Sunday, December 14, 2008

Simplified Base Bicycle Training

If you are now in your early base period of training there are only three things you should be focusing on in your training: aerobic endurance, force and speed skills.

I seem to write about this topic a lot this time of year, it seems. That’s probably because I see so many athletes doing so little in their training now to optimize fitness in these three critical areas. Most are in a hurry to get into muscular endurance, anaerobic endurance and power training. In fact, those who burned out last July or so have been training these abilities since September when they started to get their enthusiasm for training back. They are flying now. That’s why I call them “Christmas Stars.” By about May motivation will start to wane again and will be totally gone by June or July when, in most parts of the northern hemisphere, racing is still going strong and has a few months to go.

Patience is the key to success in endurance sport. I’ve also written about that idea many times. One must be patient with training. When passed by a group of Christmas Stars on the road now you’ve got to have the patience to hold back and stick with your planned base fitness training. It helps to have a coach, someone who will hold you accountable for what you do in workouts. I seldom have to remind the athletes I train that they need to stick with the plan while avoiding Christmas Star group rides. Down deep we each understand the benefit of building deep levels of fitness in these three key abilities before starting to do the high intensity stuff later on. We realize that if we are patient now and just grind out the miles as planned, the reward later on will be much greater.

There are three simple ideas I build into the workouts of the riders I coach to help them get benefit from every workout this time of year. Here’s the gist of what I have them do in the form of training suggestions for you. There’s more to it than this. You can read one of my books to get all of the details. But it can all be boiled down to three basic elements of training for early base training…

Aerobic Endurance. Maximize 2-zone training time each week. For now, try to get about 40% of your training time each week in this zone. And higher doesn’t count as part of the 40%. Pay close attention to your power meter or heart rate monitor. Ride steadily. Avoid high and low numbers. No sprinting and no coasting. You’ll have a big aerobic engine after a few weeks of this.

Force. Climb all hills on certain select rides each week staying in the saddle. This will do wonders for building hip and knee extension strength improving your riding power overall. After a few weeks of this you will be a stronger rider, just in time to start the high intensity training. This is a simple stepping stone workout for great sustained power.

Speed Skills. Put a 25T or 27T cassette on your bike and pedal at high cadence on all terrains, including hills, at least three days a week. “High” cadence means at the upper end of your comfortable cadence range. Most riders are comfortable from about 75 to 95 rpm. So ride a lot averaging about 95. Your power will drop down some. That’s ok. It will rise in a few weeks as you become more economical. Improved pedaling skills will pay off in faster racing later in the season.

30 Comments:

At December 14, 2008 3:02 PM , Anonymous willy said...

As far as force development is concerned, what do you think of that document which seems to show that seated low rpm pedaling may not be the best way to develop cycling strength ?
http://home.earthlink.net/~acoggan/setraining/

 
At December 14, 2008 5:43 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Hi Willy--In this study Andy C. used quite long intervals which reduces the load. The load increases with shorter durations and is more effective for increasing force application to the pedal.

 
At December 14, 2008 10:11 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Joe
With regard to climbing staying in the saddle, is this spinning at high cadence or grinding hard at low cadence? Noting your comment above, how long (time or distance) are the hills you envisage for this?
The reason I ask is that Ive just signed up for a 100km very hilly mountain bike race (in 10 weeks time) and Im not really sure how to train for it. Ive really only just started riding so Im aware that this may not be the wisest decision in terms of proper preparation etc, but as a friend has recently become a quadriplegic I figure Ill give it a shot now because its surprisingly easy not to get another opportunity. Thanks for you time! Julian.

 
At December 15, 2008 12:16 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice and simple Joe! Thanks! Some local guys seem to be doing 20/10s, 40/20s, threshold intervals, etc. I don't get it (though if it works it works I guess).

Any tips for folks starting Base after a CX season? Any special things to be concerned about?

 
At December 15, 2008 9:18 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Hi Julian--For the force workouts it is big gear on all hills. The greatest gain will come from the shortest hills. Good luck with your race!

 
At December 15, 2008 12:13 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Joe:

I have a couple questions. First how should the other 60% be allocated across the other zones. I'm just starting week #2 of Base 1 right now and following the bible religiously (no pun intended)so am I correct to assume that most of the remaining 60% (at least for me) should be in Zone 1 with exception of E3 workouts and second why do you advocate that "Intensive Endurance" only be used in the Base periods.

Thanks.

 
At December 15, 2008 12:58 PM , Blogger Larry L. said...

Hey Joe,

You said, "Maximize 2-zone training time each week. For now, try to get about 40% of your training time each week in this zone."

I am curious why you chose 40%? Why not 60, or maybe 80%? Would that not give me an even bigger engine?

PS I'm looking forward to the new edition of The Cyclists Training Bible in January!

 
At December 15, 2008 1:00 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Anon--You're right in assuming that the other 60% would be distributed in Z1 and Z3 primarily. Intensive endurance workouts (Z3) are great to do in the build period if you are training for events in which you will race at that effort a lot. Has to do with specificity. Athletes who will not be racing at Z3 would do this in base. In build they will be race-specific intensity.

 
At December 15, 2008 1:25 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Larry L. -- 40% is just based on what I've seen work with other athletes. I think you'd find that pretty challenging, although it sounds like it would easy.

 
At December 15, 2008 7:45 PM , Blogger Mark said...

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Best of luck for you 2009 season.

 
At December 16, 2008 6:50 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I will be spending the entire base period(s) on PowerCranks. Does this change the assumptions on how much time I should be spending in Zone 2? I am still adapting some and am experiencing a slightly elevate heart rate at zone 2 when compared to power output on normal cranks. Based on the foregoing should I focus more on heart rate until I see less than 5% decoupling of power:heart rate? Sorry about the multiple questions within a question but there are not many sources on maximizing PowerCranks. Thanks.

 
At December 16, 2008 7:02 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Anon--I've never had an athlete do all of their training on Power Cranks so I have no experience with what you're asking. My gut feeling is nothing I recommended above should change.

 
At December 17, 2008 4:19 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

What about base hours? Should one do as many hours as they feel like on a given day (assuming that it exceeds the time scheduled for the workout), or simply stick to the predetermined weekly schedule?

 
At December 18, 2008 7:41 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Anon--I'm a firm believer that if we put together a good plan then we should stick with it. There must have been some reason for the volume that was decided upon. But given that, I tell the athletes I coach that if they feel the need to do more to always check with me first to make sure I agree. I may if they have a good reason. But they always have the authority to reduce the workload without asking me.

 
At December 20, 2008 2:00 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Jason--Thanks for your kind comments and for your question. What you're asking about is one of the most difficult decisions there is for any athlete or coach to make. It really depends on how you are doing after a few days of rest from the Oly race. If there is quite a bit of base fitness lost then you will need some base 3, esp since you have a HIM coming up. You can minimize endurance losses by only doing a 1 week peak period before the Oly. That will improve the likelihood that a Build period is what will work best in that month.

 
At December 20, 2008 2:12 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Oops. Missed this one. Anon asked... Any tips for folks starting Base after a CX season? Any special things to be concerned about?

Anon--It depends somewhat on how you prioritized the CX races. If you finished with an A-priority then you may need some time off, ewsp if you did a lot of anaerobic training. If these were B and C races then you should be ready to just get going with base training for the road/MTB season.

 
At December 26, 2008 12:39 PM , Blogger Quinn said...

Joe,
Just found this blog! Thanks for all the great information on training both here and in your books! I am in my second season of bike racing, and its my first year with a structured training program (training bible of course!).
I was originally doing base miles in zones 1/2, then read some more recent stuff from you that recommended focusing on zone 2. Even more recently I have read that you are recommending Aerobic Threshold work at 20bpm below anaerobic threshold. These AeT workouts really feel like worthwhile training especially compared to the zone 1/2 rides, but my capacity for these workouts is significantly lower than for the easier zone 1/2 rides.
Are you suggesting all of the aerobic training in base 1/2/3 (I'm in base 1 currently) be done at Aerobic Threshold level? Or should there be a mix of longer zone 1/2 rides with an attempt to build AeT tolerance through the base phase. Or more simply, what percentage of aerobic work in the base phase needs to be at Aerobic Threshold?
Thanks,

 
At December 29, 2008 7:08 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Hi Quinn--Assuggested in this post, I try to have the athletes I coach get about 40% of their training time in zone 2, which is aerobic threshold for most athletes. A good portion of this is high zone 2 (about 20 bpm below LTHR as you mentioned). If you go to www.trainingbible.com and click on Free Resources you'll find an article on AeT training that may help you.

 
At March 9, 2009 9:53 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Joe, love your work. Just finished one month of recovery and am putting together my annual training plan, having scored a spot to Clearwater 70.3 in Nov. As this is 8 months away, I am wondering if I should do extra Base periods (i.e. in addition to the 3 you prescribe) and only two Build periods leading up to the race, or should I do extra Build periods?

 
At March 10, 2009 10:07 AM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

Anon--Yes, sounds like a good idea.

 
At April 6, 2009 12:03 AM , Anonymous Base Cycling Training Plan said...

Any program of exercise or training should start slowly and increase in moderate steps. Training schedules should be upgraded gradually so that the athlete does not get burned out. http://www.bikecyclingreviews.com/faq/My_Base_Training_Program.html

 
At May 20, 2009 11:02 AM , Anonymous century rider said...

Joe, when you say patience is the key to cycle base training you are not wrong.

i have tried both approaches a few times and it still amazes me that riding all those miles at what seems like a guilty pace makes me much stronger/quicker later in the year.

ride on everyone!

 
At August 13, 2009 10:15 PM , Anonymous Training Schedules said...

Including Rest in your Bicycle Training Schedule. Rest will help your overall fitness. If you cycle two times per day every day for a short amount of time you may see benefits. This type of training will not be of an advantage for long periods. This type of training is not advantageous for long periods because your body needs time to rest, recover and build strength and endurance.
Training Schedule

 
At September 23, 2009 9:07 AM , Anonymous Simon said...

Hi Joe
Got both Cyclist and MTB Bibles thanks, have been riding serious (Vet)Mtb, was at worlds masters in 2007 long story short, burnt out mentally after 2007. have started riding again acording to your "preaching" till ihttp://www.biketechreview.com/performance/base.htm came across Kirk Willett . It apeals to me from a time in the seat viewpoint

 
At November 17, 2009 10:31 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At January 28, 2010 1:39 PM , Blogger jayfb said...

Joe, I'm about halfway through the Mountain Biker's Training bible and I have a question that maybe is not addressed in the book. Right now, I only have 2 A-Races in this season since it is my first racing season (will add a 3rd A-Race later in the season). The first one is MS150 (not a race but would like to finish in the fastest time possible). The second is Leadville 50, which has been described as Leadville 100 minus all the easy parts. Problem is there are only 2 weeks between the 2 events! How should I structure my training for those 2 weeks. I only have about 5-6 hours to train for each week. Loving the book BTW. Thanks.

 
At January 28, 2010 2:42 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

jayfb--That is the one of the hairiest problems I face as a coach. As with a lot of these what-should-I-do questions, the answer starts with 'It depends.' This could be the chapter for a book (and probably should be). Let's just boil it all down and I make some broad assumptions. I'd suggest getting 2-4 days of easy riding for recovery after the MS150. Then do 2-3 hard workouts in a 4-6 day period that simulate hard segments of the Leadville race. This would probably be intervals on hills, I'd guess. The TSS for each of these workouts would be less than 180 (another assumption--you have a power meter). Then ride easy and rest until race day. Good luck!

 
At February 5, 2010 12:11 PM , Blogger jayfb said...

Joe, thanks. This helps a lot. I don't have a power meter but couldn't I just do a 45 min ride in Zone 4 of my Heart Rate zone for that 180 TSS? Am I understanding the TSS term properly? 180 = 45x4 right?

 
At February 5, 2010 2:00 PM , Blogger Joe Friel said...

jayfb--to get 180 TSS by riding in z4 it would take over 2 hours. 100 TSS is the most you can get in an hour by definition. And that is roughly zone 5a.

 

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