Training / Coaching

[PhilBixby]

As per discussion last night and Martin's post, I'm kicking this off as a thread for anyone interested in training / coaching issues - whether on the receiving end or indeed as a coach. As a club (and unlike some others) we don't have any formal structure for coaching although we do have coaches within the club (working with the Go Ride squad and - I think - some adult members. Billy? Speak!) and have also in the past had contact with outside coaches and run occasional evening sessions.

If you're planning on doing anything serious for next season re coaching / training you want to be thinking about it pretty soon (ie not in February when you realise everyone else is picking up pace and you're not) so.. ..postings here please. Questions, suggestions, offers, tips, whatever. Just to get the ball rolling if anyone wants to know what Joe Friel's Cyclist's Training Bible actually means for the likes of me and you, I'm happy to turn up at Brigantes again sometime...

[mart66]

Good stuff, Phil.

My main worry over the winter is losing everything that I've built up this season. I'll still be riding to work most days (weather permitting) but will probably be spending more time on the Turbo.

Does anyone have any good winter routines for the Turbo? I'm a bit confused as all the winter training stuff I read is about long, steady rides but, to me, the turbo trainer is for max effort intervals.

Any advice gratefully received.

Martin

[PhilBixby]

You can do lots of useful stuff on the turbo through the winter - the general advice I'd give (which echoes Cam's comments last night) is keep all sessions to an hour max to keep your sanity intact and ensure each one is focussed. Again as per last night's discussion Tony Williams has lots of stuff on his website at http://www.flammerouge.je. Useful stuff from my own personal collection includes:-

-Leg strength work - basically big gear, low cadence stuff to build strength and muscular endurance. Nicely summarised as Muscular Endurance Intervals at http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-5-Cycling ... id=3252462.

-Leg speed work as part of a sprint training programme. I must have told everyone on a bike about the LVRC magazine drills but I'll briefly repeat:- two one-hour sessions a week, first week an hour of 15sec prints / 15sec recovery, second week 15sec sprints / 30 sec recovery etc, gradually increasing the recovery week by week and increasing the intensity. It works on the theory that for good sprint performance you need good leg speed.

-2x20's to maintain threshold power while you mainly do LSD rides.

All of the above are "max effort" but they won't do any harm mixed in with long rides. Again as per discussion last night though - the secret's in allowing proper recovery too. And along with that it's probably worth saying be prepared to lose a lot of your peak fitness - you'll regain it (and more) with a period of recovery followed by a good, structured winter and spring.

[nigelt]

Another turbo option is with the Sufferfest. You can download their videos, which are usually an hour long, for about £12 a time. Put them on a laptop, link to your telly and it gives something to watch / listen to while you try to kill yourself! I hate the turbo but these vids make it bearable...

[Cam B]

I do all of the above...Turbo not everyone’s cup of tea I know but I like it in moderation! Last year I started doing the 2x20s from about end of Oct/start of November. Tend to do them on a Tuesday assuming I have managed to get out on a Saturday and a Sunday so reasonably rested by then. Obviously you need to know what your LT is. I have never done a “ramp test” or anything but have a rough guide I think by doing a 10 mile TT and turning HR monitor on for last 15 mins. I reckon that my ave. HR from this is my LT. The session does not last more than an hour but is hard work. I have a basic turbo so I have to find a good gear. I don’t think you need to be spinning or conversely churning out too big a gear. For me if I can do doing about 80-90rpm that feels right. In the early stages you may wonder how you can sustain the effort for the full 20 mins at your LT (unlike on the road you can’t free wheel!)but the key thing (for me anyway) is to relax and concentrate on my breathing. 5 min recovery then another one. You work up a bit of sweat so best to have fan and v. large bottle of water! I actually don’t like any distractions when I’m doing this and will turn the radio off. I also do one the “muscular endurance session” that Phil refers to. I do that one on a Thursday so I have recovered after the 2x20s on a Tue. After warm up I stick it in a big gear and “stomp” on the pedals for about 10 secs, few mins recovery then repeat 5-6 times. Then I put it in a big gear for about 15 mins then increase this as the weeks go on. It should not be so big that you can barely turn pedals but something where you can manage 70 rpm. I don’t have a “wattometer” or anything so it's about percieved effort. I gather this session is important for the ...ahem...more mature athlete like myself because it helps to develop..well.. “muscular endurance” which starts to diminish when you turn 40. I use a HR monitor for this and aim to keep HR just under LT. You could of course do the sessions out on the road but variables like weather, traffic, poor street lighting might can make it difficult.... If you do those 2 sessions thru the week and get out on the road a couple of times at the weekend that is sort of the backbone of my training week. Looking at what I did last year I often did nothing on Monday or if I did it was very “easy”. I may have been able to get a ride in on the road sometimes on a Wednesday or a Friday but kept it steady. I was conscious about concentrating about the big efforts on those key days, i.e. Tue, Thu, Sat morning (if there are any big hitters out!!). All of that may be called the base period or whatever. I did that for about 12 weeks but tried made sure it was progressive in that I was spending a bit more time on the bike (by virtue of doing a longer ride on Sat. and/ or Sun). But I made sure I still fitted in easier recovery weeks. If you don’t have time to recover you can’t push yourself as hard when you want to. At the end of the day, everyone is different. The “...turbo or not turbo...that is the question” debate (Hamlet – a keen cyclist – also faced this dilemma ) has been covered before. I think the starting point is working out how many hours you have to devote for training and then working out your plan. Some guys who race seem to do very well on 6-7 hours per week .
Martin...If you are able to cycle to and from work that’s got to be good thing. If you are able to fit in a couple of turbo sessions per week plus a ride or two at the w/e you will be flying next season!

[Velo coach]

Well there is not one..... sorry to disappoint some good suggestions in the posts above re sprinting, LT for TTs.

That leads to the main point we all do different disciplines and at different levels 10 mile TTs, 12 hour, road racing cat 4 - Elite etc....

So main question - what are the demands of the racing you want to do?

We have the main components of fitness

Aerobic endurance
Flexibility
Muscle power
short term muscle endurance
speed
strength

So firstly I will mention medium distance time triallist 10-50 mile and scored out of 5 for each component (5 being the most important)

Aerobic endurance 5/5
Flexibility 3/5
Muscle power 2/5
short term muscle endurance 2/5
speed 3/5
strength 2/5

So in winter focus on aerobic endurance however this is often mistaken for easy riding but this will be mainly zone 3 (75-82% max hr) -4 (82%-89% max hr). Yes some zone 2 at the start of the season if you need to develop some general fitness or an easier month. Test this regularly throughout the season. A simple 10-25 mile circuit with time checks every few miles or so (use your computer lap button). Lactate threshold (LT) is a part of aerobic endurance and therefore you can train this towards the season with specific sessions 5-20 min session are good for this.

flexibility - important to work on in the off season. this is basically a regular stretching routine to help maintain an aerodynamic postion. look at hip flexors, quadriceps and hamstrings. Stretching these 3-4 times a week will help you adapt to a more aerodynamic postion without affecting power.

muscle power - very high or max power is not something a time triallist needs - unless you specialise in hill climbs or riding regular sporting courses. if your short of time (who isnt these days) then this will be developed for TTs with aerobic endurance and some late season LT efforts.

Short term muscle endurance - not of great importance for general tts however the short rises in course up to roundabouts etc will be improved with STME. So intervals 1-10 mins later on in the season will help. I dont recommend full recovery between intervals ie going really easy as you need to be able to do these efforts then drop back to race pace in events.

Speed - ability to mantain a high cadence up to 100 rpm will keep riders using their aerobic fuelling system and therefore ride longer and more efficiently. also high cadence can help get over small rises without getting out of their aero postion.

Strength - sometimes confused with muscle power but simply put this is tha maximum force muscles can produce think of a Chris Hoy start and not so important for TTs. However is again you ride sporting courses this might need some work - can be done in the gym and focus on movement which use tri extension and big muscle groups e.g squats, lunges. Can as already suggested be done on the bike turning large gears.

I have not even mentioned the other areas of TT - psychological - ability to concentrate in the event again can be trained on your regular tests.

Also technical - aero dynamics and use of tri bars etc...

So you TTs think about your target events and then look at the components of fitness and prioritise these in your preparation for next year. As already mentioned look at your available time and set your training around your lifestyle.

[mart66]

Hi All

Does anyone own, or have even sneaked a glimpse of, Peter Read's 'Black Book'?

The secrecy surrounding it intrigues me

Cheers

Martin

[G.]

He serialises it over on the Team Swift website.

[Melly]

I have borrowed and scanned a copy of this some time ago and have a copy somewhere on a h/drive, 4 of which i have on my radio shack desk waiting to be investigated, will let you know if i re-find it Mart.

[Andy J]

Go on to timetrialling forum and do a search, there's a link on there to an electronic pdt version of it.
All I will say is its great for time triallists but if road racing is your passion then I wouldn't be following it.
You need to assess the demands of your choose discipline, and then design sessions to train them needs, see velo coaches advise earlier in this thread. His advise is spot on

[Melly]

Found it, the book i have a copy of is the "Red" one titled Advanced Turbo Training In Conjunction with a HRM and was published several years after the "Black" one, this one is a bit more broadly based around training and includes programs for TT and Road racing as well as general stuff.