work to strengthen the deeper muscles. Alongside the Swiss ball, he does sling training too. Then he heads off 2 hours on the bike incorporating 20 bursts of around 10 seconds each at 90%. As the whole session is done at around 80% it’s one of the week’s more demanding ones.
Afternoon
Technique is high on the agenda in the afternoon, and might include a trip to the pump track or heading back to the woods for specific section training. Fabi often does technique training at one of Stuttgart’s pump tracks.
Wednesday Morning
With a two and a half hour ride on Wednesday morning, Fabi focuses the first 60 minutes on honing his technique by repeating short sections multiple times. He follows this with an easy 90 minutes at a high cadence.
Afternoon
Active recovery is on the plan for the afternoon with either stretching or an easy session on the rollers.
Thursday
Rest day! Who would have thought it?!
Friday Morning
Friday morning demands yet another strength and conditioning session, followed by intervals on the bike. An example session would be 6×40 seconds with 3 minutes recovery between the sets. To warm down Fabi rides gently for 30 minutes. For interval training Fabi either opts for his road bike or hardtail.
Evening
After a steady 45 minutes on the rollers, it’s time for another 40 minutes stretching on the yoga mat.
Saturday Morning
To prepare for the season ahead Fabi recreates the demands of racing by doing a long ride with multiple sections at 90% of his race pace.
Evening
As range of movement is so vital, Fabi spends another 30 minutes focusing on stretching.
Sunday Morning
On Sunday he has 3 hours of zone 1 training on the bike, in which he tries to constantly work at a low pulse rate of between 120-140bpm. As a training tool Fabi tends to use a heart rate monitor for these types of sessions.
Evening
On Sunday evening there’s an optional stretching and yoga session penciled in.
Alongside training, diet is also really important. Here’s an example of one of Fabian’s breakfasts.This training plan gives you an overview of just how much and how hard pro enduro riders train. Naturally, their weekly schedules vary from month to month, season to season, depending on their race calendars and commitments. During the race season, Fabian often lowers the intensity of the sessions so that he has sufficient time to recover between races.
For more information on Fabian Scholz visit the team’s Facebook page: Focus-Trail-Team
Text: Christoph Bayer Photo: Axel Brunst / Christoph Bayer
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