the wrong thing.

So here's GCN's top 10 ways to train smarter.

The importance of nutrition should never be underestimated as part of your training. We've

all been there - you've home home from a busy day at work and reach for the first thing

to cram into your mouth. Often it's not the healthiest and it's certainly not going to

be the best for your recovery. But planning healthy, nutritious meals needn't be a chore.

Just get a few recipes together and head out to the supermarket to stock up for the week.

Now here's a pro tip for you, and it comes from experience. Don't go food shopping when

you're hungry. The chances are that you'll come out with a basket full of calorie-rich

rubbish. Finally, try cooking in batches so you can make extra portions and save them

for when you're tight on time and on energy later on.

No-one can be in peak condition all year round, not even GCN. And that's why, if you look

at some of the training plans of the top pros, you'll see that the duration and intensity

of their training varies depending on what time of year it is.

This is certainly one point where you can learn from the pros and even copy them to

an extent. Your most intense period of training should come a couple of weeks out from the

event in which you want to peak for so that you're ready to arrive on the day fresh, fit

and motivated.

If you need help and guidance with regards to your training, then it can really pay dividends

to hire a coach.

Hey, this is Daniel Lloyd Coaching and Associates, you may remember me from such results as 161st

overall in the 2010 Tour de France. Helping people achieve their goals since 2012, how

can I help you?

They're trained to help you set your goals and then help you get there. Some people find

that they need a coach to keep them motivated.

I'm telling you, you can absolutely do this. You've got the strength, just get out there

and train and you're going to achieve exactly what you want to on the day of the event.

Whereas others are already motivated, they just need how to use their enthusiasm.

Look, you don't need to be going out on 6 hour rides. I know you don't have a proper

job, but you're training for a criterium!

Look locally and always choose the right coach for you. I know Dan, it's not you, it's me.

I mean Si, I can't force you to stay but it's going to be your loss, let's put it that way.

The best way to keep track of your training is to keep a training diary. It will allow

you to find out exactly what works and what doesn't for you personally. After all, we're

all different. It can be a simple diary like this one where you track the hours that you're

doing each day or week, or you can use a piece of software on your computer to keep track

of all sorts of metrics - resting heart rate, your weight, the intensity of your training

or even the peak powers that you're putting out. The great thing about keeping a training

diary is that if you have a really bad day on the bike, you can look back through it

and find out what might have gone wrong. Equally, when you've had a day where you're absolutely

flying, you can look back through your training diary and try to replicate it.

Depending on what you're training for, working on your weaknesses can really help your

performance in a sportive, whether it's fitness based or technique based. If, however you're training

for a race, you need to develop a weapon. Work on a strength that can help you win races,

whether that's sprinting, climbing or solo breakaways.

Power meters are the most accurate way to measure the intensity of your training.

Unlike heart rate or speed, they're not affected by outside factors such as temperature, fatigue,

caffeine intake or gradient. SRM were the original producers of the power meter, but

there are a whole host of other companies coming on to the market. The likes of Quarq,

Garmin with their Vector pedals, Stages and a whole host of others are starting to drive

the prices down and make them that little bit more affordable. It is worth noting however

that even after you've outlaid the expense for a power meter, you won't immediately get

quicker. You've got to learn how to use it, which you can do using various websites, forums,

books, or even our great videos on GCN. And even once you've got the knowledge and the

power meter, you're still going to have to head out on your bike and hurt yourself.

When you're training for your event, you need to make sure that you're aware of the specific

physiological demands that you'll need for it. So for example, heading to France, doing

a training camp doing multiple reps up the Ventoux probably isn't going to help you if

your event is a criterium around your local town.

Similarly, working on your maximum sprint and your explosiveness certainly isn't going

to help you if you're riding the Haute Route. So stick to a plan that's completely in line

with your objectives.

How do you know that you're actually making improvements? Actually it's quite a difficult

thing to gauge on a day-to-day basis, thats why it's quite a good idea every few weeks

to incorporate some sort of test. This will allow you to meaningfully gauge whether you

are actually making those improvements and if you're not, you can change your training.

You don't have to go to a lab to do these tests. You can integrate them into your training.

Although power meters area great way to track improvements, you could also do it on a local

climb as long as you maintain the same weather conditions.

Finally, remember that you should never stop learning. Absorb information from wherever

you can. Whether that's riders that you train with, from books, from internet forums, or

from a hugely useful internet YouTube channel called GCN.