An early season warmer weather winter training camp can set you up for a flying start for the season ahead. These warmer weather training camps offer the chance to escape the cold wet and dark winters of northern Europe for the sunnier climes of southern Spain, the Canary or Balearic Islands. Cyclists have to contend with months of wet/cold and snowy/icy conditions on the road and many opt for hours of indoor turbo training at home. Whilst the turbo trainer or Watt bike will get you through the winter months it is not the same as riding out on the road and too many hours in the ‘pain cave’ (as most riders refer to their indoor set up) can leave you feeling fatigued and demotivated before the season even starts!
The main goal of an early season warmer weather winter training camp is to increase the volume of your training with a view to increasing your base fitness. Hours in the saddle are more important the speed or distance ridden. In terms of perceived effort, you should mostly be doing easy-moderate riding with only the odd harder effort thrown in. Despite this relatively low intensity you should experience very significant gains in key measures of fitness related to endurance performance. Another bonus from your warmer weather winter training camp is a boosted in mental well being. This may be due to the fact that being able to ditch the indoor training and being able to ride in a warmer, sunnier climate usually has a mood-enhancing effect! It’s very likely that the relatively low intensity training helped ensure that your mood states, were not negatively affected. Harder training may have produced slightly larger gains in fitness but would have undoubtedly been counterproductive in terms of how you ‘felt’, both physically and mentally, on your return home.
1.  Weather
Training through the British winter (and even spring and autumn for that matter!) can be miserable at the best of times. An early season warmer weather training camp offers you the perfect opportunity to ride outside with the wind in your hair and the sun on your back. You will return home with a spring in your step and a renewed motivation for training for the upcoming season.
2.  Training Benefit
An early season warmer weather training camp will allow you to leave your regular life and routine behind for a few days and purely focus on training. No distractions, no last-minute meetings, no excuses! A one-week block of focused training can have a huge positive impact on athletic performance for the season ahead.
3.   Company
The benefits of training and socialising with like-minded individuals are enormous. Lasting friendships are forged through joint experiences and a training camp offers plenty of challenging experiences for everyone to share. It’s not uncommon to see riders arrive as complete strangers and leave as friends for life!
4.   Recovery
At home rest and recovery are often neglected due to other daily life commitments. An early season warmer weather training camp offers you the opportunity to not only train like a pro but also recover like a pro! With time to stretch, relax and sleep, a training camp will enable you to get the most from every session and recover quicker.
5.   The Facilities
Your early season warmer weather training camp location should give you access to training facilities that may be difficult to come across when back at home. Open water swimming locations, running tracks and endless smooth roads for cycling are what you should expect to be on the doorstep of a training camp location.
