Firstly, so glad that Derek is making a swift recovery from his injuries. That is the most important thing! I was so shocked when I heard the news via this forum even though I’ve never met or spoken to Derek.
Now that Derek is on the road to recovery I hope it’s appropriate to ask a question about DH.
I’ve been using DH probably for about 18 months or so. Love the programs and the structure and seems to blend nicely with the on the bike training.
Just looking for opinions and feedback from other DH members as to how you cycle through the programs. I only road bike so some of the MTB or XC programs may not be so appropriate for me.
Last year I did the Road Program (before Off Season Road existed) and then on Derek’s advice I followed the Mid Season Enduro and then the Gravity as my A event approached. In the autumn / winter I did the General Functional Fitness. I am now completing the new Off Season Road Program (admittedly it isn’t the off season but holiday and some missed days has meant it’s taken me longer to complete). The logical step would be to do the Mid Season Road Program (ie the old Road Program I did last year) but I’m wondering whether I would need a different stimulus.
The dumbbell or kettlebell programs could be an option but wondering whether that would be varied enough or again provide enough stimulus if you have a gym at your disposal?
Be interested to hear about how other DH members cycle through the programs or whether they alternate with other strength training solutions. I know the obvious advice would be to ask Derek but I feel like the guy has other things on his plate to worry about.
Here’s what I’d suggest from a non expert position. You could try doing the no equipment flow or hiit programs, I haven’t done the hiit but done the no equipment, I think these are great for maintenance and mobility and you can potentially do it from home even if you don’t have a home gym.
another suggestion if you prefer weights is to either do the gravel program, I think they would translate some to road, don’t see why not. there is also always the summer maintenance in case you need to take a few easy weeks
I think I am in 3 minds. My A Event is on 23 June (a 132 mile hilly Gran Fondo) so I was thinking of reducing intensity over the next few weeks. However, I probably don’t need to reduce intensity for the duration of a Dialed Health program which can be 8-12 weeks!
I was wondering whether I would find the no equipment flow a bit too one dimensional with the lack of equipment and weights. Have you tried the dumbbell program? I’m tempted to give that a go. Or I may just jump around and try out a few different elements until the A Event is done and dusted!
You could add on the summer maintenance to it and use some bands, I wouldn’t worry too much for these few weeks, the plan is divided by phases 4 weeks each I think
There are plenty of one-off workouts you can follow until you are ready to jump back into a program. I did the dumbbell program this past fall/winter and it was great for me.
It depends on how you look at your cycling workouts. If you just want to see your progression levels hit max numbers, don’t lift, if in the long run you want to be a better and stronger cyclist, lift. For me, I do the dumbell program and during “rest weeks” on the bike, I do half the weight and half the sets, so my body has more time to adapt.
However, when I did some heavy RDL’s, the next day I had a 2 hour sweet spot ride (usually these are moderate for me) that felt between hard and v hard. I was okay with that because I know that after my recovery week, I will have the additional strength and adaptation that will make me a stronger human and a better cyclist.
I do not think it affected my workouts. I was going through Base on Low Volume when doing the program. I am never going to be competing at the pointy end of the stick in my age group so my thoughts on how it effects the workouts might be different than yours as well.
Hi has anyone any tips for getting the workouts to write to TP strava etc. seems that the calendar in DH reads in rides (not useful with rudimentary calendar) but I want to write it into my main calendar ie TP
but I could never get the DH workouts to sync for for than about an hour, then it stopped working, time after time. I think the DH tech is not quite there yet.
I 100% agree with you regarding the DH Tech. I have signed on and off from DH multiple times because i get so frustrated with the technology.
Overall, Derek is a great coach and I am sure he is on a limited resources (a team of 1 or so). His workouts are great and I appreciate all the videos.
It annoys me to have to jump from video to video for example or try to use their app to record reps often breaks and doesnt actually record the workout.
I wish it was closer how Bodybuilding.com does their plans and their app.
From his latest podcast it seems he is putting the app at lower priority arguing that social media is bringing more customers and ge wants to focus on year round plans and programs… I still wish the app wasn’t full of bugs, but it’s still useable for me!
I agree. I have always felt like Derek needs to focus on doing what he does best and letting others do the things he’s not an expert at. I have this weakness too. I’m an amazingly good starter, and I’m interested in absolutely everything…but then I get bored half way through and move on to the next thing rather than take it to the finish line. I had to recognize that in my work to know when to pass the baton to someone who is amazing at the finish.
