Once a sprinter, Kian Emadi made the switch to endurance track cycling and became a world champion at the team pursuit in 2018.
The Great Britain Cycling Team rider talks through a typical week of training.
Total stats for the week:
Kilometres covered: 600km
Number of hours on the bike: 20h
Number of hours in the gym (or other training): 4h
Maximum power output: 1900w
Monday – Steady ride
I took things a bit easier to start the week – good to make sure there’s plenty in the tank with more intense things to come. It was a fairly steady ride, with my Great Britain Cycling Team teammate Ollie Wood. Generally, I’ll do my steady rides with teammates, usually riding around the Peak District which is really nice. These days are hugely important for our fitness.
Tuesday – Rest day
Another easier day, although I did still get out on the bike. Rest is just as important as a training session. When I have a rest day, I always try and catch up on things that I don’t usually get to manage when I’m training, such as shopping or a bit of life admin. If I can, I like to meet up with friends for coffee and food too.
Wednesday – Long ride
No rest for the wicked! Generally, this first long ride of the week is the first of three days where we’re out for between four and five hours. Charlie Tanfield kept me company as we took on the big distance! Training with a teammate makes a big difference, especially when the weather is great. The time passes quicker when you’re all in it together.
Thursday – Long ride
Plenty of distance again today. I really enjoy getting out on the long rides with teammates, they’re always good fun. You can chat away and get the hard work in at the same time.
Friday – Long ride with efforts
Generally, the three day block of long rides finishes with a day with some efforts too. These efforts are about targeting specific stuff towards our track work. I found it ok, but it was the first time doing efforts since a bout of Covid, so it was a bit of a shock to the system. It was good to get back into it though.
Image: SW Pix
What’s your favourite thing about training?
I love being able to train hard and to push myself. It makes such a difference being able to train alongside my friends and teammates.
What has been your most challenging training session?
Definitely a team pursuit specific turbo session. We’re pushed really hard on them and you can end up feeling quite sick after them!
What’s the best piece of training advice you’ve ever been given?
Duration is key, not intensity. You won’t believe how crucial that is, it makes such a difference.
What would you say is the biggest training mistake you’ve made?
I think probably a lack of consistency. It’s easy to do too much when you feel good and then on days when it isn’t coming as easily, it can be tempting to slow things down and to ease off. It’s a bit of a seesaw effect, I find that it’s better to keep everything consistently chugging away.
What do you use your power meter for and what difference does it make to your training?
Tracking power data does make a huge difference to training, so it’s brilliant for me and the whole team that we can rely on our InfoCranks to be completely accurate. It’s so much better when you’re doing efforts if you’ve got numbers to target and motivate yourself to match or beat – even more so when that data is completely reliable.
The Great Britain Cycling Team have been using InfoCrank power meters extensively to support the team’s medal-laden Olympics campaign since 2015.
