Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005, and is the only cyclist ever to win seven times. What is most inspiring is that he overcame cancer, and then trained to levels that were previously unheard of to attain his amazing physical fitness, and the mental mindset required for long distance road racing.
Armstrong has some great athletic features that give him a competitive edge. He has a VO2 Max aerobic capacity of 83.8 ml/kg/min, which is higher than the average person’s 45. He has a resting heart rate of 32-34 beats per minute (bpm) with a maximum heart rate of 201 bpm. Many people’s resting heartbeat is over 60 bpm.
Armstrong does not just cycle, in 2006 he ran the New York Marathon, finishing in 2h 59m, and then in 2008 he ran the Boston Marathon in 2h 50m, finishing in the top 500.
Lance Armstrong’s Diet
Careful diet is essential, as carrying just 2 extra pounds can cost you a victory, and with such intensive training, good nutrition is essential. Cyclists aim to lose weight before the cycling events to ensure that they are as light as possible, but carry more weight during training to ensure that their muscles are getting enough nutrients to grow.
- Fish or sushi – lots of good protein.
- Lots of pasta during the racing season, but less carbs during the training season.
Breakfast:
- Eggs – two scrambled eggs.
- Fruit and fruit juice.
Lance Armstrong’s Cycling Workouts
During the height of his cycling career he adopted a 3 month training program based on a 4 week month (assume extra days at the end of each month are rest days). Full details are no longer available.
Lance Armstrong Workout – Month 1
First Week
- 3 x per-week weight training – hang cleans, box step ups with heavy dumbbells, side lunges carrying heavy disc, dumbbell rows
- 4 x per-week fix gear riding for 1 1/2-2 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- 2 x per-week road ride on normal bike for 2-21/2 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- high pedal speed, 95+ rpms
Second Week
- 3 x per-week weight training
- 4 x per-week fix gear riding for 1 1/2-2 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- 2 x per-week road ride on normal bike for 2-3 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- high pedal speed, 95+ rpms
Third Week
- 3 x per-week weight training
- 4 x per-week fix gear riding for 1 1/2-2 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- 2 x per-week road ride on normal bike for 3-31/2 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- high pedal speed, 95+ rpms
Fourth Week
- 3 x per-week weight training
- 4 x per-week fix gear riding for 1 1/2-2 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- 2 x per-week road ride on normal bike for 3 1/2-4 hours with 145 HR
- ceiling
- high pedal speed, 95+ rpms with 3 short flat sprints of 8 seconds each
- full recovery between sprints
Lance Armstrong Workout – Month 2
The training objectives for the second month are to build a solid aerobic foundation to prepare for the endurance requirements, and also to develop strength training to build stronger functional muscles that can work harder and receive increased quantities of oxygen. Training takes Heart Rate to the 145bpm ceiling.
First and Second Weeks
- 3 x per-week weight training
- 2 x per-week fix gear riding for 1.5-2 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- 2 x per-week road ride on regular bike for 3-3.5 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- High pedal speed, 90+ rpms
Third and Fourth Weeks
- 3 x per-week weight training
- 2 x per-week fix gear riding for 1.5-2 hours with 145 HR ceiling
- 2 x per-week road ride on regular bike for 3-3.5 hours with 4-6 PowerStart’s per-ride
- Full recovery between efforts
Lance Armstrong Workout – Month 3
First Week
US Postal Service Team Training Camp (details not known).
Remaining Weeks
During the last 3 weeks focus is on building on strength training, with emphasis on CTS STOMP intervals – which is simply hard cycling in a high gear to build functional leg strength and endurance – i.e. putting all the training together in preparation for racing. Training takes Heart Rate to the 150bpm ceiling.
- 3 x per-week weight training with 1 hour of riding after each workout.
- 2 x per-week riding for 2-2.5 hours with 150 HR ceiling, with CTS STOMP Intervals.
- 3 x per-week road ride on normal bike for 3 hours with 150 HR ceiling, high pedal speed, 95+ rpm’s, climbing in the saddle only.
- 1 x per-week on normal bike for 4 hours with 150 HR ceiling, high pedal speed, 95+ rpm’s, climbing in the saddle only.
- 1 x per-week rest day. No riding, full rest. Massage, baths, sleep.
References and further reading:
- Learn more about Lance Armstrong training on Livestrong.com.
- Lance Armstrong’ official website with his online biography: http://www.lancearmstrong.com/
- “Nutrition: Lose weight the Tour de France way” By Dr Kevin Currell, Triathlon Plus
- “Improved muscular efficiency displayed as Tour de France champion matures” by Edward F. Coyle. Journal of Applied Physiology June 2005 vol. 98 no. 6 2191-2196
- “The Science of Lance Armstrong: Born, and Built, to Win” by Stefan Lovgren, for National Geographic News, July 22, 2005
I think Lance’s diet is amazing. He won 7 tour de france and a cancer survivor. If it works for him then it is good. Thanks for posting it here.
Lance thank you for the writing these books. Im an ex college football player and have been cyling all my life.,You have inspired me to train for cyling, not just heavy weight training.
Lance Armstrong why do you not swim? I am presently training for another marathon and not just running this time. This time I am mixing swimming, biking, and running and strength training, as well as meditation, and foot reflexology.
Truely inspirational. Thats what you call an extreme diet.
I remember seeing Lance for the first time and his tour wins and boy he is very inspiring, he is my idol, love this guy. Thank you Lance, now I’m a cyling enthusiast.
Bradley Wiggins wins to Tour de France! Well done Bradley, all of Britain is proud of you.