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Cycling Training

5 min read

  • Progressive overload allows the body to make gains, if you do the same every day/week/season, the body gets used to it and plateaus.
  • You need to measure performance somehow to be able to reflect on it and improve.
  • You want to do 2 (at most 3) high intensity sessions a week. Too much intensity might not give your body enough time to recover.

FRC

  • Similarly to Vo2, do them at max, not at a prescribed %FTP.
  • FRC intensive: Higher power, lower duration. To increase FRC. 1min max
  • FRC extensive: Lower power, higher duration. To extend FRC. 30s
  • Workouts for FRC:
    • Hill Reps
      • 3-6x FRC intensive duration
      • Self selected cadence
      • Full recovery
    • FRC Accelerations (cross?)
      • 3-6x FRC intensive or extensive duration
      • Standing or rolling start on semi-large gear (eg 53x15)
      • Position specificity: Cx on hoods, crits and track on drops
    • FRC Capacity
      • 1-5x3-6min 30/30s (30s all out, 30s rest)
      • Target RPMoptimal +0-20rpm for M/Smax.
      • 7-10 min rest
      • High FRC&Pmax riders need less stimulus, low need more stimulus.
    • Long race sprints:
      • Descend hill to 25-30mph
      • Shift to optimal gear by feel
      • When ground levels out, stand and sprint FRC intensive or extensive duration.
      • Full recovery.
  • Saen: FRC RPE 10/10, VO2 RPE 7-8/10

VO2

  • To improve FTP do VO2
  • VO2 could be better if not based around a % of FTP but just going at max effort ignoring power.
  • Ideally do VO2 at high cadence
  • For VO2, it doesn’t matter if power doesn’t match between intervals.
  • VO2 intervals should generally be 3-5 minutes
  • Progression for VO2 means higher watts.
  • Example progression: 5x3, 5x3 harder, 5x4 still go harder.
  • If doing a block (3 weeks generally), when you hit last week you should potentially feel like it’s been enough (fatigue creeping up, not that motivated)

SST and FTP

  • SST = FTP*0.93
  • Increasing TTE via SST or FTP
  • Typical FTP progression: 2x15, 2x20, 2x22.5, 2x25, 2x27.5, 2x30
  • Or, from WKO YT: 3x10, 3x15, 5x10, 2x25, 6x10, 3x20, 1x60
  • And by increasing TTE I can achieve something like: “Do an hour of threshold”
  • SST/FTP progression would be adding time (Time In Zone? TiZ)
  • SST intervals should be of at least 15 minutes, and probably for FTP too (it might be too short even though its listed on WKO progressions?)
  • Over/Unders (O/U) is for TTE when one is fit
  • Long intervals around threshold are good
  • Riding at SST and FTP should feel moderate and progressively not… after 30-70 minutes it should be hard.
  • FTP = MLSS ?
  • Ideally, once you complete a step in the progression ladder, you don’t repeat it in that same block: you completed 2x20 on tuesday, on thursday you don’t do the same, you do 2x22.
  • What matters is progressing TiZ, if you have to do it in uneven intervals, it does not seem to affect the result. Example: 1x25+1x15 vs 2x20 for whatever reason. Both add to 40 minutes in zone.

So the main thing I’d say to you is that if you are getting the intensity correct, you will be able to do sweetspot for ~60min from the very beginning. So if you were to start with the progression plan you’ve given, you’re not actually going to be improving much beyond the noob gains for the 4.5wks that plan would take The progression my athletes get is 60min, 70, 80, etc (My note: and they do it until they can do 2-2.5 hours of it???!)

The reason I give 2x30min first time around is to quickly break the notion that these intervals aren’t something you want to be able to hold for a long time. Go do 2x30, don’t be scared of it. As long as you’re targeting the intensity correctly you’ll be fine

Endurance

  • Endurance pace: RPE 2-3, pass the talk test
  • If endurance pace plateaus, go longer
  • Polarized is a periodization strategy

Testing

  • Empirical Cycling Baseline Test, 35-45 minutes or TTE
    • 10 minutes at 92-95 percent of target FTP
    • Increase to 100 percent of target FTP for 15 minutes
    • 10-15 minutes gradual power increase until exhaustion

Rest Week

This is from EC’s “Simplest Training Plan”, so yeah…

  • Rory:
    • Day off to start.
    • Recovery (single digit TSS)
    • Endurance
    • Endurance
    • Recovery
    • “Openers”
    • If feeling good on Sunday, longer endurance or then just short.
  • Kolies: (8-15 hours)
    • Recovery
    • 2 workout days: 1 threshold (tempo, sweetspot or ftp) → progress with more TiZ. 1 Vo2 max day (12 min interval time, optimally 15-20 minutes) → progress with more power. steady state/high cadence. OPTIONAL 3rd day: Group ride
      • If too tired, swap for endurance.
      • Or swap vo2 ←> threshold if you feel like you can improve the other.
      • Swap vo2 for race specific workout.
    • Easy endurance rides otherwise.
    • 3 on - 1 off blocks.
    • Rest week:
      • Mon - Tues off
      • Wed - Thurs recovery
      • Friday endurance
      • Sat - Sun how you feel (group rides, power test, prs attempts… have fun)

General Week

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