I wanted to get some opinions on different approaches to bike training. I’ve spent the last 8-10 months building endurance and when I had my race the power just wasn’t there anymore. This led me to ask which is better:
Training your endurance then focusing in on upping the power
Train the power to the highest you can then focus on building the endurance
In a perfect world we’d have enough time to do a mix of both but with specific session goals on an unforgiving schedule which would lead to better result theoretically? Ideally 2-3 hour or less and tailored for Oly distance.
For bike training i rarely do a slow ride, for specific training such as olympic its about riding at that race pace and feel comfortable there. regardless my training for an olympic race:
tue - 1:15 hr - intervals
thu - 1 hr - intervals
sat - 2.5 hrs - tempo + intervals
sun 2 hrs - tempo
Here is what I’ve begun to do and I’m interested if there are arguments against it. My objective is to build up my FTP and endurance over the next 6 weeks.
2-3 times a week(Weekdays) 60 minute sessions
10min Warmup Active Recovery Zone 1
3min Build up Tempo Zone 3
-----4x---------
5min Interval Lactate Threshold Zone 4
3min Recovery Endurance Zone 2
10min Cooldown Zone 1
1-2 Times a week(Weekends) 120 minute Sessions
10min Warmup Zone 1
40min Base Build Endurance Zone 2
-------5x-------
10min Interval Tempo Zone 3
2min Recovery Endurance Zone 2
If you didn’t have the power in your race then you didn’t actually build endurance.
I wanted to get some opinions on different approaches to bike training. I’ve spent the last 8-10 months building endurance and when I had my race the power just wasn’t there anymore. This led me to ask which is better:
Training your endurance then focusing in on upping the power
Train the power to the highest you can then focus on building the endurance
In a perfect world we’d have enough time to do a mix of both but with specific session goals on an unforgiving schedule which would lead to better result theoretically? Ideally 2-3 hour or less and tailored for Oly distance.
My power profile is still pretty bare (just got the PM and did 1 FTP test) and new so I’m not sure how accurate it is. Zone 3 for me is comfortable but I stay in the upper end which starts to get uncomfortable. The recovery is to ease up a bit to take in fluids and spin at a higher cadence. I figured it would give me a more “complete” workout but I’m not cycling expert.
I’ve realized I’m a much weaker cyclist than I had thought and it’s not sitting well with me. 30km/h just won’t cut it unless I’m happy being MTP competitor which I am not.
First workout change recovery to 1 minute and add up to 3 more intervals. You’re just not doing enough work to need 3 minutes of recovery. If you were approaching Z5 then maybe it’s a different story.
Second workout I think you would be better served to go with 3X20 min Z3 (or 2X20 + 10) but your 5X10 isn’t too bad.
Unless you’re riding 15-20+ hours a week, I wouldn’t say you’re focusing on *endurance. *
Most triathletes and amateur cyclists can’t dedicate that kind of time to riding, so we go with a bang for your buck approach with lots of tempo rides, intervals at cp, and steady long rides. For an oly that might be 4 rides a week - 3-4.5 hr long ride, 1-2 hours w/ 2x20 at cp, 1-2 hours tempo at ~90% cp, and a whatever 1-2 hour ride based on feel.
I think my misconception came in being able to do a 4 hour 120km ride averaging 30km/h. I equated this to “endurance” and I did this ride 2x a week last year without fatigue. I’m learning that it’s not enough and I need more time + year over year fitness gains. I’m only a 2nd year cyclist when it comes to training although I’ve ridden for quite some time. In my training this pre-season I kept my rides to 2 hours and in heart rate zone 3 mostly steady efforts.
EPIC FAIL! Time to correct my mistakes and get the gains I’m after. Thanks to all so far for their input. I’m going to make the adjustments recommended and if there are other opinions I’ll greatly welcome them.
2-3 times a week(Weekdays) 60 minute sessions
10min Warmup Active Recovery Zone 1
3min Build up Tempo Zone 3
-----6x---------
5min Interval Lactate Threshold Zone 4
1min Recovery Endurance Zone 2
10min Cooldown Zone 1
1-2 Times a week(Weekends) 120 minute Sessions
10min Warmup Zone 1
40min Base Build Endurance Zone 2
-------3x-------
20min Interval Tempo Zone 3
2min Recovery Endurance Zone 2