As the season is winding down I’m thinking about the off season/ base miles ( I know its a little early but I like to think ahead.) And, it got me thinking. Why can’t one have a little intensity in the base phase and still recover in time to make even more progress in the build and intensity phases? For example, lets say you are an experienced cyclist with multiple years under your belt, and you want to raise your LT. You start with base miles in early Nov. Your peak race is in June (this is all hypothetical so work with me.) Why couldn’t you do say, 2 LT workouts during your base period each week, 2 x 20s, so a total 80 min. a week in LT zone. The idea is obviously to raise it, so you do this until Jan. 1, so you have 2 solid months of LT training. Then, you chill out for a while, focus on other stuff, then start building again Feb. or March towards your peak. Is my logic majorly flawed here? It just seems like people refer to their levels of fitness like there is a ceiling, that once you peak, you must come back down only to work towards that same ceiling next year. If you already have a foundation, can’t you just keep pushing your limits year round? I fully understand you must take some time off to recharge, but it just seems that you could be making improvements year round.
As the season is winding down I’m thinking about the off season/ base miles ( I know its a little early but I like to think ahead.) And, it got me thinking. Why can’t one have a little intensity in the base phase and still recover in time to make even more progress in the build and intensity phases? For example, lets say you are an experienced cyclist with multiple years under your belt, and you want to raise your LT. You start with base miles in early Nov. Your peak race is in June (this is all hypothetical so work with me.) Why couldn’t you do say, 2 LT workouts during your base period each week, 2 x 20s, so a total 80 min. a week in LT zone. The idea is obviously to raise it, so you do this until Jan. 1, so you have 2 solid months of LT training. Then, you chill out for a while, focus on other stuff, then start building again Feb. or March towards your peak. Is my logic majorly flawed here? It just seems like people refer to their levels of fitness like there is a ceiling, that once you peak, you must come back down only to work towards that same ceiling next year. If you already have a foundation, can’t you just keep pushing your limits year round? I fully understand you must take some time off to recharge, but it just seems that you could be making improvements year round.
I think most substantial gains are made during the off season. They may not be seen in the off season, but they are made there.
I believe so
I am an experiment in the making
Also, two weekly 2x20’s in your base period is counterproductive to periodization
You need to build mega volume in your base period, then strength, then intensity while reducing volume, then peak, and hit it
-g
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Very smart. Most people do too little intensity in the off season, if they do any at all. I’d say you could get by with way less intensity work than your proposing. Maybe 5-10 min per week. Basically it’s similiar to reverse periodization.