Hugo Houle's indoor training plan

Like so many other professional cyclists, Hugo Houle is confined to his home during the COVID-19 crisis. This is no easy feat, as just a stone's throw from his apartment in Monaco, he has access to some of the most beautiful mountain passes in the Alpes-Maritimes, on both sides of the French-Italian border.

But he has to settle for doing the work indoors. "It's like at home in winter," he sums up. "And ultimately, I realize that the preparation I did when I was a junior or U23 was really pretty good."

This preparation is something we are all more or less forced to do during the winter months, which in our region often stretch into mid- or even late spring: rolling.

Quality vs. quantity

You've probably seen some pros pushing themselves to the limit during rides seven-hour indoor rides . Not so for Hugo Houle, who prefers to use this downtime to refine physical skills that are often neglected during the season. "I'll have time to build volume later," he says. "My goal is not to lose what I've gained, to maintain a good level. I see this as an opportunity to do things right."

"Endurance comes back quickly," he says. "Intensity, on the other hand, disappears quickly." 

Intensity and weight training

"I do three short interval sessions per week. I keep it fairly simple, 30-30, 1 min-1 min, pretty much at full throttle (130-140% of FTP). I usually build this up in 10-minute blocks, with 3, 4, or 5-minute breaks in between, depending on the intensity. I don't do more than 1 hour, 1 hour 30 minutes. That way I don't have time toget fedup."

"During the season, with all the traveling, the first thing we give up is weight training. Now I have time to do it, so I'm taking advantage of that. On days when I'm doing high-intensity training, I do a weight training session before getting on the bike. I've found that this approach is effective and that my legs feel less heavy because they haven't had time to stiffen up, which would happen if I did my weight training on my days off between intervals, for example."

"I also do core training. You're always sitting on the bike, and when those muscles are well trained, I feel like I have more power to put on the pedals. My back and abs are more active, I'm more stable and more efficient."

Races on Zwift

"On Saturdays, I race on Zwift. I find it really fun, there's a real competitive spirit, but above all, it's very hard."

"I find it quite realistic, but there are subtleties that I'm only beginning to understand. It starts fast, you're in the red right away, and it never stops! It will never be like a real race; it lacks a layer of strategy and technique, but I find it really interesting and the level is very high."

"However, like intervals, it's very tiring, so you shouldn't overdo it," he cautions. The same goes for you.

Are you interested?

It is often difficult to imitate the training regime of professionals who ride more than 20 hours per week. However, lockdown shows that the type of training regime we practice here is not only valid, but also highly effective for amateurs who rarely have to cover distances as long as the pros, and practically never at the same level of intensity over long periods of time (you know, like a 175 km stage of the Giro, at the end of the third week, with three first or second category climbs, then an HC to finish).

Want to have this kind of program at your fingertips? Contact Bruno Langlois to get your personalized program, and join us for Saturday races on Zwift.