• • Your body needs fuel. “I’ve always liked the idea of making sure the gas tank isn’t empty,” said Martinez. “Obviously you don’t want to have a full meal and then step right into a session, but making sure we’re having a snack 30 to 45 minutes before working out.” Martinez also recommends drinking water when needed throughout the workout, but more importantly staying hydrated throughout the day. After the workout is over, make sure to have a complete meal with good sources of protein, carbs and fat to replenish your body.

• • Don’t skip the warmup. When people are strapped for time, the first thing to go is usually the warmup. But this is such a beneficial step in your workout routine, not only for activating your muscles and reducing risk of injury, but also for getting your mind in the zone. Martinez encourages keeping your warmup quick and simple. “Keep it under 10 minutes and a good rule of thumb is to just rehearse whatever you’re going to do [for your workout].” If lower-body weight training is on the menu for the day, then rehearse some bodyweight squats and glute bridges as your warmup. If you have more time, throw in some dynamic stretches, like side lunges and windmills.

• • Cooling down aids recovery. Cooling down is just as important, but people notoriously skip it to rush onto the next thing in their day. Although stretching is preferable, Martinez says if you have to jet after your workout, keep a massage ball handy to roll out your muscles while you work. Recovery moves aren’t limited to right after the workout either, so try some mobility stretches while you watch TV, or hip opening circles as you’re cooking dinner. Remember that active lifestyles are about finding ways to move in all areas of your life.

Beginner cyclists who were not riding regularly before starting to train should continue building volume by increasing weekly riding time by 10% each week, over the course of 3-6 rides. Take a rest day – no training – at least one day out of seven. Many athletes quickly reach the weekly maximum number of hours they can devote to training, some within the first month. This is particularly true for athletes who were riding regularly before transitioning to goal-oriented training.

Add longer weekend rides. You can add training volume by incrementally making each ride longer, but many athletes with career and family priorities find it difficult to ride more than 60-90 minutes during weekdays. A more common way to add volume is to add time to weekend rides. (Find out how long your longest ride needs to be) This is also beneficial because at this stage a longer individual ride creates a significant training stimulus (training stress is the stimulus that causes your body to adapt and grow stronger).

Connect with the cycling community. Riding with more experienced cyclists is the best way to learn cycling skills. As with anything else, there is a learning curve to getting started with cycling. Everyone started somewhere, and most are happy to help shorten the learning curve for less experienced riders. The key is to find a group you’re comfortable with, and the best place to start is your local bike shop or cycling club. Many organize free weekly group rides at various skill, speed, and experience levels. Some also organize group training sessions, like a group ride that goes out to ride climbing repeats up a local hill.

If you’re more comfortable training indoors, or the times you have available for training require you to be indoors, you can still engage with the cycling community through apps like Strava and Zwift. (Try these sub-60 minute indoor cycling workouts) These apps are fitness trackers as well as social platforms, and help athletes measure their progress and stay accountable to their training goals. Many athletes who work with coaches upload their training data to TrainingPeaks, which is included in our TrainRight Membership, or similar apps that allow coaches to analyze an athlete’s data and, in conjunction with frequent personal communication, schedule and adjust future training. Fitness trackers are more effective with more data, so if you use one be sure to upload your data.