Practice Notes

How to
train.

The schedule tells you what to do. This page tells you how to do it well — so every session builds on the last.

On the Bike

Cycling days · Tue / Thu / Sat

Ride Smart

  • Ride early morning when possible — cooler air, less traffic, and your head is clearest.
  • Always wear a helmet and run front and rear lights even in daylight.
  • Spin a cadence of 80–90 rpm in an easier gear rather than grinding a hard gear slowly. It saves your knees and burns fat more efficiently.
  • Tuesday and Thursday are your Zone 2 and interval days. Saturday is your long ride — add 2–3 km each week to build endurance progressively.
  • Carry enough water. In hot or humid conditions, add a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lemon to your bottle for basic electrolytes.

Ride Zones Explained

  • Zone 2 (easy): You can hold a full conversation. This is where fat oxidation is highest — most of your riding should be here.
  • Zone 3–4 (tempo): You can speak in short sentences. Builds aerobic power and race pace.
  • Zone 5 (intervals): You cannot talk. Used on Thursday — short bursts of 1 min on, 2 min easy recovery.
  • If you don't have a heart rate monitor, the talk test is perfectly accurate for gauging intensity.

Freeletics Bodyweight

Strength days · Mon / Wed / Fri

FitForge uses the free Freeletics bodyweight workouts — no equipment, no gym, no paid subscription needed. These are the classic "God" workouts available to every Freeletics user at no cost.

The God Workouts (Free)

  • Aphrodite — 50 Burpees, 50 Squats, 50 Sit-Ups. The benchmark. Do it for time and chase your PB.
  • Zeus — Burpees, Push-Ups, Squats. Upper body and full-body power.
  • Ares — High-volume Burpees and Push-Ups. Short and brutal.
  • Hera — Jumping Jacks, Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Squats. Accessible for beginners, scalable for everyone.
  • Artemis — Burpees, Jumping Lunges, Push-Ups. Legs, lungs, and chest.
  • Metis — Jumping Jacks, High Knees, Push-Ups, Sit-Ups, Squats. Full-body conditioning.

How to Use Them

  • Open the Freeletics app → Training → Workouts → filter by Bodyweight. All God workouts are free.
  • Always do them for time. The app records your time automatically — that's how you track progress week to week.
  • Pick Monday: Aphrodite or Zeus · Wednesday: Ares or Hera · Friday: Artemis or Metis.
  • If a workout has a starred (⭐) version, save it for when you're fresh and well-rested — it's a personal best attempt.
  • Finish Friday's session with a 4–5 min core block: planks, leg raises, and dead bugs.

The Method

Applies to both disciplines

What to Watch For

  • Sleep 7–8 hours. Muscle is built and fat is burned during sleep, not during training.
  • Track your Freeletics times and your cycling distances. Numbers don't lie — if they're improving, the plan is working.
  • Hit ~1.6g of protein per kg of bodyweight daily to protect muscle while losing fat.
  • Take a deload week every 5–6 weeks — reduce volume by 40%. You come back stronger.
  • Consistency beats intensity. Six honest weeks beats one brutal week and three skipped ones.

What to Avoid

  • Skipping the warm-up. Five easy minutes on the bike or some arm circles prevent the injuries that stop everything.
  • Rushing the Freeletics reps. Sloppy burpees and push-ups with a half range of motion build nothing — slow down to go faster long-term.
  • Crash dieting. A modest calorie deficit burns fat; starving burns muscle and stalls progress.
  • Treating the rest day as completely sedentary. A 20-min walk and some stretching keeps the body loose and ready.
  • Comparing your times to others. Your only competition is last week's you.

Push Further

  • Add a 5-min core finisher after strength days — planks, hollow holds, bicycle crunches.
  • On one cycling day per week, try a short fasted morning ride (Zone 2 only) to boost fat oxidation.
  • Walk 8,000–10,000 steps daily on top of training. Non-exercise movement adds up more than people think.
  • Every 4 weeks, redo Aphrodite and log your time. That number tells you everything about your fitness trajectory.