Hi Scott,
That’s great your son finished the NICA season motivated to get faster. The first place to start is with a rest! Take a break from training and racing for at least a month. Then look at incorporating some other activities for a few months. Optimal long term athletic development comes from sampling many different activities while 12-16 years old and specializing later in the mid to late teen years. Young athletes are in a perfect development period to quickly learn sport specific skills in several sports which will contribute to a higher level specialized one-sport athlete later. Juniors should practice a great variety of sports and exercises focusing on enjoyment, development of character, strength, speed, cardio, mobility, balance and technique.
If cycling is his only jam, look for the variety in bmx, pump tracks, jump parks, enduro, gravel rides etc. Aim for fun and variety. For example, learning to jump your bike is so much easier at 12 years old than 25. Focus on fun and skills.
Then, 12-weeks prior to the start of team training in 2024 follow our PRE-season High School JUNIOR-VARSITY Mountain Bike Training Plan. Once team traning starts, I always recommend joining the team and following their training plan. If the team does not have a training plan, recommend they follow our FALL-league High School TEAM mountain bike training plan Mountain Bike Training Plan.
Coach Lynda