I have read a bunch about frequency on the run, BarryP, we have the 100 day challenge going on. Short but frequent runs are great to build elasticity, ‘base’ miles and other things.
Now for the bike, would it be better to ride more during the week or would it be better to ride less duringthe week but have longer sessions?
I am training for 70.3s this year and an ironman at the end of the year. I do have a good amount of time where i can hop on the trainer and do a quick hour as well as getting on the trainer and doing 2 hours, mid week along with a long ride on the weekend.
5 sessions at 1-1.5hrs a week V 4 sessions at 1.5-2.5hrs a week totaling same volume in terms of hours?
I am a big believer in intensity on the bike instead of duration. At least for me, materially improving my threshold and v02 wattage through structured training has fantastic endurance benefits when I ride long.
My primary off-season intervals are 1 hr at sweet spot, 5x5@110% ftp, and 2x20 (sometimes 3x10) right under threshold.
The 1hr at sweet spot is my favorite and I believe the most impactful to building fitness.
5 v 4 isn’t that big of a difference. If we were talking about 5 v 2 or maybe 3 then you need ot start making choices. I’ve coached numerous sub 2:19 riders off of 3 and 4 rides per week.
What is going to matter more is how everything is structured between now and the race(s) you are doing. You could ride 5x75 minutes and not receive as much benefit as 4x75 minutes based on what you do during those 75 minutes.
Frequency in running is an excellent way to build durability, fitness, volume etc. In cycling we are not as constrained by the pounding that running places on the body. Other than bumps and crashes cycling is a very low impact sport. Running not so low impact.
Determine what you need to do to improve then do it. If you want to and can ride 5x per week vs 4 do so, but remember it’s what you do during a few of those rides not how many times you ride that will make a big difference.
The problem here is that many want this kind of thing to be black & white , all this or all that . . and so on. It does not work that way. All the training is cumulative. It all helps to a greater or lesser degree.
Frequency, no matter the sport or activity, is always very potent in building fitness, in either the early stages of an athletes career or coming back from a bit of a lay-off, or in the the very early part of the year. It’s never a bad thing to swim, bike or run 5 - 7 days a week, with appropriate pacing and intensity.
There would be times of the year when I would ride almost every day. There were other times of the year where I would only be riding 1 - 3 times/week. You can sub in swimming and running with riding in the past sentence.
Many triathletes way over-think this like there is some secret formula or something. It’s a lot simpler than people realize. Try this - jump on the 100 runs in 100 days program that runs here on the forum. If you are weak at running or newer to running, and you do it right, I almost guarantee that without any real advanced, or detailed training notes, you’ll run a 5k PB after that 100 days is done!
If your bike power is weak I would do 5 sessions with higher intensity and then shift to 4 sessions later on in the season. Just be sensible with the amount of intensity to not ramp it up too quickly or let it affect your other two disciplines. If you wake up and your legs are very stiff then you’ve gone too hard and it will impact your running and possibly swimming (through lower energy levels).
(I’m assuming you’ve already done analysis to decide the optimum % of your weekly training to biking. If you suck at swimming and only swimming twice per week, for instance, then I’d say overall you’re better off rebalancing)
Yeah just trying to structure my training plan. Agree with what you and desert dude have said. I ride 5x now give or take maybe 4. But it’s all about quality and recovering from those sessions and having the appropriate intensity.
I’m doing to 100 day challenge as a first timer. Looking forward to seeing a change. Thanks for the advice so far.
Frequency matters much less for cycling than running or swimming. Be sure to get in a longer ride, and 1-2 harder days (going from general to race specific as the season progresses) and then a few easy rides if you have time. Over the winter I wouldn’t waste much time doing easy riding on the trainer. Make a few days count and spend the rest of the time running or swimming (or even xc skiing).
Doing the 100/100 and biking 4-5 times a week is lots, especially if you are swimming also. If you are not used to the volume you will have to sacrifice intensity to be able to cope with both, unless you want to take a high risk approach.
my intensity is very low right now. mainly z2 bikes, masters swims and running at z1. im wicked out of shape and just started back up from a 2-3 week hiatus of doing nothing but boozing and eating. Im into my 2nd week of actually training and its taking some time to adjust. limiting my intesity til my next block.