The Cycling Physiology and Training Science Guide 9798393844080

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Cycling Physiology and Training Science
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Energy Systems
1.1 Overview of Energy Systems
1.2 The Phosphocreatine System
1.3 The Glycolytic System
1.4 The Aerobic System
1.5 Chapter Summary
Chapter 2: Skeletal Muscles
2.1 Muscle Structure & Function
2.2 Muscle Fibre Types
2.3 Neural Stimulation
2.4 Chapter Summary
Chapter 3: Determinants of Performance
3.1 Chapter Introduction
3.2 Aerobic Capacity
3.3 Anaerobic Ability
3.4 Lactate Threshold
3.5 Economy/Efficiency
3.6 Endurance
3.7 Maximal Strength/Power
3.8 Chapter Summary
Chapter 4: Lactate
4.1 Metabolic Role of Lactate
4.2 Relationship between lactate and training intensity
4.3 Relationship between lactate and fitness profile
4.4 Chapter Summary
Chapter 5: Physiological Testing
5.1 Purpose of Physiological Testing
5.2 Power-Based Testing
5.3 Heart Rate Tests
5.4 Lactate-Based Testing
5.5 Modelling-Based Methods
5.6 Other Useful Measures
5.7 General Tips for Testing
5.8 Chapter Summary
Chapter 6: Fundamentals of Fitness Development
6.1 The Fitness Fatigue Model
6.2 Targeting Fitness Components
6.3 Chapter Summary
Chapter 7: Step-by-step Planning Process
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Initial Assessment & Goal Setting
7.3 High-Level Planning
7.4 Monitoring
7.5 Chapter Summary
Chapter 8: Periodisation
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Linear Periodisation
8.3 Reverse Periodisation
8.4 Block Periodisation
8.5 What do top athletes do?
8.6 Mesocycle Periodisation
8.7 Our Take on Things
8.8 Tricky Planning Cases
8.9 Chapter Summary
Chapter 9: Case Study
9.1 Initial Assessment and Goal-Setting
9.2 High-Level Planning
Chapter 10: Training Zones
10.1 Introduction
10.2 FTP and heart rate zones
10.3 Three Zone Model
10.4 Algorithm-Derived Individualised Zones
10.5 Additional methods for individualising your training zones
10.6 Final Points
10.7 Chapter Summary
Chapter 11: Session Planning
11.1 Introduction
11.2 Recovery Ride
11.3 Zone 2C Aerobic Development Ride
11.4 Low-Cadence Zone 3C
11.5 Restricted Carbohydrate Availability Ride
11.6 Classic V̇O2max Intervals
11.7 Supra-Threshold Intervals
11.8 Hard-Start V̇O2max Intervals
11.9 Billat V̇O2max Intervals
11.10 Microburst Intervals
11.11 Lactate Threshold Intervals
11.12 Over/Unders
11.13 Anaerobic Stamina
11.14 Anaerobic Power Development
11.15 Neuromuscular
11.16 Pre-Race/Event Openers
11.17 Pre-Race Warm-Up
11.18 Other Sessions
11.19 General Tips
11.20 Chapter Summary
Chapter 12: Training Intensity Distribution
12.1 The Intensity Distribution Concept
12.2 The Three Main Intensity Models
12.3 Which approach is best?
12.4 Common Questions
12.5 Chapter Summary
Chapter 13: Training Metrics
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Training Volume
13.3 Training Intensity
13.4 Training Load
13.5 Quantifying Fitness, Fatigue and Form
13.6 Warnings
13.7 Practical Advice
13.8 Chapter Summary
Chapter 14: Microcycle Structure
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Key Principles
14.3 Example Weekly Structure: Regular Training
14.4 Example Weekly Structure: Recovery Weeks
14.5 Example Weekly Structure: Block Overload
14.6 Using Markers of Fatigue
14.7 Chapter Summary
Chapter 15: Strength Training
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Benefits
15.3 Types of strength training
15.4 Programming
15.5 Quantifying training load
15.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter 16: Race Preparation
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Tapering for Priority Races
16.3 Lower Priority Events
16.4 36-48H Before Race
16.5 Post-Event Recovery
16.6 Chapter Summary
Chapter 17: Monitoring Training
17.1 Introduction
17.2 Monitoring Session Quality
17.3 Monitoring Fatigue
17.4 Evaluating Fitness Progression
17.5 Chapter Summary
Wrapping Up

Citation preview

Cycling Physiology & Training Science







By Dr Emma Wilkins & Tom Bell

Copyright © 2021 Dr Emma Wilkins and Tom Bell All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic methods, without the prior written permission of the authors, except in the case of brief quotations embodied within reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 4

PART 1: PHYSIOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS ........................................................ 6 Chapter 1: Energy Systems................................................................ 7 Chapter 2: Skeletal Muscles ........................................................... 16 Chapter 3: Determinants of Performance ....................................... 23 Chapter 4: Lactate .......................................................................... 46 Chapter 5: Physiological Testing .................................................... 52 Chapter 6: Fundamentals of Fitness Development......................... 88

PART 2: HIGH-LEVEL PLANNING ................................................................. 95 Chapter 7: Step-By-Step Planning Process...................................... 96 Chapter 8: Periodisation ............................................................... 114 Chapter 9: Case Study .................................................................. 135

PART 3: MICRO-LEVEL PLANNING ............................................................ 140 Chapter 10: Training Zones ........................................................... 141 Chapter 11: Session Planning ....................................................... 155 Chapter 12: Training Intensity Distribution ................................... 207 Chapter 13: Training Metrics ......................................................... 221 Chapter 14: Microcycle Structure ................................................. 231 Chapter 15: Strength Training ....................................................... 240 Chapter 16: Race Preparation ...................................................... 251

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PART 4: MONITORING TRAINING ............................................................. 266 Chapter 17: Monitoring Training ................................................... 267

PART 5: WRAPPING UP ............................................................................ 280



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INTRODUCTION This guide is divided into five parts. Part one is designed to provide a solid grounding in the fundamentals of physiology and training science. We feel that an understanding of the science is really important to help you fully understand where you are now (in terms of physiology), where you need to be (e.g. what aspects of your physiology do you need to change), and what type of training will help you get there. Parts 2-4 then focus on the practical aspects of planning your training, where Part 2 addresses high-level planning (e.g. how to periodise training and put together a long-term training strategy), Part 3 addresses microlevel planning (e.g. how to plan training sessions and structure these within a training microcycle) and Part 4 covers how to monitor your training. Finally, Part 5 includes a wrap-up of the key take-home messages from this guide. If you can put these key messages into practice then you shouldn’t go too far wrong! There’s a glossary of key terms available within the supplementary materials for this guide, which might be useful if you’ve missed the definition for a particular term. Please note that this guide refers to several names and terms that are trademarks and/or intellectual property of TrainingPeaks LLC. These include: •

TSS/Training Stress Score

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TSB/Training Stress Balance

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ATL/Acute Training Load

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CTL/Critical Training Load

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IF/Intensity Factor

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Normalized Power

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TrainingPeaks

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It should also be made clear that the recommendations within this guide are our own personal views. Importantly, this guide should not be construed as constituting medical advice. Training comes with inherent risks to health, and we cannot guarantee the safety of training recommendations in this guide, as this will depend on your individual physical conditioning, training history, and health status. If you are in any doubt at all, please check with a medical practitioner before following any training advice in this guide.

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PART 1: PHYSIOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS Before you can put together a training plan, it’s essential to have a basic understanding of how power is generated on the bike. Without this understanding, it’s impossible to clearly define what you want to achieve with your training, and thus to set out any training plans. This first section of this guide focuses on explaining some key physiology fundamentals.



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Chapter 1: Energy Systems 1.1 Overview of Energy Systems In order for muscles to contract, and to produce power on the bike, a source of energy is needed. The body’s energy source is a substance called ‘ATP’ (which stands for ‘Adenosine Triphosphate’). You can think of ATP like a battery – charged and ready to release energy when needed. To release energy, ATP is broken down to another substance called ‘ADP’ or ‘Adenosine Diphosphate’. ATP is in very limited supply within the body, and therefore systems are required to continually resynthesize ATP so that it doesn’t run out (similar to recharging a battery). Three key systems are used to produce ATP during exercise: 1. The phosphocreatine system. 2. The anaerobic glycolytic system. 3. The aerobic energy system. These systems operate at different speeds and with differing capacities. At one end of the spectrum, the phosphocreatine system produces ATP very rapidly, but this can only be sustained for a few seconds. At the other end of the spectrum, the aerobic system produces ATP the slowest, but with a virtually unlimited capacity to sustain ATP production indefinitely. Sitting between these two systems is the anaerobic glycolytic system, which for brevity, we’ll call the ‘glycolytic system’. This system produces ATP at a moderately high rate, but can only be sustained for 30-seconds to 2minutes.

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Contrary to what many people think, these systems are usually all acting to a certain degree, irrespective of exercise intensity, as illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Graph shows the percentage contribution to energy production from each system for maximal efforts of various durations. Note it does not show the time-course of energy generation over time. Figure is adapted from Gastin, 2001.

So, for example, when you do a hard ‘anaerobic’ effort, such as a 2-minute hill-climb, there will still be a substantial contribution from the aerobic energy system. Similarly, even during longer efforts, such as the 20-minute time-trial, which is classically used to measure the aerobic system (specifically ‘Functional Threshold Power’ or ‘FTP’), there will be a notable contribution from the glycolytic system. One of the main purposes of training is to develop or manipulate these energy systems such that you’re able to produce energy in a way that’s optimised to your chosen discipline. So, as a self-coached athlete, an understanding of these energy systems and how they might relate to your own discipline(s) is important. 8

Over the remainder of this chapter, we’ll take a look at each of these systems in a little more detail. We’ll try to stick to the key essentials so as not to be overwhelming, and we’ll use footnotes to include any extra information we think is interesting!

1.2 The Phosphocreatine System As mentioned in the previous section, the phosphocreatine system is the fastest system for producing energy. Phosphocreatine is a substance stored in the muscles. When ATP needs to be resynthesized very rapidly, phosphocreatine is broken down to release energy that can be used to reform ATP molecules. There’s only a very limited supply of phosphocreatine within the muscles, and thus this system can only operate at a high rate for 2-3 seconds. This system is the main system used during explosive movements such as Olympic lifting. It’s very quick to respond to changes in exercise intensity, so also plugs the gap in energy generation before the slower glycolytic and aerobic systems have chance to catch up. A classic example where the phosphocreatine system dominates is at the very start of a race, where the first few pedal strokes will be predominantly fuelled by phosphocreatine breakdown. It’s worth reiterating though that the other systems will still contribute to some extent, and no form of exercise is ever fuelled by one single system alone. Once depleted, phosphocreatine is then resynthesized via the aerobic system. It typically takes around 30 seconds to replenish 50% of the depleted phosphocreatine stores (Sahlin et al., 2014). However, this recovery rate depends on the strength of your aerobic system. The phosphocreatine system is sometimes also referred to as the ‘anaerobic alactic system’, as it does not require oxygen (it’s ‘anaerobic’) and it does not produce lactate (it’s ‘alactic’).

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1.3 The Glycolytic System The glycolytic system is the next fastest system to respond to an increase in exercise intensity, taking around 3-6 seconds to kick in (Sahlin et al., 2014). It involves the anaerobic (i.e. without oxygen) break-down of carbohydrates to produce ATP in a process called ‘glycolysis’. These carbohydrates can either be in the form of ‘glycogen’, stored within the muscles and liver, or glucose within the bloodstream. You may hear this system referred to as the ‘anaerobic lactic’ system, due to the production of lactate.

Figure 2. Conversion of glycogen to energy via the glycolytic system.

Figure 2 shows a summary of the chemical process involved in glycolysis. In addition to ATP, several by-products are formed by the glycolytic system. You don’t need to necessarily remember the names of these substances (for the sake of brevity, we’ll just refer to these by-products as ‘pyruvate’, but recognise that some other things are produced too). The key thing to understand is that there are two potential fates for the pyruvate, as illustrated in Figure 3. First, the pyruvate can be converted into a substance called lactate, and some positively charged ions (H+ and NAD+). This process is highlighted in red in Figure 3. The NAD+ ions are useful, because they can be re-used in further metabolic processes, as illustrated by the dotted arrow. The hydrogen ions (H+) are potentially a little problematic, however, if they

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were allowed to accumulate, they would turn the muscles and blood increasingly acidic. It was previously thought that the accumulation of hydrogen ions, and associated acidity is what led to the ‘burning’ sensation you feel when riding very hard. However, the subject of what precisely causes fatigue is actually a bit more nuanced than this. There’s evidence that it’s not the acidity per se that causes the burning sensation and general feelings of tiredness, but actually a combination of the metabolites: lactate, hydrogen ions, and ATP, which signal that the conditions within the muscles are getting close to becoming damaging and indicate that exercise intensity needs to be reduced (Pollak et al., 2014). In any event, the key take-home point is that when hydrogen ions accumulate, it becomes harder to continue exercising, and fatigue occurs quickly.

Figure 3. Potential fates for pyruvate in the glycolytic system.

The second potential fate for pyruvate is that it can enter the aerobic energy system to produce more energy, plus some innocuous water and CO2 (this process is shown in orange in Figure 3). This is the ‘preferable’ fate for these by-products, because (i) it produces more energy and (ii) it doesn’t produce hydrogen ions. How much of the pyruvate is processed by the aerobic system and how much is turned into lactate depends on the availability of oxygen at the working muscle, and the capacity of the 11

muscle for aerobic respiration (Grey et al., 2014). We’ll discuss some of these factors further below.

1.4 The Aerobic System Having looked at the phosphocreatine system and the glycolytic system, the final energy system we need to cover is the aerobic system. This system uses oxygen to convert fuel into ATP. The by-products of this process are carbon dioxide and water, which as mentioned previously, are both benign substances that don’t impair exercise performance. It’s for this reason that the aerobic system is the body’s preferred energy system for exercise of any extended period of time. The main fuel sources for the aerobic system are carbohydrates and fats. Protein can also be broken down aerobically to produce energy, but this makes a very minor contribution under nearly all circumstances, so we won’t consider it here.

Figure 4. Schematic overview of the pathways involved in aerobic energy metabolism.

In the case of carbohydrates, these are initially broken down to pyruvate via glycolysis as described in the previous section. Thus, the glycolytic 12

system and the aerobic system are linked, as illustrated in Figure 4, and aerobic oxidation of carbohydrates cannot occur without the initial anaerobic stage. In contrast, fats (in the form of fatty acids) are processed by the aerobic system directly (although, fats that are stored as triglycerides in muscles and fat tissues around the body must be broken down by enzymes to fatty acids prior to entering the aerobic system). The relative proportions of fat and carbohydrates that are used to produce energy via the aerobic system depends on exercise intensity, as illustrated in Figure 5. The use of fats is slower, and therefore dominates at lower intensities, whereas carbohydrates can produce energy more quickly, and therefore these dominate at higher intensities.

Figure 5. Relative contribution to energy production from fats and carbohydrates with increasing exercise intensity. Figure adapted from Brooks & Mercier (1994).

The relationship between exercise intensity and fuel utilisation also depends on fitness level and is something that can be trained. The body typically stores sufficient carbohydrates to fuel all-out exercise lasting up to around 1.5 hours, whereas even very lean athletes have enough fat to fuel exercise lasting for several days. It’s therefore often beneficial to

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train the body to become more efficient at using fats for fuel, so as to conserve the relatively limited carbohydrate stores. It can also be useful to train the body to become better at using fats so as to reduce the rate of glycolysis, and thereby produce less lactate and H+ ions (Bassett & Howley, 2000). Even when the capacity of the aerobic system can match the production of pyruvate, a proportion of the pyruvate will always be converted to lactate and H+. This is something we’ll discuss in more detail later in this guide. The capacity of the aerobic system to produce energy depends on the rate at which oxygen can be supplied to the working muscles, and the rate at which those muscles can process the oxygen. This is known as ‘aerobic capacity’, and we’ll explore this concept and the components that contribute towards it in Chapter 3 of this guide.

1.5 Chapter Summary •

There are three key systems used to generate energy and thus power muscle contraction. From fastest to slowest, these are: the phosphocreatine, the glycolytic and the aerobic systems.

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The phosphocreatine system dominates for maximal efforts lasting up to ~6 seconds. The glycolytic system dominates over maximal efforts up to around 1-2 minutes. The aerobic system provides the bulk of energy for anything longer than a few minutes.

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The glycolytic system operates quickly because it does not require oxygen. However, it produces acidic conditions within the muscles and blood, which mean that hard efforts can only be sustained for a limited length of time.

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The aerobic system does not produce any undesirable by-products and can sustain exercise far longer than any of the other systems. However, it requires a supply of oxygen, and the maximum power that can be generated by the aerobic system is therefore limited by the body’s ability to supply and process oxygen (‘aerobic capacity’).

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The aerobic system involves the break-down of fats and carbohydrates. Fat use increases at lower exercise intensities and as aerobic fitness improves.



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Chapter 2: Skeletal Muscles 2.1 Muscle Structure & Function Having understood the different mechanisms that can be used to generate energy to power muscle contractions, let’s take more of a look at how skeletal muscles actually function. We won’t go into the very complex details around how skeletal muscles work, as this isn’t necessary to understand training. However, there are a few key basics that it’s useful to know. First, relates to the structure of skeletal muscles. You can think of a muscle as a big bunch of muscle cells, which are long thread-like structures made of protein. These cells are more commonly referred to as muscle ‘fibres’ due to their fibre-like shape. The fibres are collected into larger bunches known as fascicles, and these fascicles are in turn grouped into muscles as shown in Figure 6 below. The fibres themselves are made up of smaller threads – known as myofibrils, which contain the proteins that cause contraction.

Figure 6. Muscle structure.

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The contraction-causing proteins are known as ‘actin’, and ‘myosin’, and their structures are illustrated schematically in Figure 7. The myosin filaments include heads that are shaped such that they can bind with the actin filaments.

Figure 7. Process of muscular contraction.

The myosin heads have two positions: activated and inactivated. Chemical energy from ATP causes the myosin head to move to the activated position, where it is primed to bind with the actin binding sites. However, even when primed, the myosin heads cannot ordinarily bind with the actin filaments, as they are blocked by proteins (troponin and tropomyosin). Thus, in order to cause muscular contraction, a nerve signal is also needed, which causes calcium to be released from elsewhere in the muscle structure, causing a reaction that unblocks the myosin heads. The activated myosin heads can then bind to the actin binding sites, pushing the actin filament along and causing muscular contraction. In essence therefore, the fundamental requirements of muscular contraction are (i) a supply of ATP and (ii) neural stimulation. This contraction process repeats until the nerve signal stops, or all ATP is exhausted.

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2.2 Muscle Fibre Types From Chapter 1, we already know that there are several systems that can be used to generate the ATP required to power muscular contraction. Muscle fibres come in three ‘types’, which each have unique features making them more or less well adapted to produce ATP via the different energy systems. The different fibre types are known as Type I, Type IIa and Type IIx, as summarised in the table below.

Power Produced

Fatigability

Main Energy Systems Used

Type I

Low

Low

Aerobic

Type IIa

Moderate

Moderate

Aerobic (carbohydrates) & Glycolytic

Type IIx

High

High

Glycolytic & Phosphocreatine

Type I Type I muscle fibres (also known as slow twitch muscle fibres) have the smallest diameter, the slowest rate of contraction, and produce the least power. However, they also have the lowest fatigability of all muscle fibre types, so can continue producing contractions for hours. The reason for this is that they are very well adapted for aerobic metabolism and particularly fat oxidation. Relative to the other fibre types, they have a high density of capillaries, which can deliver a good supply of oxygen to the fibres. They also have a high density of mitochondria (which is the site where aerobic metabolism takes place) and a high concentration of ‘myoglobin’ – which are the molecules that carry oxygen from the capillaries to the mitochondria. They also typically store high concentrations of triglycerides (i.e. fats) within the muscle fibres, and high concentrations of oxidative enzymes. They are thus well adapted to produce energy through fat oxidation, and to clear the lactate/pyruvate produced through anaerobic glycolysis.

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Type IIx At the other end of the spectrum is Type IIx fibres (also known as ‘fast glycolytic’ fibres). These fibres, while actually only being of moderate size, are the most powerful fibres. Unlike Type I fibres, they have a minimal capillary and mitochondrial density, and very few myoglobin, and are thus not well adapted for aerobic respiration. They do, however, have high concentrations of creatine phosphate, and enzymes linked with the phosphocreatine system (you’ll recall from Chapter 1 that this is the system that can supply energy the fastest). They also have high stores of glycogen, and are thus well adapted to producing energy through the glycolytic system.

Type IIa Sitting between these two fibre types are the Type IIa fibres (also known as ‘fast oxidative’ fibres). These are the largest fibres and have attributes that lend themselves both to aerobic and anaerobic metabolism; although they are generally most adapted for carbohydrate rather than fat metabolism. They therefore have a moderate capillary and mitochondrial density, and a moderate number of myoglobin for aerobic metabolism, but also a good store of phosphocreatine and glycogen. They have moderate contraction speed and power.

Order of recruitment As the force demands increase, the muscle fibre types are activated in order from Type I to Type IIa to Type IIx, as illustrated in Figure 8, adapted from Sale (1987). Up to around 40% of ̇VO2max (where ‘V̇ O2max ’ is a measure of exercise intensity, reflecting the maximum rate at which oxygen can be taken on and processed by the body to produce ATP), force is almost entirely produced by Type I fibres. At around 40% V̇ O2max , these fibres will be approaching maximal recruitment, and Type IIa fibres begin to be increasingly recruited. Finally, at around 75% V̇ O2max , where Type IIa fibres are approaching their maximum recruitment, Type IIx fibres begin to be recruited in addition to the Type I and Type IIa fibres.

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Figure 8. Proportional recruitment of muscle fibre types with increasing exercise intensity. Type I: solid line. Type IIa: dashed line. Type IIx: dotted line.

Muscle Fibre Composition The proportions of these different fibre types contained within a muscle (‘muscle fibre composition’) influences factors such as the fatigability of the muscle, and its maximal power production. Muscle fibre composition within an individual is determined by (i) the specific muscle and its purpose (ii) genetics and (iii) training. In particular, Type IIa fibres can adapt so that they become more similar to Type I fibres, or more similar to Type IIx fibres, and this is one key way that training can be used to influence performance. More Type I and aerobically adapted Type IIa fibres will generally mean better endurance, whereas more Type IIx and glycolytically adapted Type IIa fibres will generally mean better sprint ability. Type IIa fibres tend to become increasingly similar to Type IIx characteristics with inactivity, so novice athletes will generally be more anaerobically inclined relative to their aerobic capabilities.

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Muscle fibre composition influences the types of training that will be most beneficial to a particular athlete, and this is one of the key reasons that a training program should be individualised.

2.3 Neural Stimulation As well as influencing muscle fibre composition and the pathways through which ATP is generated, training can also impact the neural stimulation of the muscles, and thus it’s worth spending a little time discussing this aspect of muscular contraction. The nerve signal that unblocks the actin and myosin filaments, allowing contraction, comes from the central nervous system, and is carried by a ‘motor neuron’. Each motor neuron is connected to a number of muscle fibres, and when activated, will stimulate contraction across all connected fibres. The grouping of muscle fibres and associated nerve fibre is known as a ‘motor unit’. Each motor unit will contain a single type of muscle fibre only (e.g. a Type I motor unit will contain only Type I muscle fibres). There are several neural factors that influence the force and power with which a muscle can contract, as well as the efficiency with which they contract, including: 1. The number of motor units that can be recruited 2. The frequency with which a motor unit can fire 3. The synchronicity with which those motor units are activated 4. The coordination of motor unit activation such that activation of antagonist muscles is down-regulated and the most optimal motor units are recruited for a given movement pattern It’s clear therefore that neural adaptations can contribute to performance on the bike. Indeed, neural adaptations are actually the biggest contributor to improved muscular strength and power when beginning resistance and/or sprint training.

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2.4 Chapter Summary •

Muscles are made up of long thread-like cells, known as muscle fibres.

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Muscles require neural stimulation and a source of energy in order to contract.

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Muscle fibres come in three different types: Type I, Type IIa and Type IIx, which are recruited in that order to produce increasing amounts of force.

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A muscle fibre’s type influences the way it produces energy and also the speed and force with which it can contract. Fibre type is partially genetically dictated, but can also be changed through training.



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Chapter 3: Determinants of Performance 3.1 Chapter Introduction Having understood the systems that can be used to produce energy and thus power on the bike, and how the muscles function, the next thing to understand is the factors that influence performance. Figure 9 provides an overview of the key physical factors that can impact cycling performance. These factors are highly inter-related; for example, aerobic capacity and anaerobic fitness both contribute to determining the lactate threshold. Similarly, factors that contribute to improved lactate threshold (e.g. substrate utilisation), also contribute to other factors such as endurance.

Figure 9. Schematic overview of the key factors impacting cycling performance.

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The figure also acknowledges that skills, technique and mental/psychological abilities also play a part in performance, but these are beyond the scope of this guide, which focusses on physiological determinants. The environment can also interact with many of the performance determinants. For example, factors like temperature and altitude can influence physical and mental factors as well as optimal racing tactics. We’ll now go on to discuss these physiological determinants of performance in turn.

3.2 Aerobic Capacity Aerobic capacity – also known as ̇VO2max - is the highest rate at which oxygen can be taken up, delivered to and utilised by the muscles during intensive exercise. It’s the factor that limits the rate at which energy can be produced by the aerobic system, and is thus a major determinant of performance in most cycling disciplines. There’s a common misconception that aerobic capacity is entirely dictated by genetics. However, while genetics do play a part in determining an individual’s aerobic capacity, training can also influence it to a great extent.

Components of Aerobic Capacity The delivery and uptake of oxygen depends upon a system of factors, where any one of these can limit the capacity of the system. We can think of this like a factory, where the capacity of that factory to produce a product can be limited by a range of things, such as the rate at which the raw materials can be supplied, the number of staff working at the factory, the number of machines, the efficiency with which the machines and staff members work, and so on. Staff shortages could be the factor limiting the capacity of the factory at one time point. At another time, it might be limited by the supply of raw materials. In either of these cases, increasing the number of machines will not increase the capacity of the

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factory. To increase the capacity of the factory, we need to address whatever limits the system. Developing aerobic capacity is exactly the same. The supply of oxygen begins with breathing air into the lungs, where the oxygen in the air then diffuses into the blood, and is carried around the body by haemoglobin in red blood cells. The blood is pumped by the heart, which therefore also plays a role in oxygen transport. At the muscles, blood enters capillaries (small blood vessels around the muscle fibres) and diffuses into muscle cells, and then into the mitochondria of the cells. The mitochondria are the sites where aerobic energy production takes place. Here, the oxygen is used to turn pyruvate and fatty acids into ATP (i.e. energy). The key components of the oxygen transport system can be broadly segmented into “central” and “peripheral” factors. “Central” factors include the diffusion of oxygen from the lungs to the blood and the transport of that oxygenated blood by the heart to the working muscles. “Peripheral” factors relate to the ability of the muscles to take on and process oxygen through the aerobic system. Both peripheral and central factors are important and could represent a potential limiter to aerobic capacity.

Central Factors There are three key central factors that can impact aerobic capacity: (i) how effectively oxygen can diffuse from the lungs to the blood (‘pulmonary diffusion’), (ii) the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood and (iii) cardiac output. Factor (i) (pulmonary diffusion) is thought to limit aerobic capacity only in quite rare circumstances, such as when exercising at altitude, in people with lung conditions such as asthma and COPD, or extremely well-trained athletes1. Pulmonary diffusion can be improved by increasing the

In exceptional cases, athletes who already have a very high aerobic capacity can also be limited by pulmonary diffusion, because the heart is so effective at pumping blood, that it passes through the pulmonary arteries too quickly for oxygen to diffuse into the blood fully (Bassett & Howley, 2000).

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concentration of haemoglobin in the blood. This effectively means more blood cells are available within the pulmonary arteries at a given time to accept the oxygen. However, haemoglobin concentration is not something that is appreciably impacted by training2 (Schmidt & Prommer, 2010). We therefore won’t focus too much on this factor. Factor (ii) (the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood) is dictated by haemoglobin content – i.e. the total amount of haemoglobin within the blood. Note, that by content, we mean the total haemoglobin mass within the body. This is in contrast to the haemoglobin concentration, which is the amount of haemoglobin per litre of blood. As blood volume is changeable, haemoglobin content and haemoglobin concentration can vary independently. Endurance training can increase the haemoglobin content of the blood through increases in total blood volume, which over time results in an increased haemoglobin content so as to maintain the haemoglobin concentration (Schmidt & Prommer, 2010). Haemoglobin content can also be reduced through blood loss, and conditions such as anaemia. Factor (iii) (cardiac output) is the rate at which blood can be pumped by the heart. The maximum cardiac output is a combination of how much blood can be pumped per stroke (‘stroke volume’) and the maximum heart rate. Stroke volume is highly trainable, whereas maximum heart rate is not notably impacted by training - if anything, max heart rate is reduced by training (Levine, 2008). Stroke volume is improved through adaptations to the heart muscle itself, as well as increases in blood volume and return blood flow, which results in an improved refill rate of the heart after each stroke.

Peripheral Factors The peripheral factors that affect V̇ O2max are principally the density of capillaries (which are the location of oxygen exchange between the blood and muscle fibres) and the quantity and function of the mitochondria in the muscle cells.

Training at altitude, as well as living at altitude more generally can increase haemoglobin content. However, it’s the altitude that drives these adaptations, rather than the training per se (Schmidt & Prommer, 2010).

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With greater amounts of capillaries around the muscle fibres, there is a greater surface area for diffusion of oxygen, as well as a slowing down of the blood flow through these vessels. This results in a greater amount of time and area over which this diffusion of oxygen can take place (Bassett & Howley, 2000). Mitochondrial adaptations can include increased size and number of mitochondria, as well as increased number and activity of enzymes linked with the aerobic system. These adaptations mean more of the diffused oxygen from the capillaries has the potential to be used for aerobic energy production. The good news is that both capillary and mitochondrial adaptations are both very responsive to a well-designed training program. You may be wondering how you’d know which of these factors to target in training in order to improve aerobic capacity. Unfortunately, without laboratory testing (such as using near infrared spectroscopy to examine muscle oxygen concentration and the effectiveness with which oxygen is extracted from the blood), it can be hard to know. Ultimately, the limiting factors will differ for everyone, depending on things like the types and amounts of training you’ve previously done, and your genetic makeup. In the absence of lab testing, the best approach is to have a well-rounded training plan that works on all trainable aspects of aerobic capacity. We’ll discuss how this can be achieved later in this guide.

How trainable is aerobic capacity? The average sedentary male has an aerobic capacity of approximately 3540ml/kg/min, and the average sedentary female has an aerobic capacity in the region of 27-30ml/kg/min. However, elite male and female endurance athletes will often have much higher aerobic capacities, in the region of 80-90ml/kg/min and 60-70ml/kg/min respectively (Lundy & Robach, 2015), demonstrating a large potential scope for aerobic capacity developments. Of course, these elite athletes are disposed to high-aerobic capacity values, but training also certainly plays a part in these high values.

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The percentage of oxygen that’s extracted at the muscles ranges from around 72% (untrained) to 93% (elite XC skiiers), with moderately trained athletes sitting around 84% (Lundy & Robach, 2015). This demonstrates in particular the trainability of peripheral factors. Aerobic capacity can show meaningful improvements quite quickly in less well-trained athletes. Beginners to the sport might expect to be able to improve their aerobic capacity by between 9-21% over a period of 4-12 months (Lundy & Robach, 2015). However, as you become fitter, these improvements can start to slow down. Furthermore, as you get older, aerobic capacity begins to fall at a rate of around 4-4.6ml/kg/min per decade (Lundy & Robach, 2015). Thus, once you reach a relatively high level of fitness and move beyond your mid-30s, a realistic expectation of training might be to try to maintain aerobic capacity, rather than see improvements. In other words, training seeks to counteract the natural decline of aerobic capacity with age.

3.3 Anaerobic Ability As explained in Chapter 1, there are two systems that can produce energy anaerobically (i.e. without oxygen): The phosphocreatine and the glycolytic systems. Like the aerobic system, these anaerobic systems also have a maximal ability to produce energy. There are a few aspects to defining the abilities of the anaerobic systems, as we’ve illustrated in Figure 10. A first aspect – referred to as peak anaerobic power - is the maximum rate at which energy can be produced anaerobically. This depends on the maximum rate at which energy can be generated through glycolysis (itself dependant on muscle glycogen stores and the concentration of glycolytic enzymes). It also depends on the ability to generate energy through the phosphocreatine system (which is dependent upon the concentrations of phosphocreatine and enzymes linked with the phosphocreatine system, and the neural ability to activate Type II muscle fibres).

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Figure 10. Relationship between anaerobic capacity, power and stamina.

A related measure is the maximal glycolytic rate, which is specifically an indicator of the maximal rate of energy production via the glycolytic system. We’ll come back to this concept in later chapters. A second aspect – which we refer to as anaerobic stamina (sometimes confusingly referred to as ‘anaerobic power’) - relates to how long anaerobic metabolism can be maintained. As phosphocreatine stores are used up in a matter of seconds, anaerobic stamina overwhelmingly depends on the glycolytic rather that phosphocreatine system. It also depends on how quickly pyruvate/lactate can be cleared (thereby removing the fatiguing metabolic products e.g. hydrogen ions), and thus also depends on aerobic capacity, as well as the extent to which hydrogen ions can be buffered and tolerated. This is a key reason that successful sprinters and hill-climbers must have a well-developed aerobic capacity, alongside a strong anaerobic capacity – i.e. to clear away the fatiguing metabolites from glycolysis and improve their anaerobic stamina. As demonstrated in Figure 11, the anaerobic stamina can be extended by riding at a lower power, so it’s not a fixed parameter.

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Figure 11. Figure demonstrating how anaerobic stamina can be extended by riding at a lower proportion of peak anaerobic power.

Finally, a third aspect – which we’ll call the anaerobic capacity (sometimes referred to as anaerobic work capacity, functional reserve capacity or W’, although these terms do have slightly different mathematical definitions) – is a measure of how much total energy can be produced via the anaerobic systems before fatigue hits. It’s the product of the power sustained, and the length of time the power is sustained for. It should be noted that there is no standard terminology for these different concepts, and you will see the same words used to refer to different concepts in scientific and training literature (often without a clear definition), which can be very frustrating! We’ll use the terms in a consistent way in this guide, however.

3.4 Lactate Threshold The ‘lactate threshold’ is another concept many cyclists are at least peripherally aware of. It’s defined as the maximum power at which the rate of lactate production equals the rate of lactate clearance. This means lactate levels (and more importantly, the associated fatiguing hydrogen 30

ions) stay constant when riding steadily at this power. Once you tip over this threshold power, lactate levels will increase until exercise has to be stopped or the intensity substantially reduced3. It’s for this reason that the lactate threshold is a key determinant of performance in endurance disciplines – it defines a maximal steady-state power that can be sustained for an extended period of time. Somewhat confusingly, there is an array of different language that’s used to define the lactate threshold. You may have also come across terms such as the ‘anaerobic threshold’, ‘maximal lactate steady state’ and ‘onset of blood lactate accumulation’ (abbreviated as ‘OBLA’). Some of these terms have slightly different definitions, depending on the specific testing methods that are used to establish the threshold. However, for the purpose of this chapter, we can view them as being synonymous. You might also have heard of the ‘ventillatory threshold’, which is closely related to the lactate threshold, but is defined based on changes in the content of the air you breathe out, rather than lactate levels. Other closely-related metabolic thresholds can also be detected via measurement of muscle oxygen saturation, for example. For the purpose of this guide, we’ll use the term ‘lactate threshold’ to refer in a general way to these related metabolic thresholds collectively, unless otherwise stated. Contrary to what many people think, the lactate threshold is not a directly trainable physiological parameter. That’s because it depends upon both the rate of lactate production and the rate of lactate clearance, and is therefore a balance between these two factors, as demonstrated in Figure 12. A greater lactate clearance rate means a higher lactate threshold power, and greater lactate production rate means a lower lactate threshold power. It’s the production and clearance of lactate that we influence through training, rather than the threshold itself.

As we mentioned previously, there’s some evidence that fatigue is actually in response to the presence of a combination of metabolites including hydrogen ions, rather than the acidity of the blood/muscles per se. However, in any event, the ultimate result is fatigue.

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Figure 12. Representation of the relationship between lactate clearance and production rates, and their impact on the lactate threshold.

What causes the lactate threshold? As we covered in Chapter 1, when exercise intensity increases, a growing proportion of energy must be generated through the glycolytic system. This produces pyruvate, some of which is converted into lactate. At moderate exercise intensities, the rate of pyruvate/lactate production through glycolysis can be met by the aerobic system, such that the total amount of lactate in the muscles and blood at a given power remains in equilibrium. However, as exercise intensity increases further, there becomes a point where the aerobic system cannot operate quickly enough to clear the lactate and pyruvate that’s produced by glycolysis, and lactate levels start to accumulate, even when power is kept constant. Let’s take a look at the different physiological parameters that influence the lactate threshold.

1. Aerobic capacity Aerobic capacity is a key determinant of the lactate threshold. This is because it dictates the maximal rate at which oxygen can be supplied to and processed by the working muscles, and thus determines the rate at which pyruvate and lactate can be processed by the aerobic energy system. 32

Improving aerobic capacity leads to both a reduction in lactate production (by allowing more of the pyruvate to be directly processed by the aerobic system), and an improvement in lactate clearance (by allowing more lactate to be cleared via the aerobic system). Thus, the bigger the aerobic capacity, the higher the lactate threshold power typically is. However, this is not always the case, because we also need to take into account the glycolytic rate…

2. Maximal Glycolytic Rate The maximal glycolytic rate is the maximal rate at which energy is produced though glycolysis. The higher the maximal glycolytic rate, the greater the tendency to produce energy via glycolysis across a spectrum of intensities. Thus, for two individuals with the same aerobic capacity, lactate production rates will typically be higher in the individual with the higher maximal glycolytic rate, leading to a lower lactate threshold power in this individual. In other words, people who are anaerobically stronger tend to have a lower lactate threshold. Given that lactate is a product of glycolysis, the maximal glycolytic rate can be inferred by measuring the rate at which lactate is produced during a short, maximal effort, where clearance of lactate via oxidative systems will be minimal (Heck et al., 2003). This is referred to as ̇VLamax (i.e. the maximal lactate production rate). It’s measured as the rate at which lactate concentration increases in the blood per second (mmol/L/sec). We’ll return to this idea in more detail when we discuss fitness testing in Chapter 5. But for now, it’s useful to be aware that ̇VLamax can be used as an indicator of the maximal glycolytic rate.

3. Fat utilisation Closely related to the maximal glycolytic rate is the ability to use fats to produce energy. At a given power output, having a greater ability to use fats for fuel, will mean a lower contribution from the glycolytic system, and thus a lower lactate production.

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The ability to use fat is dependent on things like capillary density, mitochondrial number and size, the proportion of Type I muscle fibres, and the activity of enzymes linked with fat oxidation.

4. Lactate Transport A highly active muscle fibre (e.g. in the leg) can be working at an intensity where oxygen supply and/or processing capacity cannot meet demand and lactate levels rise. However, this can be a fairly localised problem, and in other parts of the body (and even in nearby muscle fibres), there can be available capacity to clear lactate. It’s possible for lactate and the associated H+ ions to be transported out of muscle cells either through diffusion or by transporters. They can then be moved to other tissues in the body where lactate oxidation capacity is greater. Here, the lactate and H+ can then be converted back to pyruvate and then enter the aerobic system to produce energy and clear the acidic H+ ions from the body (Bhagavan & Ha, 2011). Lactate can also be moved to the liver for conversion back to glycogen. Lactate transport is therefore another factor that influences the lactate threshold. Improving lactate transport can lead to an improved lactate threshold power due to the increased ability to clear lactate. It also contributes to better distribution of energy supplies (where lactate can be viewed as a useful source of energy). The ability to move lactate out of the working muscles and to suitable sites to oxidise or store the lactate depends on the number of lactate transporter proteins. The key lactate transporters, responsible for around two thirds of lactate clearance during exercise, are the transporters ‘MCT1’ and ‘MCT4’, although there are also other transporters that act on H+ ions only (McGinley et al., 2016).

Both MCT1 and MCT4 transporters

participate in the influx and efflux of lactate between cell membranes. However, MCT1 is predominantly linked with lactate influx (e.g. transport into cells) and MCT4 is largely associated with lactate efflux (e.g. transport out of cells). MCT1 also participates in the transport of pyruvate into the mitochondria. Thus, MCT1 is mostly found in Type I muscle fibres which have a high capacity for lactate/pyruvate oxidation and clearance, and MCT4 is mostly found in Type II muscle fibres which have a 34

high capacity for lactate production and thus require effective clearance systems. In addition to the concentration of lactate transporters, lactate transportation also depends on the concentration of enzymes that support the operation of these transporter molecules. There’s evidence that both of these factors can be influenced through training (McGinley et al., 2016).

Buffering capacity A final factor that needs to be considered in relation to the lactate threshold is the buffering capacity of the blood and muscles. As hydrogen ions are produced, they can be temporarily ‘neutralised’ by buffers in the blood and muscles. This mechanism does not impact the lactate threshold as such, because it has no bearing on the production or clearance of lactate. However, it does make high lactate concentrations more tolerable, as some of the acidic hydrogen ions are effectively ‘mopped up’ by the buffers. So, if we were to compare two athletes with the same lactate threshold (in terms of lactate levels), then the one with the larger buffering capacity would find riding at this intensity more tolerable, and would likely be able to sustain this effort and harder efforts for longer. There is evidence that buffering capacity can be increased by as much as 16-25% through training (Edge et al., 2006; Weson et al., 1996). However, the mechanisms through which this is achieved remain controversial (Culbertson et al., 2010; Harris et al., 2012). Nutrition is another factor that can influence buffering capacity. Supplementation with sodium bicarbonate improves the buffering capacity of the blood, and supplementation with the amino acid beta-alanine improves the buffering capacity of the muscles by increasing the content of a buffer called ‘carnosine’. Conversely, following vegetarian and vegan diets (which are naturally low in beta-alanine) has been shown to reduce muscle carnosine stores (Baguet et al., 2011).

Fractional Utilisation An important parameter related to the lactate threshold is something called ‘fractional utilisation’. This parameter is the percentage of the aerobic capacity at which the lactate threshold sits. So, for example,

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if the aerobic capacity is at 60ml/kg/min, and at the lactate threshold oxygen consumption is at 54ml/kg/min, then fractional utilisation would be 90%. For many endurance disciplines, having a high fractional utilisation is desirable, because this effectively means that a higher proportion of the aerobic capacity can be accessed and utilised for an extended period of time. Factors 2-4 above all dictate the fractional utilisation. One way of thinking about the lactate threshold, therefore is that the aerobic capacity (factor 1) sets the ceiling on how high the lactate threshold can get, and then factors 2-4 all combine to dictate where the lactate threshold ultimately sits within that aerobic capacity. Knowing your fractional utilisation is useful as it can tell you whether you need to work on your aerobic capacity, or on factors 2-4 in order to best improve your lactate threshold power. In untrained cyclists, fractional utilisation is typically in the region of 50-60%, and for moderately trained endurance cyclists, in the region of 6570% (Simon et al., 1986). For highly-trained and elite cyclists/endurance athletes, this can get as high as 80-90% (Billat et al., 2004; Foss & Hallen, 2005; Sjodin & Svedenhag, 1985).

Balancing the aerobic capacity and the glycolytic rate Following on from fractional utilisation, one really crucial thing that’s not often fully understood in relation to the lactate threshold is that there’s somewhat of a balance between the aerobic capacity and the maximal glycolytic rate. Many people assume that bigger is always better when it comes to training aerobic and anaerobic capacities. However, this is not always true. If all other fitness parameters (particularly aerobic capacity and lactate transportation) stay the same, then a higher maximal glycolytic rate tends to come with a higher lactate production rate and a suppressed fat oxidation rate across a range of powers. That’s because some of the enzymes that work to up-regulate the glycolytic system also work to down-regulate 36

the fat oxidation system (Almquist et al., 2020; Aird et al., 2018). Thus, increasing the maximal glycolytic rate (in order to increase the total peak anaerobic power) can result in a decrease in the lactate threshold. Maximal glycolytic rate therefore needs to be balanced with the size of the aerobic capacity, as depicted in Figure 13. As mentioned above, aerobic capacity ultimately dictates how much lactate is produced and cleared. In some cases, the best course of action for training may be to train to

reduce the maximal glycolytic rate, particularly if training for a discipline that’s fairly long and steady, where you rarely need to produce power above the lactate threshold. The idea of training to reduce an aspect of your fitness can seem very counter-intuitive at first, but we’ll show some examples later in this guide which will help to cement this concept. Working on lactate transportation ability and fat oxidation capacity specifically (e.g. through improved mitochondrial density) can also help counteract some of the negative impact of a high maximal glycolytic rate on the fractional utilisation.

Figure 13. Relationship between aerobic capacity, glycolytic rate and the lactate threshold.

Of course, in some disciplines (e.g. track cycling and hill climbs) the maximal glycolytic rate is more important than the lactate threshold. However, even in these instances, there is still an element of balancing the aerobic capacity and the maximal glycolytic rate. If an athlete were to have an extremely high maximal glycolytic rate, but a relatively low 37

aerobic capacity, they would be able to produce a large amount of power over a short duration (they would have a good peak anaerobic power). However, lactate would accumulate very rapidly, and therefore they would have poor anaerobic stamina, and would have to stop riding at this high power very quickly.

3.5 Economy/Efficiency Cycling economy or efficiency is another key determinant of performance. Technically-speaking these two terms have slightly different definitions (the former is the amount of oxygen required to produce a given wattage, and the latter is the ratio of the work done on the bike relative to the energy required4). However, for the purpose of this guide we can view these as interchangeable terms (we’ll stick with the term ‘efficiency’, unless we specifically need to refer to economy). Both terms effectively represent the metabolic cost of producing power on the bike. The higher the efficiency, the more power that can be produced for a given metabolic cost. Cycling efficiency has been shown to be in the range of 18-23% (Hopker et al., 2009), which means around 80% of the energy needed to produce a given power output is effectively wasted. A range of 18-23% efficiency might sound small, but a cyclist with a 23% efficiency would be able to produce 28% more power than a cyclist with 18% efficiency for a given metabolic cost. So, it’s a factor that’s worth considering. As should be clear from the previous chapters, the process of producing power on the bike is a complex system, and there are a whole host of factors that can impact cycling efficiency (Hopker et al., 2009; Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). These include: 1. Muscle fibre composition (i.e. the percentage of Type I, Type IIa, and Type IIx fibres). 2. Metabolic characteristics within muscle fibres that impact the efficiency with which aerobic respiration can take place. A key

There are some more subtleties as to how these terms can be defined, but we won’t cover those here.

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example is the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorilation (i.e. proton leak out of the mitochondria). 3. Functional characteristics of the muscles such as muscle tendon stiffness, maximal strength and rate of force development. 4. Pedalling cadence. 5. Riding position on the bike, which impacts muscle fibre recruitment and muscle length-tension relationships. 6. Environmental factors e.g. temperature. 7. Muscle damage. 8. Fuel availability. Factors 1-3 can all be influenced through training, with the remaining factors being at least partially modifiable through some practical preparatory steps (such as getting a good bike fit, using a good fuelling strategy, and ensuring sufficient recovery before key races or training sessions).

Cadence The impact of cycling cadence on efficiency (or more generally it’s significance in training and racing) is something we get asked about quite regularly. The overall relationship between cadence and efficiency tends to be like an upside-down J-shape, with efficiency decreasing as cadence increases or decreases away from the optimal value (Ansley & Cangley, 2009). The optimal cadence also depends on the absolute power output, with the optimal cadence increasing as power output increases. For example, among trained cyclists, the most efficient cadence at 100W was found to average 50rpm, whereas at 330W, this was 80rpm (Coast & Welch, 1985). This relationship between cadence, efficiency and power is illustrated in Figure 14. The reason for this relationship between cadence, power and efficiency is complex, and depends both on (i) the types of muscle fibres that are recruited, (ii) the optimal contraction velocity of the fibres that are being recruited and (iii) the impact of cadence on blood flow to/from the muscles. In relation to (i), as cadence decreases then the force that is required to maintain a given power increases, and this results in a greater recruitment of Type IIa muscle fibres. These are generally (but not always) 39

less aerobically efficient than Type I fibres (Ansley & Cangley, 2009). In relation to point (ii), each muscle fibre type has an optimal speed with which it contracts. Forcing the muscle to contract at speeds above or below this optimal point reduces efficiency. Higher cadences also facilitate better return blood flow to the heart, whereas low cadences can lead to blood flow restriction (Abbiss & Laursen, 2005). So, overall the specific force and muscle contraction speed required to maintain a given cadence and power output dictates the muscle fibres that are recruited, the efficiency with which they can operate, and the amount of oxygen that can be supplied to them.

Figure 14. Relationship between cadence and efficiency, shown at both a lower and a higher power output.

Knowing that cadence can modulate muscle fibre recruitment is a concept we’ll return to later, as it can be a useful strategy for trying to improve the aerobic efficiency of these Type IIa fibres.

3.6 Endurance The aerobic system can, in principle, supply energy to power exercise indefinitely, provided sufficient fuel (i.e. carbohydrate and fat) is available. When exercising below the lactate threshold, the concentration of hydrogen ions within the blood and muscles remains steady, and at a tolerable level.

So, what causes fatigue in long endurance events?

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The reasons for fatigue during long bouts of physical activity is multifactorial, and not yet completely understood. In this context, fatigue is defined as a decreased ability to produce force by the muscles and an associated increase in perceived exertion. Similarly, endurance is the ability to sustain a (predominantly aerobic) power output for an extended period. The detailed theories of what causes fatigue (there are many!) are beyond the scope of this guide. For an excellent review, see Abbiss & Laursen, 2005. However, we have summarised some of the key training-related factors below.

Fuel Availability The average adult typically stores sufficient carbohydrates to fuel around 1.5 hours of all-out exercise (Billat et al., 2004). As glycogen stores begin to run low, levels of fatigue increase, heart rate rises, and exercise intensity must be reduced so as to conserve the remaining carbohydrate. Glycogen depletion within individual muscle fibres also causes a reduction in efficiency in the later stages of riding (Krustrup et al., 2004). Certain muscle fibres are recruited preferentially to others. These tend to be the most aerobically efficient Type I fibres. However, once the glycogen within these muscle fibres is used up, some of the workload must be passed onto less efficient muscle fibres that still have glycogen stores, and/or a greater contribution to energy production must be made up from fat rather than carbohydrate oxidation, resulting in a loss of efficiency.

Muscle Damage/Dysfunction Muscle damage in the form of tearing and swelling is typically less pronounced in cycling than in other forms of exercise that involve higher levels of impact and/or eccentric contractions (e.g. running). However, muscle damage does occur after extended periods of cycling. This muscle damage can also lead to fatigue.

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In addition to this physical damage to the muscle fibres, over the course of a long ride the muscles themselves also begin to become more dysfunctional and do not work as effectively. There are numerous reasons for this dysfunction. Examples include the leakage of molecules and other substances that play a role in muscle contraction, such as sodium and potassium. These processes can interfere with the ability of the muscles to contract, and also the ability of the mitochondria to produce energy aerobically (Abbiss & Laursen, 2005). This muscle damage and dysfunction is another reason that cycling efficiency drops with increasing duration (Gleeson et al., 1998).

Central Fatigue With extended periods of riding, neural activation of the muscle fibres by the central nervous system also decreases. This is known as central fatigue. Studies have been able to isolate the impact of central versus muscular (sometimes referred to as ‘peripheral’) fatigue. These studies have compared the force that can be produced voluntarily with the force that can be generated from electrical stimulation of the muscle. The former represents a combination of central and muscular fatigue, whereas the latter represents muscular fatigue only, as the electrical stimulation replaces the central nervous system. After a 40km time trial, voluntary contraction was found by Thomas et al. (2015) to be reduced by 16% and electrically stimulated force was reduced by 29%. Interestingly, the longer the activity, the more dominant central fatigue becomes (Saugy et al., 2013; Thomas et al., 2015).

3.7 Maximal Strength/Power A final performance determinant to touch upon is maximal strength and power. While most cycling disciplines are conducted at powers well below maximum, muscle strength and power can still be determinative, particularly in disciplines such as track cycling and off-road disciplines, such as

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cyclocross and cross-country mountain biking, which require rapid acceleration at the start of a race. The terms strength and power are sometimes used interchangeably. However, they do not mean the same thing. Strength is the maximum amount of force or tension that can be applied to a muscle, and it is dependent upon several factors: •

The number of muscle fibres in the muscle (more fibres = more total tension that can be produced by a muscle)

•

The diameter of fibres in the muscle (thicker fibres mean more actin and myosin filaments, which are responsible for contraction)

•

The composition of muscle fibre types within the muscle, with Type IIa and Type IIx being able to tolerate higher tensions than Type I fibres.

•

Neural adaptations, such as an improved ability to activate muscle fibres in synchrony (see Chapter 2 for more detail on these factors).

In contrast, power is a combination of force and speed. Having stronger muscles can result in a higher maximal power. However, maximal power also depends on the rate at which muscle fibres can contract. Therefore, maximal power is largely dependent on the number, size and neural excitability of Type IIx muscle fibres, which have the highest contraction speed. While maximal power and strength are largely a concern for short, explosive disciplines, it’s thought that the strength of individual fibres (particularly Type I fibres) is also important for endurance cycling, and there is evidence that strength training improves endurance and cycling economy. We discuss more about the role of strength training in cycling and the potential mechanisms for improved performance in Chapter 15.

3.8 Chapter Summary Aerobic Capacity •

Aerobic capacity – also known as ̇VO2max – is the maximal rate at which oxygen can be supplied to and processed by the working muscles.

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•

It can be limited by a range of factors both central (heart, lungs and blood carrying capacity) and peripheral (muscle oxygen uptake and processing ability).

•

The most trainable factors contributing to aerobic capacity are (i) cardiac output, (ii) mitochondrial density and function and (iii) capillary density.

Anaerobic Abilities •

Peak anaerobic power is the maximum rate at which energy (i.e. ATP) can be produced by the anaerobic systems. Note that due to inefficiencies, this does not translate to the same power that’s produced on the pedals, which will be ~80% lower.

•

Anaerobic stamina is the length of time an anaerobic effort can be sustained.

•

Anaerobic capacity is the combination of the peak anaerobic power and stamina, and defines the total amount of energy that can be generated via the anaerobic systems before fatigue hits.

•

The maximal glycolytic rate is the maximum rate at which energy can be generated via the glycolytic system specifically (i.e. excluding energy derived through the phosphocreatine system).

Lactate Threshold •

The lactate threshold is the maximum power that can be sustained without a rise in blood lactate levels, and is an important determinant of performance for disciplines lasting ~20-minutes or more.

•

The lactate threshold is the balance between the rates of lactate production and clearance, and is dependent upon the aerobic capacity, maximal glycolytic rate, the ability to use fats for fuel, and the ability to transport lactate and hydrogen ions around the body.

•

Fractional utilisation is a parameter that tells us where the lactate threshold sits relative to the aerobic capacity, and can be a useful diagnostic parameter helping to design training interventions.

•

Increasing the maximal glycolytic rate can lead to a reduction in the lactate threshold, so it may not always be beneficial to work on improving this physiological attribute. 44

Economy/Efficiency •

Economy and efficiency relate to the metabolic cost of producing power on the bike, and are also key determinants of performance.

•

Cycling efficiency is impacted by a range of factors, including characteristics of muscles and ligaments, fuel availability and cycling cadence, where the most efficient cadence typically increases with increasing power output.

Endurance •

Fatigue in prolonged riding and racing below the lactate threshold is due to a variety of factors and is not currently fully understood.

•

Endurance can be improved through fuelling with carbohydrates, improving the ability to use fats for fuel (thereby conserving glycogen), training the muscles to become more resistant to damage, and possibly by increasing the strength of muscle fibres.

Maximal Strength/Power •

Maximal power is important in explosive disciplines such as track cycling. Maximal power largely depends on the size, number and neural excitability of Type IIx fibres.

•

Strong muscle fibres, and particularly Type I fibres, might contribute to improved endurance. It largely depends on the size of Type I fibres.



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Chapter 4: Lactate 4.1 Metabolic Role of Lactate We have now touched upon lactate several times through this guide. In Chapter 1, we learnt that lactate is a product of glycolysis (which is the anaerobic break-down of carbohydrates). In Chapter 3 we also learnt about the lactate threshold, which is the maximum intensity at which lactate clearance rates can meet lactate production rates, and is a key performance determinant in many cycling disciplines. However, this is a subject that warrants more dedicated discussion, due to its multifaceted role in training and performance. Many cyclists are aware of lactate to some extent. For example, they may have heard about lactate testing, or that the ‘lactate threshold’ is something they may want to increase. However, they might not understand the precise role and significance of lactate in exercise. Lactate often gets a bad name, as many people think it’s the substance that causes fatigue in high-intensity exercise. However, as should be clear from Chapter 1, it’s the H+ ions that are produced alongside the lactate (possibly in combination with other metabolic products) that are thought to lead to fatigue. In contrast, lactate itself is a positive product of glycolysis because (i) it enables the release of NAD+ ions, which are needed for further glycolysis and (ii) it provides a convenient storage form for future ATP generation, which can be effectively transported around the body. When oxygen supply is sufficient, the lactate and H+ can be converted back to pyruvate, and this can then be processed by the aerobic system5. Lactate can be easily measured using a small finger-tip sample of blood, and can provide information about the metabolic processes that are going on

Lactate also has several other potential fates, including resynthesis to glycogen within the liver and muscles (Astrand et al., 2003).

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in the body. This is the key reason that lactate has gained such attention in sports science. We’ll explain more about lactate testing in Chapter 5.

4.2 Relationship between lactate and training intensity The amount of lactate in the blood is dependent on how much lactate is produced, and how quickly lactate is cleared. Both of these factors are influenced by exercise intensity. We can plot the relationship between lactate and power (or intensity), giving an insight into the differences in energy metabolism at different intensities (Faude et al., 2009):

Figure 15. Relationship between power output and blood lactate concentration, and associated training zones.

In Zone 1, energy production is largely met by fat oxidation, and the contribution from glycolysis is low. Lactate levels are therefore approximately constant and do not increase with exercise intensity (this is a slight simplification, and it’s actually quite common to see lactate levels drop slightly with increasing exercise intensity, as the increasing intensity leads to increased activation of the aerobic system). Zone 1 is the intensity range in which you’d usually do a long endurance ride.

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In Zone 2, glycolysis starts to make a larger contribution to energy production, because fat alone cannot produce energy fast enough. In this zone, lactate levels rise linearly with exercise intensity. However, oxygen supply is still sufficient to clear lactate at the same rate at which it is produced. Therefore, at any given exercise intensity, lactate levels will stay constant. This means intensities within Zone 2 can be sustained for a long time, but might be a little more uncomfortable than they would be in Zone 1, due to the elevated lactate levels (or more particularly the associated acidic hydrogen ions). This acidity will also contribute more overall stress and damage, which is why you’d typically look to moderate the amount of training you do in Zone 2, which is often referred to as the ‘Tempo’ or ‘Sweetspot’ zone. We’ll come back to this topic later in this guide. In Zone 3, lactate levels begin to rise exponentially. At this point, oxygen supply cannot meet demand, and lactate production begins to exceed clearance. At any given Zone 3 intensity, lactate levels will rise despite power being held constant, and thus intensities in this zone can only be sustained for a relatively short time. These are the intensities that you’d typically train at during an interval session. The cut-points between these zones have various names, with the lower cut point often referred to as the aerobic threshold or LT1, and the upper cutpoint being referred to as the anaerobic threshold, the lactate threshold, the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS), onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA) or LT2 (as mentioned in the previous chapter, some of these terms can have subtly different definitions, but for now, we will treat them as meaning broadly the same thing).

4.3 Relationship between lactate and fitness profile Not only do lactate concentrations depend upon exercise intensity, they also depend upon an athlete’s unique physiology and fitness level. The

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factors impacting lactate dynamics were discussed in relation to the lactate threshold in Chapter 3. As a reminder, these include: •

Aerobic capacity

•

Maximal glycolytic rate

•

Fat oxidation ability

•

Lactate transport ability

Let’s take a look at how these fitness parameters can impact the lactate profile:

Figure 16. Lactate profiles for two athletes, shown respectively in orange and green.

Figure 16 shows two athletes with very similar maximal glycolytic rates and propensities to use fats for fuel. This is indicated by the fact that both athletes have similar lactate concentrations at low intensities, with similar LT1 powers and they also have similar ̇VLamax values (which as mentioned above, is a measure of the maximal rate of lactate production and can be used as a marker of maximal glycolytic rate). The big difference between these two athletes is their aerobic capacity. Athlete 1 (orange) has a lower aerobic capacity than Athlete 2 (green), meaning the point at

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which lactate production exceeds lactate clearance (LT2) is at a lower intensity. Let’s take a look at another example:

Figure 17. Lactate profiles for two athletes, shown respectively in orange and green.

In Figure 17, both athletes have a similar aerobic capacity, but Athlete 1 (orange) has a higher maximal glycolytic rate than Athlete 2 (green), as indicated by ̇VLamax, which results in higher lactate values across the spectrum of intensities, and lower LT1 and LT2 powers. As can be seen from the above, the lactate profile can be used to help understand your unique physiological parameters – in particular the aerobic and anaerobic capacities. This is really helpful in understanding where your unique strengths and limiters lie.

4.4 Chapter Summary •

Lactate levels vary depending on training intensity and various fitness parameters, and the lactate profile can provide useful information about the metabolic processes going on in the body, as well as information on changes in fitness and/or the types of training a particular athlete would most benefit from.

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•

The lactate profile can be divided into three zones with differing lactate characteristics.

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The lower cut point between Zones 1 and 2 is the aerobic threshold or LT1, and this is (approximately) the point where carbohydrate oxidation begins to make a notable contribution to energy production and lactate levels ride linearly with training intensity.

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The upper cut point between Zones 2 and 3 is the lactate threshold or LT2, and is the highest intensity where lactate levels remain constant; beyond this point, lactate levels will accumulate despite exercise intensity being held constant.

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Chapter 5: Physiological Testing 5.1 Purpose of Physiological Testing Having understood the physiology of how power is produced on the bike, and the factors that can impact performance, this chapter now looks at how we can test and measure these physiological variables. Testing can be used for numerous reasons, including understanding your fitness profile in order to prescribe and plan suitable training, measuring changes in your fitness profile over time, and understanding your metabolic response to training in order to set training intensity zones. There are a whole host of different types of tests that can be used, and we’ve outlined some below. Each has its own limitations and use cases, so it’s good to include a range of different tests to get the best understanding of your physiological profile. What’s most important is to choose the appropriate methods and protocols to provide relevant data related to the discipline(s) of cycling you are engaged in. For example, testing power over a short sprint is much less appropriate for an ultradistance cyclist compared to perhaps assessing where LT1 sits, or evaluating endurance abilities.

5.2 Power-Based Testing Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Testing Functional Threshold Power (FTP) testing is the most common type of test used in cycling. The original definition of FTP is the maximum steady-state power that can be sustained over a 40km time trial. However, a newer definition, which is more widely applicable to cyclists across a range of ability levels, is the maximum steady-state power that can be sustained over 1-hour. FTP is often used to set training zones (i.e. training

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intensities are prescribed as a percentage of FTP), and also to measure improvements in aerobic fitness. FTP is a field-based measure that’s designed to approximately reflect the lactate threshold power. However, it’s important to understand that this is an approximation, and that for some people the estimate can be quite a way off. As an example, data from Nimmerichter et al (2010) suggests that a 20min FTP test (see below) might under or over-estimate lactate threshold power by as much as ~10%. For someone with an FTP of 300W, that could be a level of inaccuracy of as much as 30W! Furthermore, changes in FTP do not necessarily reflect changes in lactate threshold power. For example, it’s possible for FTP to increase despite a decrease in lactate threshold power, if the glycolytic rate improves. Therefore, it’s best to think of FTP as a distinct measure that’s separate from lactate threshold power, but which (when interpreted alongside other data) can tell us a bit about what’s going on physiologically, and how we should set training zones. In practice, few people actually do the classic 40km time trial or 1-hour test to establish FTP. Instead, they use shorter tests, which can be used to estimate FTP. We’ve outlined some of the more common protocols below.

20-Minute Test This test involves completing a 20-minute time trial, where FTP is typically determined as 95% of the average power sustained across the test. In practice, this test tends to over-estimate the lactate threshold power, particularly in those who are reasonably strong anaerobically, which tends to include people who are relatively new to cycling, who have a low training volume, or who do a lot of intense training indoors. This is because a non-negligible proportion of power will be derived through the anaerobic systems. There are a few methods used to address this, such as including some hard efforts prior to the 20-min test to ‘blunt’ the anaerobic contribution, or by taking FTP to be a lower percentage (e.g. 9093%) of the 20-min power (Borszcz et al., 2020).

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We’ve set out our recommended protocol below, which has been shown to be reliable to within around 5-10W (in other words, if you were to repeat the test on another day, you’d expect to see a 5-10W variation in your average power) (Borszcz et al., 2020; Nimmerichter et al., 2010).

Figure 18. Schematic profile of 20-Minute FTP testing protocol.

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Warm up for 30-45 mins @ 50-60% FTP or 3-4/10 effort level if you don’t have an existing FTP estimate, including a few (2-4) surges at a high-cadence lasting around 30-60-seconds.

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Around 15-20-mins into the warm-up include a 5M effort paced as a consistent but maximal effort. The purpose of this effort is to induce some fatigue before the 20-min test, helping to offset the anaerobic contribution during the test. Then ride steady for at least 10-mins.

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Next, perform the 20M effort, done at an average max effort paced as evenly as possible throughout entire interval. Good pacing should see a somewhat comfortable start, a tough middle portion and then a maximal effort for the remaining portion. DO NOT USE ERG MODE FOR THIS SEGMENT OF THE WORKOUT.

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Once the 20M test protocol above is complete, spin easily up to ~1H1H30M.

Following this protocol, calculate FTP as 95% of the average power sustained across the effort. Use a slightly lower percentage (e.g. 90-93%) if you know you are anaerobically strong (e.g. if you tend to excel over shorter efforts of 20S to 2-mins).

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It’s really important that the 20-min effort is as well-paced as possible (i.e. your power stays relatively constant across the effort). Otherwise your FTP estimate will be less accurate. It can be hard to pace this 20-min effort if you don’t already know roughly what sort of power you can hold. Two alternative methods which help address this problem are outlined below.

2x 8-Min Test This method involves completing 2x 8-min maximal efforts, paced consistently across the two efforts. It can be a better method to use if you find pacing a full 20-min effort hard, although we find it can be more prone to over-estimating FTP in those who are anaerobically strong, so prefer not to use this method wherever possible.

Figure 19. Schematic profile of 2x 8-minute FTP testing protocol.

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Warm up for 25M @ ~50-60% FTP or 3-4/10 effort level, including a 4M ramped effort building from a 6/10 to an 8/10 effort level (or 90115% FTP). This ramped effort induces some fatigue to help offset the anaerobic contribution to these efforts, and also helps warm up your legs fully.

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Perform 2x 8M intervals at maximal average effort across the two efforts, with 4-5M of active recovery between each.

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Once test is complete, ride steadily @ ~50-60% FTP or a 3-4/10 effort to cool down.

Calculate FTP by: (i)

finding the average power you held over each effort;

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(ii)

taking the average of these two powers (i.e. add them together and divide by two);

(iii) take 90% of this average (i.e. multiply the result from (ii) by 0.9).

Ramp Test A final commonly used method for calculating FTP is to perform a ramp test, where power output is increased (typically every 60-seconds) until you can no longer continue. This is an option for those who really struggle with pacing, as the test can be performed on an indoor trainer using Erg mode (i.e. the trainer continually adjusts resistance to hold you at a predetermined power output). The test can be built from scratch using a workout builder (such as TrainingPeaks). However, this is a bit awkward to configure, and a much easier option is to use the pre-built ramp tests provided in many common online training platforms. These platforms will also automatically calculate your FTP for you, which avoids having to do some fairly complicated calculations6. 6

FTP is often calculated as 75% of your ‘MAP’ or ‘Maximal Aerobic Power’

(a concept attributable to cycling coach Ric Stern who originally proposed a range of 72-77%). Your MAP is the last fully-completed stage of the ramp test, plus the percentage of the final unfinished stage that was completed multiplied by the increase in watts per stage. For example, if you completed the 350W stage, and half of the 375W stage (power increases 25W each stage), MAP would be 350 + (0.5 x 25) = 362.5W. From this, FTP is calculated as 0.75 x MAP (i.e. 272W). Some sources use a different percentage (e.g. 82.5% MAP). Ultimately, the correct percentage will depend on where your lactate threshold sits relative to your aerobic capacity, which is why ramp tests can be so inaccurate for FTP determination. It’s also worth noting that your MAP will differ depending on the ramp protocol used. For example, if you follow a protocol that ramps at a rate of 15W/min, this will result in a different MAP than if you were to follow a protocol that ramps at a rate of 25W/min.

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In our experience, the ramp test is the least accurate of the three methods, and can substantially over-estimate FTP in those who are anaerobically strong. This includes those who are fairly new to cycling and/or who have been following increasingly popular indoor training plans with lots of high-intensity training. It can also under-estimate FTP in those whose lactate threshold is very close to their aerobic capacity (i.e. those with a high ‘fractional utilisation’ as explained in Chapter 3). Ultimately the ramp test (a relatively short and intensive test) is the most removed from a full FTP test (i.e. 40km steady-state time trial), so it’s not too surprising that this method does not always give accurate results.

Indoor vs Outdoor It’s common for FTP to be slightly different indoors versus outdoors. There are a number of possible reasons for this, including differences in bike set-up and movement patterns (resulting in different muscle recruitment), higher temperatures and less air cooling when indoors, and psychological factors that typically make indoor riding feel harder. In some cases, it might be appropriate to test both your indoor and outdoor FTP if you think there’s a big discrepancy.

Being Conservative and Consistent As mentioned, FTP testing has two main purposes: to assess changes in fitness, and to set training zones. In relation to assessing fitness changes, it’s important to try to use a consistent method each time you test. Otherwise, differences in your FTP might be due to the different testing method, rather than a true change in your fitness. In relation to setting training zones, in our view, it’s always better to pick a method that produces a conservative estimate of your FTP. It’s far better to train at a slightly lower intensity (where you’ll still get the intended training adaptations, but these might be slightly sub-optimal) rather than too hard (where you’re putting yourself at risk of becoming over-trained, ill or injured due to the high intensity). So if, for 57

example, you try two testing methods and they produce different results, then it’s best to use the lower estimate for setting your training zones.

Power Profile Testing Many people rely solely on FTP testing to assess how they are responding to training. However, this has numerous problems: 1. First, as should be clear from Chapter 3, there are a wide range of factors that can impact your performance. FTP is designed to estimate the lactate threshold power. However, if your training is targeting other adaptations such as improved V̇ O2max , or increased maximal glycolytic rate, then FTP testing is not an appropriate means to assess whether training is having the intended effect. 2. Secondly, a major limitation of all power-based testing is that it’s impossible to ascertain precisely which energy systems are being used to produce power, and in reality, a combination of systems will be in use. This means that an increase in 20-min power could reflect a true improvement in lactate threshold power. Or it could actually reflect an increase in anaerobic capacity, for example, which might be associated with a decrease in lactate threshold power, despite an improved 20-min power output. Performing power testing over some additional durations can help address these issues by providing a more well-rounded picture of your physiological strengths and limiters, and what changes might be occurring. Traditionally, this would include maximal efforts over ~5-10 seconds, 1-minute and 5minutes, which are respectively intended to reflect your neuromuscular power, anaerobic capacity, and aerobic capacity. Like the FTP testing, these efforts should be evenly-paced. You may see some indoor training platforms offering pre-built power profile tests, where you complete all tests in a single workout. We wouldn’t recommend these, as including all tests in one workout makes for an extremely tough session, where motivation and fatigue in the latter tests will likely impact your results notably. Instead, we’d generally advise spreading the testing out over at least 3 days (the 5-second and 1-minute tests can be included in the same session, with a good 20 to 30-minutes of

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easy riding between). Make sure you’re fairly fresh for each session. For example, if you include two tests on consecutive days, we’d then recommend including a recovery day before completing the final day of testing. Having completed this testing, you then divide your average power over each duration by your weight (in kg), to work out your Watts per kg. You can then use a power profile chart, to assess over which durations you’re stronger or weaker, relative to other cyclists. Many popular training analysis software options will perform these calculations and comparisons for you, presenting the data in chart form, such as the examples in Figure 20 and Figure 21 below:

Figure 20. Example power profile chart, taken from TrainingPeaks (2021).

Figure 21. Example power profile chart, taken from WKO5 (2021). Yellow line shows max power achieved over a given duration, and red line represents modelled maximal power based on WKO5 algorithms.

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For endurance cyclists, it’s common (and desirable) for your powers over 5 and 20-minutes to be strongest. In contrast, your powers over 5-seconds, and 1-minute might be as much as 2 ‘classifications’ lower. For example, your 5 and 20-minute powers might fall in the ‘Excellent’ classification, whereas your 1-minute and 5-second powers could fall in the ‘Moderate’ classification. We’ve included some examples in the supplementary materials to this guide of common power profiles, alongside an explanation of how the data can be interpreted, and what the profile might suggest in terms of recommended training. We’ve also included some examples of potential changes in your power profile in response to training, and an explanation of what physiological changes these data might infer. We want to include a big warning here if you do choose to use power profile testing. The data must always be interpreted with caution, particularly the first few times you complete the testing. You will probably need to take at least 3 attempts at each duration to get reliable data, as getting the pacing and gearing right, and selecting an appropriate location (if testing outdoors) can be tricky. In our experience, this is particularly true over the 1-minute duration, where there is often a big improvement in power output over the first few attempts at this test, which is largely attributable to improved pacing and gear selection. The shorter durations (particularly 5-seconds) are also generally quite hard to do on an indoor trainer, due to the slow responsiveness in gear changes, which can result in some under-estimation of your capabilities. In addition, testing will be influenced by a variety of factors such as motivation, fatigue levels, fuelling, hydration, environmental conditions, and so on. These can contribute to variability in your test results, and therefore you should always interpret the results in view of any factors that might have impacted your performance. For example, if you performed a test after a busy and stressful day at work, then your test on that day may under-represent your true ability. Like with the 20-min test, there are differences when testing indoors and out, and in order to properly assess your profile, you should ideally be 60

consistent about whether you do the testing indoors or outdoors for each test duration.

Critical Power Testing An alternative approach to power profile testing, which can also provide additional data beyond that generated by a basic FTP test is ‘critical power’ testing. Critical power testing is supported by a large volume of scientific research, and is used quite commonly by sports scientists and by national cycling federations.

What is Critical Power? The basic premise of critical power testing is that power output above a certain ‘critical power’ follows a well-defined hyperbolic power-duration curve as shown in Figure 22.

Figure 22. Chart showing the hyperbolic relationship between power and the duration of time that power can be sustained when riding above the critical power.

The curve can be defined by two parameters: the critical power (CP) and W’ (pronounced as ‘W prime’). CP is the power output that you’ll fall towards when riding at a high intensity, as exercise duration is increased ‘indefinitely’ (‘indefinitely’ is a mathematical construct, and not actually true in practice, which is why this power-duration model fails to hold at or below CP). In practice, people can typically only sustain power outputs at CP for around 30-minutes (Vanhatalo et al., 2011). W’ (measured

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in kJ – i.e. units of energy) is the amount of work that can be done above the CP. It’s thought that CP occurs at around the maximal lactate steady state (Poole et al., 2016), but does tend to come out slightly higher than the lactate threshold and FTP (Karsten et al., 2020). W’ is dependent on a number of physiological variables. However, it can broadly be interpreted as indicating the anaerobic capacity. An analogous interpretation of W’ is that it indicates how close the CP is to the aerobic capacity. Athletes with a CP that’s low relative to aerobic capacity (i.e. a low fractional utilisation) will have a larger W’ than those with a CP that’s higher (i.e. a higher fractional utilisation). W’ can vary widely. The average moderately trained endurance athlete will generally have a W’ that’s between around 9-15kJ for men, and between around 6-10kJ for women, although these values can be bigger for more welltrained athletes with a high V̇ O2max . For more punchy endurance disciplines, slightly higher W’ are better suited – such as between 15-18kJ for moderately-trained men, or 11-13kJ for moderately-trained women. At the other end of the spectrum, sprinters can have W’ values in excess of 2530kJ (Vanhatalo et al., 2011).

Why Use Critical Power? The obvious benefit of critical power testing is that it gives you two physiological markers from one test: critical power and W’. As the lactate threshold is a balance between the aerobic and anaerobic systems, knowing both CP and W’ can be useful in determining how best to balance these different parts of your physiology. CP can also work better than FTP for setting training zones if you’re anaerobically stronger or weaker than the ‘norm’. As mentioned, common FTP test protocols (such as the 20-min test and the ramp test) make assumptions about the extent to which the anaerobic energy systems contribute during the test, and can sometimes produce FTP estimates that are out by as much as 10-15%.

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In contrast, the CP model inherently takes into account the amount of energy available over this threshold, and thus can produce better estimates of your maximal sustainable power if you happen to be notably anaerobically strong or weak. It should be noted that CP should not be used as a directly replacement for FTP when setting training zones – a correction will need to be applied, which we will address later in this section. Another significant benefit to CP testing is that once you know your CP and W’, you can use the critical power equation (below) to predict the maximal power you could hold over various durations, or the length of time you could hold a given power (for durations between around 3 to 30-minutes). So, it can be useful for creating pacing strategies for measured efforts like hill climbs and time trials. However, it should be remembered that these are only predictions, and will not be perfectly accurate, so should only be taken as an approximate guide.

How is Critical Power Calculated? By performing a series of maximal tests, it’s possible to determine CP and W’ from the power-duration relationship. There are a range of methods for determining these parameters, with no accepted ‘gold standard’ approach (Maturana et al., 2018). In our view, the most practical and easily-accessible approach is one where the power-duration relationship is transformed into a linear relationship, by plotting power against 1/time, as shown in Figure 23. For those who are mathematically minded, the equation relating power and time then becomes: Power = W’/Time + CP By completing a series of maximal tests, we can plot this linear powerduration relationship to determine W’ and CP.

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Figure 23. Linear relationship between power output and 1/time, where time is the duration for which a given power output can be sustained, above the critical power.

Recommended Method Several studies have proposed that CP and W’ can be determined from just two maximal tests (Maturana et al., 2018; Simpson & Kordi., 2017). However, in our experience, using just two maximal tests can lead to inaccurate results, particularly if an athlete is relatively inexperienced with critical power testing. We therefore recommend using the results from 3-4 maximal tests. This helps improve the accuracy of the estimate and also means we can ascribe a level of confidence to that estimate (by measuring how well the data points fit on a straight line), and can identify if a particular effort might have been badly paced (if the data point lies quite a distance from the line). Figure 24 shows an example of a well-fitting critical power model reflecting good confidence in the CP and W’ estimates, and an example of a poorly-fitting model, with poor confidence in the estimates.

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Figure 24. Examples of a good-fitting critical power model (left hand chart) and a poorly-fitting critical power model (right hand chart)

Any durations can be used for these 3-4 efforts, provided they last between approximately 3-minutes and 20-minutes. However, we’d recommend using tests lasting approximately 3-mins, 5-mins and 12-mins, with an optional additional test at 20 minutes. These test durations give a good spread of data. Doing a 5-minute and a 20-minute test is also a good approach, as you can then use these data to also calculate your FTP and to compare your 5and 20-minute powers in a power profile chart, giving you a wealth of information from just two tests. 5- and 20-minute durations are also good because they are commonly employed in testing, and therefore you’re more likely to have experience pacing efforts of these durations. Finally, there’s evidence that the inclusion of longer tests above 10-minutes gives better accuracy (Maturana et al., 2018), which is why we’ve included at least one test duration over 10-mins. You can either do the tests as a self-paced effort lasting exactly the above durations (i.e. similar to the power-duration testing above). Or, if you find pacing an issue, you can pick a power that you think you can hold for approximately your selected test duration. Then you can ride at this power (optionally using Erg mode), until exhaustion. We tend to find riding with Erg mode results in a higher perception of effort, so we’d only recommend this approach if you struggle a great deal with pacing. Whether you choose to do your testing using a fixed power (time to exhaustion) or a fixed duration (time trial), you should try to keep your

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power as stable as possible – so don’t start too hard, and then fade towards the end. Once completed, you can enter your data into the critical power calculator included within the supplementary materials for this guide to find your estimated CP and W’ values, and get a value for the level of confidence of the estimates.

Tips for Optimal Testing •

Keep things consistent. Both our own experience and data from scientific studies shows that the length of the testing intervals and the method used (i.e. time trial or time to exhaustion) can impact the results of the testing (Maturana et al., 2018). For example, doing a time to exhaustion trial can result in a 7% lower CP estimate and a 12% higher W’ estimate relative to a fixed-duration test. So, try to keep the length of the test intervals and the testing method reasonably consistent each time. Obviously if you’re doing a time to exhaustion test, the tests won’t be exactly the same length, which is fine. Our main point is not to change the test length dramatically.

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If you’re doing a self-paced effort, you’ll need at least three attempts before your results will become reliable (Simpson & Kordi, 2017). So be cautious when interpreting your results the first two times you determine your CP and W’, as these results will likely be less reliable due to sub-optimal pacing.

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We’d recommend doing each of the tests on different days so that you’re well recovered for each test. Completing multiple tests in the same day will tend to under-estimate your W’ value, because the W’ may not be fully reconstituted by the time you begin the second test effort.

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Make sure you warm up well before each maximal effort. This is important because one of the assumptions of the critical power model is that the aerobic system kicks in instantaneously to provide energy during each maximal effort. In practice this isn’t completely true, and there’s a lag between the effort starting, and the aerobic systems ramping up

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their energy contribution7. However, this lag can be minimised by warming up well beforehand. Research looking at oxygen uptake after a warm-up (Jones et al., 2003) suggests a good warm-up should include: o a gradual increase in exercise intensity from around a 2/10 to a 4/10 effort level or from around 45% to 75% FTP/CP/lactate threshold power. o then some hard efforts above your expected FTP/CP/lactate threshold power, where you should feel lactate levels building somewhat, but these efforts should only feel moderately hard, not all-out. o then finally a short period (e.g. 4-5 mins) of gentle riding around a 2-3/10 effort level or between around 45-55% FTP to allow lactate levels to reduce.

Limitations of Critical Power Testing We’ve already noted that critical power testing can be sensitive to the methods used. As with all maximal power-based testing, it’s also sensitive to factors such as fatigue, motivation and environment, which can influence performance on the day. As with any testing, be sure to interpret any results with caution, and assess whether the results tally with what you know subjectively about yourself. For example, if the results suggest you have a very large W’, but you know that sprinting and short efforts are one of your weaknesses, then there’s probably something wrong with the data. Research shows that critical power tends to come out slightly higher than FTP (Karsten et al., 2020), so it’s not appropriate to simply use critical power as a direct replacement for FTP when setting training zones. From experience, we’ve found that using around 94% of your critical power to set your FTP value and calculate training zones works fairly well in most cases, and training zones will always need some iteration whether you use FTP or critical power in any event (see Chapter 10).

Energy is supplied by the aerobic system instantaneously, but not at the maximum capacity of the aerobic system, because it takes time for the oxygen supply systems to fully activate.

7

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If using data from critical power testing to determine pacing strategies, the model only holds for durations between roughly 3 to 30-minutes, and will become increasingly inaccurate as you tend towards these two extremes. In other words, estimating pacing for a 10-min effort will be more accurate than estimating pacing for a 3.5-min or a 20-min effort.

5.3 Heart Rate Tests This section of the guide outlines various heart rate based tests, which can be used for setting training intensity zones, and also for measuring changes in fitness and fatigue levels.

Maximum Heart Rate Whether you train with or without a power meter, we strongly recommend getting a gauge of your maximum heart rate (Max HR). The most obvious reason for establishing Max HR is to set training zones if you don’t have a power meter on one or more of your bikes. However, even if you always train with a power meter, knowing your Max HR is extremely useful, as it allows training intensity zones to be verified and for the quality of training sessions to be assessed. In particular, heart rate closely correlates with ̇VO2 (i.e. oxygen consumption rate). Therefore, measuring how close you are to your maximum heart rate can give an indication of how close you are working to your ̇VO2max. For example, if you accumulated 20-minutes of time above 90% of your Max HR within a set of intervals, this suggests that the session was likely a constructive ̇VO2max development session, with a high amount of time spent training close to ̇VO2max. In order to determine Max HR, you can perform the simple test outlined below:

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Figure 25. Schematic diagram of maximum heart rate testing protocol.

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Warm-up for 20-30-minutes, at a 3-4/10 effort level or around 55-65% FTP, including a 1-2 minute effort at a 7-8/10 or around 110% FTP.

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Then ride moderately hard (7-8/10 effort or around 110% FTP) for 10minutes.

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Immediately after this 10-minute effort, ramp the intensity up to complete a maximal 1 minute effort, finishing with a 20 to 30 second sprint.

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Cool down gradually for a further 10-15 minutes after this maximal effort is complete and ideally repeat the test a few times to improve the accuracy of the results, ensuring ample rest between the tests.

You can also review recent race files to see what Max HR values you were able to hit. If you raced really hard for several minutes at the end of a race, for example, it’s likely that you hit something close to your Max HR. Although you’ll need to be wary of erroneous heart rate data, as heart rate monitors can be quite prone to error. Ideally, you’d use a max heart rate value that you’ve seen a few times in the past, and can be confident with. Max HR does not notably change with training, but it does depreciate with age, so we’d recommend re-testing your Max HR every 1-2 years.

Threshold Heart Rate Threshold heart rate (HR) is another metric that can be used to set training zones.

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Testing where your threshold heart rate sits relative to your Max HR can also help give an indication of your fractional utilisation. On average, threshold HR will sit at around 85% of Max HR. So, if your threshold HR sits above 85%, then you likely have above-average fractional utilisation, and if it’s below 85%, then you likely have below-average fractional utilisation. To determine your threshold heart rate, you can follow the protocol below:

Figure 26. Schematic diagram of threshold heart rate testing protocol.

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Begin by warming up for 20-30 minutes, building up from an effort level of 3/10 to 6/10 (or around 50%-90% FTP), and then settling into a 3/10 effort again.

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Then, perform a 30-min all-out but evenly paced effort, making sure to record the effort so the final 20 minutes can be isolated after completion. Your average heart rate for this final 20 minutes should be a good approximation of your threshold heart rate. Cool down with a steady 10-20 minutes of easy spinning to gradually lower the heart rate

Repeating this test several times will help to ensure an accurate approximation of threshold heart rate. Unlike Max HR, Threshold HR does change with training. So, if you’re using Threshold HR to set training zones, it’s a good idea to re-test every 8-12 weeks.

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5.4 Lactate-Based Testing As we learnt in Chapter 1, lactate is a substance that’s produced when carbohydrates are broken down via a process called ‘glycolysis’. Lactate can be easily measured, using a small finger-tip sample of blood, and as we learnt in Chapter 4, this can tell us information about the metabolic processes that are going on in the body. As a brief reminder, lactate levels vary with exercise intensity and fitness level, and follow a curve similar to the one shown in Figure 27, where LT1 and LT2 define inflection points within the lactate curve that can be used both as markers of fitness, and to define key training intensity zones.

Figure 27. Relationship between power output and blood lactate concentration, and associated training zones.

We can therefore use lactate testing to (i) establish appropriate training intensities or zones (ii) identify key areas for improvement and (iii) monitor the metabolic adaptations to training. Lactate tests have traditionally been performed in the lab at quite a high cost. However, many people now have power meters and indoor trainers, and it’s therefore relatively easy and cost effective to perform lactate 71

testing at home, by purchasing a lactate analyser and the associated equipment.

Benefits of lactate testing vs power-based testing (e.g. FTP): Lactate testing can give deeper insights into your physiology and metabolism versus power and/or heart rate-based testing alone. Some of the key benefits are summarised below: 1. Power is always generated by a combination of energy systems, whereas lactate testing tells us more about what’s going on ‘under the hood’. If increases or decreases in power are seen, it’s not possible to tell which energy system is responsible, and thus what physiological changes have occurred. In contrast, because lactate levels are directly linked to metabolic processes within the body, lactate testing gives us a better understanding of what processes are going on in the body at different intensities, and what changes are occurring over time. 2. Power testing only tells you your performance on a given day. Another disadvantage of power-based testing is that it depends to a great extent on how you feel – both physically and mentally – on the day of testing, and how well you pace any efforts you do. Lactate testing, on the other hand, is not impacted by these factors, and therefore provides a more reliable marker of your fitness profile. Note, lactate testing will be impacted by things like nutritional intake before the test, environmental temperature and time of day, but these factors are easier to control for and overall the reliability of lactate testing is typically better than for power-based testing if these factors are well controlled. 3. Zones based on power testing are based on population averages

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As we’ll discuss in more detail below, the most common approach to setting training zones and interval intensities is to use fixed percentages of FTP. For example, V̇ O2max /aerobic capacity intensity is often defined as 106-120% FTP. However, these training zones are derived from population averages and do not hold true for all athletes. Using lactate testing can allow for some of these training zones to be individualised based on the actual metabolic processes going on in the body. We’ll explain how to set training zones based on lactate testing in Chapter 10.

Limitations of Lactate Testing While lactate testing can provide some additional insight, it is worth noting that it does have some important limitations. Firstly, lactate measurements are highly sensitive to the testing protocol used, and tests that employ different protocols will not provide comparable results. Moreover, many testing protocols (as discussed below) are a compromise between accuracy and brevity, and some approaches (particularly ramp tests) can result in quite inaccurate estimates of the lactate threshold, even though lactate is being tested! Another limitation is that lactate test results can be quite challenging to interpret. A change in lactate values (e.g. a lowered lactate value at a given power output) can generally be explained in several ways and needs to be interpreted alongside other information, such as training history and changes in power data or subjective sensations, in order to determine how an athlete has likely developed physiologically. Finally, as lactate values are measured in the blood, at a site that’s quite distant from the working muscles (e.g. finger or ear), blood lactate values will always represent a somewhat delayed and in some cases distorted view of what’s occurring at the working muscles. Factors such as how well lactate is transported around the body will greatly influence the lactate results.

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Nevertheless, lactate testing is a method that can be used at relatively low cost, without the need for access to a testing laboratory, so is a useful testing method for many self-coached athletes.

Types of Lactate Testing Lactate testing can be used in a variety of ways, including as part of formal testing or during a training session, for example, in order to gain insight into the metabolic demands of a particular session. We’ve summarised below the main formal lactate testing protocols. Detailed information on these protocols, including how these tests can be performed at home, are included in the supplementary materials to this guide.

Lactate Profile Step Test This is the most common type of test offered by laboratories. In this protocol power is increased in regular steps, and a lactate sample is taken towards the end of each step. It can be used to plot lactate-power curves, such as the one shown in Figure 27 above, and determine approximations of LT1 and LT2. Different laboratories will offer different step durations. We recommend that steps of at least 4-mins (and ideally longer) are used, because lactate levels can take between 2-5 minutes to stabilise with each step increase in power (Billat et al., 2003). If labs use shorter stages, they should use methods such as those proposed by Baldari & Gudetti (2000), where lactate values are attributed to the power output in the previous stage rather than the stage in which the sample was taken. There are a wide variety of methods that can be used to determine LT1 and LT2, and it should be noted that the true Maximal Lactate Steady State cannot be determined from this type of testing, which requires a full MLSS test as described below. Methods for determining LT1 include the use of fixed lactate values (most commonly the power output at 2mmol/L of lactate) or visual inspection of the graph to identify the power where lactate levels begin to depart from baseline (Aunola & Rusko, 1984).

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Methods for determining LT2 also include the use of fixed lactate values (commonly 4mmol/L of lactate, which is referred to the ‘Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation’ or ‘OBLA’) (Houser et al., 2014). There are also various other methods dependant on the shape of the lactate curve (with these methods sometime referred to as the ‘Individual Anaerobic Threshold’ or IAT). These include defining LT2 as (i) the point where lactate levels rise to 1.5mmol/L above the lowest lactate/power ratio, (ii) the power at which lactate values have increased by more than 0.5mmo/L on two consecutive occasions, (iii) the point where the lactate curve reaches a predetermined gradient, as well as (iv) computer algorithms such as the ‘Dmax’ technique (Housler et al., 2014; Baldari & Gudetti., 2000; Newell et al., 2007). It’s worth noting that all of these methods will give slightly different results, and it’s important to use a consistent method if trying to establish changes over time. We generally avoid using fixed lactate cut-points (e.g. 2mmol/L), as these are heavily influenced by factors such as prior nutrition, time of day, muscle damage/fatigue. If these factors aren’t well controlled between tests, then it can lead to invalid interpretations for how LT1 and LT2 have changed. We generally use a simple visual inspection of the lactate curve to understand changes over time, and to try to identify the LT1 and LT2 inflection points, and try to interpret this in the context of the athlete’s subjective sensations and the training they have been doing.

Maximal Lactate Steady State Test This is the ‘gold standard’ test for determining LT2. Traditionally this test involved 30-min stages performed over several days, but research has shown it’s possible to do this test in a somewhat abbreviated fashion within one day (Kuphal et al., 2004; Palmer et al., 1999). The abbreviated protocol involves completing several 10-minute fixed-power stages at close to your expected LT2 power. Lactate samples are taken at two time-points (3-mins and 9-mins) within each stage to assess whether lactate concentrations have increased. LT2 can be identified as the highest stage at which lactate did not increase by more than 1mmol/L.

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Maximal Glycolytic Rate This test seeks to establish the maximal rate of lactate production (known as V̇ Lamax ) and thereby give an indication of the maximum glycolytic rate. The test involves riding as hard as possible for around 20-30 seconds, and then taking lactate samples at regular intervals while resting post-effort. The test is necessarily short so that the aerobic system contributes minimally during the effort, and thus all energy can be assumed to be produced via the anaerobic systems (Heck et al., 2003). For a 20-second effort, it’s assumed that the first 4-second of the effort is powered by ATP stores and the phosphocreatine system (Heck et al., 2003), and thus no lactate is produced during this period. The remaining 26 seconds is therefore the period in which lactate is produced, and thus the maximum lactate production rate (V̇ Lamax ) can be estimated by dividing the maximum lactate concentration measured after the effort by the lactate production period (26 seconds). Measurement of ̇VLamax is only recently beginning to be used more widely by coaches and labs, so normative data and optimal values are not yet that well known. However, it seems that values typically range from 0.2mmol/L/sec to 1.0mmol/L/sec. At the moment, our best estimate is that for endurance sports, you’d want this to ideally sit somewhere between 0.3mmol/L/sec and 0.5mmol/L/sec (the lower end for more steady-state disciplines, and the higher end for more punchy disciplines). Track sprinters would want higher values of 0.7mmol/L/sec upwards. However, these values also depend upon the size of the aerobic capacity; the higher the aerobic capacity, the higher the ̇VLamax that can be ‘tolerated’, while still maintaining a good lactate threshold and/or anaerobic stamina.

Lactate Clearance A final type of lactate testing looks at lactate clearance rates. This can conveniently be included after a V̇ Lamax test by adding in a further lactate sample around 20-mins after the effort (where the entire duration of that 20-mins is spent resting). This can then be used to calculate the rate of lactate clearance at rest. This type of testing can be useful in

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understanding, for example, whether training to improve the lactate threshold power should mostly target lactate production rates or lactate clearance. In Figure 28 below, the orange line represents better lactate clearance, and might suggest an improved aerobic capacity or ability to transport lactate (we can infer where this change might have come from by looking at the type of training the athlete has been doing).

Figure 28. Lactate concentration as a function of time, following a maximal effort, for two hypothetical athletes (orange and green respectively).

There is very little published data on average lactate clearance rates, so at present it’s hard to give normative values with any degree of confidence. From our own testing, we've seen values between ~0.10.5mmol/L/min for lactate clearance rates at rest, with the median sitting around 0.3mmol/L/min. However, it’s possible that individuals may have lactate clearance rates above this range.

Home-based lactate testing We’ve already mentioned that it’s possible to perform lactate testing at home, and as mentioned, the supplementary lactate testing handbook included with this guide will take you through the step-by-step process of conducting this testing. However, we felt it important at this point to discuss some of the benefits of home-based lactate testing.

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Beyond the obvious benefits of saving time and money, carrying out homebased lactate testing has several benefits over lab-based testing. Most importantly, the best and most accurate/information-rich protocols require quite a lot of time and resources to perform. They are therefore often not offered by many labs. For example, many labs do not test for V̇ Lamax , and very rarely look at lactate clearance rates. By doing testing at home, you can use better protocols. The testing can also be performed on a bike and with equipment that you use daily. This will eliminate any problems relating to miscalibration between your power meter and the lab’s equipment. Using your own equipment is also important because your lactate results can be affected by riding position (as you activate different muscle fibres). Often laboratory bikes can have you in quite an unnatural upright position that’s quite different from your usual riding position, although you may find some testing facilities that allow you to bring in your own bike and power meter.

Case Study 1: Assessing change over time One way lactate profiles can be used is to assess and unpick physiological changes over time. We can see this in the example shown in Figure 29.

Example 1

Figure 29. Example lactate profile for an athlete tested on two occasions (orange and green respectively).

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In this example, an athlete was tested on two occasions (first = orange, second = green). On both occasions, the athlete had a very similar ̇VLamax. However, the athlete’s LT1, and particularly LT2 powers had increased, with his lactate curve broadly shifting to the right. This could be explained by an improved aerobic capacity (resulting in a small reduction in lactate production and an increased capacity to clear lactate), and/or improved lactate transport also resulting in better lactate clearance. Let’s look at a second example:

Example 2

Figure 30. Example lactate profile for an athlete tested on two occasions (orange and green respectively).

Similar to the first example, in this second example (Figure 30), LT2 has again improved. However, in this example, ̇VLamax has decreased by a notable amount. It’s therefore likely that the vast majority of the improvement in the athlete’s LT2 power is due to a decreased rate of glycolysis. There may have been a change in the athlete’s aerobic capacity and lactate transport abilities, but this was probably small given the large change in ̇VLamax.

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If we were to conduct an FTP test with the athletes in examples 1 and 2, we’d have likely seen an improved FTP, but we’d have had no idea what physiological changes have caused this, and thus how the athlete has responded to the training. This clearly illustrates a key benefit of lactate testing in allowing us to begin to unpick the physiological adaptations occurring ‘under the hood’.

Case Study 2: Targeting Training Interventions Another example of a way we can use lactate testing is in targeting training interventions. Let’s take a look at the lactate profile of two athletes, both competing in Olympic distance cross-country MTB racing (Figure 31). Cross-country racing primarily requires a high aerobic capacity, and a moderate ̇VLamax relative to aerobic capacity. This allows the athlete to utilise a reasonably high proportion of their aerobic capacity for extended periods of time, but also means they have a reasonable peak anaerobic power, enabling them to produce hard efforts when necessary.

Figure 31. Example lactate profile for two athletes (represented in orange and green respectively)

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In this example, the two athletes have the exact same LT2. However, we’d take quite different training approaches with the two athletes if we were looking to prepare them for a race in 6 weeks. Athlete 1 (orange) has a ̇VLamax that’s already at a good level for crosscountry racing. This athlete is therefore limited primarily by their aerobic abilities (and possibly other aspects such as technical skills, which would be assessed separately), and training should focus on developing these, while trying to maintain ̇VLamax. Athlete 2 (green) has a pretty low ̇VLamax, which suggests that they may be most limited by a low rate of glycolysis, meaning they will not be able to produce high power surges when necessary. Training for this athlete would prioritise increasing the ̇VLamax. Any remaining time could then be spent developing aerobic abilities.

5.5 Modelling-Based Methods A final method for understanding physiological strengths and limiters and measuring training progress is mathematical modelling. There are various software applications that can be used to model physiological parameters, such as aerobic capacity, lactate threshold or FTP, ̇VLamax or anaerobic capacity, alongside other useful parameters such as estimated time to exhaustion when riding at FTP, or fat and carbohydrate combustion rates. The different applications function in different ways. The most common applications build models based on power data from maximal efforts. Some also incorporate laboratory data including measurements of blood lactate and gas analysis (in other words, the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide consumed and expelled while exercising at different intensities). To our knowledge, few of these models have been scientifically validated in peer-reviewed, publically available literature at present. In addition, the algorithms that underpin the models are often kept secret, so it’s hard to evaluate any limitations of the models.

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In our experience, some of these mathematical models can have reasonable validity. However, all models are heavily reliant on the validity and completeness of the data used to build the model. In other words, models are only as good as the data upon which they are based! Of course, data validity is important for any testing method. However, in the case of modelling, we think this is a particularly big concern, because a small inaccuracy or incompleteness in the underlying data can give rise to quite large and unexpected variations in the modelled parameters. For example, simply adding an additional maximal effort to a model, can often throw off modelled fitness parameters by a meaningful amount. It can therefore be hard to have confidence in the modelled parameters without having very good confidence in the underlying data. Related to the point above, another limitation is that the software providers typically do not publish the algorithms used to generate the models. It’s therefore hard to understand the limitations of the model, and/or identify how and why certain data are impacting the model in sometimes unexpected ways.

5.6 Other Useful Measures Other Lab Measures Lab testing can be a great way to obtain valid and reliable data about your physiology, or to validate your existing interpretation of your fitness profile. We’ve already discussed lactate testing, which can be done at home or in a lab. A full discussion of available laboratory tests is beyond the scope of this guide, given that they are generally costly and hard to access, and thus will be used infrequently (if at all) by most self-coached athletes. That said, a common test that can give useful physiological insight is gas analysis (i.e. the measurement of expired gas while exercising). This can be used to determine fat and carbohydrate combustion rates, ventillatory thresholds (similar to lactate thresholds) and when combined with a ramp test to exhaustion, to identify V̇ O2max . Knowing fat and carbohydrate combustion rates can be extremely useful in (a) setting training zones that 82

will maximise fat oxidation, (b) determining pacing strategies over long endurance races to ensure carbohydrate stores aren’t depleted, and (c) assessing whether a training intervention has been effective in altering fat and carbohydrate combustion rates. Another useful measurement that can be usefully coupled with gas analysis is measurement of muscle oxygen saturation (commonly abbreviated as ‘SmO2’). SmO2 can be measured by shining infrared light through the skin to detect the percentage of haemoglobin in muscle capillaries that are carrying oxygen. This in turn can be used to identify whether V̇ O2max is centrally or peripherally limited, which can be extremely useful in targeting training inteventions. It can also be used to determine lactate threshold by identifying the power where muscle oxygen saturation no longer stabilises, despite power being held constant.

Body Composition Body composition, and particularly percentage body fat is a relevant performance determinant in many cycling disciplines, as it impacts the power-weight ratio. Gaining functional8 muscle mass can be beneficial (adding weight, but also power), whereas gaining body fat is usually detrimental9 (adding weight, but not power). It’s therefore useful to have a measure not only of your total body weight, but also your percentage body fat. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) is a method of measuring body composition by sending very low electrical signals through the body. The length of time taken for the electrical signal to return gives information on body composition. BIA is the easiest, and most accessible way to measure

Not all muscle gain is functional in relation to cycling. For example, following a classic ‘bodybuilder’ strength regimen, which aims for hypertrophy (increased muscle size), but doesn’t necessarily increase muscle strength or power, is not beneficial. Additionally, adding to upperbody muscle may not be beneficial if this muscle does not contribute substantially to power generation on the bike. 9 We say usually here, because having a very low percentage body fat can lead to poor performance on the bike due to inadequate energy availability, and can also substantially increase the risk of illness and injury (particularly bone breakages or fractures). 8

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body composition, as BIA scales can be purchased at a reasonable price to use at home. BIA can give a moderately reliable measure of body composition, provided that some standardisation steps are followed: •

Measure at the same time of day, ideally in the morning before eating or drinking anything, but after going to the toilet.

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Measure in no or minimal clothing.

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Measure regularly, so that an average can be taken over several days.

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Do not measure with wet skin or clothing (e.g. immediately after showering or exercising).

Hydration status is the biggest factor that can impact BIA readings, and you will notice day-to-day variation in your body weight and percentage body fat, largely as a result of how much fluid you are retaining. This is why we recommend taking measurements regularly, and taking an average of your body composition measurements (e.g. average of the last 3 days) in order to spot any trends over time. Labs can also provide body composition measurements to assess percentage body fat. These include measurement by ‘skin callipers’ (sometimes referred to as ‘skin folds’, which involves measurement of the thickness of the skin at various points across the body) and ‘air displacement plethysmography’ (also known as ‘Bod Pod’, which involves sitting in a sealed pod while air pressure is subtly adjusted to determine the body’s density). These two methods have similar validity to BIA (Ackland et al., 2012). However, by carrying these measures out in a lab environment, the technician will be able to ensure and offer guidance on how to achieve the most standardised and reliable measure. The gold standard method, which can also be used to measure bone mineral density, is the DEXA scan (which involves use of low-dose X-rays to image within the body). However, this method can’t be performed on a regular basis, due to the high cost and the exposure to radiation.

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It’s important to recognise that a lower percentage body fat is not always better. It’s generally recommended that males do not go below 5% body fat and women do not go below 12% (Turocy et al., 2011). Body fat percentages below these limits can lead to impaired performance, and increased risk of illness, injury and other health issues.

5.7 General Tips for Testing Below are some best-practices when conducting any type of performance or physiological testing: •

Standardise your nutrition before testing. That’s because what you’ve eaten and drunk in the ~24H before testing (and in particular over the 3-4H before) can impact how you produce power on the bike and also your perception of how hard an effort feels, and can therefore influence your results. Caffeine in particular is ‘ergogenic’ (it enhances performance) and also impacts fuel utilisation, so if you have a coffee before your testing, make sure you always have this in subsequent tests.

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Standardise your warm-up before the testing. This can also influence both how you produce power on the bike and your perception of how hard an effort feels. Where a specific warm-up routine has not already been recommended above and unless advised otherwise in the case of lab testing, we’d advise doing a 20-30-minute warm-up before any testing at around a 3-4/10 effort level or between around 50-60% FTP. This warm-up should also include some harder efforts to activate your Type II muscle fibres and prime your aerobic system. These could be a few surges, or an effort lasting 1-2-minutes at or just above your predicted current FTP.

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Standardise location (if testing outdoors). Once you’ve found a suitable location to test, try to keep this consistent each time, as things like the gradient and road surface will impact your results.

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Try to test at a similar time within your training cycle. For example, a good time to test is during the week after a recovery week (when you’re likely to be most fresh). We’d also recommend doing any particularly hard testing after a recovery day. 85

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Keep methods consistent. For example, if doing the testing outdoors or indoors, then stick with this for subsequent tests. Use the same testing equipment (e.g. bike and power meter), as differences in bike set-up and power meter calibration can also impact your results. As mentioned, we generally recommend testing using the equipment and environment (indoor vs outdoor) that you typically do your interval training sessions in. Or if you’re willing, you can test both indoors and outdoors to assess your abilities in both settings.

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Finally, don’t test if it’s not the right time. You don’t need to stick religiously to your testing plans. If your day has been more stressful and tiring than anticipated, then this is probably not a good day to test, and you should reschedule for another suitable day.

5.8 Chapter Summary •

Testing is important in order to (i) understand where your unique strengths and limiters lie and thus what type of training will be most beneficial (ii) determine whether training is having the desired effect and (iii) set training zones.

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There are numerous testing methods that can be used. All have limitations, and in general we recommend using a combination of methods, which will help validate results from any given method.

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While FTP can be a reasonable marker of performance (it being designed to estimate the lactate threshold power), it is not the only relevant performance marker, and in some cases (such as when developing peak anaerobic power is a priority), then a decrease in FTP can be a desirable outcome. Therefore, it’s best to use testing methods that capture a variety of fitness markers, rather than focussing singularly on changes in FTP.

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In the absence of lab testing such as gas exchange and muscle oxygen saturation, one good approach is a combination of lactate testing and critical power testing. However, these methods can be quite daunting to interpret and require a good aptitude for data analysis. A simpler approach is to use power profile testing, and to compare powers attained over 5-sec, 60-sec, 5-mins and 20-mins to a power profile chart in order to get a rough picture of the strength of 86

neuromuscular power, anaerobic capacity, aerobic capacity and lactate threshold power. Alternatively, you could perform some testing with a coach who can help you interpret the data. •

Any testing method should be interpreted with caution, and you should also consider your own subjective perceptions of where you’re stronger and weaker, and how this tallies with your testing results.



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Chapter 6: Fundamentals of Fitness Development 6.1 The Fitness Fatigue Model Having understood factors that can impact performance and how we might measure these, we’ll next consider the basic principles of how ‘fitness’ can be developed. ‘Fitness’ is a broad term, which could relate to one or more performance determinants such as aerobic capacity, endurance, fat oxidation ability, and so on. The development of fitness is best explained through the fitness-fatigue model, which states that a dose of training induces a level of stress on the body, leading to both fatigue (in the shorter term) and improved fitness (in the longer term). This training stress induces a disruption to the body’s homeostatic state, such as a disruption of the regular chemical and hormonal processes in the body, which in turn triggers the body to adapt in order to better tolerate a similar stress in the future. The amount of training stress attributable to a given session is dependent (in part) on the overall intensity of the session, and also the duration of the session. In other words, training stress is the product of intensity and duration. Training stress is necessary in order to cause adaptation. This is reflected in Figure 32. After a training stress is applied, fitness starts to improve as the body adapts to the training stress. However, over the short term (e.g. hours to several days), the training stress also induces high levels of fatigue (due to factors like hormonal disruption, muscle damage and dysfunction, glycogen depletion, and central fatigue, as discussed in Chapter 3). Thus, although fitness is improving over this period, performance (which in this model is considered to be the sum of fitness and fatigue, and is also known as ‘form’) is reduced. In other words, shortly after a training session, your performance is impaired due to acute fatigue. However, as you begin to

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recover from that acute fatigue, performance begins to improve above baseline, as fitness continues to improve.

Figure 32. Fitness, Fatigue and Performance responses over time (x-axis) to the application of a training stress.

After a period of time (which will differ depending on the component of fitness that’s being trained, as well as upon individual factors such as genetics and external lifestyle influences), fitness will then begin to drop again. In order to keep fitness progressing upwards, training stress therefore needs to be applied repeatedly, in the right amounts and frequencies. This is illustrated in Figure 33, which shows how fitness and performance can respond to the repeated application of a training stress. After a training stress is applied, performance initially drops, and then rises back up to baseline during a recovery phase. As fitness continues to improve in response to the training stress, we see a phenomenon known as ‘super-compensation’, where performance rises above baseline. If we then apply a training stress while we’re in this super-compensatory phase, the cycle will repeat, and fitness and performance will continue to trend upwards.

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Figure 33. Fitness and performance responses to the repeated application of a training stress.

The amount and frequency of the training stress is important. We refer to this combination of training amount and frequency as the ‘training load’, which we typically measure on a weekly basis (i.e. training load per week). If training stress is applied too infrequently, or in too small doses (in other words, training load is too small), then fitness will start to plateau or fall. If training stress is applied too often, or in too large doses (in other words, training load is too big), then there will be insufficient time for recovery, the super-compensation phase will not be reached, and performance will trend downwards. A downwards trend in performance over a relatively short period of a few weeks is generally safe, and can be a good way to cause a large subsequent supercompensatory spike in performance when recovery is then introduced. This is known as ‘functional overreaching’. However, if training stress is continually applied in too large and/or frequent amounts for a longer period of time (e.g. months) this can lead to ‘non-functional overreaching’ or even ‘overtraining syndrome’, which is a chronic performance impairment that can take months or even years to recover from, and does not lead to any supercompensatory performance improvement.

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The fitness-fatigue model outlines a really important aspect of training theory: that recovery is essential in order to see continued fitness and performance improvements. Many highly-motivated athletes have a tendency to eschew recovery, seeing it as wasted time. However, without this recovery, improvements in performance will not be realised. One last thing we wanted to point out while we’re considering the fitnessfatigue model is that you might notice that form peaks slightly after fitness does:

Figure 34. Time course for fitness and performance peaks after the application of a training stress.

When tapering for a race or event, it’s this peak in form (rather than fitness) that we’re trying to achieve on race/event day, as that will be the point at which your performance is highest. This is known as ‘peaking’. You’ll notice that in order to ‘peak’, you’ll therefore have to accept some loss in fitness. In contrast, if you’re working to build fitness, then you will generally want to apply another training stress before you reach the point of peak form, because that will produce a more optimal rate of fitness progression. In this latter scenario, you’ll be continually training without reaching your peak form. You should still see performance trending upwards over the long-term however (if it isn’t, then this can be a sign of either too much or too little training stress, as discussed above).

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6.2 Targeting Fitness Components As we mentioned in the previous section, ‘fitness’ is a broad term and could relate to any number of fitness components such as aerobic capacity, fat oxidation ability, maximal glycolytic rate and so on. It’s possible to design training sessions to target development of specific fitness components through manipulation of duration, intensity, and the length of any rest intervals. Cadence can also play a small part, by altering muscle recruitment patterns, as we’ll discuss more in subsequent chapters. It’s important to note that the relative mix of different types of training sessions over the longer term will also impact the ultimate adaptations achieved. We discuss this further in Chapters 10 to 12. Broadly speaking, there are three main types of training session:

1. Continuous training sessions In these sessions, intensity is kept (approximately) constant throughout the entire session, or at least the vast majority of the session. These sessions will generally be at a low or a medium intensity, and will be intended to target adaptations related to endurance, aerobic capacity, lactate threshold, fat oxidation, or to allow for recovery from previous training sessions. As well as the intensity, the duration of these continuous sessions plays a role in the adaptations achieved. For example, longer sessions will tend to bring about aerobic adaptations within Type IIa muscle fibres, more so than shorter sessions of the same intensity.

2. Interval sessions In these sessions, intensity alternates between different levels in a structured and predetermined way (e.g. 5x 6-mins at a given power output, separated by recovery intervals at a lower power output). These sessions target adaptations that are most effectively brought about by riding at higher intensities that are only sustainable for a relatively short amount of time within a single bout. By allowing for recovery intervals between efforts, a greater total volume of work can be done at a particular intensity. 92

The adaptations achieved from an interval session depend on the intensity of the work intervals, the length and total volume of these intervals, as well as the amount of recovery between the intervals. These latter factors (interval and recovery length) are often given less attention than interval intensity, but are really important factors determining the adaptive response of a particular session. For example, by manipulating the recovery interval between a set of 20-second sprints, we can shift this from a focus on neuromuscular and peak anaerobic power, to V̇ O2max development, or even to lactate transportation and buffering.

3. Unstructured rides These are rides performed with no predetermined intensity level or structure, and which usually involve a variety of intensities. A group ride would be a classic example of an unstructured training session. The training adaptations from an unstructured ride are unsurprisingly hard to predict, although with longer unstructured rides, it’s very likely that adaptations related to endurance and aerobic fitness will be triggered (although probably in a less optimal way to a continuous intensity ride of the same duration). Other types of training sessions might work on bike handling skills or on developing good riding position, but these types of sessions would generally fall under the umbrella of one of the key session types above.

6.3 Chapter Summary •

Training stress is required in order to cause fitness development. In the short-term fatigue arising from the training stress causes a drop in form. However, as this fatigue dissipates, form rises along with fitness levels.

•

Training stress needs to be applied at an appropriate frequency and magnitude in order to cause continual fitness development over time. When training stress is too large or frequent, this can lead to a continual decline in form and in extreme cases may lead to

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overtraining. When training stress is not sufficiently frequent or is too small, then fitness may decline. •

Rest from training is an essential component of fitness development, and is the period where adaptations actually occur.

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Training sessions can be designed to target the development of specific aspects of fitness through manipulation of training duration, intensity, and any recovery intervals.

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PART 2: HIGH-LEVEL PLANNING Having understood the physiological mechanisms used to produce power on the bike and how these may impact performance, this second section of the guide is concerned with the practicalities and theory surrounding the process of constructing a high-level training plan or strategy, which will typically span a period of 3-12 months.



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Chapter 7: Step-By-Step Planning Process 7.1 Introduction It can be hard to know where to begin when putting together a training plan. Broadly-speaking, there are two phases to the planning process. First is the development of a high-level training plan or strategy, which gives you an overview of where your training is heading over the longer-term (generally several months, to a year). Second is micro-level planning, which is the process of planning out your actual day-to-day training schedule, which is typically only planned approximately 1-4 weeks in advance. The next three chapters will focus on the high-level aspect of the planning process, which is composed of the following three stages: 1. Initial assessment & goal setting 2. Planning 3. Monitoring

7.2 Initial Assessment & Goal Setting The pre-planning stage is focused on understanding where you are as an athlete, where you want to go, what you need to do to bridge that gap, and any threats or obstacles that may impede your progress.

Step 1. Set broad training targets Training targets broadly outline what you want to achieve with training. Targets can be fairly abstract, as their purpose is to help frame your training ‘goals’, where these goals will be more clearly defined in order to help shape your training plan. Here are a few examples of targets that cyclists might have: “To become a better climber in the mountains” “Improve as a club ride leader” 96

“Become a top cyclocross racer in my country”

Step 2. Refine target into outcome goal Having stated your general training target(s), the next step is to refine these into outcome goals. This means translating your target into something that’s measurable or objective, so that you can determine whether your goal has been achieved. As ubiquitous as it may be, the mnemonic ‘SMART’ is a handy framework to borrow from the business world and apply when trying to nail down the goals that your training plan will be guided by. So ideally your goals should be: Specific: Goals should be clear and lacking ambiguity. You want to be able to easily articulate the goal so that you’re never in doubt as to what you’re working towards as you execute your plan. Measurable: As mentioned, goals must be quantifiable, so that you can assess whether you’ve achieved them. Attainable: Make sure the goals are within the realms of possibility. You’ll ideally want to strike a balance between goals that are challenging enough to be motivating and rewarding, but not too ambitious that the chances of achieving them are near-impossible. A common mistake we often seen is aiming to excel in two very different disciplines at the same time (e.g. track sprinting and ultra-distance cycling). These disciplines have opposing physiological demands (the former requiring a high peak anaerobic power and capacity, and the latter requiring a lower peak anaerobic power and a correspondingly good fat oxidation system). Therefore, it’s not possible to be in prime shape for these disciplines concurrently. A person in this situation would need to reappraise their goals, and potentially pick one of the two disciplines to prioritise. Or the athlete could stagger their goals so they occur at different times in the year (if possible), allowing enough time to shift their fitness profile between the two disciplines.

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Relevant: Are your goals relevant to what you actually want to achieve in the sport and do they align with the ambitions you have when you really sit back and think about where your passions lie? A common goal we often see (given the ubiquity of FTP as a performance marker), is to improve FTP. However, this might not always be relevant to your chosen discipline (e.g. for track sprinters or hill-climb specialists, a high peak anaerobic power and correspondingly lower FTP is usually preferential). Time-bound: Similar to “measurable”, we need to know by when a goal is to be achieved. To give some examples, we might refine the target of “become a better climber in the mountains” into one (or both!) of the following goals: •

“to improve my personal best times on several climbs I have ridden before, during my trip to the Alps in September this year”

•

“to climb Mont Ventoux in under 2-hours in August this year”

Step 3. Map the demands of your goal(s) Now that we have clarity on what the plan is directly working towards, you need to understand the attributes needed for the goal(s) to be achieved. As coaches, we try to outline these demands in the greatest detail possible, so that we know exactly what’s needed to achieve that goal, and have ways to measure progress once the training commences. Some of the factors we typically consider include: •

The duration and average intensity of the event (by ‘event’, this might be a race, or other challenge of some kind)

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The nature of the intensity (i.e. steady effort, stochastic/explosive power production etc.)

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The relative contribution and involvement of the aerobic system

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The relative contribution and involvement of the anaerobic systems

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The impact of strong/weak technical skills

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Fuelling requirements and energy consumption profile

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Topographical profile (i.e. climbs, descents, flatter sections etc.) 98

If we refer back to the outcome goal: “to climb Mont Ventoux in under 2-hours in August this year” We can break down the characteristics of this goal as follows: Characteristics of the event •

Approximately 2-hours duration (ideally slightly less)

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Intensity will be largely stable and below the lactate threshold; however, may need to ride above threshold power on steeper gradients, so will need some capacity above this

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No notable technical skills needed

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Watts/kg is a particular performance determinant, so overall weight (both rider and equipment) is important

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Likely to be ridden at relatively low-cadence

Desirable Physiological Profile •

Strong lactate threshold power and fractional utilisation, because average intensity of the climb will likely be around a Zone 3 effort level. Will likely require approximately 3.5W/kg to be sustained for the duration of the climb, so will require a threshold power comfortably in excess of this value

•

In order to achieve this, will need: o Good fat oxidation ability o Good lactate transport ability o Purposefully low VLaMax; but big enough to handle brief suprathreshold climbing on steep sections

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High aerobic capacity will also be useful, as this sets a ceiling on how high we can get lactate threshold power

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Good muscular strength and endurance in order to tolerate sustained low-cadence climbing

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Low body fat, but not excessively low that it begins to compromise health and/or performance

This process of mapping out physiological demands can also be applied if your goals are not event-based and they are simply working towards improving a particular aspect of cycling fitness.

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Here’s an assessment of the demands of achieving a higher lactate threshold: •

Strong aerobic capacity. This contributes both to a reduction in lactate production and an increase in lactate clearance

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Good fat oxidation ability. This also contributes to reduced lactate production

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Purposefully weaker VLaMax. This lessens involvement of glycolysis, and thus also contributes to reduced lactate production

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High lactate shuttling ability. This allows better movement of lactate tissues in the body that have more capacity to oxidise and clear lactate

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Good lactate tolerance. A strong lactate buffering capacity and pain tolerance when riding at elevated lactate levels meaning higher lactate levels can be tolerated for longer

To help you make this type of assessment for your own sport, we’ve included a table of common disciplines in the supplementary materials to this guide, and an outline of their key physiological requirements.

Step 4. Understand the athlete Having understood the demands of your target event or outcome, the next step is to understand where you’re starting from as an athlete. We can think of this like a roadmap. We need to know both the origin (your starting abilities) and the destination (your target abilities) in order to plot the route. A key aspect we’re looking to understand is your current physiological profile. That is, what are your current physiological variables (e.g. ̇VO2max, threshold power, anaerobic capacity, or performance-based measures such as 20-min and 5-min power etc.) and what is their relative strength? This is therefore a very appropriate point to perform some physiological or performance testing. Ideally this should capture aspects of fitness that are relevant to your target event or outcome. So, if you were targeting an ultra-distance event, then testing to capture things like endurance, fat oxidation rates and efficiency will be most relevant. Whereas if you were

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targeting a cyclocross race, you may be more interested in things like VO2max, threshold power, lactate clearance rates, and anaerobic capacity. In addition to understanding your physiological profile, we’re also looking to gain a picture of all of the factors that contribute to and may therefore limit training ability and performance potential. As we’ll come onto later, this can help ensure that your training goals are realistic and to put in place plans to mitigate any factors that might pose a threat to your training. Some of the factors you might consider include: •

Work and family life

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Training history

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Nutritional practices

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Sleep quality

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Psychological strengths and weaknesses

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Strength and mobility

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General health

There are many methods you can use to assess these factors. You could simply rate each of these factors on a scale of 1-5 (e.g. how stressful is your work/family life, how good do you feel your sleep quality is etc.). This is generally our preferred method, unless we have a specific concern with an athlete that warrants further detail. However, if you do want to delve deeper into each factor, there are usually widely used and accepted assessment tools available to do this with, like the Test of Performance Strategies questionnaire on the psychology side, and the AASQ questionnaire for sleep, for example.

Step 5. Perform a SWOT Analysis After the various assessments and main goal-setting exercises are complete, the raw data can be organised into a framework where you can make sense of it from a high level. A SWOT analysis can be a simple but useful tool for this job.

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The specific letters in ‘SWOT’ stand for:

Strengths: What do you currently do well in relation to the demands of your goal(s)? For example, you may identify that your ̇VO2max and technical skills are both already at high levels and are also both necessary to meet your training goals, and that you have a good phycological profile when it comes to training and racing.

Weaknesses: What do you struggle with in relation to the demands of your goals(s)? You may identify, for example, that your fractional utilisation, endurance and fat utilisation will need to be improved in order to meet your goal.

Opportunities: Is there anything occurring in your life, or that’s available to you that presents a particular opportunity you should capitalise on? For example, do you have some time off work where you can maximise your training volume? Or do you have some training equipment (e.g. weights) that you’re not currently taking full advantage of?

Threats: Finally, are there any factors that might present barriers to executing a training program? You may identify, for example, that you have poor sleep quality, or a lack of knowledge on the nutrition needed to support your training, which could compromise your abilities to train and recover. The SWOT analysis is typically visualised in a simple 4-compartment grid as shown in Figure 35.

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Figure 35. Example four-compartment grid for use in performing SWOT analysis. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can be listed in the respective boxes.

Having performed a SWOT analysis, you should have a clear idea of (i) the key areas you need to work on, (ii) any risks you need to mitigate, (iii) any opportunities you want to capitalise on and (iv) the areas that are already strong so may need less attention within your training plan. Now is the time to begin looking into solutions to the weaknesses you want to strengthen and/or threats you want to mitigate. This might take the form of doing some extra reading and research, or consulting with an expert in the concerned field, i.e. a sports psychologist, a strength and conditioning coach or a nutritionist/dietician. Otherwise, you can now start to move on to the final pre-planning stage, which is to refine your goals based on your SWOT analysis, if needed.

Step 6. Refine Goals as Needed This final stage may not be necessary in all cases, but acts as a crosscheck to make sure your goals are realistic. This is where you should consider whether it’s realistic to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to get in the time you have available, and also consider the impacts of any threats identified in your SWOT analysis. Particular factors to consider include your time 103

availability for training, and just as importantly, your time availability for recovery. Another consideration is how much time you’re willing to dedicate to quality training versus riding for fun (e.g. group rides). The latter are important for enjoyment, but are not particularly effective training sessions. We often work with people who have limited time to train, but who also are not willing to forgo their weekly group ride (which is often their only long ride of the week). In this case, goals may need to be scaled back after considering the available time for ‘quality’ training. If, for example, you only have 6-weeks before your target event/goal then it won’t be realistic to see substantial improvements in multiple areas. So, you’ll have to identify which of those abilities is likely to make the biggest impact on your performance, and prioritise those. Generally-speaking, improvements to anaerobic fitness (including VLaMax and lactate shuttling and buffering) occur in a much shorter timeframe (~2-6 weeks) than aerobic adaptations (which generally take at least 6-weeks to see any measurable improvements, and even then, these improvements will be quite small). So, if you only have a short amount of time you might decide to focus on building anaerobic capacity or improving lactate shuttling, and developing race skills. A 6-month period should be sufficient to work on a range of fitness components, so we’d recommend that, where possible, you begin planning your training at least 6-months out from your target goal/event (although a longer training period is always better!).

7.3 High-Level Planning After you’ve completed the pre-planning groundwork, the next step is to begin putting together a high-level strategic training program that takes into account all of the information gleaned from the earlier steps. High-level planning involves compiling a rough roadmap of what your training will look like for a period of time, which typically runs up to a specific event, such as a race. This gives an overall view of how you’re

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going to achieve the goals that you’ve set yourself. This can make it both much easier to fill in the details of what your training will comprise on a week-by-week basis, and also much more likely that your training will be successful, given that you’ll always be clear on what you’re working on at any given time, and will know that you’re working on these things at appropriate points in the season. The high-level plan will often span a year. However, it could be shorter (for example if you have two or more distinct goals within a year), or it could even be longer than a year (for example if your ultimate goal is winning a medal at the Olympics, which occur every 4 years). As you start this phase of the process, it works well to broadly plan the entire training cycle by working backwards from the date(s) of your key goal(s), keeping things quite loose and flexible further out from present day (i.e. close to a goal date), and getting more precise and detailed as you approach the start of training program. A fundamental principle of training is that it should change over time; otherwise fitness can stagnate. This concept is known as training ‘periodisation’ – which in its broadest sense means you train differently at different time points. Training can change over the long term (e.g. over a season) and over the shorter term (e.g. over a period of 4-6 weeks). In order to discuss training periodisation, it’s useful to introduce some terminology to define the different time periods within a training cycle.

Hierarchy of Training Cycles We’ve summarised some of the key terms used to define different parts of a training cycle below. These are arranged in a hierarchy, defining increasingly smaller components of the training cycle, as illustrated in Figure 36.

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Figure 36. Schematic overview of the training cycle hierarchy.

At the top of the hierarchy is the macrocycle, which defines the period until the first target event (or short series of events). The macrocycle is then divided into phases, which each have quite broad objectives. There are numerous different approaches to defining training phases, and these can have quite specific objectives (such as ‘to build aerobic capacity’) or more general objectives (such as the commonly-used ‘general preparation’ and ‘specific preparation’, which typically focus on building all-round aerobic fitness and race-specific abilities respectively). We’ll discuss some different approaches to defining training phases in more detail in subsequent chapters. Phases can be as short as 1-2 weeks (a key example being a taper period before a race), or as long as several months. In some very traditional training methodologies such as those historically implemented by the USSR in developing Olympic athletes, phases even lasted several years, and had very general goals such as to build ‘all-round’ fitness. However, this is uncommon now. Phases should be organised in such a way as to make the next phase possible for the athlete, the former putting in place the groundwork for the following phase, a process of planning called “phase potentiation”.

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Each phase is typically broken down into one or more mesocycles, which typically last between 2-10 weeks (Issurin, 2010). A mesocycle is generally a block of more intensive training, followed by a recovery period. A mesocycle is usually also associated with further training objectives, which collectively work to achieve the overarching objective of the training phase in which the mesocycle falls. For example, if a phase is working on building ‘general aerobic fitness’, then the objective of a given mesocycle might work towards developing ̇VO2max, or fat oxidation, for example. In this sense, mesocycles also contribute to training periodisation. The objectives set for each mesocycle will usually be informed by the SWOT analysis performed in the initial pre-planning process. For example, a sizable proportion of the mesocycles will typically be directed at working on an athlete’s race-specific limiter, particularly as the season moves closer to the athlete’s target event. Finally, each mesocycle is broken down into one or more microcycles, which define a smaller pattern or structure of training and recovery that is typically repeated each microcycle. For convenience, microcycles typically span 1 week, and might follow a regular pattern. For example, each microcycle might be structured as: •

Monday: ‘Recovery’

•

Tuesday: ‘Intervals’

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Wednesday: ‘Long Ride’

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Thursday: ‘Recovery’

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Friday: ‘Intervals’

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Saturday: ‘Long Ride’

•

Sunday: ‘Long Ride’

However, microcycles can also span longer or shorter periods. A key example of this would be shift workers, working e.g. 6 days on, 4 days off, in which case a microcycle would usefully be a 10-day cycle. Microcycles can also provide a framework for periodisation, such as through employing

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different training loads in successive microcycles. We’ll discuss this concept in the next chapter.

Step-by-step process Having understood the hierarchy of training cycles, we can now discuss the practical steps involved in putting together a high-level plan. 1. Plan your training phases The first step is to plan your training phases, working backwards from you first target event. This will usually involve planning a taper phase, and then dividing up the remaining time based on your SWOT analysis, to allow for enough time to be spent on your key limiters, and ensuring these are worked on in an appropriate order (so that each phase prepares you for the next phase). 2. Plan your mesocycles In this step, you break your training phases up into mesocycles, each with one or more detailed training objectives. We’d recommend ascribing more detail to the mesocycles coming up over the next few months, and allowing later mesocycles to be more flexible, given that it’s hard to predict very far into the future exactly how your training will progress, and things rarely run perfectly to plan. The length of the mesocycle, and how training volume is varied within that mesocycle will have to be individualised, and this can take some time to accurately gauge. We will discuss these factors in a later chapter. 3. Plan some opportunities for formal testing As we will come onto later in this chapter, formal testing is an important component of the high-level planning process, which allows the plan to be iterated and refined as your fitness develops. It’s wise to plan in advance when you will do this testing, so you can ensure you’re including it sufficiently frequently (i.e. every 8-12 weeks) and at appropriate points in your plan (such as when transitioning between training phases).

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4. Plan your microcycles The final step in the planning process is develop a high-level plan for your microcycles. This involves deciding what the key sessions will be, and a broad idea of the target volume and/or load you’re aiming for. These decisions will largely be dictated by the objectives of the mesocycle, as well as consideration of what training you’ve done over the last few weeks, and what you have coming up (both in terms of training, and non-training factors, such as work and family commitments that might impact your capacity to train and recover). We generally will only plan volume/training load a short way in advance (e.g. 4-8 weeks), as we find this aspect of the planning can change quite substantially as things (work/family commitments, injury, illness) always crop up.

Planning Framework In order to make sense of your planning, it’s helpful to create a training plan spreadsheet, which might look something like the example shown in Figure 37 on the next page. This example is a snapshot from a high-level plan building towards a multi-day ultra-distance event. As we did not have a particularly long period of time to work with the athlete (~3-months) we felt we did not need both phases and mesocycles to organise the training, and instead used shorter training phases (each lasting ~5-8 weeks), with more well-defined goals. In our high-level plan, we use a ‘Gantt Chart’ style format to specify the focus of each microcycle, where the colours specify the key focus of each week (e.g. ‘endurance’ development), and further planning details are written descriptively in the notes sections. A spreadsheet similar to the one shown is available within the supplementary materials to this guide to help with your planning.

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Figure 37. Extract from a high-level plan building towards an ultra-distance event.

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7.4 Monitoring Once a high-level plan is built, it is not set in stone, and a crucial part of the planning process is ongoing monitoring and refinement of the plan depending on how you’re responding to the training. We cover methods of monitoring training in detail in Chapter 17. However, some key aspects to incorporate include:

Objective session data analysis Sessions want to analysed regularly to determine if the session has been completed as planned. This step is broadly looking at “compliance" and helps to determine, over the short term, whether training sessions are being completed to a high quality. Typical objective metrics to look at would be planned duration vs completed duration, time in zones, TSS, and heart rate (see later chapters for more information on these parameters). If you notice you’re not completing your training sessions to a high quality, this might just mean you need to look at strategies within a session for keeping your intensity more controlled, or it could be a sign that the training you’re planning is not appropriate (e.g. training load is too high, or insufficient recovery is being planned), in which case, you might need to refine your plan.

Subjective feedback analysis It is incredibly important to also consider your sensations and impressions of sessions alongside the objective data. Analysing this subjective feedback should focus on understanding how challenging the session was relative to the expected difficulty level. This can help highlight whether a session needs adapting to make it harder/easier, or whether you might be suffering from too much fatigue to complete a session (which might mean you need to revisit aspects of your planning such as overall training load and the amount, frequency and/or timing of recovery days and periods).

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Physiological markers of fatigue Alongside subjective feedback, there are also several physiological markers you can monitor to gauge fatigue levels, and assess the appropriateness of your training load. These include several heart-rate metrics, and could also incorporate monitoring of things like sleep quality.

Testing Testing is also a crucial aspect of monitoring your training, and tests should be scheduled at appropriate intervals in order to verify whether your fitness is progressing as expected. The testing protocols used should be relevant to the aspects of fitness you’re looking to build, and in general we usually recommend incorporating testing every 8-12 weeks, or when transitioning to a new training phase, in order to evaluate progress over the last phase and to set baseline fitness markets for the next phase.

SWOT review Finally, it can be helpful to regularly revisit the SWOT analysis conducted in the pre-planning stage, as a reminder of the areas of focus and concern, and to check the training program is still appropriate. As additional testing is performed, the SWOT analysis can be updated, and the training plan adjusted accordingly as fitness progresses.



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7.5 Chapter Summary •

The planning process has three key stages: assessment and goal setting, planning, and monitoring.

•

Assessment and goal setting should begin by setting your over-arching training goal(s), which should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (‘SMART’).

•

Then map out the physiological demands of your goal. What would your fitness profile look like in an ideal world?

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Next, assess your current abilities. Where are the gaps between your current abilities and the ideal abilities to reach your goal? Refine your goals as necessary, based on your assessment.

•

The planning process should begin by first mapping out training phases leading up to your first target event, with broad training objectives, working backwards from your target event. Then divide these phases into mesocycles, with more well-defined training objectives. Finally plan out your microcycles for the first mesocycle, filling in the key training sessions to complete, a rough guide for your target training load and volume, and finally determining how to structure these sessions.

•

Finally, ensure training is being monitored, both over the shorter term through assessment of training data and subjective and physiological markers, and over the longer term, through testing and revision of your SWOT analysis.

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Chapter 8: Periodisation 8.1 Introduction In the previous chapter, we touched upon the concept of training periodisation, and the importance of this within a training plan. This chapter considers periodisation in more detail. Training can be periodised both in terms of the focus of the training sessions (i.e. which specific abilities are being worked on), and the overall training load (i.e. how much volume and intensity is applied). We will consider both of these factors in this chapter.

8.2 Linear Periodisation There are a whole host of approaches to training periodisation, and every coach will have a slightly different take on things. However, there are a few broad periodisation models that are common both in the scientific literature and among coaches. The classic approach to training periodisation over a macrocycle is the linear model, which breaks the macrocycle up into several phases as shown in Figure 38 (Issurin, 2010; Friel, 2012).

Figure 38. Structure of training phases in classic linear periodisation model.

General Preparation In the classical linear approach, the ‘general preparation’ phase (also sometimes referred to as the ‘base’ or ‘preparatory’ phase) traditionally works on ‘all-round’ fitness. In other words, all fitness components are worked on within the same training phase. One rationale for this is that,

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by developing all aspects of fitness, this builds a fitness ‘reserve’ so that certain fitness components can be allowed to detrain during the subsequent training phases, and still be at reasonable levels come competition time. It also allows for any imbalances to be corrected, thereby helping minimise injury risk and preparing the body for the more intensive training of the next phase. A slightly different and more modern take on the linear model focusses slightly more specifically on developing the aerobic system during the ‘general preparation’ phase. In either case, this phase tends to focus on a high volume of low-intensity training, usually with some medium or high intensity sessions mixed in.

Specific Preparation The ‘specific preparation’ phase (also referred to as the ‘build’ phase) then includes training that focusses on developing aspects of fitness that are specific for the target event, and particularly targeting any identified performance limiters. Traditionally, this phase will include a lower training volume, and more high-intensity training than in the general preparation phase. It might include some lower-priority early-season races.

Competition The competition phase (sometimes referred to as ‘peak’ or ‘taper’) then spans 1-4 weeks before the target event. This phase will usually include the lowest training volume, and the most intensive interval training, possibly alongside some lower-priority racing, and some race-simulation sessions. The main focus of this phase is to move the athlete towards a state of peak form, where fitness is maximised while fatigue is minimised by the time of the target event.

Transition Finally, the transition phase includes a period of mental and physical recovery and regeneration after the target race is complete, before you begin again with another general preparation phase to build to the next target event.

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As an overall pattern of training intensity and volume across the macrocycle, the linear model is usually typified by a progressive decrease in training volume through the general preparation to the competition phases, alongside a ramping up of training intensity, which gradually moves from longer, lower-intensity intervals to shorter, more intensive intervals. The traditional linear model has been fairly heavily criticised over the last few decades (Issurin, 2010). In our view, some of the strongest criticisms of this approach include: •

It’s hard to arrange more than three peaks within a year using a traditional linear periodisation approach. However, most athletes compete in many more races than this, which may all have equal priority (e.g. if competing in a race series).

•

Working on multiple aspects of fitness at once in the general preparation phase is not the most effective way to develop fitness, particularly given that different fitness components can actually counteract one another (e.g. working on maximal glycolytic rate and fractional utilisation can be in opposition). In our view, the general preparation phase should still keep in mind the athlete’s specific strengths and limiters and how these relate to the target competition and any upcoming training.

•

If high-intensity training is substantially reduced during the general preparation phase, this can lead to detraining of important fitness abilities, which then need to be rebuilt in the specific preparation phase. In our view, this is not a time-efficient way to train, and it’s far better to at least maintain some of the top-end fitness built up in the previous training cycle.

•

Likewise, if volume is substantially reduced in the later training phases, important aerobic fitness can be lost before the target event. We don’t believe a substantial tapering-off of volume is usually necessary until a week or two from key events.

•

Finally, in our view the strongest, and most important criticism is that the linear model can foster a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, where athletes follow a general progression from lower intensity training to higher intensity training. However, this might not be

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appropriate for an athlete or their chosen discipline. For example, following a general approach of increasing the intensity of training and in particular including sessions that would act to increase maximal glycolytic rate close to a target event would probably not be appropriate for an ultra-distance cyclist, where the maximal glycolytic rate ideally needs to be minimised in order to conserve important glycogen stores across the duration of an event.

8.3 Reverse Periodisation One further potential problem with traditional linear periodisation is that for many athletes, key races or events occur in the summer months, meaning that the bulk of the training volume occurs in the winter, when the weather makes it hard to train for long durations outdoors. This problem led to the development of ‘reverse periodisation’. In reverse periodisation, the linear model is effectively flipped, such that the beginning of the season focusses on low-volume, high-intensity training, and then closer to race season volume is increased and intensity is reduced. In theory, this approach can work for some athletes and disciplines, where aerobic fitness and particularly lactate threshold power and fractional utilisation need to be maximised and the maximal glycolytic rate needs to be minimised. Examples of such disciplines include long, steady-state disciplines such as ultra-distance races, Ironman triathlon and long, flatter sportives. However, anaerobic fitness declines very quickly (over 1-3 weeks) (Issurin, 2008). Therefore, for any athletes where a level of anaerobic fitness is needed, reverse periodisation would not be an appropriate approach, as anaerobic fitness would be substantially diminished by the time of competition. Furthermore, even among ultra-distance athletes there’s some data to suggest that a reverse periodisation approach is sub-optimal. For example, drawing data from over 100 Ironman athletes, models suggest that athletes who followed a periodisation model where intensity declined throughout the

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season were the worst-performing out of 7 different periodisation approaches investigated (Couzens, 2017). This reverse periodisation approach had a predicted Ironman finishing time that was 1.5H slower than the best-performing periodisation approach (which involved keeping intensity similar across the season, and increasing volume towards the middle of the season, in a pyramid-like pattern). In addition, the idea of working on anaerobic abilities in the early season is, in our view, wasted training time. These abilities will not persist for very long, nor are they important in helping to prepare for subsequent training. Indeed, doing too much anaerobic training can make it very hard to do other types of interval work such as intervals aiming to accumulate time close to V̇ O2max , due to the increased rates of lactate accumulation.

8.4 Block Periodisation Block periodisation is the third periodisation approach that we’ll cover in this chapter. It was developed to overcome many of the limitations of the traditional linear approach, in particular helping to combat the problem that traditional periodisation only allows for a maximum of 3 peaks per year, and that the generalised, non-focussed training that makes up a substantial chunk of the traditional model can be inefficient and counterproductive (Issurin, 2010). While block periodisation has been implemented in slightly different ways, the basic principle is that training is structured in relatively short blocks, with each focussing on a very specific fitness component (such as developing V̇ O2max , or building anaerobic capacity). Importantly, the focus of these blocks can be tailored to address the athlete’s specific ‘gaps’ (i.e. race/goal-specific performance limiters). Block periodisation is also closely tied with the concept of ‘training residuals’ – which is that different fitness components have different periods of training and detraining. For example, aerobic adaptations (such as mitochondrial and capillary density, and cardiac output) are thought to take the longest time to develop, but also detrain at the slowest rate (~months) (Issurin, 2008). In contrast, abilities like increased glycolytic 118

rate and neural activation of fast-twitch fibres, appear to respond more rapidly, but also detrain much more quickly (~weeks and ~days respectively) (Issurin, 2008). Therefore, by structuring smaller blocks of training, this allows for switching between different aspects of fitness at appropriate frequencies to see development or maintenance of these abilities. A summary of approximate training residuals (i.e. time taken to see meaningful changes), based on our current scientific understanding, is shown below. It should be noted that the scientific evidence supporting these training residuals is not very strong. We’ve therefore presented our best ‘guess’ at approximate training residuals, based on the evidence available (e.g. Issurin et al., 2008; Bangsbo et al., 2006; McGinley et al., 2016), and our own coaching experience. It’s also worth noting that the higher the fitness level, the longer it will take to see meaningful changes in a positive direction. The time periods presented below are for abilities that are initially not well trained.

Fitness Component

Training/Detraining Period

Structural Aerobic Adaptations (e.g.

1-2 Months

increased mitochondrial and capillary density, and improved cardiac output) Enzymatic Aerobic Adaptations (e.g.

2-10 Weeks

increased activity of enzymes related with fat oxidation) Lactate Tolerance (e.g. improved lactate

2-10 Weeks

buffering and transport) Peak Anaerobic Power (e.g. increased

2-4 Weeks

glycolytic rate) Neuromuscular Power (e.g. increased neural

Several Days - 2 Weeks

connectivity to Type IIx fibres and phosphocreatine storage) Maximal Strength (muscle hypertrophy, and

1-2 Months

neural connections)

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Some examples of block periodised training as described in the scientific literature are given below:

Example 1 (Issurin, 2010) Below is a generalisation of the block periodisation approaches first used around the late 1980s by coaches to prepare athletes for Olympic Games across various sports. It was composed of repeated cycles of: •

Phase 1: 2-6 weeks prioritising low-intensity training, particularly targeting aerobic adaptations at the muscles, such as increased capillary and mitochondrial density.

•

Phase 2: 2-4 weeks working on a race-specific ability where the athlete is in need of development (e.g. aerobic capacity training to improve stroke volume). Typically, this will have a lower volume and a higher concentration of interval sessions.

•

Phase 3: 8-15 days of recovery, which could additionally include some race preparation/simulation exercises, if this phase ends with a race.

Example 2 (García-Pallarés et al., 2010) Below is a block periodisation structure used to prepare 10 world-class kayakers for Olympic qualifiers. •

5-weeks working on lactate threshold development. While the data in this paper are not entirely clear, we estimate the weekly structure of this phase was probably composed of (i) 1-2 low-intensity training below the lactate threshold, totalling ~3.5H/week, (ii) 3-4 interval sessions targeting ‘supra-threshold’ intensities (just above the lactate threshold), totalling ~6H/week, and (iii) 1 interval session targeting intensities above 90% V̇ O2max , totalling ~1H/week.

•

5-weeks working on V̇ O2max development.

Again, working back from the

data, we estimate the weekly structure of this phase was composed of: (i) 1-2 low-intensity training sessions below the lactate threshold, totalling 2-3H/week; (ii) 1-2 interval sessions targeting ‘suprathreshold’ intensities, totalling ~2H/week, and (iii) 3-4 interval sessions targeting intensities above 90% V̇ O2max , totalling ~4.5H/week.

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•

2-week taper period, which had a likely weekly structure of 1-2 lowintensity sessions totalling 2.5H; 1-2 supra-threshold interval sessions totalling 2-3H and 3-4 interval sessions targeting intensities above 90% V̇ O2max and totalling 4-5H.

Example 3 (Rønnestad & Ellefsen, 2012) Below is an example of a 4-week cycle, that was used with 21 well-trained cyclists to improve markers of aerobic fitness. •

1-week of intensive interval training (5 interval sessions per week), working on aerobic capacity and lactate clearance (alternating between sessions of 5x 6-min and 6x 5-min at max average power over each set of intervals, with a 2:1 work:recovery ratio), with relatively low weekly volume (just over 5H per week).

•

3-weeks of predominantly low-intensity training below the estimated aerobic threshold (i.e. LT1), with 1 interval session targeting aerobic capacity (as described above). Weekly volume was just over 9H per week.

Example 1 was successfully used to train athletes who subsequently won medals at the Olympic Games, and Examples 2 and 3 were employed in scientific studies comparing them with other periodisation approaches.10 All achieved favourable results. For example, in the study by Rønnestad & Ellefsen (2012) (Example 3) the block periodisation model significantly increased V̇ O2max by 4.6%, whereas a model where training intensity and volume stayed the same each week achieved no significant improvement in V̇ O2max . A recent meta-analysis of 6 studies comparing block periodisation, using blocks of 1-4 weeks, with traditional periodisation revealed better improvements in aerobic capacity for block periodisation, although the effect size was small (Mølmen et al., 2019). Overall, therefore, there is good evidence supporting use of a block periodised approach. One concern with many practical implementations of this approach, however, is that it typically includes some very intensive In Example 2, the block periodisation model was compared to a linear model, and in Example 3, it was compared to a non-periodised model where volume and intensity stayed the same across the 4 weeks.

10

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training weeks (e.g. 5 interval sessions per week, which is very hard). It also typically requires periods when training volume is very high, which isn’t always feasible given work and family constraints. So, many of the block periodisation approaches that have been studied in scientific research might only be appropriate for highly trained, professional athletes, and/or only at certain times of the year, such as between a series of high-priority races.

8.5 What do top athletes do? Finally, it’s worth looking at the ways top athletes periodise their training. It goes without saying, that these approaches are not necessarily the best or most optimal approaches. However, we can be fairly confident that they are safe approaches to follow (at least among experienced athletes), given that these athletes would be unlikely to gain the success they have if they were following a highly sub-optimal approach. There have been several studies looking at the training approaches of elite-level athletes. For example, a 2014 paper by Tønnessen et al. reported training data for 11 cross-county (XC) skiiers or biathletes who had previously won senior gold medals in the Olympics or World Championships. The training data reported were for their most successful year of competition. In a later 2015 paper, Tønnessen et al. also reported training data for 8 gold medal-winning Orienteers; again, during their most successful year of competition. Two key themes emerged despite these athletes participating in quite different sports:

1. Discipline-specific volume follows pyramidal distribution Across the training year, Tønnessen et al showed that overall training volume of the elite athletes decreased towards competition. On the face of it, this is in line with the traditional linear model. However, the reduction in training volume when moving from what would traditionally be considered the ‘general preparation’ phase to the ‘specific preparation’ phase was due to the athletes cutting out nearly all ‘cross-training’ (e.g. 122

cycling and running for the XC skiers). In fact, the volume of disciplinespecific training increased when entering the ‘specific preparation’ phase. Overall, the volume of discipline-specific training actually followed more of a pyramidal distribution, with the highest volumes being towards the middle of the macrocycle. Classical mathematical models of fitness and fatigue (e.g. Morten et al., 1991) are supportive of this pyramidal approach to volume. These studies suggest that an optimal approach to training load periodisation over the macrocycle is one where training load gradually increases and then decreases towards competition. The increase in training load through the first part of the macrocycle makes logical sense because as fitness improves, a larger training load is theoretically required in order to trigger the same magnitude of fitness progression. In theory, if training load is not increased, the rate of improvement in fitness will decline until it reaches a plateau. In practice, this is not always true, because you could keep training load constant, but work on different aspects of fitness through this period and still see progression. However, in our view, the general principle of increasing training load as you become fitter is usually a good one to follow if possible. It also makes theoretical sense that training load should be reduced towards competition, as this allows for fatigue to be shed, and for peak form to be reached. This is known as tapering.

The above notwithstanding, it’s worth noting that an extremely wellconducted study looking at the relationship between training load and performance in national and international level swimmers (Alvalos et al., 2003) also makes it clear that not all athletes respond in the same way to training load, and that the relationship between training load and performance can differ even within a particular athlete, presumably due to changes in their fitness profile from year to year. So (as with all facets of training science!), we think the best approach is one that’s individualised based on your past experiences, but broadly follows the

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principle that training load increases with time, until shortly before competition.

2. Intensity of interval sessions increases through the season A second finding from the Tønnessen studies was that, on average, the amount of high-intensity training (above the lactate threshold) increased throughout the season, whereas the amount of middle and low intensity training (below the lactate threshold) decreased. This is, on the face of things, again in agreement with the traditional linear model. However, when looking at the individual data for each athlete, it can be seen that not all athletes followed this approach of increasing training intensity towards competition. For example, the trend in the amounts of middle-intensity training (between the aerobic and lactate threshold) was particularly variable, with some athletes increasing this throughout the season, and others decreasing this. The fact that the evolution of training intensity across the season is different for different athletes aligns with our own periodisation view. We believe that there’s no one-size-fits-all periodisation approach; particularly as it relates to the types of high-intensity training that should be included. Instead, the type of training completed in each phase should be guided by the athlete’s individual requirements. We explain more about this in the next section.

8.6 Mesocycle Periodisation The focus of this chapter has so far been on periodising training across the macrocycle (i.e. a period of at least several months between ‘now’ and the first target event). However, as we mentioned at the start of this chapter, training can also be periodised over smaller scales (e.g. over a mesocycle lasting several weeks), such as through altering training load across each microcycle). There’s actually surprisingly little scientific evidence around optimal training load periodisation strategies across the mesocycle to maximise 124

fitness gains. Nevertheless, one very common approach that’s used in practice is to periodise training volume over a 4-week mesocycle, where training load is progressively increased over the first 3 weeks, and then reduced in the final week to allow recovery from the previous three weeks, as shown in Figure 39.

Figure 39. Periodisation of weekly training load over a 4-week mesocycle. This approach is sometimes known as the 3:1 approach.

This periodisation approach is sometimes referred to as the 3:1 approach (reflecting the fact that each mesocycle is composed of three ‘training’ weeks and one recovery week). The 3:1 approach is designed to produce an overload of training over the first three weeks, which effectively tips you into a state of ‘functional overreaching’ and causes a large surge in fitness, but also a high level of fatigue, which is then shed in the fourth week. Combining this with the principles of increasing training load across the macrocycle, would then look something like the example shown in Figure 40.

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Figure 40. Example periodisation of weekly training load when applying a 3:1 approach on top of a gradual linear increase in training load across a macrocycle.

There is some evidence from mathematical modelling to support the 3:1 approach, which predicts that such an approach could lead to ~3-5% performance improvement versus a flat load approach with the same average weekly training load (Rowbottom, 2000). These two approaches are shown in Figure 41 below.

Figure 41. Comparison of 3:1 and flat load periodisation approaches with the same average weekly training load.

An excellent point raised by triathlon coach and sports scientist Alan Couzens (2008) relates to how optimal this periodisation approach is for 126

the vast majority of people, who have limited training time. In short; it’s not very optimal. That’s because most people have a maximum amount of time each week that they can dedicate to training, which is generally fairly restrictive. This therefore puts a cap on the largest-volume training week. If we were to use the 3:1 approach, then 3 of the 4 weeks would not be maximising the available training time, and this would lead to a lower rate of fitness progression versus the basic flat load approach, where training load could be maximised every week (if appropriate for the athlete’s fitness level)11. Couzens used mathematical models to illustrate this point. He compared a 3:1 approach with a flat load, and showed a ~4% greater modelled fitness improvement over a 28-day training period for the 3:1 approach. However, in order to achieve that periodised load, the weekly training volume ranged from around 9 hours/week (recovery week) to 28 hours/week. This is in contrast with the flat load which comprised 17 hours/week each week.

8.7 Our Take on Things Overall, our view is that no single training periodisation approach should be applied blindly without consideration of the specific needs of the athlete. We have, however, set out below our general planning approach, which we find works well in a vast majority of cases, and which draws both on the block and linear periodisation approaches, as well as the practices of top athletes and our own experiences.

Ascribing Training Phases We find the general framework of using ‘general preparation’, ‘specific preparation’, ‘competition’ and ‘transition’ phases a helpful starting point to begin to break down a training macrocycle. However, we’ve put our own spin on these phases as detailed below:

Note, there are alternative periodisation structures, such as a 2:1 approach (2 weeks of heavier-load training, followed by 1 week of lighter load). However these criticisms still apply.

11

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General Preparation For us, the goal of this phase is usually to develop aerobic fitness, and possibly also to build endurance, economy, and strength, as relevant. We’d focus in particular on aspects that are applicable to the athlete’s target competition/event and identified risks/limiters. So for an athlete targeting hill climbs, for example, we wouldn’t be concerned with developing endurance specifically, but this might be an incidental consequence of building the athlete’s aerobic fitness. Through this phase, we’re also looking to shift the athlete’s physiological profile to one that’s well-suited to the subsequent specific preparation phase. We can therefore think of this phase as ‘training to train’ (i.e. training in a way that sets you up for better training closer to your target event). If returning to training after a notable break (~months to years), the first part of this phase might simply focus on building up training volume and the length of long rides to develop basic aerobic fitness. Earlier parts of the general preparation phase might also include some conditioning work (e.g. strength training and small amounts of intensity) to prepare the athlete’s musculoskeletal system for more intensive training and minimise injury risk. In subsequent parts of the general preparation phase, we might also work on lactate transport and improving fractional utilisation, in order to allow for more time to be spent training close to V̇ O2max in subsequent training. As the earlier part of the aerobic development phase often runs through winter when the weather can be bad, and given racing will often be a long way off, we feel this period of training can benefit from being a little less structured and rigid in order to foster training consistency. So, training can include, for example, some cross-training (e.g. running, walking, skiing) as well as some unstructured ‘fun’ rides. In effect, we’re taking a small compromise on training quality and specificity during this period in order to keep consistency high. Including some cross-training during this phase is also beneficial in helping address any muscle imbalances that might accrue from purely bike-based training.

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Many coaches also include strength training during the general preparation phase. We agree this is a suitable time to introduce strength training, particularly as the weather is often bad and training load on the bike is potentially reduced. From there, the strength gains that have been accrued can then simply be maintained with a reduced volume of strength training through the specific preparation period. While a key focus of this phase is on aerobic development, that doesn’t mean that a small amount of anaerobic and neuromuscular training shouldn’t be included. We find intermittent neuromuscular training sessions (e.g. once per four weeks), which develop the ability to activate fast twitch fibres beneficial to most athletes. Anaerobic development sessions can also be usefully included from time to time for athletes who don’t want a substantial decrease in their VLamax. This means when the athlete gets to the specific preparation phase, they are not building VLamax from an overly diminished point.

Specific Preparation This phase typically dials in on the athlete’s event-specific limiters. These will include physiological areas of weakness (particularly those that train and detrain at a high rate, and thus need to be included close to the key events) as well as working on things like technical skills and mental preparedness. For many athletes, a key part of this phase will be ‘fine tuning’ the balance between the strength of the anaerobic system (specifically the VLamax) relative to the strength of the aerobic system (specifically the V̇ O2max ) (Olbrecht, 2015). As we discussed in Chapter 3, you can think of these like a seesaw, and the combination of these variables will impact where the lactate threshold sits. You can therefore also think of this as a phase where the fractional utilisation is tweaked, so that the lactate threshold is at the appropriate level for your discipline. The content and length of this specific preparation phase will depend on your fitness profile coming into this phase, and will thus be guided by fitness testing and your ongoing SWOT analyses.

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Given that training that seeks to raise the anaerobic power (specifically VLaMax) is quite fast to train and detrain, then we typically include concentrated amounts of this type of training in the last few weeks of the specific preparation phase, if needed (i.e. ~2-6 weeks depending on requirements). The specific preparation phase may include low-priority races and/or racesimulation training, and it’s advisable to dedicate at least a few sessions per week to training on your race/event bike.

Competition Finally, the competition phase is a period spanning your key competition(s) or event(s), or any other time where you want to be in peak form. If you have just one key event, then this phase would typically last 1-2 weeks leading up to the event, where the objective of this period is to taper your training volume to produce peak form on your event day. An optimal taper will be a balance between reducing fatigue, but not losing too much fitness. We cover the topic of tapering in detail in Chapter 16. If you have several high-priority events spanning several weeks, or even a couple of months, then the competition phase can be longer than a couple of weeks and would span this full period. In this case, the competition phase would have a dual focus of (i) tapering training to achieve peak form for your key events and (ii) maintaining or rebuilding fitness between those events. Again, we discuss strategies for achieving this in Chapter 16.

Optional Transition Phase An optional ‘transition’ period can also be included after the target race or event is complete, which can last around 1-week to 1-month. The main purpose of this is to allow a mental break from structured training, giving the opportunity to do some riding for fun, or other activities such as running and walking, or even just take some time off! The length of the transition period needed usually depends on the length of the macrocycle, and how long you’ve been training without a break. You shouldn’t generally need more than a few days for physical recovery, unless 130

the target event was extremely fatiguing, such as a multi-day event. However, mental recovery can require longer than this. We recommend letting your motivation to train dictate how long this period is; by the end of the transition period, you should ideally feel eager to get back to structured training. That said, if you have another priority event coming up in the near future (i.e. within a few months), we’d recommend keeping the transition period to 1-week as a maximum, and then taking a longer transition period after all the year’s target events are complete.

Setting Mesocycle Goals In order to set mesocycle goals, we tend to draw on the principles of block periodisation, aiming to work on one or a small number of specific fitness components and/or abilities (e.g. technical skills) for a period of time; typically 4-8 weeks. The components to be worked on will be dictated by (i) the broad objectives of the phase, (ii) the results of any preceding testing and SWOT analyses, and (iii) consideration of relevant training residuals (i.e. training and detraining periods), ensuring that sufficient time is ascribed to the different abilities, based on these residuals.

Periodising volume across the macrocycle In relation to periodising training volume across the macrocycle, for a majority of people, we’ve had good results with adopting a pyramidal volume distribution, where volume increases through the general and specific preparation phases, and then reduces towards the end of the specific preparation phase, and into the competition phase. However, this approach isn’t always appropriate. For example, with timecrunched athletes, it might be better to use a flat volume across the macrocycle, thereby maximising available training time. Some athletes may also have a history of responding badly to high volumes (e.g. high risk of overuse injury), whereby it might be better to maintain a moderate volume across the whole training cycle. Other athletes, for whom we know we’ll need to include a substantial amount of anaerobic training closer to race season, might benefit from including their highest training volumes earlier in the season, allowing volume to be tapered down slightly when entering the particularly stressful anaerobic training phase.

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Periodising volume across the mesocycle In relation to periodising training volume within a mesocycle, there are two main approaches we will take: 1. In athletes who have unlimited time in which to train and recover, we will often use something like a 3:1 approach, where training volume increases over the first three weeks, and then week 4 is a lowervolume recovery week. 2. However, for the vast majority of athletes we coach, who have an upper limit on the amount of time they can dedicate to training, we often employ a flat load approach, where (if fitness allows), we maintain training volume at or close to the maximum availability for that athlete, taking a recovery week as and when needed. This allows the athlete’s training time availability to be maximised. We refer to this as a ‘recovery on demand’ approach. In this case, to be safe, we might have a rule where we include a recovery week at least every 612 weeks (depending on the athlete). This operates as a safety net to help ensure we don’t go excessively long without a recovery week, and the athlete does not become over-trained. With our time-crunched athlete’s we will also usually try to capitalise on any availability for higher-volume training (such as taking some holiday from work) to include a block of overload training.

Final Remarks The planning process can seem overwhelming, but our key advice would be to keep your plan flexible and don’t get bogged down in the details. Although some platforms allow extremely detailed planning (e.g. planning the precise training load for each week), we’d strongly discourage that level of forward-planning. Being more flexible means that each week can be adapted based on your level of fatigue (which is impacted by a plethora of things external to training, such as work stress and sleep quality). It also means that when unexpected events crop up (they always do!), you don’t have to go back and re-plan every single week in detail. The key thing is to know what you’re working towards within each phase and mesocycle. That should be sufficient to allow you to plan your training each week. 132

8.8 Tricky Planning Cases I have minimal time between now and target event If you have minimal time between now and the target event, you need to make an assessment of where your biggest gains stand to be made, based on testing and your own impressions of where you tend to be limited. In our experience, the fastest adaptations to take effect are (i) neuromuscular recruitment (ii) VLamax (iii) lactate shuttling and (iv) skill development, so these are good areas to focus on IF they are relevant to you. When time is short, you probably don’t need to divide your plan into mesocycles and phases – just one level is sufficient, where each phase/cycle will focus on clearly-defined ability areas. Alternatively, you may just decide to de-prioritise your upcoming event, and begin working towards a more distant goal.

I have a series of high-priority races that are close together In this scenario, we’d recommend planning your training to build towards your first high-priority race. Then you can use the block overload technique, which we discuss in Chapter 16, to try to maintain fitness for subsequent high-priority races.

How do I accommodate lower-priority races in my plan? Lower-priority races can be a great addition to your training, particularly during the specific preparation phase, as they can contribute to race acclimation training. You don’t need to do anything special to plan around lower priority races. You’d usually just plan the week preceding the race slightly differently from normal. We cover how to prepare for low-priority races in Chapter 16.

8.9 Chapter Summary •

There are a whole host of different approaches to periodising training across the macrocycle. The traditional approach is linear periodisation where volume begins high and is gradually reduced

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towards competition, whereas the amount and intensity of interval training is gradually increased. •

Reverse periodisation is another training approach, but in our view this is rarely (if ever) a good approach to take.

•

The appropriate periodisation approach will differ for different athletes, and there’s likely to be several approaches that will produce similarly good results.

•

In terms of ascribing training phases, we like to use the framework of ‘general preparation’, ‘specific preparation’, ‘competition’ and ‘transition’ phases, although we have adapted these phases versus the traditional ‘linear periodisation’ approach. We then use mesocycles to give more detail in terms of how the training should evolve within each phase, where each mesocycle focusses on developing a small number of abilities.

•

In terms periodising training volume across the macrocycle, we generally find that either a flat load or a pyramidal progression of training volume is a good approach for many athletes.

•

In terms of periodising training volume across the mesocycle, there is some evidence that it’s beneficial to gradually increase training load over a small number of weeks (e.g. 3 weeks), followed by a recovery week. However, for time crunched athletes, a flat training load, with recovery weeks scheduled on demand might be a better approach to take.



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Chapter 9: Case Study In this chapter, we’ll present an example of how we might approach the high-level planning for a female athlete who is competing in MTB Marathon racing and targeting the National Championships.

9.1 Initial Assessment and Goal-Setting Defining the Goal The athlete’s goal is to podium at the MTB Marathon National Championships at the beginning of August.

Map the Demands of the Goal 1. The MTB Marathon race is expected to last around 4-hours, with an intermittent intensity, requiring many efforts above the lactate threshold, but with an average intensity below the lactate threshold. 2. Requires high aerobic capacity, given high aerobic contribution to energy production. 3. Requires good endurance in order to maintain high power over long race. 4. Requires good muscle strength and ability to produce high torques at a low cadence, due to technical nature of the course and steep gradients. 5. Requires strong ability to use fats for fuel to help improve lactate threshold power, and to avoid running out of glycogen stores during race. 6. Requires strong ability to shuttle lactate away from the working muscles, which contributes to improved lactate threshold power and faster recovery from supra-threshold efforts. 7. Requires low-to-moderate VLamax relative to ̇VO2max. Should be sufficiently large to handle efforts above the lactate threshold, but not so large that it unnecessarily compromises fractional utilisation and endurance. 8. Requires good technical skills to handle technical terrain.

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Understand the Athlete The athlete’s details are as follows: •

̇VO2max: 59ml/kg/min

•

Lactate threshold power: 3.7W/kg

•

Fractional utilisation (expressed as ̇VO2): 74%

•

VLamax: 0.7mmol/L/sec

•

Lactate clearance rates: 0.5mmol/L/min at rest

•

Can ride at a Zone 3C effort in training for around 1.5-hours before power starts to drop and perceived effort starts to increase

•

Athlete feels she needs to refuel quite regularly when completing longer endurance rides, suggesting fat oxidation ability could be improved

•

Technical skills are good, so these just require maintenance

•

High capacity to train and recover – only working a part-time job

•

Poor nutritional knowledge around fuelling for training and competition

•

No other notable threats to training

SWOT Analysis Strengths -

Already strong aerobic capacity

-

Good technical skills

Weaknesses -

Potentially has poor fat oxidation ability

-

Seems to have sub-optimal endurance given duration of the event

-

Potentially higher than necessary VLamax, leading to sub-optimal fractional utilisation

-

Lactate clearance rates appear quite low for an athlete of this level

Opportunities -

Not currently doing any strength training, but has access to weight equipment at gym.

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Threats -

Poor nutritional knowledge may undermine training and race performance.

For this particular athlete, it appears that the key areas for improvement are around decreasing the VLamax to increase the fractional utilisation, and improving endurance and fat oxidation ability. ̇VO2max and MTB skills already pretty good, and will likely just require maintenance. Lactate transport ability is likely to be fairly low, given the moderately low lactate clearance rates.

9.2 High-Level Planning The athlete has 38 weeks until the target race. Working backwards from the race, in this example, we might plan 2 weeks for tapering, 8 weeks for the specific preparation phase, and 28-weeks for the general preparation phase, as shown in Figure 42.

Figure 42. Example training phases and mesocycles for athlete building towards a race in 38 weeks.

The general preparation phase is broken into 3 mesocycles, with provisional goals as outlined in Figure 42 above. These would be iterated through ongoing testing and subjective feedback from the athlete, to ensure we’re always keeping the athlete on the right track. In this example, we propose to begin the general preparation phase by focussing on some of the athlete’s key performance limiters (endurance and fat oxidation). This type of training should also help build or at least maintain ̇VO2max through the incorporation of high training volumes. We’d also include some moderate intensity within this block, firstly to 137

condition the athlete for subsequent higher-intensity training and secondly to further help with developing fat oxidation and building aerobic capacity in Type IIa muscle fibres, which would contribute both to improved endurance and lactate threshold power. Finally, through this mesocycle, we also work on building muscular strength through weight training, which has also been shown to contribute to improved endurance, and which we identified as a potential untapped opportunity for the athlete. Mesocycle 2 focusses on developing lactate tolerance and transport. These sessions will help to address the athlete’s apparent low fractional utilisation. Importantly, this mesocycle should help with tolerating the intensive ̇VO2max training that’s planned for the next mesocycle, and should hopefully allow more time to be accumulated training close to ̇VO2max during that cycle. In Mesocycle 2, we continue to progress training volume and the length of long rides through this phase, in order to continue developing endurance (and relatedly continuing to help maintain/improve ̇VO2max and fat oxidation). Mesocycle 3 includes some intensive ̇VO2max training. While the athlete already has a relatively strong ̇VO2max, it may be worthwhile spending some time trying to improve this further. Strength training through this phase will likely focus on strength maintenance rather than strength development, which should allow the athlete to complete the challenging ̇VO2max intervals to a higher quality. Based on the initial assessment, we anticipate that the specific preparation phase (Mesocycle 4) will mostly focus on fine-tuning the athlete’s fractional utilisation, and doing some skills maintenance and practice riding under race-like conditions. On the following page, we show an example high-level plan for the first mesocycle.

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Figure 43. Example high-level plan spanning one training mesocycle.

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PART 3: MICRO-LEVEL PLANNING Having put together a high-level plan, it’s time to start thinking about the training sessions themselves. How can you actually plan sessions to achieve certain objectives, how much of each type of training session should you be doing, and how should these be structured within your microcycle? This third section of this guide



focusses on these questions, and we begin by looking at training intensity zones

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Chapter 10: Training Zones 10.1 Introduction The use of training intensity zones is a well-established framework for delineating different intensities, typically associated with particular physiological adaptations. The ability to plan workouts using a common intensity-based language and system, as well as to track the time spent in each zone can help bring important structure to a training program. In this chapter, we’ll lay out the most commonly used and “logical” methods of delineating training intensities and discuss the associated benefits and potential drawbacks for each method. We won’t, however, talk about the ways that training should be structured within these zones. This will be covered in Chapter 11. Whilst there are more training zone systems in existence than are covered in this chapter, we have tried to include those which we as coaches feel are most intuitive and effective for cyclists. The zoning systems we’ve chosen to talk about are: -

Zones based on FTP

-

Zones based on heart rate

-

Zones based on lactate turn points

-

Zones derived from models/algorithms

We’ll go through these in turn.

10.2 FTP and heart rate zones Perhaps the most widely-used training intensity zones are those that are anchored upon on a single metric. For those training with power, that’s usually Functional Threshold Power (FTP) or for those training with heart rate (measured in beats per minute - BPM), it’s usually either Max HR or Threshold HR. We covered methods for establishing these parameters in Chapter 5.

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There are numerous heart rate (HR) and FTP-based zoning systems, but we’ve presented our preferred system below, which we’ve adapted from Dr Andrew Coggan’s seven-zone system (Allen & Coggan, 2010) to additionally include approximate values for % Max HR and to change some of the terminology slightly. We recommend this system because the zones are physiologically meaningful, and each has a clear purpose. You’ll also find corresponding ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) values for each zone:

Figure 44. Table of training intensity zones. FTP: functional threshold power. HR: heart rate. RPE: rating of perceived exertion (ascending intensity scale of 1-10).

ZONE 1 This is the active recovery zone and is used for regenerative purposes more so than for inducing a training stress, although very long durations spent in Zone 1 will indeed promote adaptations at the muscles, including increases in mitochondrial content and capillary density around the Type I muscle fibres, improving oxygen delivery and processing capacity. Typical applications of Zone 1 are during active recovery rides of 30 minutes to 2 hours in duration, and between work intervals in higher intensity interval workouts to aid in the clearance of lactate.

ZONE 2 This is the zone you’d ideally be aiming to accumulate the most training time in. It’s an intensity that’s sustainable for hours at a time, and is also optimal for stimulating adaptations related to aerobic metabolism 142

(e.g. increased mitochondrial density, oxidative enzyme activity, and capillary density). It also contributes to improved aerobic capacity (Huang et al., 2005) including improved stroke volume (Wilmore et al., 2001); although, this is not thought to be the most potent form of training for achieving improved stroke volume in most people (Helgerud et al., 2007). Zone 2 is also specifically at an intensity that trains the muscles to become better at using fats rather than carbohydrates for fuel. As we covered in previous chapters, fat oxidation ability is important, because it reduces reliance on carbohydrates and thus reduces the production of lactate and associated hydrogen ions. For disciplines that are very long, it’s also beneficial to be able to use a higher proportion of fat for fuel because the body has sufficient fat stores to fuel exercise lasting several days, whereas carbohydrate stores are only sufficient to support all-out exercise lasting ~1.5 hours.

ZONE 3 The ‘Intensive Aerobic’ zone is still an intensity that promotes aerobic adaptations. However, the intensity is slightly higher than Zone 2 and should therefore be used sparingly as it can cause substantially more fatigue. One main purpose of this zone is to recruit additional muscle fibres that are not usually recruited in a Zone 2 ride until the latter stages of a long ride, and to stimulate aerobic adaptations within these lesser recruited fibres. In endurance events, these lesser-recruited fibres become important later on in a race, as the more aerobically efficient fibres fatigue and pass over work to these typically less efficient fibres. Zone 3 training can therefore help with endurance (i.e. ability to sustain power below threshold without a concurrent increase in oxygen demand), by making the lesser-recruited fibres more aerobically efficient. Zone 3 training is also thought to help increase the lactate threshold by reducing lactate production within these fibres, although in our experience, Zone 3 has only a relatively modest impact on the lactate threshold in comparison to other types of session. Zone 3 can be structured into intervals or used for the duration of a full ride, depending on ability level.

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When Zone 3 training is combined with low-cadences it can also help to increase the strength of muscle fibres and their ability to produce force at low cadences (which is relevant for hill climbing, for example). As mentioned in Chapter 3, there’s some evidence that improved strength can help delay fatigue of the muscle fibres.

ZONE 4 Training around the FTP is somewhat controversial, with potentially as many advocates as there are opponents. This zone sits right at the point where the rate of lactate production begins to exceed the rate of lactate clearance, meaning lactate levels increase rapidly beyond this zone. A purpose of working in Zone 4 is to improve the muscle’s ability to transport lactate away from the working muscles and to other parts of the body where it can be oxidised to produce energy. This in turn contributes to an improvement in lactate threshold power. Long intervals at Zone 4 can also help improve the mental resilience to high lactate levels, and may also contribute to improved lactate buffering (collectively known as ‘lactate tolerance’), and these intervals can therefore be useful to do in preparation for racing. Intervals in this zone will typically last between 6-minutes to 40-minutes (or even longer if oscillating power is used). Intervals at the upper end of this zone can also be effective aerobic capacity development sessions, provided the intervals are sufficiently long, due to the upward drift in V̇ O2 consumption when riding at a steady power above the lactate threshold (a phenomenon known as the V̇ O2 slow component).

ZONE 5 Zone 5 is designed to be at an intensity that elicits ‘V̇ O2max ’ - or in other words the maximal rate of oxygen uptake and utilisation - thereby developing aerobic capacity. While aerobic capacity can be limited by a number of factors, a key adaptation that Zone 5 training elicits is an increase in the heart’s ‘stroke volume’ (Helgerud et al., 2007). Or in other words, an increase in the amount of blood (and thus oxygen) the heart can pump per beat. Intensive intervals such as these may also contribute to 144

improved mitochondrial efficiency. Intervals in this zone will typically last between 2 to 6 minutes, although they may last longer if oscillating/adjustable power is used.

ZONE 6 Training in Zone 6 can be used to increase peak anaerobic power by improving the rate of glycolysis. This means a greater amount of power can be produced over short (~30-120 second) efforts. Depending on the structuring of intervals, Zone 6 training can also be used to improve anaerobic stamina - which is the length of time an anaerobic effort can be sustained. In general, for many disciplines, Zone 6 training should be used relatively conservatively (although not excluded entirely), as the increased rate of glycolysis can result in a decreased lactate threshold, which is often undesirable. Zone 6 training may also contribute to improved V̇ O2max , possibly through improving mitochondrial efficiency.

ZONE 7 Zone 7 or the neuromuscular zone includes very short efforts (20-second) surges in power above the lactate threshold during these aerobic development rides wherever possible. This is because these surges lead to an accumulation of lactate, which is then oxidised in order to clear it from the system. This means you spend time after each surge clearing lactate rather than working and developing the aerobic systems you’re trying to target. Depending on how much lactate is accumulated, it can take as much as ~20-minutes after any surge to clear the lactate back to baseline levels. Thus, if your power surges quite regularly, you could actually spend very little time working your fat oxidation systems, even if your average power is solidly Zone 2C.

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Related to the point above, it’s best practice to use a power meter where possible in these aerobic development rides, so that power surges can be detected. We’ve seen people suggest that heart rate is the better metric for these aerobic development rides (either because it’s more stable, or because it allows you to keep the internal training stress constant). However, looking only at heart rate can mean these power surges are missed, giving you an invalid picture of your true intensity distribution for the ride.

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The best terrain to do these types of aerobic development rides is either flat or rolling terrain, as this will allow you to score the most time in Zone 2C. If you can’t avoid hills, and you struggle to keep your power or heart rate in zone on the climbs, you might need to invest in some easier gears. It is, however, fine to drift up to Zone 3C and down to the upper end of Zone 1C from time to time, such as when climbing and descending. Adaptations at these intensities will be very similar to those in Zone 2C.

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The adaptations in mitochondrial size and number are NOT improved by increasing intensity. In fact, doing so can reduce the quality of the workout by increasing the risk of curtailing workout duration due to fatigue. So try to avoid slipping into the common trap of thinking harder is better with these types of rides.

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Fasted training and low-cadence Zone 3C intervals (below) are good additions when looking to build endurance specifically, or to target aerobic adaptations in Type IIa muscle fibres.

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Alterations •

If you’ve had lab testing done to determine the power that elicits ‘FatMax’ (i.e. the maximal rate of fat oxidation), then you can train at or near this intensity in these aerobic development rides. However, in general there’s little difference in fat oxidation rates across a range of powers close to FatMax (Schwindling et al., 2014), so Zone 2C generally works very well for most people.

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Very long rides can be done in Zone 1C and elicit similar adaptations to training in Zone 2C for a shorter period of time. In particular, if the ride is long enough to result in fatiguing of the primaryrecruited muscle fibres, then workload can pass over to additional muscle fibres. Thus, in spite of the low intensity, a good proportion of muscle fibres can be trained when rides are very long.

11.4 Low-Cadence Zone 3C

Figure 48. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across duration of low-cadence Zone 3C ride. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics A ride including around 20-60 minutes of low-cadence (~55-75RPM) riding at Zone 3C. This can be done as one continuous interval, or divided into shorter intervals, separated by Zone 1-2C riding, usually at a selfselected cadence that feels comfortable. These intervals are commonly referred to as ‘muscular endurance’ or ‘strength’ intervals.

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There are lots of different ways that these intervals can be arranged within a ride. Zone 3C intervals can be interspersed within a longer aerobic development ride, either in a structured format (e.g. 10-min blocks of low-cadence Zone 3C riding every 30-minues within a 3-4H ride) or in an unstructured way (e.g. low-cadence Zone 3C riding whenever you hit a hill). It can also be included towards the end of a long aerobic development ride, to help get used to riding harder with pre-fatigued legs, and to place a greater focus on training Type IIa muscle fibres. Example: 3-hour ride with first 2 hours done in Zone 2C (55-75% FTP, 68-83% Threshold HR or 60-70% Max HR) with a self-selected cadence, and last hour done at a cadence of 55-75RPM and a power in Zone 3C (e.g. 80-95% FTP, 8494% threshold HR or 70-80% Max HR).

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase ability to use fats for fuel, particularly in lesser-recruited Type I and in Type IIa fibres.

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Maintain or increase lactate threshold power and fractional utilisation.

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Maintain or increase endurance.

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Maintain or increase muscular strength and ability to produce force at low-cadences.

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Maintain or increase efficiency and economy in later stages of riding.

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These sessions may also contribute to improved hill climbing ability, due to the similar cadence and muscle fibre recruitment when climbing.

Evidence This is a common workout format used by many cyclists and coaches. The theory behind this workout is that, by riding at a higher intensity, and at a low cadence, a greater number of muscle fibres will be recruited as compared to riding at lower intensities, due to the high force demands placed on the muscles (remember force demands go up as cadence drops and/or as power increases). In particular, this type of workout will recruit muscle fibres that would not ordinarily be recruited in a Zone 2C aerobic 162

development ride until the later stages of riding when muscle fibres begin to fatigue and pass over workload to other fibres (Altenberg et al., 2007; Vøllestad et al., 1984). As the intensity of these Low-Cadence Zone 3C efforts is below the lactate threshold, a relatively large amount of training time can be accumulated at this intensity, and the metabolic demands are predominantly aerobic. This in theory allows aerobic adaptations within a greater proportion of muscle fibres to be targeted. In particular, this includes aerobic adaptations within Type IIa fibres (Altenberg et al., 2007; Vøllestad et al., 1984), which are not naturally very aerobically developed, but which have the ability to adapt to become more similar to the aerobically efficient Type I fibres. These adaptations are thought to include increased mitochondrial density, capillary supply and aerobic enzyme activity, leading to an increased capacity for aerobic metabolism within the muscles, and thus an improved lactate threshold power. These Low-Cadence Zone 3 efforts are also thought to lead to improved efficiency and economy in the later stages of riding. Remember from Chapter 2 that when riding, the most aerobically-efficient muscle fibres are recruited first. However, as these fibres start to fatigue, they pass over some workload to less aerobically-efficient muscle fibres, which causes a reduction in cycling efficiency. However, by training those less efficient fibres to become more aerobically efficient via these Low-Cadence Zone 3 efforts, there’s less of a drop in efficiency when they come to be recruited. The increased force demands on the muscles are also thought to induce a larger amount of muscle damage, which over time (i.e. with repeated exposure to damage) may help to make the muscles stronger and more resistant to damage, and thus helps improve fatigue resistance in muscle fibres. Unfortunately, this type of training is very under-researched. To our knowledge, at the time of writing only four studies have investigated the use of low-cadence Zone 3C training (Hansen & Rønnestad, 2017), and all have limitations. Most notably, none include relevant tests for the 163

efficacy of low-cadence Zone 3C work, such as examining the impact of this type of training on fat oxidation rates or on endurance in long cycling tests (the longest performance test in the four studies was only 30minutes!). So, they cannot provide evidence on whether this type of training does result in appreciable endurance improvements when compared to Zone 2C aerobic development training, for example. Overall, therefore, these sessions have good theoretical grounding, but as yet have little scientific evidence to support or refute this theory. In our experience, these types of training sessions do help improve endurance, but have a fairly minimal impact on the lactate threshold in comparison to other more effective types of session (discussed below, and summarised in the supplementary Training Session Look-Up Table).

Tips for Optimal Completion •

In our view, this type of training has a place within a well-rounded training plan, but shouldn’t be used excessively. You’ll see some coaches and cyclists proclaiming the seemingly endless benefits of training at Zone 3C and in particular training at the top end of this zone, which is commonly referred to as ‘sweet-spot’. However, in our experience training in Zone 3C, even when combined with a low cadence, offers only relatively small benefits over lower-intensity training, but contributes a disproportionately high amount of fatigue if used in excess. In general, we therefore wouldn’t recommend including this type of training more than 1-3 times per week, unless you’re training for an ultra-distance event, where developing endurance and efficiency are primary goals.

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When you get better at these types of sessions, you can progress to the top end of Zone 3C (around 90-95% FTP). This results in a greater recruitment of Type IIa muscle fibres.

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These low-cadence Zone 3C efforts can be used to provide some of the benefits of a longer Zone 2C aerobic development ride when you’re unable to complete a long ride. An example might be when the weather is bad and you have to train indoors.

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Alterations •

As mentioned, these workouts can be planned in a wide range of formats. The lengths of the intervals and any recovery periods aren’t materially important, so you can structure the session however works best for you, including the Zone 3C towards the beginning, middle or end of your ride, or distributing it throughout the whole ride, for example.

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Planning the Zone 3C interval(s) towards the end of a longer ride can, however, be particularly beneficial, as this can result in a higher recruitment of Type IIa muscle fibres. This is because Type I fibres will already be somewhat fatigued from the preceding ride.

11.5 Restricted Carbohydrate Availability Ride

Figure 49. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across duration of restricted carbohydrate availability ride. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics Either a Zone 2C Aerobic development ride or a Low-Cadence Zone 3C ride that is carried out when glycogen stores and/or blood sugar levels are low (which we refer to as a ‘restricted carbohydrate availability’ or ‘RCA’ state). An RCA state can be achieved in two main ways. Firstly, by training in the morning before consuming anything that contains carbohydrates. In this case, the adaptive response is strongest if on the preceding day, you

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complete an interval session and then restrict carbohydrate intake after that session. The second way is by training twice in one day, where the first session is an interval session that will deplete glycogen stores, and the second session is the RCA session. Carbohydrate intake is ideally kept relatively low between the first and second sessions in order to only minimally replenish carbohydrate stores between sessions. Example: 1.5-hour ride with 3x 10-min Zone 3C efforts at a cadence of 5575RPM. Remainder of ride at self-selected cadence and around a Zone 2C intensity. Ride done in the morning, before consuming carbohydrates, and with no carbohydrates consumed during the ride. The evening before, an interval session was completed and carbohydrate intake was restricted before going to bed.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase lactate threshold power and fractional utilisation.

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Maintain or increase ability to use fats for fuel.

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Reduce maximal glycolytic rate.

Evidence The theory behind RCA training is that, by training with restricted glycogen stores and/or blood glucose levels, the muscles are caused to derive a greater proportion of energy through fat oxidation than they ordinarily would. This in turn increases the stimulus for the body to adapt and become more effective at utilising fats for fuel, increasing things like the activity of enzymes linked with the break-down and oxidation of fats. In particular, a key molecule that’s important for triggering a variety of aerobic adaptations (‘PGC-1a’) seems to be intrinsically linked with glycogen levels, with lower glycogen levels triggering a higher production of this signalling molecule (Almquist et al., 2020). It also appears that lowered glycogen and blood glucose levels are associated with increases in an enzyme (‘PDK4’) that suppresses carbohydrate oxidation 166

(Almquist et al., 2020; Aird et al., 2018), and thus fasted training might also contribute to reductions in the maximal rate of glycolysis. Research interest in RCA training first centred around training while following a chronically low-carbohydrate diet. In these studies, daily carbohydrate intakes were considerably lower than the widely-accepted sports nutrition recommendations, which advise consuming around 5-12g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight per day (Jeukendrup, 2011). While the studies did show that training on a low-carbohydrate diet leads to increases in fat oxidation capacity, in most cases, the studies did not show that this translated to improved performance (Burke, 2015). In fact, it’s become clear that following a low-carbohydrate diet can actually impair exercise economy and the ability to utilise carbohydrates for fuel, which is essential for almost all cycling disciplines, with the possible exception of some ultra-distance events (Burke et al., 2020a, Burke et al., 2020b). It’s also clear that following a low carbohydrate diet can make training feel much harder, and compromise the quality of training sessions (particularly interval sessions), at least over the first 2-3 weeks on this diet (Burke et al., 2020a). Thus, training with low daily carbohydrate intake is not recommended for most cycling disciplines. More recent research attention then turned to the idea of acutely restricting carbohydrates for select training sessions. As mentioned above, this can be achieved by doing training beforehand that will deplete glycogen stores and then restricting carbohydrate between that session and the RCA session. There’s now really good evidence that RCA training such as this promotes adaptations related to improved fat oxidation (Hansen et al., 2005; Lane et al., 2015) and importantly, this also appears to translate to improved performance. For example, Marquet et al. (2016a) compared two groups of trained cyclists, who all completed the same training and consumed the same daily amount of carbohydrates (6g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight) for 6 days. Both groups followed a plan that alternated between doing an interval session after 5pm in the evening, and then on the next day, a low-intensity session in the morning before 10am. The difference between the groups was that the RCA group restricted their carbohydrate intake between the evening interval session and the morning low-intensity session, meaning the low-intensity session was completed with 167

RCA. In contrast, the other group refuelled with carbohydrates between and during all training sessions. After just one week of training, the RCA group improved their 20km time trial by 3.2%, whereas the control group had no improvement. Comparable results have also been observed among triathletes after three weeks on a similar RCA program (Marquet et al., 2016b). There’s also some evidence that training after a simple overnight fast (i.e. without the preceding glycogen-depleting interval session) might also lead to enhanced aerobic adaptations, including increased break-down of lipids and increased power at ‘fat max’ (Van Proeyen et al., 2015; Aird et al., 2018). These sessions are unlikely to be as ‘potent’ as the sessions where glycogen stores are pre-depleted by an interval session, and the performance benefits of these fasted sessions haven’t been definitively shown. However, fasted sessions are often more convenient to fit into a training plan, and so we do think they can still be worth including, particularly if it’s easy for you to do so, and you enjoy doing the sessions.

Tips for Optimal Completion •

Only combine RCA training with sessions that are conducted at Zone 3C or below. That’s because intensities higher than this are almost entirely fuelled by carbohydrates, and so restricting your carbohydrate availability will impair your ability to complete these higher-intensity sessions.

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It’s not clear how many sessions of RCA training per week is optimal. However, we wouldn’t recommend doing this more than 2-3 times per week. That’s because doing more than this might lead to insufficient total energy and carbohydrate intake over the course of the day or week, which might impact your ability to complete subsequent training, and increase your risk of illness or injury. It might also lead to over-suppression of carbohydrate oxidation (Almquist et al., 2020), which could impair performance in racing or high-intensity training.

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How long you can train with RCA within a given session really depends on your existing ability to use fats as fuel, and how hard you are

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riding. We’d recommend starting conservatively, perhaps beginning with 30-60 mins, and building up from there depending on how you feel. Some people are able to train for many hours without eating. However, we wouldn’t advocate doing RCA training for longer than 3 hours, because this will likely impact your total daily energy and carbohydrate intake (with there being fewer hours in the day when you can actually eat!). This may in turn impact subsequent training later in the week and increase your risk of illness and injury, if you are under-fuelled. •

Related to the above, if you’re planning on doing a long ride, but want to incorporate some RCA training, you can start the ride after an overnight fast, and then begin consuming carbohydrates 30-90minutes into the ride. This will ensure the first part of your ride is done in an RCA state, but should prevent you from running out of carbohydrates entirely and ‘bonking’.

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Training with RCA can feel harder than training with high carbohydrate availability. To make the sessions feel easier, try having some caffeine around 30-60mins before an RCA session. Just make sure you avoid sugary drinks, or adding sugar or milk to tea/coffee. Sugar-free sweetener and some unsweetened plant milks like soya or almond milk, which contain minimal carbohydrates, can be substituted instead.

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In general, we’d recommend avoiding RCA during a recovery ride. That’s because the goal of a recovery session is to promote recovery, and should therefore avoid adding any additional training stress or fatigue from RCA training.

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Avoid RCA training if you are ill, because limiting carbohydrates can compromise your immune system, and might mean it takes longer to recover.

Alterations If you’re doing a ride that’s particularly long, then you could begin the ride fuelled, but restrict carbohydrate intake during the ride. In this case, the latter part of the ride will likely be undertaken with RCA (this would depend on your existing ability to use fats for fuel and the intensity at which you’re riding). Therefore, you don’t necessarily need to

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restrict carbohydrate intake before a session, or train twice in a day in order to train with RCA. You can also accelerate this glycogen depletion by riding above Zone 2C in the first part of the ride.

11.6 Classic V̇ O2max Intervals

Figure 50. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across duration of classic V̇ O2max intervals ride. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics A block of intervals typically done around a Zone 5C intensity (typically 110-120% FTP), lasting between 3-6 minutes each, with around a 1:1 or 2:1 work-recovery ratio. Recovery would usually be gentle riding at Zone 1C. The number of intervals generally ranges from 4-8. It’s hard to give heart rate targets for this kind of session, due to the delay between changing intensity and changing heart rate. However, these intervals should be pitched at around an 8/10 effort level, and you should see your heart rate reaching or exceeding 90% of your Max HR, at least after the first 1-2 intervals. This session would typically be preceded by at least a 10-minute warm-up, comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some short, hard efforts at around the intensity of the main set of intervals to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts and pre-elevate oxygen consumption. The intervals would also be followed by at least 10-minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C. Example: 6x 4-min intervals at 110-120% FTP, with 4-min recovery between intervals at 45-55% FTP.

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Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase aerobic capacity.

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Maintain or increase cardiac output.

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Maintain or increase lactate clearance.

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Maintain or increase lactate transport and buffering (note, there are some sessions that we believe are more effective for achieving this, notably, the Over/Unders and Anaerobic Stamina sessions respectively).

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These sessions will also tend to contribute to maintenance or increase in lactate threshold power and anaerobic capacity.

Evidence As we’ve discussed previously, aerobic capacity is dependent both on central factors (i.e. how effectively oxygen can diffuse from the lungs to the blood, the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood and cardiac output) and peripheral factors (which include capillary density, mitochondrial density and enzyme activity). Peripheral factors appear to be most strongly influenced by training volume and are largely independent of exercise intensity, whereas central factors seem to be more responsive to intense training in excess of ~80% of V̇ O2max (Bangsbo et al., 2006, Helgerud et al., 2007; Daussin et al., 2007). There’s also some evidence that intense training is needed in order to improve mitochondrial function (or in other words, the effectiveness with which oxygen can be processed to produce energy in the mitochondria) (Bishop et al., 2014).

Thus, in order to see

improvements in aerobic capacity, interval sessions that allow time above ~80% V̇ O2max to be attained are important. Accumulating time above 80% V̇ O2max is not as simple as riding above 80% of your V̇ O2max power13 unfortunately. When beginning any intense effort, the aerobic system takes some time to fully activate, and in fact it can take around 2-2.5-minutes for V̇ O2max to be reached (Hill & Stevens, 2005; Lisbôa

Indeed, the concept of a single power output that corresponds to V̇ O2max is false – any power above the lactate threshold will actually elicit V̇ O2max , provided that power is sustained for long enough.

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et al., 2015). This is why intervals of at least 3-minutes (and ideally longer) are used in the classic style of V̇ O2max intervals. There’s good evidence that this classic style of V̇ O2max session, where power is held fixed, does allow oxygen consumption in excess of 80% V̇ O2max to be reached. For example, Seiler et al. (2014) showed that intervals lasting 2, 4 and 6-minutes all attained a peak oxygen consumption rates averaging 92±4% of V̇ O2max . Studies have also shown that these classic interval sessions stimulate central adaptations, including increased cardiac output, which we know is the main factor limiting aerobic capacity in many people (Huang et al., 2019; Buchheit & Larsen, 2013). It’s worth noting that these types of interval sessions are also likely to induce increases in the glycolytic rate due to their heavy reliance on the glycolytic energy system (Buchheit & Larsen, 2013).

Tips for Optimal Completion •

Depending on the maximal rate of glycolysis relative to the aerobic capacity, you may need to reduce or increase the power targets for these interval sessions. The first few intervals should feel relatively comfortable, but by the end of the intervals, the last 1-2 should feel like a maximal effort. You should see your heart rate getting in excess of 90% of your maximum.

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Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.



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11.7 Supra-Threshold Intervals

Figure 51. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across supra-threshold interval session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics These intervals are similar to the classic V̇ O2max intervals, but longer and at a slightly lower intensity. Still above the lactate threshold, these intervals are typically done at around 103-108% FTP, and last between 6-8 minutes. Usually a 2:1 work-recovery ratio is used, or slightly longer (e.g. 8-min intervals with 5-min recoveries). Typically, around 3-5 intervals would be completed. Again, it’s hard to give heart rate targets for this kind of session, due to the delay between changing intensity and changing heart rate, and also due to a phenomenon known as the ‘V̇ O2 slow component’ (see below). However, these intervals should be pitched at around an 7.5/10 effort level and in the first interval, you’d expect to see your heart rate rising up to around your lactate threshold heart rate (which is generally 80-90% of your max heart rate if you don’t know your threshold heart rate). In subsequent intervals, your heart rate should exceed your threshold heart rate, ideally reaching 90% of your maximum heart rate or above. As with the classic V̇ O2max intervals, recovery would usually be gentle riding at Zone 1C. and the session would typically be preceded by at least a 10-minute warm-up, comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some short, hard efforts at around the intensity of the main set of intervals to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts, and to ‘prime’ the aerobic 173

system. The intervals would also be followed by at least 10-minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C. Example: 4x 8-min intervals at 103-108% FTP, with 4-mins recovery between each interval at 45-55% FTP.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase aerobic capacity.

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Maintain or increase cardiac output.

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Maintain or increase lactate clearance.

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Maintain or increase lactate transport and buffering.

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These sessions will also tend to contribute to maintenance or increase in lactate threshold power.

Evidence At exercise intensities above the lactate threshold, there’s a phenomenon that occurs, known as the ‘V̇ O2 slow component’. This is where oxygen consumption continues to rise towards V̇ O2max , despite the power being held constant (Jones et al., 2011). These supra-threshold intervals utilise the V̇ O2 slow component to accrue time close to V̇ O2max without the need to ride at such a high intensity as the classic V̇ O2max intervals. The benefit of this is that people often find these intervals, carried out at a slightly lower intensity, subjectively easier than the classic V̇ O2max intervals. This has been proven scientifically too. In a study by Seiler & Sylta (2017) participants completed three sets of intervals on separate occasions, being told to pace each set of intervals maximally across each set. The participants reported finding interval sets comprising 4x 8-mins and 4x 16mins easier than 4x 4-mins, despite the 4x4-mins set having the lowest volume of high-intensity training, and all sets of intervals being done at a maximally paced intensity. In our experience, these longer intervals also tend to accrue more time above 90% max heart rate compared to classic V̇ O2max intervals. Time above 90% max heart rate can be used as an indicator of time accrued close to V̇ O2max , as heart rate tends to correlate closely with V̇ O2 (Swain et al., 174

1994). This suggests that these supra-threshold intervals might be more effective than classic V̇ O2max intervals. This has indeed been our experience as coaches, and we find these supra-threshold intervals to be very effective sessions for many of our athletes. While we’re not aware of any concrete scientific research relating to this specific style of intervals, we also think these supra-threshold intervals likely contribute to improved lactate transport out of active muscle cells. More specifically, while MCT1 lactate transporters (largely responsible for the influx of lactate into cells) appear to respond to a variety of exercise intensities, development of MCT4 transporters, which are predominantly responsible for the efflux of lactate out of cells, appear to require high intensities of exercise, probably at least above the lactate threshold (McGinley et al., 2016). A variety of interval designs have been used to improve MCT4 concentration (McGinley et al., 2016; Juel et al., 2004; Pilegaard et al., 1999). It’s not entirely clear if a particular style of intervals is optimal, but one unifying characteristic appears to be that lactate production rates must be high (e.g. above the lactate threshold) in order to trigger these adaptations. Thus, it seems likely that supra-threshold intervals would result in increased MCT4 concentrations and thus better clearance of lactate out of working muscle fibres. Similar intervals have also resulted in improved buffering capacity (Weston et al., 1996), although in the cited study, recovery intervals were shorter than the ~2:1 work-recovery ratio proposed above. As shorter recovery interval would likely maintain lactate levels at a higher level, and it’s not clear if a short recovery interval is an essential characteristic of intervals seeking to improve buffering capacity.

Tips for Optimal Completion •

Depending on your maximal rate of glycolysis relative to your aerobic capacity, you may need to reduce or increase the power targets for these interval sessions. You can look at your heart rate response and perception of effort to determine if/how these intervals should be adjusted.

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Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.

11.8 Hard-Start V̇ O2max Intervals

Figure 52. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across hard-start V̇ O2max intervals session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics A set of intervals lasting between 3-8 minutes each, which begin with a hard start well above threshold (e.g. around 120-130% FTP or an 8.5/10 effort level for 20 to 30-seconds) to rapidly raise heart rate and oxygen consumption, before settling into an intensity between Zone 4C and Zone 5C, depending on the length of the intervals (higher powers for shorter intervals). In effect, these intervals are a modification of the classic V̇ O2max or supra-threshold intervals with the addition of a hard initial effort. You can therefore refer to these intervals for the appropriate numbers of intervals, work-recovery ratios and warm-up/cool-down routines. Example: 5x hard-start intervals, each beginning with 30-seconds at 120130% FTP, and then settling into 4.5-mins at 100-108% FTP. 3-mins recovery between each interval at 45-55% FTP.

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Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase aerobic capacity.

•

Maintain or increase cardiac output.

•

Maintain or increase lactate clearance.

•

Maintain or increase lactate transport and buffering.

•

These sessions will also tend to contribute to maintenance or increase in lactate threshold power and anaerobic capacity.

Evidence The theory behind these intervals is that, by including an initial hard start, heart rate and oxygen consumption rise more rapidly, allowing more time to be accumulated close to V̇ O2max within each interval. This theory has been validated through research. For example, Ronnestad et al. (2020a) conducted a study among elite cross-country skiiers, comparing 5x 5-min constant power intervals at 90% speed at V̇ O2max , with 5x5-min intervals that started with 1.5M at 100% speed at V̇ O2max , and then dropped down to 85% speed at V̇ O2max . Both sets of intervals had a similar average work output, yet the hard-start intervals accumulated more time above 90% V̇ O2max (12.0-mins versus 10.8-mins). What’s also interesting is that the participants found the hard-start intervals subjectively easier than the constant power intervals. Similar results in relation to time accumulated close to V̇ O2max have also been observed with shorter 3-min intervals among trained cyclists, although in this case, the hard start intervals were rated to be harder than the constant-effort intervals (Zadow et al., 2015).

Tips for Optimal Completion •

After the hard start, reduce the power target for the remainder of the interval versus what you can achieve in the classic V̇ O2max /suprathreshold intervals. For example, if you typically hold 108% FTP when doing a 3x 8-min supra-threshold interval session, then for intervals of the same length but with a hard start, you might want to reduce the power target to something around 103% FTP after the initial hard start. You can play around with power targets to see what’s achievable for you. 177

•

As with the previous two interval styles, you should see your heart rate reaching or exceeding 90% of your max heart rate, at least by the second or third interval.

•

Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.

Alterations As an alternative, for longer intervals (e.g. 5-mins upwards), you can also add in some hard efforts/surges throughout the interval to help keep heart rate and oxygen consumption up, while allowing you to reduce the baseline power you need to hold. As an example, rather than doing constant power efforts comprising 5x 5-min intervals at 110% FTP, you could do 5x 5-mins at ~100% FTP, but with a 3x 30-sec efforts at 125-130% FTP interspersed throughout the interval. A recent study (Bossi et al., 2020) has shown this structure of oscillating between powers at around the lactate threshold, and short efforts considerably above the lactate threshold to be an effective strategy for accumulating time close to V̇ O2max .

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11.9 Billat V̇ O2max Intervals

Figure 53. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across Billat V̇ O2max intervals session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics A set of 6 to 10-minute intervals beginning with 1.5 to 2-minutes at high Zone 5C/low Zone 6C (i.e. around 120-125% FTP or an 8.5/10 effort level), which should see your heart rate rise above 90-95% of your max heart rate. For the remainder of the interval, power is then continually adjusted in order to keep heart rate above 90-95% max heart rate. This can see power output actually drop close to the lactate threshold power/FTP. However, as these intervals are led by heart rate rather than power, the precise power held during the remainder of these intervals is not important. Use a 2:1 work-recovery ratio, or a slightly longer recovery when first starting out with these. Recovery should be gentle riding at Zone 1C. The number of intervals generally ranges from 2-5 depending on the length of the intervals chosen. This session would typically be preceded by at least a 10-minute warm-up, comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some optional short, hard efforts at around the intensity of the main set of intervals to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts. The intervals would also be followed by at least 10-minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C. Example: 5x 6-min intervals, beginning at 120-125% FTP for 1.5-mins, or as long as necessary to raise heart rate >90% Max HR. Then continually adjust 179

power to keep heart rate above 90-95% Max HR. 4-min recovery between intervals at ~50% FTP.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase aerobic capacity.

•

Maintain or increase cardiac output.

•

Maintain or increase lactate clearance.

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Maintain or increase lactate transport and buffering (although in our experience, there are better sessions for achieving this, notably, the Over/Unders and Anaerobic Stamina sessions respectively).

•

These sessions will also tend to contribute to maintained or increased lactate threshold power, anaerobic capacity and lactate transport.

Evidence Similar to the hard-start intervals, the theory behind these intervals is that the power initially required to raise oxygen consumption close to V̇ O2max is greater than the power required to maintain oxygen consumption once ~V̇ O2max has been reached. This means, after an initial hard start, power output can be reduced while still accumulating time close to V̇ O2max . This in turn allows intervals to be continued for longer than would ordinarily be the case with traditional constant-power interval designs. These heart rate-led intervals also use the fact that heart rate (expressed as a percentage of max heart rate) can be used as a proxy measure of oxygen consumption (expressed as a percentage of V̇ O2max ) in order to ensure the minimum power output is being used at any given time that maintains an oxygen consumption that’s close to V̇ O2max . In particular, by targeting heart rates in excess of 90-95% max heart rate, this ensures that oxygen consumption is maintained within 80-90% of V̇ O2max (Swain et al., 1994). For most people, cardiac output is a main limiter of aerobic capacity, and so targeting high heart rates that may cause cardiac output to improve is also beneficial in developing aerobic capacity, irrespective of oxygen uptake rates.

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This style of intervals has been shown in research to allow much greater time to be accrued close to V̇ O2max . In particular Billat et al (2013) compared constant-power intervals that were held at the maximal aerobic power14 with intervals where power varied, but oxygen consumption was held at V̇ O2max . In the latter case, the average power was much lower than the maximal aerobic power. However, despite this, the participants were able to accrue nearly 16-minutes at V̇ O2max , whereas they were only able to hold their maximal aerobic power for 2.2 minutes on average, which is a massive difference. Lisbôa et al., (2015) also found intervals that stepped down from a high power towards around 110% FTP elicited more time close to V̇ O2max than constant power intervals.

Tips for Optimal Completion •

Some people who are very used to training with power find these intervals hard to get their head around initially. It’s useful to watch your power over the first 1.5 to 2-mins to make sure you’re riding hard enough to elevate your heart rate quickly. But once your heart rate hits 90-95% max, you can ignore your power completely and just focus on heart rate.

•

If you’re finding it hard to elevate your heart rate to above 90% max, and you’re confident you have your max heart rate set correctly, this might be a sign that your lactate threshold is quite low relative to your V̇ O2max (i.e. a low fractional utilisation), and it might be worth spending some time improving your fractional utilisation before attempting these intervals. It could also be a sign of fatigue though, so you should try the intervals a few times before adapting your training plan.

•

Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.

As we’ve noted previously, the concept of a ‘maximal aerobic power’ is false – any power above the lactate threshold will elicit V̇ O2max if held for long enough. However, in this instance, maximal aerobic power is the maximum power reached in a ramp test. For details of the ramp test used, please refer to the cited paper.

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Alterations If you prefer to do power-led sessions, then the ‘Hard Start’ intervals are the most similar to these heart-rate led intervals. Check out the ‘Alterations’ section of those intervals too, as there are different formats in which you can vary your power to accumulate more time close to V̇ O2max . Or you could follow a structured workout similar to the study by Lisbôa et al. (2015), starting at a low Zone 6C intensity and stepping down power towards around 110% FTP over a period of around 5 to 6-minutes. In our view though, it’s worth the effort to get used to doing these heartrate led intervals, as they will likely allow the greatest amount of time to be accumulated close to V̇ O2max for the minimal training effort.

11.10 Microburst Intervals

Figure 54. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across microburst intervals session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics This interval design includes 2-4 blocks of ‘microburst’ intervals, or in other words very short, sharp efforts, separated by similarly short recoveries. Each microburst typically lasts between 15 to 45 seconds, and within each block, the work-recovery ratio is usually between 1:1 and 2:1 (although in our experience 2:1 intervals tend to work best for accruing time above 90% max heart rate).

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The microbursts are usually done around a Zone 6C intensity, although depending on the relative strengths of your anaerobic and aerobic capacity, you might need to increase or decrease the power targets (see tips for optimal completion below). The recovery intervals should comprise easy spinning (Zone 1c). Each block will typically last somewhere between 9-15 minutes, with around 3-5 minutes of easy riding at Zone 1-2c between. It’s very hard to do these intervals based on heart rate or perceived effort as these methods are too imprecise, so we’d recommend only doing these intervals if you have access to a power meter. This session would typically be preceded by at least a 10-minute warm-up, comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some optional short, hard efforts at around the intensity of the main set of intervals to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts. The intervals would also be followed by at least 10-minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C. Example: 3 blocks of: 12 x 30S at 120-130% FTP, with 15S recovery at 40-50% FTP. 4-mins recovery between blocks at 50-60% FTP.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase aerobic capacity.

•

Maintain or increase cardiac output.

•

Maintain or increase lactate clearance.

•

Maintain or increase lactate transport and buffering.

•

These sessions will also tend to contribute to maintained or increased lactate threshold power and anaerobic capacity.

Evidence These intervals work on the principle that heart rate and oxygen consumption drifts upwards towards maximal levels throughout each block. The inclusion of “micro-recovery” in each block allows for reasonably long duration blocks to be achieved, leading to a greater total time spent at a high % of max heart rate and V̇ O2max . Several studies have confirmed 183

microburst intervals are an effective format for developing aerobic capacity (Tabata et al., 1996; Rønnestad et al., 2015), and shown that they might out-perform classic V̇ O2max intervals in this regard (Rønnestad et al., 2020b). There’s also some evidence that intervals such as these, which cause a surge in lactate levels, and allow only minimal time for this to be cleared, can help develop the lactate transport and/or buffering systems (Edge et al., 2006). It’s worth noting that, with these intervals being around Zone 6C, they can also lead to notable developments in peak anaerobic power and the maximal rate of glycolysis (Buchheit & Larsen, 2013). Theoretically, may also contribute to improved lactate transport and buffering, although we are not aware of any research exploring this.

Tips for Optimal Completion •

You should see your heart rate drift up to around 90-95% of your max heart rate in these intervals. If your heart rate doesn’t get that high, you can either shorten the recovery periods or increase the power targets for the microbursts.

•

Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.

Alterations If you’re looking to shift the focus of these intervals more towards developing lactate buffering and transport, see the Anaerobic Stamina intervals below. These are very similar to microbursts, but the intervals are configured to primarily cause an elevation in lactate levels rather than an elevation in heart rate.

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11.11 Lactate Threshold Intervals

Figure 55. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across lactate threshold intervals session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics A set of intervals at or very close to lactate threshold power (e.g. ~98103% FTP, 95-105% lactate threshold HR, or ~80-90% Max HR). These can last anywhere from around 6-mins to 30-mins and can be used to accumulate a total time at threshold up to around 1-hour (although that would be a very hard session, and we’d usually target something closer to 20-45-mins, depending on level of experience). Examples could be e.g. 5-6x 6-mins, 3-4x 10-mins, 2-3x 15-mins etc. The work-recovery ratio is typically around 2:1 (or slightly shorter recoveries), and the intervals should be preceded by at least a 10-minute warm-up, comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some optional short, hard efforts at around the intensity of the main set of intervals to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts. The intervals would also be followed by at least 10-minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C. Example: 3x 12-mins at 98-103% FTP with 5-mins recovery at 45-55% FTP between intervals.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase lactate clearance, transport and buffering.

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Maintain or increase lactate tolerance.

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Maintain or increase endurance at threshold. 185

•

Maintain or increase lactate threshold power.

Evidence This is a very common, yet often contentious format of interval. Many people use these intervals with the intention of increasing their lactate threshold power. However, evidence suggests that these intervals may be more effective at improving time to exhaustion at the lactate threshold, and may only produce relatively small improvements in actual lactate threshold power (Billat et al., 2004). The improvements in time to exhaustion probably come from a combination of increased pain tolerance and improved lactate buffering. Importantly, these kinds of intervals do not appear to help reduce the amount of lactate produced (contrary to what many people think), but instead appear to be training the ability to clear and tolerate lactate. In the study by Billat et al. (2004) only relatively small improvements in lactate threshold power were achieved using this style of intervals. Yet it’s important to note that these intervals expose the muscles to high levels of acidosis and muscular tension for considerable periods of time. There’s therefore a good argument that these sessions do not offer enough of a physiological benefit for the amount of stress, fatigue and muscle damage they induce. Indeed, the polarised training model, which is followed by many highly-successful athletes, and which we discuss in Chapter 12, calls for the inclusion of only very small amounts of training at the lactate threshold, for this reason. In our view, intervals at the lactate threshold can have a place within a training plan. In particular, where racing is undertaken close to the lactate threshold (e.g. racing lasting between 40-mins to 2-hours where intensity is relatively steady), then we feel these lactate threshold intervals can be useful in the weeks running up to important races, in helping to develop lactate tolerance and endurance, and generally helping to prepare mentally for the type of intensity that’s expected in racing. However, it’s important to note that where improvements in lactate threshold power are desired, we do not think these lactate threshold intervals are the most effective sessions to use. We think better sessions

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include Zone 2C aerobic development rides and aerobic capacity development intervals (both of which contribute to reduced lactate production and improved clearance) and over/under intervals, which we discuss next (contributing to increased lactate clearance).

Tips for Optimal Completion •

In order to keep developing lactate tolerance and endurance, gradually progress to longer intervals as you become more comfortable with riding at this intensity.

•

Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.

Alterations If you’re looking to improve your lactate transport ability, we’d recommend using the over/under interval design discussed next.

11.12 Over/Unders

Figure 56. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across over/unders intervals session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics These intervals typically comprise around 2-4 blocks of ‘over/unders’, each block lasting between 8-20 minutes. During each block, power is alternated

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between just above the lactate threshold (Zones 5C or 6C) and just below the lactate threshold (top end of Zone 3C). There are a whole host of ways these over/unders can be structured. However, the main goal is to accumulate lactate during the ‘over’ portion, and then allow this to clear during the ‘under’ portion. The correct combination of power and duration for these over/unders should allow each block to be sustained for at least 8-10 minutes. It’s hard to give specific intensity and duration targets as these can be very variable, depending on your rate of lactate production and clearance. However, we’ve included some examples below to give you a starting point. Between each block of over/unders include 3 to 5-mins of active recovery. It’s hard to do these intervals based on heart rate due to the latency of the heart rate response, although you can use your sensations of how lactate is accumulating and clearing as described in the ‘Tips for Optimal Completion’ section below if you don’t have a power meter. As with all other intervals, they should be preceded by at least a 10minute warm-up, comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some optional short, hard efforts at around the intensity of the main set of intervals to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts. The intervals would also be followed by at least 10-minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C. Example 1:

3x 10-min blocks, where each block alternates between 103-105%

FTP for 1-min, and 80-90% FTP for 1.5-mins. Take 4-mins recovery at around 50% FTP between each block. Example 2: 3x 12-min blocks, where each block alternates between 115-125% FTP for 45-secs, and 80-85% FTP for 2-mins and 15-secs. Take 4 to 5-mins recovery at around 50% FTP between each block.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or improve lactate clearance through improved aerobic capacity and lactate transport.

•

Maintain or improve lactate threshold power.

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Maintain or improve fractional utilisation.

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Maintain or improve anaerobic stamina.

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Maintain or improve lactate tolerance, potentially via improved lactate buffering.

Evidence In terms of scientific evidence, this style of intervals is not well researched. As discussed in relation to supra-threshold intervals, there is some evidence that riding above the lactate threshold can result in increased concentrations of MCT4 transporters, which are responsible for transporting lactate out of working muscle fibres. Thus, during the ‘over’ portions of these intervals, increases in MCT4 concentrations may be stimulated. These intervals also work on the principle that lactate clearance rates are highest when riding at around 80-90% of the lactate threshold (Devlin et al., 2014; Menzies et al., 2010). By riding at this intensity during the ‘under’ portions, there’s an argument that the lactate clearance systems are being maximally worked, which may result in improved lactate clearance (e.g. through increased MCT1 transporters or enzymes linked with lactate oxidation). However, to our knowledge, there’s little evidence to support or refute this theory. Anecdotally, we’ve also observed that this style of intervals can accumulate considerable amounts of time close to maximum heart rate/V̇ O2max , and thus these intervals may also contribute to improved aerobic capacity (which is itself a major determinant of lactate clearance rates). Ultimately, while firm scientific evidence supporting these intervals does not exist, these intervals are used by many top athletes and coaches, and in our experience, they seem to be an effective strategy for improving lactate clearance with as little as ~4-weeks of training.

Tips for Optimal Completion •

As mentioned, it can be hard to give precise power targets and durations for these intervals. You can, however, get a good idea of 189

whether the intensity and duration is set appropriately for you by paying attention to the feelings of lactate within your legs (which feels like a burning sensation). With each over portion, you should feel lactate building up in your legs to a moderately uncomfortable level. Then with each under portion, you should feel the lactate slowly clearing, so that by the time you’re about to start your next ‘over’ portion, lactate levels feel like they have dropped back to a baseline level. •

Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.

Alterations See ‘Anaerobic Stamina’ sessions – these provide similar training benefits to ‘Over/Unders’ in relation to lactate transport and buffering. As mentioned above, the ‘Microburst’ intervals can also help develop lactate clearance and buffering, and can be used as an alternative to these ‘Over/Unders’, although in our experience, microbursts do not seem to be quite as effective, potentially due to their short duration, and thus lowered lactate levels.



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11.13 Anaerobic Stamina

Figure 57. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across anaerobic stamina intervals session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics There are a wide range of ways in which these intervals can be designed. They are typified by efforts above the lactate threshold (i.e. Zones 5C and 6C), with short recoveries in Zone 1C. It’s hard to give precise interval prescriptions. However, for intervals at Zone 6C a 1:1 to 1:3 work-recovery ratio would be used. For intervals at Zone 5C, shorter recoveries of 2:1 or less would be used. We’ve given some example workouts below to try to exemplify some of these scenarios. As with many of the other sessions involving shorter intervals, it’s hard to pace these using heart rate. Typically, each effort should feel like an 8 or 9/10 effort level, but you’ll achieve a much higher training quality if you can do these sessions with power. In order to complete a greater number of intervals, they can be divided into blocks with a longer period of recovery between blocks. As with other intervals, they should be preceded by at least a 10-minute warm-up, comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some optional short, hard efforts at around the intensity of the main set of intervals to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts. The intervals would also be followed by at least 10-minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C.

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Example 1 (Zone 6C efforts with 1:2 work-recovery ratio): 2x blocks of intervals, each comprising 5x 60-sec at 130-140% FTP, taking 2-mins recovery between each interval at ~50% FTP, and a longer 10-min recovery between the two blocks at 50-65% FTP. Example 2 (Short Zone 5C efforts with 2:1 work-recovery ratio): 20-30x 1min efforts at 105-110% FTP, with 30-sec recovery at ~50% FTP. Example 3 (Longer Zone 5C efforts with 4:1 work-recovery ratio): 6-8x 4-min efforts at 102-105% FTP, with 1-min recovery at ~50% FTP.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or improve lactate transport.

•

Maintain or improve lactate buffering ability.

•

Maintain or improve anaerobic stamina.

•

Maintain or improve neural ability to activate fast-twitch muscle fibres.

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Maintain or improve aerobic capacity (although we believe there are more effective sessions for achieving this).

•

Maintain or improve mitochondrial function.

Evidence Improvements in lactate transport and buffering have been observed from a variety of different interval designs that are similar to the anaerobic stamina intervals described above (Bangsbo et al., 2006; Pilegaard et al., 1999; Edge et al., 2006; Weston et al., 1996; Juel et al., 2004)15. In relation to buffering, Edge et al. (2006) observed a 25% improvement in muscle buffering capacity in untrained female cyclists after 5-weeks of interval sessions (3 days per week) comprising 7x 2-min intervals at 120-

Note that methods for measuring buffering capacity are not entirely reliable (Sahlin et al., 2014), and some scientists do debate whether training can actually increase buffering capacity. Nevertheless, it seems clear that training above the lactate threshold does improve lactate tolerance; whether that’s through increased buffering or transport is not too important.

15

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130% FTP, with 1-min recovery. This was compared with no change in muscle buffering capacity among the control group, who did the same training volume, but all at Zone 3C. Studies have also seen improved buffering from longer intervals (e.g. 6-8x 5-min intervals with 1-min recovery among welltrained cyclists; Weston et al., 1996). Lactate transport out of muscle fibres has also been improved by intervals comprising (i) 3-5 sets of 5x 30 to 60-sec intervals with 2-mins recovery (Pilegaard et al., 1999), (ii) 5-15 x 2mins just above the lactate threshold, with 1-min recovery (McGinley et al., 2016) and 15x 1-min at 150% maximal aerobic power, with 3-mins recovery (Juel et al., 2004). It’s notable that all such studies were in untrained or recreationally active athletes, so it’s not clear how well-trained and elite cyclists would respond to these styles of intervals.

Tips for Optimal Completion •

You’ll have to play around with the intensity and duration of intervals and recovery periods to find what’s achievable for you. Recovery should be the shortest possible duration that allows you to recover sufficiently to maintain a consistent power across all intervals.

•

You should feel lactate levels accumulate with each interval (i.e. increasing burning sensation in legs), and then clear during each recovery period.

•

Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.



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11.14 Anaerobic Power Development

Figure 58. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across anaerobic power intervals session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics A series of 2-8 maximal or near-maximal efforts, each lasting between 2090-seconds, with recoveries of at least a 1:5 work-recovery ratio. Recovery is long in order to enable full replenishment of phosphocreatine stores and clearance of lactate, such that each interval can be done at or close to a maximal intensity. Recovery should comprise riding between Zones 1C to 3C to facilitate faster clearance of lactate. These intervals benefit from a longer warm-up (e.g. 30-mins), comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some optional short, ~10-second surges at 8-9/10 effort to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts. The intervals should also be followed by at least 15-minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C. Example: 6x 60-second maximal efforts, with at least 5-minutes recovery between efforts. The efforts should be paced to sustain a consistent but maximal effort across each 60-sec effort.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase peak anaerobic power and the maximal rate of glycolysis.

•

Maintain or increase neural ability to activate fast-twitch muscle fibres.

•

Maintain or increase lactate clearance and buffering. 194

•

Maintain or increase aerobic capacity.

•

Maintain or increase mitochondrial function.

Evidence The main effect of these intervals is to increase peak anaerobic power – that is the maximal rate at which energy can be produced anaerobically. This includes factors such as increased activity of enzymes associated with both the phosphocreatine system and the glycolytic system, and also increased glycogen storage within the muscles (Bangsbo et al., 2006). In addition, these intervals can also contribute to improved anaerobic stamina through improved buffering of hydrogen ions (Bangsbo et al., 2006), and potential improvements in lactate transport (Pilegaard et al., 1999), aerobic capacity (Burgomaster et al., 2006) and mitochondrial function (Bishop et al., 2014).

Tips for Optimal Completion •

The first time you do these intervals, it’s best to pace them based on feel. However, after this first attempt, you’ll have a better idea of what power you can hold across each interval, and this will help with pacing in subsequent sessions.

•

Make sure you do these intervals when you’re well-fuelled and hydrated, and feeling fresh (ideally after a recovery day) so that you can hit the required power targets.



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11.15 Neuromuscular

Figure 59. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across neuromuscular intervals session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics These intervals are characterised by 3 to 10 short, 5 to 20-second maximal efforts, with complete recovery between efforts. Recovery intervals between efforts should be at least 2-minutes, to allow time for phosphocreatine stores to replenish. As with anaerobic power intervals, these intervals benefit from a longer warm-up (e.g. 30-mins), comprising mostly Zones 1-2C, with some optional short, ~10-second surges at 8-9/10 effort to fully prepare the muscles for these hard efforts. The intervals should also be followed by at least 15minutes of cool-down in Zones 1-2C. Example: 2 sets of 4 sprints, each set comprising 10-secs at a maximal effort, followed by 3-mins recovery at ~50% FTP. 10-20-mins riding at 5065% FTP between the two sets.

Main Physiological Goals •

Maintain or increase ability to recruit Type IIx muscle fibres through improved neural connections.

•

Maintain or increase peak anaerobic power.

•

Maintain or increase maximal sprint power.

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•

Maintain or increase neural firing efficiency, and thus delay neural fatigue.

•

Maintain or increase aerobic capacity (longer sprints only).

Evidence You might recall from Chapter 2 that two things are needed for a muscle fibre to contract. First a source of ATP (i.e. energy) is needed. Second, we need a nerve signal, which is effectively an electrical impulse that stimulates a series of chemical reactions within the muscle fibre. These chemical reactions create conditions within the muscle fibre allowing the muscle to contract. Up until now, we have focussed on training that largely impacts the first factor: the supply of ATP or energy to power muscle contraction. However, training can also be used to impact the nerve signals that cause this contraction to take place. This is called neuromuscular training. The process of neural stimulation is complicated and we won’t go into too much detail, as it’s not necessary in order to understand this type of neuromuscular training. It’s sufficient to understand that improvements to the neural system can impact (i) the number of muscle fibres that can be recruited, (ii) the maximal force with which those fibres can contract and (iii) the efficiency with which neural signals translate to force production. Ultimately, neural improvements can lead to more coordinated and neurally efficient muscle contractions, and higher maximal force production. Neuromuscular training can also indirectly increase peak anaerobic power, because it results in greater recruitment of the available muscle mass, and thus a higher store of phosphocreatine and glycogen that can be broken down anaerobically (Sahlin et al., 2014). Studying the neural impact of training is challenging, as it’s hard to reliably measure these changes. For this reason, many studies have failed to definitively observe any neuromuscular adaptations to sprint training (Lewis et al., 2017; Zhou et al., 1996; Schaun et al., 2019). Indeed, we are aware of only one study that has observed evidence of improved neural signalling during cycling (Creer et al., 2004). Nevertheless, numerous

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studies have shown an improvement in maximal power and markers of anaerobic capacity as a result of sprint training (Creer et al., 2004) and therefore, the performance benefits of this type of training are well supported, even if the mechanisms for these improvements have not been proved definitively. There is some evidence that longer sprints may contribute to improved aerobic capacity, via improved mitochondrial function (Bishop et al., 2014). It’s worth noting that there’s evidence that sprint training needs to be bike-specific, as other studies have failed to find translation of neuromuscular training between different movement patterns (Creer et al., 2004). Therefore, it’s better to do sprint training on a bike than to do e.g. explosive strength training in the gym, which is less bike-specific.

Tips for Optimal Completion •

Provided sufficient recovery is taken between sprints, these can be structured in a number of ways e.g. grouped into one or more blocks, or spread throughout a ride whenever is convenient.

•

Sprints are best done in a big gear, with a rolling start, so that you can maintain a reasonable cadence throughout. Starting from stationary, on the other-hand, will mean the first few seconds of the sprint will be done at a very low cadence as you start to accelerate, working more on muscular strength rather than maximal power production.

Adaptations Intervals less than 20-seconds don’t result in an appreciable accumulation of lactate (Buchheit & Larsen, 2013), and thus sprints can be included within a long aerobic-development ride without compromising the main purpose of that ride (which is to develop the aerobic systems and in particular improve the capacity for fat oxidation). There’s also emerging evidence that even 30-sec sprints (which do result in some lactate accumulation), when combined with a long endurance ride (3H+) might enhance the aerobic adaptations from such rides. Almquist et al.,

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(2020) compared the acute hormonal and muscular responses to a long, lowintensity ride with and without the addition of 30-sec sprints, and found increases in signalling molecules linked with improved fat oxidation and capillary density from the addition of sprints. This research is very early-stage, and more research is certainly needed to explore whether these adaptations actually occur over a period of longer-term training and whether that translates to a performance benefit. However, the early evidence is encouraging. Our recommendation in relation to including sprints within a long aerobic development ride would be to include the sprints as a single, condensed block (rather than e.g. spreading these throughout the ride), so that you still have a good chunk of time before and/or after the block of sprints where fat oxidation will be the primary system being worked.

11.16 Pre-Race/Event Openers

Figure 60. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across pre-race openers session. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics This is a session we’d recommend including the day before a key race or event. The intensity is kept predominantly low (e.g. Zone 1C and low Zone 2C), but a small number of efforts are included across a range of intensities. Example: 1H session comprising: •

10-15M warm up between high Zone 1C and low Zone 2C. 199

•

3x 1M @ Zone 4C. Take 2M or so easy spinning after each effort.

•

10-15M steady between high Zone 1C and low Zone 2C.

•

Then a further 2x efforts, each comprising o 1M @ Zone 4C o 30S @ Zone 5C. o Take 2M or so easy spinning between efforts.

•

Finish the ride up to ~1H with a cool down of more steady riding between high Zone 1C and low Zone 2C.

Main Physiological Goals •

Prepare for racing by activating muscles across a range of intensities while keeping intensity sufficiently low as to not cause fatigue on race day.

•

Prepare mentally for the types of intensities expected in upcoming race/event.

•

Potentially helps minimise decrease in plasma volume while tapering for a race or event.

Evidence We’re not aware of any scientific research into the use of pre-race openers. However, they are commonly used in practice by athletes and coaches, and in our experience, they have multiple benefits: First, they help the legs feel more ‘activated’ and can shed any sensations of ‘sluggishness’ after having taken a few days of very easy riding. It’s unclear why this openers session helps in this regard, but it might be that it helps improve plasma volume after a few days of low training volume (Mujika & Padilla, 2000). Secondly, an openers session can help mentally prepare you for the types of intensities you’re likely to experience in racing, familiarising you with the expected sensations. Finally, they can also act as an indicator of your current form, and should hopefully give you confidence that your taper has been successful in shedding fatigue. Ultimately, this ride should leave you feeling prepared and confident for the next day’s event.

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Tips for Optimal Completion The main advice for this session is to avoid being tempted to include too many efforts in this session. It’s not a full interval session – and you want to avoid doing anything that would cause fatigue the next day.

Adaptations You can adjust the openers session to better emulate the specific characteristics of your race. For example, if you were doing a short hillclimb or track sprint, you might focus more on including some short (~10second) surges at around the power/intensity you expect to race at. The overarching principles of the openers are that the session (i) is kept quite short, (ii) is predominantly low-intensity (High Zone 1C or low Zone 2C) and (iii) the efforts are short relative to the usual length of time you’d hold that intensity, so as to create minimal fatigue.

11.17 Pre-Race Warm-Up

Figure 61. Schematic overview of intensity distribution across pre-race warm-up routine. Colours and heights designate approximate training intensity zones.

Characteristics This is a session we’d recommend including shortly before a key race or event, particularly if it’s likely to include some intensive riding. The session is characterised by being predominantly at a low intensity (e.g.

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Zone 2C), but also includes some small amounts of intensity above threshold. Example: 30-min warm up comprising: •

5 minutes riding at Zone 2C

•

~5-10 minutes gradually increasing intensity towards the top end of Zone 3C

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Another ~5 minutes riding steady at Zone 2C

•

Then 4x ~45 second efforts at around 110-115% FTP (Zone 5C), taking ~1-minute of easy spinning after each surge.

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5-minutes of gentle riding at Zone 2C to allow lactate to clear.

Main Physiological Goals •

Warm up body to reduce risk of tears and strains.

•

Prime the aerobic system for subsequent racing.

Evidence A first objective of a warm-up routine is to improve the resistance of the muscles and ligaments to tears and strains. For this purpose, a relatively short (e.g. 5-10 minute) low-intensity warm-up on the bike, either riding on the road or on rollers, is sufficient (Woods et al., 2007). Stretching may also help minimise injury risk. However, static stretching may impair performance in some cases (Behm et al., 2011). While this performance detriment due to static stretching has not been consistently observed in cycling (O’Connor et al., 2006; Kendall, 2017), the best advice is probably to avoid static stretching before a competition or event, and stick to dynamic stretching routines such as lunges and torso rotations if you want to include stretching in your warm-up routine. Dynamic stretching appears to have a lower risk of performance detriment (Behm et al., 2011). A second purpose of the warm-up is to ‘prime’ the aerobic system so that it responds more rapidly at the beginning of a race/event. More specifically, as we discussed in Chapter 1 of this guide, when you begin riding, it takes some time for the aerobic system to ramp up its contribution to energy production. Over the first few seconds of exercise, energy is heavily derived through the anaerobic systems. If exercise is to be continued at a 202

high intensity, it’s therefore beneficial for the aerobic system to reach maximal activation as quickly as possible, so as to minimise the accumulation of fatiguing byproducts associated with the anaerobic systems, and minimise the depletion of the anaerobic capacity. The responsiveness of the aerobic system to the onset of exercise is known as ‘V̇ O2 kinetics’, and this can be influenced by a warm-up routine. The mechanisms through which V̇ O2 kinetics are improved are not fully understood, but potential mechanisms include improved rate of oxygen delivery to the working muscles, improved responsiveness of aerobic enzymes to the onset of exercise, and faster fuel availability (Jones et al., 2003). It appears that short bursts of cycling above the lactate threshold help improve V̇ O2 kinetics (Jones et al., 2003). The warm up should therefore include: •

a steady increase in intensity in the initial stages, to minimise injury risk,

•

some short supra-threshold efforts to prime the aerobic system, and finally,

•

a period of lower intensity riding, to allow for accumulated lactate and associated metabolites to be cleared.

Carrying out a thorough ‘priming’ warm-up such as the one outlined above is particularly important for races that are carried out above the lactate threshold, where an improvement in V̇ O2 kinetics has been shown to improve the time to exhaustion (Jones et al., 2003). This is because V̇ O2max is reached faster, and thus less of the anaerobic capacity is depleted during the period of time between the onset of exercise and reaching V̇ O2max .

Tips for Optimal Completion The warm-up should be included as close as possible to the start of the race or event, so that the benefits of this ‘priming’ routine are not lost as the body returns to resting metabolic conditions.

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11.18 Other Sessions The sessions above have so far been focussed on developing specific aspects of fitness. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that training can have other purposes too, including: •

Developing race-specific skills (e.g. bike handling, bunch riding, practice riding flats and descents at speed etc.).

•

Familiarisation with a course or route.

•

Unstructured riding for fun and/or to be social! We think it’s important to include unstructured sessions for fun/social purposes, particularly when your key event/race is >3-4 months away, as at this point in the year, a key priority is maintaining motivation and enjoyment of training.

These are all important sessions to include in your plan, which might not have a specific fitness-related goal.

11.19 General Tips To wrap up this chapter, it’s worth mentioning a few general tips in relation to completing your training sessions. First relates to cadence. We often get asked about what cadence different types of session should be completed at. However, in our view, unless we have specified otherwise above, you shouldn’t worry too much about cadence, and should just ride at whatever cadence feels comfortable for you. Trying to ride at an unnatural cadence can increase your risk of injury, so we don’t think you should try to change this unless there’s a very good reason to do so (e.g. riding at a low cadence in order to recruit more Type IIa muscle fibres, as discussed above). Even in that scenario, if you get any pain or discomfort, you should revert back to a cadence that’s more natural. An exception to this rule might be during the specific preparation phase, where you might include some intervals at higher/lower cadences that you would naturally use to help replicate conditions of racing, so that you can get used to riding under these conditions and force better neuromuscular recruitment patterns. An example might be including some high-cadence sprints to replicate conditions in a road or criterium race.

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Another point relates to recoveries between intervals. As we’ve noted above, recoveries are best done while riding at a ~Zone 1C intensity. This gentle intensity helps clear lactate more rapidly than complete rest. However, if you do your intervals on a hill, it’s perfectly fine to use your recovery interval to coast back down the hill. This might mean you need to extend your recovery period slightly to account for the slightly slower lactate clearance rates. See how you feel with a normal-length recovery interval, and adjust if needed. Selecting a suitable location for your intervals is important. The key thing is that the road is sufficiently long and uninterrupted in order to complete the full interval without disruption. Most people also find it easier to do intervals on a hill, and this is perfectly fine. If you don’t have a suitable location outdoors (many people don’t!), the next best thing would be to do the intervals indoors, although this can feel subjectively harder. Finally, think about which equipment you’ll be using in your target race or event (if relevant). It’s good practice to include at least some training where you use this equipment (whether that’s a particular bike, or some other equipment e.g. shoes or pedals). This is firstly so that you become familiar and confident with using that equipment, and to ensure your set-up is ok and doesn’t cause any discomfort or injury. Secondly, this is because certain equipment (particularly your bike!) can impact your biomechanics, and thus muscle recruitment patterns. So, it’s important that you’re recruiting your muscles in training in the same way that you’ll recruit them in your target event. A key example of this is training on a time trial bike, where muscle recruitment patterns will be really quite different from on a regular road bike.

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11.20 Chapter Summary •

This chapter outlines different types of training sessions that can be used to achieve different training goals. These are also summarised in the supplementary Training Session Look-Up Table provided with this guide.

•

It’s always good to plan a training session with a specific purpose in mind. This will usually be fitness-related, but might also include sessions working on skills development, race preparation and fun/social purposes, for example.

•

Where training is fitness-related, the precise structure of a session (including interval intensities, durations and recovery periods) will impact the physiological adaptations from that session. It’s therefore not appropriate to look just at the normalised power for a session, or even the total time in zone in order to ascertain the likely physiological response to that session.



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Chapter 12: Training Intensity Distribution 12.1 The Intensity Distribution Concept Having covered training intensity zones and session types, an important question arises: how much of each type of session/intensity should I be doing? While the optimum balance will depend on your specific training goals and individual physiology, there are several ‘training intensity distribution’ frameworks that you can work within, and which can be very helpful for planning purposes. To understand what we mean by ‘training intensity distribution, let’s consider the following example. In this example, we plan a block of training where every week, each training session comprises: •

a 10-min warm-up and cool-down in Zone 2,

•

4x 8-min intervals just above the lactate threshold, and

•

2-min recoveries between intervals in Zone 1,

In this example, you’d be spending 13% of time in Zone 1, 33% in Zone 2, and 53% in Zone 5. This is your training intensity distribution. Considering the training intensity distribution over a period of time can provide a framework to help you determine the right balance between training intensities. This can help both to ensure different aspects of your fitness are progressing at appropriate rates, and to avoid including too much high-intensity training, which can be particularly stressful and put you at risk of becoming fatigued or over-trained. To keep things simple, for this framework we use a three-zone model, as described in Chapter 4, where Zone 1 (‘low intensity’) runs up to the first lactate threshold (i.e. the point where lactate levels begin to rise above baseline but still remain at a stable level for a given power output) and Zone 2 (‘moderate intensity’) runs up to the second lactate threshold (i.e. the highest power that can be sustained while lactate levels remain steady). As a reminder, if we equate these to the Coggan zones, the low 207

intensity zone runs up to the top of Zone 2C, the medium intensity zone corresponds to Zones 3-4C, and the high intensity zone is Zones 5C and upwards. To further simplify this approach, instead of counting up the actual time spent in the different zones, we consider what’s called a ‘sessional goal approach’, where each entire session is classified as either high, medium or low intensity based on the intensity of the primary part of the workout. In our example above, where every session included a set of Zone 5C intervals, each session would be classified as a high-intensity session, even though they also included some time in Zones 1-2C. As another example, if a session included say, 3x 15-min blocks of Zone 3C, plus some Zone 2C before and after, then this would be classified as a medium intensity session, even though some low-intensity work was included, because the main part of the workout was the Zone 3C blocks. In contrast, if a session comprised 3H in Zone 2C with a small amount (e.g. 20-mins total) of Zone 3C towards the end of the ride, then we’d classify the session as low intensity. Classification of sessions is not a clear-cut methodology, and there is some level of subjectivity in the classification. However, a useful crosscheck for whether a session should be classified as low/medium/high is to consider the perceived difficulty of the session overall. Low intensity should feel like a 4/10 or less, medium should feel like a 5-6/10 and high intensity would be 7/10 or above. If we take our example above (i.e. the 4x 8-min intervals performed every day), using the sessional goal approach, 100% of sessions would be classified as high intensity. You’ll notice this is quite a substantial difference from the time in zone approach, where 47% of time is spent in the low zone, and 53% in the high zone. The distinction between the time in zone and the sessional goal approaches is an important one, which is often not fully appreciated. Hopefully the example above helps highlight how different the two approaches can be. In the following discussion, we’ll always be considering the sessional goal approach (i.e. classifying entire 208

sessions as either low, medium or high intensity) unless we explicitly say otherwise.

12.2 The Three Main Intensity Models There are three main theoretical frameworks often used in training to classify training intensity distributions. These are referred to as the Threshold, Pyramidal and Polarised Models respectively. The three models have an approximate sessional intensity distribution as shown in Figure 62 (Kenneally et al., 2017).

Figure 62. Percentage of sessions classified as low, medium and high-intensity for three different intensity models.

The threshold model includes at least 20% of sessions done in the middle intensity zone, with the remaining sessions divided between the low and high intensity zones. The polarised model is almost diametrically opposed to the threshold model, where training largely avoids the middle intensity zone. Around 80% of

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sessions are done in the low intensity zone, up to 5% is done in the middle intensity zone, and 15-20% of sessions are done in the high-intensity zone. The pyramidal model is quite similar to the polarised model (and indeed these terms are sometimes used synonymously). In the pyramidal model, the majority (80%) of training sessions are again spent in the low intensity zone. However the remaining sessions are divided such that slightly more are done at medium than at high intensity.

12.3 Which approach is best? Traditionally, endurance athletes and coaches have followed the threshold model. It was thought that these sessions, being at a moderately hard, yet tolerable intensity, would produce the greatest training stress and thus stimulate the biggest training adaptations. These middle-intensity sessions are often referred to as ‘Sweet-spot’ for this reason. You’ll still see quite a number of coaches and other athletes advocating this approach, particularly for time-crunched athletes, and many claim this model gives you the ‘biggest bang for your buck’. However, since around two decades ago, observational studies on the actual training practices of top-level athletes have revealed that across many different endurance sports and phases of the training cycle, elite and Olympic level athletes are not using the threshold approach in their training. Instead, they were found to follow a more polarised or pyramidal approach, spending large amounts of training time at low intensities and considerable time at high intensities. In other words, they included middle-intensity training only in relatively small amounts, if at all.

Evidence from observational studies A very helpful review paper from Stöggl & Sperlich (2015) collates data from 18 observational studies of elite endurance athletes competing at the national level or above. In all but one study (a very old study of speed skaters from the early 1970s), the athletes followed a polarised or pyramidal intensity distribution. This was true even when looking at 210

different training seasons (e.g. the general preparation period and the pre-competition period), suggesting that these intensity frameworks are used year-round. Of the papers relating to cycling, all tended towards a more pyramidal approach, with an increasing proportion of sessions in the high-intensity zone in the run-up to competition. This is broadly in line with the linear periodisation approach discussed in Chapter 8. Interestingly, another study (Fiskerstrand and Seiler., 2004), which studied Norwegian rowers over 3 decades, found that training practices evolved to incorporate increased polarisation over the three decades (alongside greater training volume and more altitude camps). Over that time period, the team’s performances and physiological fitness markers (e.g. V̇ O2max ) also improved, suggesting a potential link between polarised/pyramidal training and better performance outcomes. Of course, correlation does not imply causation, but studies like these do lend support to the argument that it might be better to polarise training intensity rather than spend a lot of time at a middle/threshold intensity.

Evidence from intervention studies The studies above are observational, and not interventional (i.e. they observe what people are doing naturally, rather than assign people to a training program to look at the impact of that program). So, they do not prove that polarised/pyramidal training causes good performance results, just that people who have good performance results tend to also follow a polarised/pyramidal intensity distribution. Interventional studies are hard to conduct given the reluctance of many athletes and coaches to modify existing training approaches, and the challenges around ensuring adherence to a training plan over weeks or ideally months. However, a few interventional studies comparing different intensity distributions do exist, and most also support the polarised/pyramidal approach over a threshold approach (Stöggl & Sperlich, 2015; Kenneally et al., 2017). One study by Muñoz et al. (2014) compared 10 weeks following a polarised training plan (75/5/20% of sessions in low/medium/high zones respectively)

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versus a threshold plan (45/35/20% in low/medium/high zones respectively) in 32 recreational athletes. The plans were matched for training load (i.e. factoring in both volume and intensity), meaning the total training time was slightly higher in the polarised group. Overall, the polarised group improved their 10km running times by a greater amount than the threshold group (5.0% vs 3.5%) although this was not statistically significant. Interestingly though, when comparing the 6 athletes who had the closest adherence to the polarised and threshold plans, this difference was much more pronounced, with the polarised group improving by 7.0% and the threshold group only improving by 1.6%. An ambitious study (Stöggl & Sperlich, 2014) compared 9 weeks following four different training intensity distributions, which included a polarised model and a threshold model. The participants were 41 well-trained endurance athletes (~ national level). The polarised plan resulted in the largest improvement in V̇ O2 peak (11.7%), power at the lactate threshold (8.1%) and power at V̇ O2 peak (5.1%) out of the four intensity distributions studied. In contrast, the threshold approach didn’t produce any detectable improvements in any fitness parameters over the 9 weeks.

Time-Crunched Athletes It’s worth pointing out that the majority of observational studies relate to top-level, internationally competitive athletes who have extremely high training volumes. A common suggestion is that polarised/pyramidal models aren’t effective for time-crunched athletes who need to ‘maximise’ the training stress within their limited time availability. However, this argument doesn’t appear to be true. The interventional studies discussed above, for example, are largely carried out among non-elite athletes, who fit their training around regular jobs. For example, in the study described above by Muñoz et al. (2014), which found polarised to be better than threshold, the training volume was very low in both groups (averaging 39.1H and 36.3H of training over the 10 weeks respectively). Thus, even with lower overall training volumes the evidence suggests that low-intensity training should still make up the majority of training sessions.

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Pyramidal vs Polarised So far, we’ve largely compared the threshold approached with the pyramidal and polarised approaches collectively. So now you’re probably wondering which is best out of polarised and pyramidal. There’s little evidence to support one over the other, and that’s not really surprising, because (as you now know from Chapter 11) moderate- and high- intensity training bring about different training adaptations. The exact amount of medium/high training that’s relevant to a given athlete will differ based on the athlete’s physiology, event demands, and a host of other variables. So, whether to follow a more polarised or pyramidal approach will depend on your own unique set of circumstances. In fact, in our view, the polarised and pyramidal approaches are actually very similar, and don’t necessarily need to be considered as separate approaches. A very common misconception with polarised training is that threshold training should be avoided entirely. This is perpetuated by the ‘80:20’ mantra that’s often associated with polarised training (where 80% of sessions are low intensity and 20% are high intensity). However, this is an incorrect interpretation and would also be an ill-advised approach to take. If we look at the studies of training intensity distribution, we can see that approximately 5-10% of training sessions are done in the Medium Zone within a polarised model. That’s roughly one session every 2 weeks. So, threshold training is clearly not eliminated entirely from polarised training. Pyramidal training is just a further extension of this approach, whereby threshold is emphasised slightly more, but is still confined to fairly small amounts. The key uniting features of the polarised and pyramidal approaches are that (i) low-intensity training makes up the majority of training sessions and (ii) any threshold training is included in a purposeful, structured and measured way, in contrast to just going out and riding moderately hard for most rides with no real structure or purpose (which is what many threshold models ultimately look like!). With our own athletes, we tend to fluctuate between polarised and pyramidal approaches at different points of the season, based on what we know about the athlete’s fitness profile, what we’ve found they respond well to, and 213

what the athlete’s key limiters are. In practice, therefore, we first ensure around 75-80% of sessions are done at a low intensity, and then allocate the remaining sessions to medium or high, depending on what we’re looking to achieve with the athlete in a given training phase. In our experience, this approach has proven successful for the vast majority of our own athletes, including those who have lots of time to train and recover, and those who have limited time and/or lead stressful lives externally to training.

Physiological basis for polarised/pyramidal models Let’s look at some of the physiological reasons why a polarised or pyramidal approach might be beneficial. In our view, the most compelling arguments are that: By emphasising low-intensity training, development of the aerobic energy system is prioritised. This low-intensity training brings about adaptations such as increased mitochondrial density, improved capilliarisation, improved cardiac output, and increased fat oxidation abilities, all of which contribute to improved lactate threshold (or FTP), and may also help to improve aerobic capacity. The strength of the aerobic system is the largest determinant of performance across all endurance disciplines, so it’s appropriate that this low-intensity work should be given due attention. By carefully controlling the amount of moderate intensity training, polarised and pyramidal models allow a higher overall training volume. Typically, a training program with a high amount of threshold training is necessarily lower volume than a polarised or pyramidal approach, due to the high levels of fatigue caused by the threshold training. Yet, many aerobic training adaptations occur as a function of training duration rather than intensity, and so by maximising total training time, larger aerobic adaptations can occur. Just because you get the same training stress doesn’t mean you get the same training response! Related to the above, by keeping intensity low most of the time, highintensity training can be completed to a high quality. This is important, because some adaptations require very high intensities to be reached and 214

sustained. For example, evidence suggests that a good way to bring about some cardiovascular adaptations related to improved aerobic capacity is to hit and sustain heart rates close to maximum. When a large portion of training is done at threshold, athletes are typically too fatigued to hit these high heart rates. Additional arguments supporting a polarised/pyramidal approach include that training at a medium intensity can be very stressful due to the high amount of time spent with high lactate/acid levels (Seiler & Kjerland, 2006). It’s been argued that the adaptive responses to medium intensity training are not sufficient to warrant this level of training stress. In other words, the fitness/fatigue ratio for medium intensity training is not as good as for low and high intensity training. Keeping the majority of training at a low intensity can also help prevent non-functional overreaching or overtraining by moderating the amount of stressful high intensity training and allowing for ample time for recovery and adaptation between key high intensity workouts. Anecdotally, we have a lot of athletes approaching us for help after becoming burnt out by following a threshold plan. It’s worth making it explicitly clear that we’re not criticising training in the medium intensity zone, and we highlighted in Chapter 11 that this zone has some useful benefits, including helping to develop endurance and muscular strength, improve fat oxidation within Type IIa muscle fibres, improve tolerance to lactate and familiarise an athlete with riding for an extended time at an intensity similar to race pace. Threshold training can also be a useful “bridge” earlier in the season to help in the transition from training at lower intensities to higher intensities above the lactate threshold, especially for athletes who are new to interval training. What’s important about the polarised and pyramidal approaches, as mentioned above, is that threshold training is included in a program thoughtfully, with a specific purpose, and in measured amounts.

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12.4 Common Questions Q. How do I know what kinds of high-intensity sessions to do? In order to decide what kinds of high-intensity sessions to do, you’ll want to refer back to the training goals for the relevant training phase or mesocycle. If the key goal is to build VO2max, for example, then the majority of your high-intensity sessions should be ones that help to achieve this goal (see Chapter 11 for sessions that help to achieve this). Depending on your specific training goals and the length of the training phase, you’ll also probably want to include some other types of highintensity sessions from time-to-time to help maintain your fitness in other areas. The training phase you’re in will also help you determine whether you want more of a polarised (less middle and more high intensity work) versus a more pyramidal (more middle and less high intensity work) intensity distribution. For example, if your goal is to develop peak anaerobic power, then you’ll want to prioritise very high-intensity interval work in Zones 6-7C. In this case, you’d want to minimise the amount of middle-intensity training which can tend to counteract peak anaerobic power development, and can also add fatigue that will impair your ability to complete those anaerobic sessions. In this case, you’d certainly want a very polarised intensity distribution. As another example, if you’re looking to develop endurance, then you’d likely want to focus more on middle-intensity training, and just include some higher-intensity training for maintenance of your aerobic and possibly anaerobic capacity. This example would be more of a pyramidal approach. Note though that in this example, the total amount of middle- and highintensity training would still make up only around 20-25% of training sessions as a maximum, with the remainder being low intensity.

Q. Are there any special considerations for time-crunched athletes? As we’ve already discussed, many time-crunched athletes worry that, with limited training time, a polarised or pyramidal approach won’t be effective 216

due to the high proportion of low-intensity training. We’ve already debunked this myth through a combination of our own experiences and the various scientific studies in amateur and recreational level athletes that show polarised/pyramidal models are more effective than threshold approaches, even when training volume is low. What’s often overlooked among time-crunched athletes is that there is very limited recovery time, life can be hectic, and sleep may be restricted. We think this is one of the key reasons that a polarised/pyramidal approach is a good approach for this type of athlete. With a polarised/pyramidal approach, training sessions are only stressful when they really need to be, meaning you can recover better between sessions. As we’ve already mentioned, many training adaptations occur as a function of duration rather than intensity, so there’s little point in adding more stress and fatigue by riding harder when you don’t need to. The above notwithstanding, given that time-crunched athletes may only be able to get in 1-2 longer rides at the weekend, we’d tend to follow a more pyramidal approach, including slightly more middle-intensity training, particularly done at a low-cadence and potentially combined with carbohydrate restricted training. This is NOT to increase the weekly training stress, as many might expect, but instead is to simulate some of the metabolic conditions experienced towards the end of a longer ride, where glycogen/blood sugar levels are low and Type IIa fibres play a greater role in power generation. This partially helps to make up for the absence of a longer mid-week ride. Here are some more implementable tips for successfully training with a polarised/pyramidal model when training time is limited: 1. First, try to find time for a long ride somewhere in the week, so as not to neglect aerobic fitness. It’s usually easiest to include this kind of ride on a weekend, since this is when you’re most likely to have a few hours to string together. Long endurance rides really are the best type of training you can do to improve your all-round aerobic fitness.

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2. Next, you’ll want to be doing the most potent and stressful training sessions with the hour or so you have here and there throughout the rest of the week. The high-quality sessions should include training at or above your lactate threshold. When scheduling these workouts, you want to try and make sure you’re rested before each hard session, where alternating between hard/easy days can be one way of making sure you achieve this (see Chapter 14 for more on weekly training structures). 3. Using an indoor trainer for some of the sessions can be a good way to cut down the preparation time associated with a ride, and also to increase the quality of a training session by minimising dead time (e.g. coasting) and maximising time in the intended zone. 4. Stay on top of your recovery so that in the days off between your hard sessions, you can recover well and hit the next workout ready to go hard. Recovery is arguably more important for the time-crunched athlete, given the typically hectic schedule outside training.

Q. How should I assess my training intensity distribution As we discussed above, the approximate intensity distributions outlined in this chapter are based on a sessional goal approach, where each session is classified as either high, medium or low. An appropriate way to check your intensity distribution would be to simply count up the number of low, medium and high intensity sessions across a mesocycle (e.g. a 4-week block) and calculate the percentages of sessions within each intensity zone. From a planning perspective, we’d always advise using the sessional goal approach to assess your intensity distribution, as this is by far the easiest approach, and just involves checking that around 4 in 5 training sessions are low intensity, with the remaining session being either medium or high. However, if you’re looking to retrospectively assess your intensity distribution, it’s arguably easier to use the time in zone approach, because training analysis software such as TrainingPeaks provides this data readily as a graph, similar to the one shown in Figure 63.

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Figure 63. Example training intensity distribution chart.

Using analysis software such as this, it’s easy to look at exact intensity distributions over any time period desired. The time-in zone method will often show far more time spent at lower intensities and less time spent at higher intensities (due to the warm ups, cool downs, recovery intervals etc. included in medium and high intensity sessions). Something like 90% low, 10% medium/high distribution, would be a typical distribution, although this would depend on whether you were following more of a pyramidal or polarised approach. It’s important to note that this time in zone method of assessing training intensity distribution only really works with power. Heart rate is slow to respond to changes in intensity, so will tend to under-estimate the amount of high-intensity training done.

Q. Should each session be polarised/pyramidal? One of the most common questions we receive is whether each individual workout should have a polarised or pyramidal intensity distribution. In other words, should each training session include e.g. ~75% of training time at a low intensity, ~5% at threshold, and ~20% at high intensity? While there may be some workouts that happen to possess this intensity distribution, we certainly wouldn’t recommend building workouts to try to 219

achieve this type of distribution intentionally. Trying to polarise every workout can needlessly constrain the design of training sessions, and can compromise the specific purpose of a given session. For instance, it should be fairly obvious that making 10-20% of a recovery-focused workout high intensity would diminish the workout’s ability to help the athlete rest. Similarly, an interval workout that restricted the high intensity to only 10-20% of the total time likely wouldn’t provide the high intensity volume necessary to cause a meaningful adaptive response. Instead, a polarised intensity distribution should be assessed over a period of at least a week (if not longer), verifying for example that ~75% of training sessions over a 1-2 week period are low intensity.

12.5 Chapter Summary •

We recommend assessing training intensity distribution on the basis of the ‘sessional goal’ approach, which involves classifying training sessions as either ‘high’, ‘medium’ or ‘low’ intensity based on the main purpose or content of the session.

•

‘Low’ intensity corresponds to intensities below the first lactate threshold, or Coggan Zones 1-2. ‘Medium’ intensity is between the first and second lactate threshold, and corresponds to Coggan Zones 3-4. ‘High’ intensity is above the first and second lactate threshold, and corresponds to Coggan zones 5+.

•

In our view, the weight of scientific evidence and our own experience supports the adoption of a polarised or pyramidal intensity distribution where around 75-80% of training sessions are done at a low intensity. This applies even for time-crunched athletes with minimal available time to train.

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Chapter 13: Training Metrics 13.1 Introduction So far, we have spoken quite broadly about concepts such as training load and intensity. In this chapter we cover some established numerical techniques to quantify aspects of training (namely volume, intensity, load, fitness and fatigue). These are helpful metrics to bear in mind when planning and also monitoring your training. For example, understanding methods for quantifying training volume and load can help to plan the periodisation of training volume/load at the microcycle level.

13.2 Training Volume Training volume is best measured in terms of total training hours. This is usually summarised over a microcycle (e.g. hours per week), but could also be measured over a longer period of time, if relevant (e.g. if you’re seeking to quantify longer-term trends in training volume). It might seem obvious, but it’s worth saying that we recommend using training hours rather than distance, because factors such as hills, terrain, wind and so on will all affect the physiological strain of riding a certain distance (e.g. riding 10km up-hill into a head-wind on rough terrain is very different from riding 10km on a smooth flat road with a tail wind).

13.3 Training Intensity We’ve already discussed one method for quantifying training intensity in Chapter 12, where we discussed the training intensity distribution. In this method, training sessions were classified as either low, medium or high intensity, depending on the intensity level of the main part of the training session. This is, in our view, a very good method for quantifying training intensity, and one we use when planning training, and evaluating past training intensity distributions.

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An alternate method for quantifying training intensity is the ‘Intensity Factor’ (IF), which was developed by TrainingPeaks, but is widely used by other training platforms. The basic premise of this method is to ascribe an IF score to a session based on how intense it is relative to FTP. A score of 1 would represent a ride done exactly at FTP. A score of 0.6 would represent a ride done at 60% FTP, and so on. In order to ascribe an IF to rides with variable intensity, the metric uses the concept of ‘normalised power’. Normalised power is conceptually similar to average power, but accounts for the fact that a ride with intermittent intensity (e.g. an interval session) has a greater physiological stress than would be suggested by the average power alone. You can therefore think of normalised power as the power that could be held during a steady-state ride while accruing a similar magnitude of physiological stress as the intermittent-power ride, over the same duration. In other words, if you did an interval session that lasted an hour and had a normalised power of 200W, then this session would give you a similar level of fatigue as riding at a constant power of 200W for 1-hour. The use of the word ‘similar’ stress is important here, as a steady ride will stress the body in different ways to an intermittent-intensity ride, and therefore the actual components of the body that are stressed (and importantly, the amount of time taken to recover from that stress) will not be the same. For intermittent intensity rides, the IF therefore represents the normalised power for that ride, relative to FTP. For reasons we’ll come onto in more detail later in this chapter, the IF metric should be interpreted with caution, and does not always accurately reflect the intensity of a ride. For example, a set of anaerobic power intervals (a very intense session) may have a similar normalised power to a steady Zone 3 or even a Zone 2 ride (due to the fact that the anaerobic power intervals are short, and the recovery periods are long). Thus the anaerobic power intervals may be ascribed a similar IF to a steady endurance ride, when the intensity of these sessions (and associated physiological strain) are considerably different!

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13.4 Training Load There are numerous ways that scientists and coaches have attempted to quantify training load. However, the most common metric is the ‘Training Stress Score’ or TSS, which was also developed by TrainingPeaks, and is now widely used by other training planning/analysis platforms. This system ascribes a numerical training stress value to every workout as an indicator of how hard a session was overall. The TSS metric accounts for both the duration and intensity of a session relative to FTP, where a TSS of 100 reflects riding at your FTP for 1 hour. TSS is calculated as: TSS = IF2 x duration (in hours) x 100 So, for a 2-hour ride, with an IF of 0.6 (reflecting a normalised power equal to 60% FTP), the TSS would be 0.62 x 2 x 100 = 72. A TSS score can also be estimated based on heart rate or perceived effort level if power data are unavailable, although these values often need a little extra scrutiny, as they can be inaccurate. As a guide to help you check your TSS values, we’d expect a recovery ride to be around 30TSS/hour, a steady Zone 2 ride to be around 40-50 TSS/hour, and a 1.5H interval session to be around 80-100 TSS. TSS can be measured on a ‘per session’ basis, but it can also be useful to look at the total TSS accumulated over a longer period of time, such as a week. This can help give a view of how TSS is progressing over time. There are some notable limitations with the TSS, which we’ll come onto later in this chapter. However, it’s worth highlighting at the outset that we would certainly NOT recommend relying on TSS scores as the sole markers of training load. TSS can be a useful metric to keep an eye on to give you an approximate framework for planning and monitoring your training load, and to help avoid over-training. However, it should be interpreted alongside other markers of training load, such as subjective fatigue levels, which we cover later in this guide.

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13.5 Quantifying Fitness, Fatigue and Form As well as quantifying training stress, scientists and coaches have also attempted to quantify the progression of fitness, fatigue and form (i.e. performance) over time. The most commonly used metrics are ‘CTL’ (Chronic Training Load, a marker of fitness), ‘ATL’ (Acute Training Load, a marker of fatigue) and ‘TSB’ (Training Stress Balance’, a marker of form). These metrics were again developed by TrainingPeaks, but are widely used in other training analysis platforms too and can be useful to help you plan appropriate training loads.

Fitness/Chronic Training Load The CTL metric effectively looks back at your TSS scores over the previous weeks or months and uses this to derive a fitness value. The CTL metric reflects the average TSS you’ve accumulated per day, with training carried out more recently given a greater weight in this calculation than training carried out further ago. In other words, yesterday’s training session will influence your CTL score more than a session you did 3 weeks ago. The period over which the CTL is calculated can be adjusted, but is usually set to 6 weeks.

Fatigue/Acute Training Load ATL is calculated in a similar way to CTL, except that it considers TSS scores over a shorter period, and weights the TSS scores slightly differently. The ATL metric effectively represents a weighted average of the daily TSS scores over the last ~7 days. ATL is intended to represent the acute fatigue built up from recent training. However, the ATL value doesn’t really mean much when interpreted on its own, and needs to be interpreted alongside fitness level. Let’s take an example of two athletes. Athlete A is new to cycling, and has never trained previously. Athlete B has been training for years, and currently averages around 600TSS per week, with a CTL of 80. If Athlete A were to start out with a week of training, which comprised: •

3x 1.5H rides at Zone 2C (~60TSS each)

•

2x 1.5H interval sessions (~90 TSS each) 224

•

2x 1H recovery rides at Zone 1C (~30 TSS each)

The total TSS accumulated for that week would be approximately 420 TSS points. This week of training would be pretty hard for a new cyclist to complete and would cause a lot of fatigue and a big decline in form. In contrast, if Athlete B were to complete this training week, they would find it very easy, as the week’s training load (420 TSS) is well below their usual training load of 600 TSS. Clearly, the amount of fatigue accrued depends both on the recent training load, and also the athlete’s habitual training load and fitness level. This leads to the concept of TSB or Training Stress Balance.

Training Stress Balance Training stress balance (TSB) is the difference between your CTL and your ATL (CTL – ATL), and can give an indication of your current training ‘form’. As a VERY rough rule of thumb, you can interpret TSB values as follows: •

TSB > 15: this indicates you’re likely to be detraining, particularly if you have several days/weeks strung together with TSB > 15. Values in this range indicate that recent training load is considerably lower than longer-term training load.

•

TSB between 0 and +15: for most people, this is an optimal TSB value for racing or important events. However, fitness may be stagnating or slightly detraining if your TSB is regularly in this range. TSB in this range indicates that recent training load is similar to or less than longer-term training load. Note though that fitness can be progressing despite TSB being positive. You might see this, for example, if the quality of your training sessions improves, despite no change in training load. It can also happen during a period of anaerobic power development, where volume and/or the intensity of longer rides will be reduced, and interval intensity will be increased. The overall training load from this period, measured by TSS values, might therefore be lower than normal, but you’ll be increasing the stimulus for anaerobic adaptations, and thus should be getting fitter in this aspect of fitness. This is one of the key

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limitations of TSS-related metrics, which we’ll discuss further shortly. •

TSB between -20 and 0: this indicates that fitness is likely to be improving. A TSB in this range likely indicates that training load is gradually increasing week-on-week.

•

TSB less than -20: this indicates a possible risk of overtraining if multiple days or weeks with TSB < -20 are strung together, because recent training load is considerably higher than your usual longerterm training load.

13.6 Warnings As we briefly alluded to at the start of this chapter, there are some important limitations with TSS and related metrics, and we want to make two specific warnings:

Warning 1 First, you definitely shouldn’t let these metrics entirely dictate the planning of your training. There are a few reasons we say this: •

TSS is a useful approximation for the amount of training stress accrued from a session. However, it’s still a pretty crude marker, and doesn’t capture the nuances of how different types of sessions (e.g. a long ride versus an anaerobic power session) cause fatigue, and how long this takes to recover from. Different sessions cause fatigue in different ways, and have different recovery time courses, so just because two sessions have the same TSS, does not mean they will affect you in the same way.

•

Additionally, as we discussed in Chapter 10, training at a given percentage of FTP (e.g. 120%) for one person can be quite different to training at the same percentage of FTP for another, depending on how strong each athlete’s anaerobic systems are, for example. Yet both athletes would be ascribed the same TSS score for such a session, which is clearly not correct. In other words, because TSS is anchored around FTP, it does not take into account the individuality of how each person responds to a particular training session above and below the FTP. 226

•

Finally, while TSS metrics are a useful indicator of how much fatigue you might be carrying from past training, they do not account for other factors that impact fatigue levels, such as sleep quality, levels of physical activity and stress outside of training, nutritional intake, and so on.

Ultimately, the use of TSS and related metrics should only ever be used as a guide for likely fatigue levels, alongside a logical consideration of past training, and most importantly, by paying attention to subjective sensations and physiological markers of fatigue. We cover methods for monitoring fatigue in Chapter 17.

Warning 2 Our second warning relates to data quality. It should go without saying that TSS-related metrics will only be accurate if the data used to produce those metrics are correct. However, it’s pretty common for there to be some data errors, so you’ll need to check your data regularly to make sure your TSS-related metrics are correct. Some common things to check include: •

making sure you have your training zones set correctly,

•

watching out for (and removing) any erroneous power or heart rate data, which is particularly common when a power meter or heart rate strap is starting to run low on battery,

•

removing any duplicate recordings of a single training session. This might happen for example if you’ve been training indoors and using both a laptop and a head-unit to record power/heart rate.

13.7 Practical Advice Pulling all the information together, here’s some practical advice for planning your training load: •

Plan your training load with an eye on your TSS-related metrics, but also bear in mind your subjective and physiological markers of fatigue and fitness progression. DON’T GET HUNG UP ON TSS-RELATED METRICS.

•

In general, over the long-term your weekly TSS should ideally be slowly progressing upwards. However, this certainly DOESN’T mean that 227

each week needs to have a greater training load than the last. Instead, it means there should be a general upward trajectory in training load across a period of months and years. This concept is illustrated in Figure 64, where you can see that training load can go up and down from week to week, but the general trajectory is upwards.

Figure 64. Example progression of weekly training load over several months.

•

For people who have limited training time and can’t incorporate overload blocks, aim to keep TSB between a -20 and 0 most weeks (a little below or above this range is fine on occasion). This suggests fitness is likely to be improving, but also that fatigue levels are likely kept in a safe range. This ‘safe’ TSB range will vary for different individuals, based on age, genetics, sleep/recovery capacity, activity and stress levels outside of training and so on. So, you’ll need to learn your own personal ‘safe’ range for TSB values.

•

Be mindful of weeks where life is busier or more stressful than normal. In these weeks, you may need to reduce training load to compensate for the additional stress outside of training, and your reduced capacity to recover within that week.

•

For short periods of ~1 week (such as during a training camp), it’s ok to take TSB below -20, provided you plan adequate recovery 228

afterwards. However, it’s best to avoid stringing together multiple weeks of training with very negative TSB values. •

Use a combination of subjective and physiological markers of fatigue, alongside monitoring of TSB to determine when a recovery week might be appropriate. For example, if your TSB falls below -20 (or a higher value if this is appropriate for you), then it’s probably prudent to plan a week of reduced training load. Something like a 20-40% reduction in training load is usually adequate to shed fatigue and bring TSB values back up into the ‘safe’ range. However, again, this is something that varies between individuals, and over time you should learn how much recovery you need to stay on track with your training.

•

Be careful not to increase training load through excessive increases in intensity, as this comes with a higher risk of overtraining (Alvalos et al., 2003).

•

When you’re already working at or close to the limit of your available training time, but still want to see fitness progression, rather than excessively intensifying training, the best things to do are: o Focus on training quality. We’ve been able to break fitness plateaus of the athletes we work with without increasing training load through a focus on training quality (i.e. prioritising sessions that address key limiters for our athletes, focussing on good power control to accumulate maximal time in the intended training zones, using complementary nutritional strategies alongside each session). o Make use of any periods of extra training time (e.g. holiday from work) to build in some additional volume and thus training stress whenever you can. o Consider blocking together some intense training sessions within a short period (e.g. week), to cause an overload of training stress when a fitness boost is important (see Chapter 8). We wouldn’t recommend doing this too often though, as it is mentally very tough and can pose risks of illness and injury.

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13.8 Chapter Summary •

Training volume is best measured in terms of training hours (e.g. hours per week).

•

Training intensity can be measured in several ways, including classification of sessions based on the intensity of the main component of the session, as well as use of the ‘Intensity Factor’ (IF), which represents the normalised power for a ride, relative to FTP.

•

TSS (Training Stress Score) is a measure of overall training load, and depends on both the intensity and duration of a training session. It can be measured on per-session basis, or over a longer period of time, such as a week.

•

CTL (Chronic Training Load) is a weighted average of your daily TSS over a relatively long period of time (usually 6 weeks). It’s often interpreted as a marker of ‘fitness’.

•

ATL (Acute Training Load) is a weighted average of your daily TSS over a relatively short period of time (usually 7 days). It’s often interpreted as a marker of ‘fatigue’.

•

TSB (Training Stress Balance) is the difference between your CTL and ATL and is often interpreted as representing ‘form’ (i.e. ability to perform well).

•

TSS-related metrics have some fairly significant limitations, and so additional markers of fatigue should also be considered, including subjective (e.g. mood, muscle soreness, motivation, difficulty producing power) and physiological (low heart rate, abnormal heart rate variability) markers.

•

Factors external to training (such as stress, non-training physical activity levels, sleep quality and nutritional intake) all contribute to overall fatigue levels, so these should also be borne in mind when planning training.

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Chapter 14: Microcycle Structure 14.1 Introduction So far through this section of the guide, we’ve discussed some frameworks and metrics to help you determine appropriate training loads and intensity distributions. However, we have not yet covered how to actually structure your training within a microcycle. As we discussed previously, a microcycle is typically a basic repeatable structure of training sessions. For most people, with ‘regular’ working patterns that stay the same from week-to-week, the microcycle will usually span a week, as training time availability will stay pretty much the same each week (barring appointments, holidays, evenings out etc. which will occasionally impact training time availability). For others with shift working patterns (such as 6 days ‘on’, 4 days ‘off’), it’s useful to use a different microcycle length that corresponds with the shift pattern (e.g. 10 days in the 6 ‘on’/4 ‘off’ scenario). For those with irregular working patterns, the microcycle structure will change from week to week, so you can choose whatever length microcycle works best for you. Mostly people are familiar with thinking week-by-week, so typically a weeklong microcycle is the default approach.

14.2 Key Principles The process of planning training can seem quite daunting and complex. However, we have developed a few basic principles that will help pretty much anyone plan out their training at the microcycle level. Once you’ve got these principles memorised, you should hopefully find that you’re able to plan an effective microcycle faster and with greater confidence.

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1. If time-crunched, take the opportunity to get in a long, low-intensity ride whenever you can. For many people, this will mean fitting in long rides on a weekend when you aren’t working. Long, low-intensity rides are really the foundation of any training plan. Irrespective of what you’re training for, these rides are immensely beneficial in helping to develop aerobic capacity, which underpins almost all cycling disciplines. The adaptations from these rides occur predominantly as a function of time, so you can’t really shorten these rides, which is why we suggest fitting these in wherever you can. This might even mean that if you have the odd week with a little extra training time than normal, you might forgo one or more of your medium/high intensity sessions in order to get in some additional long low-intensity rides. Of course, if you have unlimited training time, this principle doesn’t quite apply, and you can be more flexible as to when to plan your long rides. Usually we like to plan these the day after an interval session, because it generally doesn’t matter too much if these sessions are done carrying a little fatigue from the intervals the day before. If you are feeling fairly fatigued, you can just reduce the intensity of the ride slightly, and still get very similar training benefits. 2. Make sure you’re well recovered for any high-intensity sessions These high-intensity sessions are the ones where the specific intensity you hit really matters, and you often need to be feeling pretty fresh in order to hit those targets. We therefore recommend structuring your training so that you have at least one recovery day (either a full day off, or a short recovery ride as defined in Chapter 11) the day before a high-intensity session. This principle also applies to sessions done at threshold (Zone 4C), which strictly speaking are classified as medium intensity, but are still hard sessions to complete if you’re carrying notable fatigue. One (relatively uncommon) exception to the above rule is if you’re blocking together several harder training sessions to cause a large super-

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compensatory fitness response. We cover this ‘block overload’ scenario later in this chapter. 3. Look to include around 1-2 medium/high-intensity sessions per week. This principle will need some adapting if your microcycle is not a week in length. However, this is a good rule of thumb for the majority of people who have a week-long microcycle. It roughly translates to around 20-25% of sessions being done at a medium/high intensity and so fits with the polarised and pyramidal intensity distributions we discussed in the last chapter. For those with a different microcycle length, you can work out your own rule that aligns with the polarised and pyramidal intensity distributions – for example 2-3 medium/high-intensity sessions per 10 days. As we’ve noted in Chapter 12, a low-intensity ride might include a small proportion of training at a medium/high intensity, but would still be considered a low-intensity session if the majority of the ride is done in Zones 1C and 2C. Thus we’re not completely excluding any intensity from other rides in the week, but any intensity should make up only a small part of the ride and wouldn’t be the key focus of the session. Some key examples would be rides that include some higher intensity riding or even sprints towards the end of a long endurance ride, which may aim, for example, to improve endurance or the ability to recruit muscle fibres when prefatigued. 4. Most people will need at least two recovery days per week. Again, this is a good rule of thumb for the majority of people for whom a week-long microcycle is relevant, but will need adapting for microcycles of different lengths. For those who are relative beginners to cycling, those who are timecrunched and therefore have little recovery time outside of training, or those who are prone to injury, then three recovery days per week may be better.

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14.3 Example Weekly Structure: Regular Training To further help you plan your microcycles, we’ve set out below some example microcycle structures that we find work well for many people as a basis for a regular training week/block:

Time Crunched/Relative Beginners (~5-10H/week) Monday Day off

Tuesday 1-1.5 hour interval session

Wednesday Light 3060-min recovery ride

Thursday 1-1.5 hour interval session

Friday Light 3060-min recovery ride

Saturday 2-3 hours Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Sunday 1-2 hours Zone 2C aerobic development ride

For ease of interpretation, we’ve coded the recovery days green, the lowintensity days blue, and the medium/high-intensity days light red. This weekly structure can be adapted to suit your own unique time availability. For example, the day off can be interchanged with either of the recovery rides. This structure includes 3 recovery days per week, which we feel is appropriate for people living a very busy and stressful life outside of training (i.e. with a time-availability or capacity for recovery). However, if you feel this is more recovery than you need, you could progress to the next structure, which is for moderate time availability and recovery capacity. Small amounts of medium-high intensity work can be included in the Zone 2C Aerobic Development rides, if relevant to the training goals, provided the bulk of the session is done at Zone 2C. This might be particularly pertinent for time-crunched athletes if they are unable to fit in long Zone 2C rides. As discussed in Chapter 11, including some low-cadence Zone 3C riding, for example, can help simulate some of the conditions within a longer ride and can in part make up for the inability to do a longer ride.

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Moderate Time Availability and Recovery Capacity (~6-12H/Week) Monday Day off/3060 min recovery ride

Tuesday 1-1.5 hour interval session

Wednesday 1-1.5 hour Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Thursday 30-60-min recovery ride

Friday 1-1.5 hour interval session

Saturday 2-3 hours Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Sunday 1-2 hours Zone 2C aerobic development ride

In contrast to the first example, in this weekly structure, we’ve added an additional aerobic development ride on the Wednesday, and the recovery days (reduced from 3 to 2 per week) now fall on a Monday and a Thursday. In line with the key principles towards the beginning of this chapter, any highintensity session is preceded by a recovery ride or day off.

Time-Rich Athletes with High Recovery Capacity (10-16H/week) Monday Day off/3060 min recovery ride

Tuesday 1.5-2 hour interval session

Wednesday 2.5-3 hour Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Thursday 30-60-min recovery ride

Friday 1.5-2 hour interval session

Saturday 3-4 hours Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Sunday 1.5-3 hours Zone 2C aerobic development ride

In this example, we’ve kept a similar weekly structure to the one above. However, the lengths of the rides are all extended. In particular, we’re able to fit in a long aerobic development ride during the week. If possible, it’s good to include a longer ride during the week, so that this type of training is included more regularly and isn’t just clustered at the weekend. Depending on fitness level, any of the rides can be extended, although we wouldn’t generally recommend going beyond a 1.5-hour recovery ride even if fitness and recovery capacity are very high.

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Shift Work Finally, let’s look at an example of how training could be structured around a shift working pattern:

Day1

Day2

Day3 1

Day4

Day5 2

Day6

Day7

Day8

Day9

Day10

(night)

(night)

(aft )

(aft)

(morn )

(morn)

(off)

(off)

(off)

(off)

1H

Day off

Day off

1.5H

1.5H

Recovery

1H

3-4H

1.5-2H

Recovery

Zone 2C3

Zone 2C3

ride/off

intervals

Zone 2C

Zone 2C

ride/off

intervals

1. afternoon shift. 2. morning shift. 3. optionally including some low-cadence Zone 3C or neuromuscular work, depending on fatigue levels

In this example the shift pattern is 6 days on, 4 days off, the first two days are night shifts, and the remainder are day shifts. In this example, the athlete is time-crunched, working their training around long working hours and caring for young children. We’ve therefore included several full days off the bike, which are mainly clustered around the working days, allowing time to attend to family duties and recover during this period. In particular, the athlete struggles to get adequate rest during their night shifts, so days 2 and 3, which follow the night shifts, are days off, allowing the athlete to rest as much as possible.

14.4 Example Weekly Structure: Recovery Weeks In this section, we’ve shown an example of a typical recovery week structure. The specific structure appropriate for you will vary depending on how much training you usually do in a regular week. We find a reduction in training load of about 20-40% is usually about right, and as discussed in Chapter 13, a good benchmark for a recovery week would be to bring your TSB up towards the upper end of the ‘safe zone’ (as a reminder, this is between approximately -20 and 0). However, subjective sensations should also be used as a guide for how much recovery is appropriate.

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Monday Day off

Tuesday Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Wednesday Light 3060-min recovery ride

Thursday Interval session

Friday Day off

Saturday Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Sunday Zone 2C aerobic development ride.

The key features of a recovery week are a reduction in high/medium intensity training and overall volume.

14.5 Example Weekly Structure: Block Overload As we mentioned very briefly above, there can be some scenarios where you might want to include a concentrated block of intense training to stimulate a large super-compensatory surge in fitness. This poses an exception to our general rule that a high-intensity session should be preceded by a recovery day. We touched upon some examples of block overload when we discussed block periodisation. In some of the examples discussed, training was structured so that within a 4-week mesocycle, the first week contained 4-5 high/medium-intensity sessions, and the last three weeks focussed on Zone 2C aerobic development, and contained just 1 high/medium-intensity session per week (note that this is still a polarised/pyramidal intensity distribution when considered at the level of the macrocycle; the number of high/medium intensity sessions equates to around 2 sessions per week on average). The structure of this could look something like the following: Block Overload Week: Monday Interval session

Tuesday Interval session

Wednesday Day off

Thursday Interval session

Friday Day off or light 3060-min recovery ride

Saturday Interval session

Sunday Day off or light 3060-min recovery ride

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Subsequent Aerobic Development Weeks: Monday Day off

Tuesday Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Wednesday Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Thursday Day off or light 3060-min recovery ride

Friday Interval session

Saturday Zone 2C aerobic development ride

Sunday Zone 2C aerobic development ride

The block overload approach above can be pretty challenging to implement, and we’d only recommend this for athletes who have been training for a long time, and who tend not to be prone to injury or illness. An alternative blocking approach we use quite often, and which is safe for most athletes is shown below. This uses a shorter 2-3 day block of intensive training. We find this approach particularly useful between races that are close together, as it allows us to fit in a few days for recovery and taper between races, while still incorporating some fitness development work during the overload block (Wednesday and Thursday in the example below).

Block Overload Between Races Sunday Race

Monday Day off or light 3060-min recovery ride

Tuesday Day off or light 3060-min recovery ride

Wednesday Interval session

Thursday Interval session

Friday Light 3060-min recovery ride

Saturday Easy prerace openers session

Sunday Race

14.6 Using Markers of Fatigue In addition to following our general principles and frameworks set out in the earlier parts of this chapter, it’s also useful to consider markers of fatigue to determine whether the session you’ve planned is appropriate given your estimated level of fatigue that day. Some useful things to check include: •

TSB score for any day with an interval session is not lower than approximately -5 (this can be modified based on your own experiences,

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and you might not be able to stick to this principle if you’re using a block overload structure). •

TSB score for any day with a Zone 2C endurance ride is not below approximately -20 (again, this can be modified based on your own experiences).

•

Use subjective markers to help you decide whether it’s an appropriate day to do an interval session. The outstanding benefit of being a self-coached cyclist is that you can adapt your training from day to day, so try to make use of this! With intervals, the specific intensity you hit and sustain is very important and there’s really no point struggling through an interval session, but not hitting the intended power or heart rate targets due to fatigue. It’s far better to postpone that session and allow a bit more time for recovery if you’re feeling tired.

14.7 Chapter Summary •

The key principles for planning your training at the level of macrocycles are to: o Include a day off or recovery ride before any high-intensity or threshold session. o Include long, low-intensity rides wherever possible, if timecrunched. If your schedule is more flexible, we recommend including these the day after an interval session. o Use modelled TSB values to check whether your predicted form will be sufficient to complete the session you have planned, and adjust if needed. o Use your subjective fatigue levels to adjust your training on a day-to-day basis. You should always try to be flexible, and don’t persist with an interval session if you’re too tired to hit the power targets.

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Chapter 15: Strength Training 15.1 Introduction So far, the vast majority of this guide has focussed on on-bike training. In this penultimate chapter on micro-level planning, we’ll take a look at the benefits of strength training for cyclists, the types of strength training that appear to be most valuable, and how these can be incorporated within your training plan. It should be noted that this chapter is not intended as a comprehensive overview of strength training programming and technique, as this is a very large and complex topic, which could merit an entire book in its own right. The intention with this chapter is to outline the physiological benefits that can be gained through strength training, and the general evidence for how this might be best achieved. With strength training being supplementary to bike training, we personally do not feel that strength training needs to be overly complicated. As we’re not qualified strength and conditioning coaches, we will not cover proper exercise technique here. We recommend consulting a strength and conditioning coach to ensure you’re using proper technique. It may also be beneficial to consult a physiotherapist to determine whether you have any muscle weaknesses/imbalances that may need addressing as part of a strength training program before undertaking any weight training.

15.2 Benefits There are several reasons you may undertake strength training as a cyclist: •

Improve endurance.

•

Improve cycling economy (i.e. how much oxygen or energy it requires to produce a given wattage).

•

Increase anaerobic capacity.

•

Increase maximal power output.

•

Reduce injury risk or for injury rehabilitation. 240

We’ll discuss each of these areas in turn:

Endurance Arguably one of the biggest benefits of strength training is that it can improve the ability to produce power after several hours of riding. For example, Rønnestad et al. (2011) found that a 12-week strength training intervention alongside concurrent endurance training in elite cyclists resulted in a 7.2 ± 2.0% higher 5-min maximal power output at the end of 3hours of cycling in Zone 1C. In contrast, the control group who performed endurance training only had no change in their 5-min maximal power after 3hours of riding. The reason for improved endurance is not fully understood. However, one theory is that when riding at a given power output (say 60% FTP), increased muscle strength means that muscle fibres are being worked at a lower percentage of their maximal load, thus resulting in less muscular damage (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). Another theory is that the increased strength of Type I fibres means that fewer Type IIa fibres need to be recruited for a given output. As Type I fibres are more aerobically efficient, this may result in increased glycogen sparing, meaning more glycogen is available for hard efforts in the latter stages of riding/racing (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). Concurrent strength and endurance training has been found to reduce lactate levels at a given sub-threshold power output, which would tend to support this theory (Rønnestad et al., 2010a).

Economy Studies have also shown strength training alongside concurrent endurance training results in improved cycling economy (i.e. the amount of power produced for a given metabolic cost) when compared to endurance training only (Sunde et al., 2010, Bastiaans et al., 2001, Rønnestad et al., 2011). It might be that increased utilisation of more aerobically adapted Type I muscle fibres (as described above) also partially explain the improvement in cycling economy (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). Other explanations include a shift in fibre type from Type IIx to Type IIa, and an improved rate of

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force development (how quickly a muscle contracts), which is linked with better blood and oxygen supply to the working muscle (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). Strength training has also been linked with improved musculo-tendon stiffness, which means more energy can be stored as elastic energy during the eccentric phase of movement (i.e. as the muscle lengthens). However, this is more likely to play a part in improved economy for sports such as running, where the eccentric phase is much more dominant than in cycling.

Anaerobic Capacity & Maximal Power Strength training can also contribute to an improvement in anaerobic capacity and maximal sprint power. This is likely due to a combination of improved neural stimulation of muscle fibres and an increase in the maximal load each fibre can withstand. Rønnestad et al., 2010a found that after a 12-week program of strength and endurance training, peak power in a Wingate test was increased by 9.4%, and the rate of fatigue across the test was also reduced when compared to the endurance-only group.

Injury Prevention Injury prevention can be facilitated by strength training in several ways. Firstly, strength training is linked with improved tendon strength and resistance to injury (Kjaer et al., 2014). Secondly, strength training can result in improved core stability for better biomechanics and thus reduced injury risk (Abt et al. 2007).

Relative Importance It’s worth noting that overall, the benefits of strength training are generally comparatively small relative to the gains you can get from onbike training. For example, while studies usually tend to favour concurrent strength and endurance training, versus endurance training alone, the differences are often not large enough to be detected statistically (Rønnestad et al., 2010a, Bastiaans et al., 2001). This means that in theory these apparent strength training benefits could have occurred by chance, although the frequency with which these small benefits are observed

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across multiple studies does tend to support the use of strength training in providing small benefits. Given the benefits are quite marginal, we feel that strength training should be considered as supplementary to on-bike training, and on-bike training should almost always take priority (i.e. you shouldn’t skip important training sessions on the bike in favour of strength training). A key exception to this, however, is if you have a history of injury requiring strength work to prevent or treat the injury. It’s worth also considering here whether there are any drawbacks to strength training. One important question is whether strength training results in a gain in lean body mass, which could negatively impact a cyclist’s power to weight ratio, and might also result in poorer blood flow to working muscles (due to a reduced capillary to muscle ratio) (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). In general, while strength training alongside endurance training on the bike can result in an increase in lean muscle mass or size, this is usually very small compared to the gains that would be seen when doing strength training without concurrent endurance training (Rønnestad et al., 2010a; Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). In our view, the main potential negative in performing strength training is whether it interferes with the ability to perform important on-bike training sessions. We think that strength training should always be planned so as to avoid or minimise this risk. We cover best practices for integrating strength training with on-bike training later in this chapter.

15.3 Types of strength training There is a vast array of strength training types and sub-types. A detailed discussion of these is beyond the scope of this guide. Instead, we will cover here the main types of strength training that appear to be most consistently linked with performance benefits in cycling. These are summarised in Figure 65.

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Figure 65. Characteristics of different types of strength training protocols.

Moderate/Heavy Load Training The vast majority of studies that have been shown to improve endurance, economy and maximal power in cycling employ moderate to heavy loads of less than ~15 ‘Rep Max’ (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014; Beattie et al., 2014). ‘Rep Max’ (RM) relates to the maximum number of repetitions of an exercise that can be completed before failure (i.e. the muscle can no longer contract against the load). So, 15RM means 15 exercises can be done before failure. Moderate/heavy load training can also help improve tendon strength (Kjaer et al., 2014) and when movements are carried out explosively during the concentric phase (i.e. when the muscles shorten), can contribute to improved rate of force development and thus maximal power (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). Typically, these moderate/heavy load sessions comprise 2-4 sets of repetitions per exercises, with around 2-6 minutes of rest between sets. In general, research on strength training and endurance tends to be particularly supportive of heavy weight training < ~8RM (Beattie et al., 2014; Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014), although to reduce the risk of injury, it’s advisable to work towards these heavy loads in a periodised way,

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building from lighter loads with higher reps, towards heavier loads with fewer reps, as we cover in the next section. Overall, moderate/heavy load training ticks most of the boxes in terms of achieving adaptations that are relevant to cycling, although care should be taken with explosive training, as this has the tendency to increase the maximal glycolytic rate, which may not be desirable, depending on your training goals. It should be noted however that resistance training like this has a high risk of injury if you don’t exhibit proper form, and it’s particularly important that you consult with a qualified strength and conditioning coach before undertaking moderate/heavy load training.

Explosive, High Repetition A smaller field of research also supports the use of lighter loads with higher reps (>15RM), typically performed in an explosive manner, as means to improve aspects of cycling fitness (most notably, endurance, economy and injury resistance). This type of training can be performed with body weight only (e.g. plyometrics), or with light to medium weights. However, the evidence supporting high-repetition training is weaker than for moderate/heavy load training (Bastiaans et al., 2001; Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). Nevertheless, this form of strength training might be a good option if you don’t have access to heavy weights. It may also be a safer form of exercise for those who are relatively new to weight training or who struggle to maintain good form.

Core Strength A final form of strength training that is particularly beneficial for cycling is core strength work (Abt et al. 2007). This type of training targets the abdominal, gluteal and surrounding muscles in order to improve stability of the spine, pelvis and kinetic chain (e.g. knee alignment when pedalling), and may contribute to reduced incidence of injury and improved economy.

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Core strength work is not only focused on strengthening muscles, but also on improving neural stimulation of muscles and relearning how to activate muscles that have become suppressed (Akuthota et al., 2008). Traditional core strength exercises are done with body weight only, or light weights/resistance devices (e.g. bands), and can either be static (e.g. static plank) or dynamic (e.g. sit-ups). Exercises to develop balance and proprioception also fall under the scope of core strength, as do Yoga and Pilates.

15.4 Programming Having looked at the broad types of strength training that may be of benefit, we’ll look now at how exactly to plan those strength sessions; what they could comprise, how often to do them, and how to progress them over time.

Session Content There’s certainly no hard and fast rule about the exact exercises to include as part of a strength training session. However, we’ve set out below some basic components we’d recommend including.

Part 1: Warm-Up It’s advisable to begin with a gentle 5 to 10-min warm-up (e.g. riding at 45-60% FTP or a 2/10 effort level), which will improve blood flow to the muscles, followed by light stretching to ensure any tightness will not inhibit muscle activation/correct form (Akuthota et al., 2008)

Part 2: Core Strength We’d then suggest moving on to include around 20 minutes of core strength exercises. Some specific exercises that we find are often beneficial include: •

Plank

•

Side Plank

•

Bird Dogs

•

Hip Bridges

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•

Clam Shells

•

Donkey Kicks

•

Russian Twists

In order to minimise the time commitment required of these strength sessions, we generally recommend selecting 3-4 key core strength exercises per session, and completing 3 sets per exercise.

Part 3: Weight Training After completing the core work, we’d then recommend moving on to complete 2-3 key weighted exercises. These should be exercises that use similar muscle groups and movement patterns to training on the bike. Some good examples include half-squats, deadlifts and lunges/split squats. While it’s a somewhat contentious topic, there is evidence (Lasevicius et al., 2019) that going to ‘failure’ for these weighted exercises (i.e. the point where you can no longer complete a lift) is not necessary. In our view going to failure should be avoided, as it increases the risk of compromising on-bike training. We think you should therefore stop just before the point you feel your muscles might fail. So, if you were aiming for 10 reps in a session, then you should use a weight where think you could do 11-12 reps as a maximum, before reaching failure.

Weekly Schedule There’s good evidence that 2-3 strength sessions per week is sufficient to improve the markers of cycling performance listed above (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014). This is therefore a good target frequency during periods where you’re looking to develop strength. For time-crunched athletes, we’d recommend two sessions per week so as not to overly compromise on-bike training time. Then once strength has been developed, Rønnestad et al. (2010b) found that just one strength session per week, with a reduced number of sets per exercise (between 1-2) is sufficient to maintain strength and endurance. Thus, during the competition season, and other periods where strength maintenance is the goal, it’s advisable to reduce strength training to 1

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session per week. Close to key competitions, where you want to minimise fatigue, you may also cut down to just 1-2 sets per exercise. In terms of where to schedule the sessions within the week, there’s little evidence to support one method over another. In our experience, different athletes prefer different approaches, and we’d recommend that you play around with some different options to see what works for you. For example, strength can be planned before or after interval sessions and/or long endurance rides, provided that the strength training does not compromise your ability to complete your on-bike training. The only general rule we’d make is avoiding planning any hard strength sessions on a recovery day, as this would compromise the goal of the day (which is to recover!). Some gentle core strength may be suitable for a recovery day, but weight training is usually best avoided. Planning strength training shortly before an endurance ride can be a good way to do that endurance ride with restricted glycogen availability, which as mentioned previously, can increase the signalling for aerobic adaptations (particularly adaptations linked with fat oxidation). So, this may be a good strategy to use if one of your training goals is to develop fat oxidation ability.

Periodisation Training programs including 2-3 strength sessions per week alongside endurance training typically require around 12-16 weeks of consistent training to see benefit16 (Rønnestad, & Mujika, 2014; Beattie et al., 2014), so you should plan to begin training at least ~3-4 months before competition season starts. Strength training should ideally be periodised to move from lighter loads with higher reps, towards heavier loads with lower reps. This has been shown to result in better strength gains, and may also result in improved markers of cycling performance versus using a non-periodised approach (i.e. An exception to this would be if you are new to strength training, or if you’ve taken a notable break from strength training, in which case, you’ll typically see some strength improvements over the first few weeks, due to improved neural signaling.

16

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using the same number of reps throughout the whole training phase) (Fleck, 1999). It may also reduce the risk of injury as it allows proper form to be developed with lighter weights before moving onto heavier loads. We’d recommend beginning weight training with around 10-15 reps per set, and then gradually progressing towards heavier weights, aiming for around 4-6 reps per set by week ~12-16. Once this block of strength development has been completed, you can move to a period of strength maintenance, which will typically be timed to coincide with your competition season, so that strength training does not detract from important on-bike sessions and/or contribute fatigue in competitions. Overall, a periodised strength training program might look something like the plan shown in Figure 66.

Figure 66. Example periodised strength program.

15.5 Quantifying training load Quantifying training load and/or the amount of fatigue accrued from a strength session is quite tricky. TSS values based on heart rate do not accurately reflect the training stress applied in terms of muscular damage, and the time-course for recovery. There are methods for quantifying training load based on factors such as the number of reps, and the amount

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of load lifted. However, we tend to ascribe TSS values to strength sessions by hand, in a fairly approximate way, based on how long it takes an athlete to recover from a training session. We’ve generally found that the following TSS scores work quite well on average. Core strength: ~30-40TSS/hour (similar stress and recovery time-course to a recovery or low Zone 2 endurance ride). Weight training: ~60-80TSS/hour (similar stress and recovery time-course to a low-cadence Zone 3C ride).

15.6 Chapter Summary •

Moderate/heavy load weight training appears to be the type of weight training that’s most consistently linked with improved markers of cycling performance, including improved endurance, economy, anaerobic capacity, maximal power and improved tendon strength. This training should ideally include 2-4 exercises that closely replicate movement patterns on the bike (e.g. half-squat, lunge/split squat and deadlift), with ~3 sets per exercise and 2-6-mins recovery between sets. This training should be periodised over a period of 12-16 weeks or longer, moving from around 10-15 reps per set to around 4-6 reps per set.

•

Core strength work can also help reduce injury risk by improving form on the bike and potentially improving economy, and is also recommended for cyclists.

•

Explosive strength training should be included with caution. While this can help improve maximal power and anaerobic capacity, it may also drive down your lactate threshold due to increased glycolysis. So, you should assess whether this type of training is compatible with your goals.

•

2-3 strength training sessions per week is sufficient for strength development, and 1-session per week (optionally with a reduced number of sets per exercise) is sufficient for strength maintenance.

•

Strength training can be included at any time in the week that works for you without compromising on-bike training, although we’d recommend avoiding strength training on a recovery day, if possible. 250

Chapter 16: Race Preparation 16.1 Introduction So, we’ve come to the final piece of the puzzle in terms of how to plan your training: race preparation. While there’s not a great deal you can do in the final week or two in order to alter your fitness, these last few weeks are still really important in order to make sure you’re able to actually use the fitness you’ve build to its full potential. In this chapter, we’ll discuss: •

How to taper for a high-priority race.

•

How to plan for lower-priority races.

•

How to warm-up before a race.

16.2 Tapering for Priority Races We briefly touched upon tapering (also known as ‘peaking’) in Chapter 6, when we discussed the fitness-fatigue model. As a reminder, the taper is designed to shed fatigue, while minimising fitness loss in order to achieve peak form on the day of a target event. You’ll recall that form peaks slightly after fitness peaks, as shown in Figure 67. Thus to achieve a peak in form, you’ll generally have to accept a small drop in fitness.

Figure 67. Trajectory of fitness and performance (i.e. ‘form’) over time, in response to application of a training stress.

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Below, we’ve summarised some tapering best practices that can be used to achieve peak form while minimising this fitness loss. These are taken from a comprehensive meta-analysis (a type of scientific review) of existing tapering studies in cyclists (Bosquet et al., 2007), alongside our own experiences as coaches, and some additional research studies into nuances of the taper (Aubry et al., 2014; Tønnessen et al., 2014; Rønnestad and Vikmoen., 2019). These best practices have been shown to be effective in a majority of people. That’s not to say that other strategies won’t be effective for you as an individual – research shows mixed results for different tapering strategies (Bosquet et al., 2007). However, the strategy we recommend below is one that’s most consistently shown to be effective in the majority of people, and one that we find generally works well with our clients. It should be noted that we’d only recommend implementing a full taper such as the one described below for your highest-priority events. That’s because every taper results in a loss in fitness, and so you’d ideally only include a small number of proper taper periods (e.g. 1-3) through the year. For lower-priority events, you may need to complete these while carrying some fatigue, so as to maintain fitness. We cover tapering for lower-priority races in a later section of this chapter.

Tapering Best Practices There are a number of things to consider when it comes to tapering:

Length of the taper period Research suggests most cyclists will benefit from an 8-14 day taper (Bosquet et al., 2007). However, the optimal length will depend on the training load running into the taper period and how much fatigue needs to be shed. In practice, for people who are time-crunched and have not been able to excessively ramp up their training load in the run-up to competition, we usually find it’s best to err on the shorter side of this range (i.e. 7-8 days), because fatigue levels are likely not to be overly high relative to fitness.

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Reduction in training volume The optimum taper period will have a reduction in overall training volume. How much to reduce training volume will again depend on how much fatigue you’re carrying relative to your fitness level. For cyclists, a reduction in total training volume (in terms of hours per week) of between 21-40% has been shown to be most effective in the scientific literature (Bosquet et al., 2007). This research, along with mathematical models of performance (e.g. the classic paper by Bannister et al., 1999), suggests that training volume should ideally be gradually reduced during the taper period. In other words, working down from ~90% of regular volume towards around 60% of regular volume is better than jumping straight to a 60-70% reduction, such as shown in Figure 68.

Figure 68. Percentage reduction in daily training volume across a 14-day period when following a gradual taper versus a step taper.

Managing a gradual taper like this is easier said than done when most people have variable training volumes each day. What we’d recommend, if you’re doing a 2-week taper for example, is to reduce training volume by 253

something like 10-20% over the first week, and something like 20-40% the second week. Likewise, if you’re doing a 7-day taper, you might keep the start of your week quite similar to a normal week (maybe just shortening your regular sessions by 10-15%), and then including a more pronounced reduction in training load over the ~3 days prior to the race/event.

Types of training to be included Many people are wary of including high-intensity training during a taper, for fear that it will cause fatigue. However, from the scientific literature, it’s very clear that a taper period should NOT substantially reduce the amount of high-intensity (Zones 5C and above) training during the taper (Bosquet et al., 2007). In support of this, an observational study of 11 Olympic-level cross-county skiers and biathletes (Tønnessen et al., 2014), found that all completed a high number of high-intensity training sessions during a 14-day taper (averaging 5 sessions across the taper) in the run-up to their most successful competition. In addition, 8/11 of the athletes completed a highintensity training session just 2 days out from the competition. We’re not suggesting that a high-intensity session so close to competition would be suitable for all athletes; you’ll need to draw on experience of how quickly you tend to recover from these types of sessions to determine whether this might be appropriate for you. However, this study does demonstrate that we shouldn’t be scared of high-intensity training in the taper period. Rather than reducing high-intensity training as a means to cut down training volume and load, you should look to firstly cut out any nonspecific training (e.g. strength training or cross-training), and then reduce the volume of low and medium intensity training. Interval sessions in the taper period usually focus on those aspects of fitness that are gained and lost relatively quickly. These include neuromuscular recruitment of Type IIx fibres, increasing the maximal glycolytic rate, and lactate shuttling. For the taper period, you should pick intervals that are highly relevant to your known performance limiters and the demands of your target event.

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Full days off the bike There’s reasonable evidence that most people benefit from maintaining or even increasing training frequency (i.e. the number of days per week that you train) during the taper (Bosquet et al., 2007). In other words, training volume should be reduced by shortening your usual sessions rather than skipping these entirely. The observational study of Olympic athletes mentioned above (Tønnessen et al., 2014) supports this approach, where only 3/11 athletes took a rest day during the 5-days prior to competition. From our personal experience, we wholeheartedly agree that training frequency should be maintained during the taper. Days off the bike often lead to legs feeling sleepy or heavy, and we’ve found it’s usually far better to do a short recovery ride rather than take a full day off through this period. So, in summary, for most people, a good taper will involve: •

A gradual reduction in training volume of between 20-40% over a 7 to 14-day period, which is achieved first and foremost by cutting out any non-specific training, and then by reducing the amount of low and middle intensity training.

•

A maintenance or slight increase in the number of days per week you normally train.

•

A maintenance in the number of high-intensity sessions you usually complete.

Whether to overload One strategy that’s been investigated in order to achieve peak fitness and form on the target day is to include a block of overload training before the taper. As an example, Aubry et al. (2014) investigated whether the inclusion of a 3-week overload block (130% of regular training load) followed by a taper period at 60% regular training load resulted in better performance than retaining the regular training load over the initial 3-week block before the taper. They found an overall performance benefit from incorporating the overload block, with the optimal taper period being 2-weeks. In contrast,

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the control group (i.e. the group without the overload block) tended to have their best performance after a 1-week taper, but this was still smaller than the average performance improvements seen by the overload group. A study by Rønnestad and Vikmoen (2019) suggests that a short overload (6 days of high-intensity training), followed by a short 5-day taper might also be an effective strategy for enhancing performance. In this study, 1min peak power output in a ramp test to exhaustion improved by 5.0 ± 3.6% vs 0.9 ± 1.5% in the overload and control groups respectively. This shorter overload and taper strategy could be a particularly useful during a condensed race season, where there is not enough time to implement a traditional 2-4 week overload block, and 1-3 week taper. While overload training appears promising, before you start implementing overload blocks yourself, we do have some words of warning. Firstly, it should be noted that the outcome measures in both studies described above have fairly low ‘external validity’. This means that the studies did not perform tests that accurately reflect performance in a true cycling event. Thus, although these studies found something like a 5% performance improvement in a lab-based test from implementing an overload block, the performance benefit in a real-world race is likely to be considerably smaller. We therefore can’t be certain that such a strategy would actually result in a meaningful performance improvement in the real world. Secondly, we need to be mindful that different people respond differently to overload training, and for some, this training can be very risky. In the study by Aubry et al. (2014), of the 23 people who followed the overload program, one was diagnosed with non-functional overreaching (a precursor to over-training syndrome) and did not exhibit any performance supercompensation during the taper period. Moreover, 40% of the subjects in the overload group became ill, compared with just 10% of the subjects in the control group. Overall, we’d say that an overload block should be used with caution, and you should weigh the potential performance benefits against the potential risks. Whatever you decide to do, you should definitely practice your 256

overload and taper strategy with a lower priority race before implementing it for a high-priority event!

Target TSB values The TSB (Training Stress Balance) metric can be a useful tool for helping you design your taper. As a reminder, TSB reflects the difference between your chronic and acute training loads, and is often interpreted as reflecting your training form (we discuss this metric in Chapter 13 if you need a more detailed refresher). As a general rule, we’ve found that a taper that leads to a TSB value of something between 0 and 10 on the day of your target event tends to work well. In our experience, races that are shorter (1.5H or less) tend to benefit from lower TSB values (e.g. 0-5), and longer endurance events from slightly higher TSB values (e.g. 5-10). Very long events (e.g. 4-5H and upwards) can sometimes benefit from even higher TSB values of around 10-15. This is again something that’s quite individual, so over time you should try to build up a picture of the relationship between your TSB values and your performances to determine what works best for you.

We’ll also

reiterate again here that TSB has many limitations, and does not perfectly reflect your form on any given day, so this is just a tool you can use and shouldn’t completely rule your training plan.

Tapering towards a series of high-priority events One final thing it’s worth discussing is whether any of the principles above should be adjusted if you’re tapering towards a series of highpriority events. For example, perhaps you have 2-3 weekends in a row containing high-priority races. In this case, we’d generally recommend using a slightly shorter taper than you ordinarily would in the lead-up to the first race of the season. For example, if you usually follow a 2-week taper, then a 7-9 day taper might be more appropriate. This is because it can be hard to maintain fitness between races that are close together, and so it’s best to come into the first race of the series with slightly higher fitness and fatigue than

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would be optimal, which then gives some sliding room for your fitness over the next 1-2 weeks of racing. Between races, we’d then recommend using the block overload technique, as discussed in Chapter 8, to allow a few days for recovery, a short block of intensive training to help maintain fitness, and then a few days to recover for the next race. This might look something like the following example, where two interval sessions are blocked together on Wednesday and Thursday. •

SUNDAY: warm-up and race

•

MONDAY: day off or easy 30-60-min Zone 1c recovery ride

•

TUESDAY: day off or easy 30-60-min Zone 1c recovery ride

•

WEDNESDAY: longer ride including high/medium intensity interval session

•

THURSDAY: longer ride including high/medium intensity interval session

•

FRIDAY: easy 30-60-min Zone 1c recovery ride

•

SATURDAY: easy openers session

•

SUNDAY: warm-up and race

This approach can be adjusted depending on how fatiguing your races are, and how fast/slow you are to recover. Recommended openers sessions pre-race warm-up routines are covered in Chapter 11.

16.3 Lower Priority Events The tapering practices described in the previous sections of this chapter apply to high-priority events, where the decrease in fitness is justified by the importance of the event. However, tapering too often can mean you don’t have time to build back the fitness that was lost, and over time, fitness can decline. This means, for lower-priority events, it’s often better to come into these carrying a little bit more fatigue in order to minimise the fitness lost.

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Thus, for a lower priority race, we’d generally recommend tapering only over the 2-4 days before the race, and perhaps blocking together a couple of harder sessions in the start of the week to cause a small supercompensatory spike in fitness come event day. This might look something like the following: •

MONDAY: day off or easy 30-60-min Zone 1c recovery ride

•

TUESDAY: high/medium intensity interval session

•

WEDNESDAY: high/medium intensity interval session*

•

THURSDAY: short/mid-length Zone 2C aerobic development ride

•

FRIDAY: easy 30-60-min Zone 1c recovery ride

•

SATURDAY: easy openers session

•

SUNDAY: warm-up and race

* This Wednesday ride could alternatively be a Zone 2C aerobic development ride, depending on the training goals of the athlete and/or their speed of recovery. Recommended openers sessions pre-race warm-up routines are covered in Chapter 11.

16.4 36-48H Before Race The ~36-48 hours before a race or event are particularly important in terms of ensuring you’re in peak form. Through this period you’ll want to make sure any training is sufficiently light so as not to induce fatigue on event-day, but also helps to prepare you both mentally and physically for racing. You’ll also want to pay attention to nutrition through this period, to ensure your glycogen stores are adequately topped up, you’re well hydrated, and you’re not following any nutritional practices that could result in low energy levels or gastrointestinal problems. We’ll address these specific considerations now.

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Day before: Pre-Event Openers Many people respond well to including an ‘openers’ session the day before the race/event. This is a short ride (e.g. 1H), done at a predominantly low-intensity (i.e. Zone 1C to low Zone 2C), but which includes a small amount of intensity. We’ve included an example openers session in Chapter 11. We’re not aware of any scientific research into the use of pre-event openers. However, they are commonly used in practice by athletes and coaches, and in our experience, they have multiple benefits: First, they help the legs feel more ‘activated’ and can shed any sensations of ‘sluggishness’ after having taken a few days of very easy riding. It’s unclear why this openers session helps in this regard, but it might be that it helps improve plasma volume after a few days of low training volume (Mujika & Padilla, 2000). The small amounts of high-intensity work also probably help maintain your neuromuscular system, and ability to recruit higher-power muscle fibres. Secondly, an openers session can help mentally prepare you for the types of intensities you’re likely to experience in racing, familiarising you with the expected sensations. Finally, they can also act as an indicator of your current form, and should hopefully give you confidence that your taper has been successful in shedding fatigue. Ultimately, this ride should leave you feeling prepared and confident for the next day’s event. While the majority of athletes we’ve worked with seem to respond well to doing the openers session the day before the event, a smaller number of athletes prefer to do this session two days out from the event, and just to include a short Zone 1C ride the day before the event. This is something you might want to test out with lower-priority events to see what works best for you.

Pre-Event Warm-Up For almost all events or races, it’s advisable to include a warm-up as close as possible to the start of your event in order to gradually increase the temperature of muscles and ligaments to reduce the risk of injury, and

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optionally to prime the aerobic system so that it responds more rapidly at the beginning of a race/event. Some specific warm-up guidance for different types of events are included below: •

For events where the intensity is likely to reach or exceed threshold within the first 20-30 minutes of racing, it’s important to prime the aerobic system in advance of the start of the race. The warm-up should therefore include: a. a steady increase in intensity over the first 5-10 minutes, to minimise injury risk, b. some short supra-threshold efforts to prime the aerobic system, and finally, c. a period of lower intensity riding, to allow for accumulated lactate and associated metabolites to be cleared. You can follow the routine described in Chapter 11 as an example.

•

For events where the intensity will likely remain below threshold for at least the first 20-30 minutes of racing, then priming the aerobic system isn’t as important. Thus a short 5-10 minute warm-up at a low intensity will be sufficient to minimise injury risk.

•

For very long events where the intensity will remain very low (e.g. Zone 2C or below), then it might not be necessary to warm-up prior to the event. You can instead take the first 5-10 minutes of the event to build into the race gradually, warming up your muscles and ligaments as you go.

Race Nutrition Your nutritional practices before and during an event can have a big impact on your performance. While a detailed discussion of sports nutrition is beyond the scope of this guide, we’ve included some specific guidance on nutritional best-practices over the 36-48 hours before an event (Thomas et al., 2018). Three key points to consider are (i) whether an increase in carbohydrate intake is needed in the days before the event (commonly known as ‘carb

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loading’), (ii) what are the best practices before an event and (iii) what are the best practices during the event. These three factors are addressed in the table below.

Event Length

Carb-Loading

Pre-Event Meal

During Event

< 1 hour

No specific requirements

Drink little and often according to thirst.

No specific requirements

No specific requirements

Avoid consuming carbohydrates between 10-60 minutes before the event. Drink little and often according to thirst.

Drink according to thirst.

1-1.5 hours

Aim for pre-event meal comprising 1-4g carbs per kg body weight, consumed 1-4 hours before event.

1.5-2.5 hours

>2.5 hours

Over the 3648H before the event, aim to consume 10-12g carbs per kg body weight per day.

Over the 3648H before the event, aim to consume 10-12g carbs per kg body weight per day.

Avoid consuming carbohydrates between 10-60 minutes before the event. Drink little and often according to thirst. Aim for pre-event meal comprising 1-4g carbs per kg body weight, consumed 1-4 hours before event. Avoid consuming carbohydrates between 10-60 minutes before the event. Drink little and often according to thirst. Aim for pre-event meal comprising 1-4g carbs per kg body weight, consumed 1-4 hours before event. Avoid consuming carbohydrates between 10-60 minutes before the event.

Aim for 30-60g carbs per hour

Drink according to thirst. Aim for 30-60g carbs per hour

Drink according to thirst. Aim for 60-90g carbs per hour (using ‘multiple transportable’ carbs if consuming >60g/hour)

The recommendations above aim to ensure that muscle glycogen and blood glucose levels are adequately topped up to meet the demands of the event, and that you remain hydrated as best as possible.

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So-called ‘carb loading’ practices help to elevate your muscle glycogen stores above the ‘norm’, but these practices are only required for events lasting longer than 1.5-hours, where muscle glycogen stores are at risk of being notably depleted by the event.

How to get a start-line boost In all cases, it’s advisable to avoid eating or drinking any carbohydrates between 10-60 minutes before an event, because this can cause a spike and then subsequent dip in blood glucose levels which coincides with the start of the event, and can increase subjective effort level and impair performance. It may also cause gastrointestinal problems. Within the 10-min before an event, it is however safe to consume small amounts of carbohydrates, as this spike and then dip in blood glucose levels does not have time to occur. Indeed, research shows that for events of any length, there may be a benefit in consuming a small dose of carbohydrates, such as a gel or handful of sweets on the start line of a race. These carbohydrates are detected in the mouth by the central nervous system, and can reduce the perception of fatigue and lead to improved performance, even if the event is so short that the carbohydrates do not reach the blood steam before the event is over. In fact, these performanceenhancing effects have even been observed when the carbohydrates are simply rinsed around the mouth, and then spat out! Thus, the carbohydrates are not improving performance via increased fuelling, but by ‘tricking’ the central nervous system to think that the body will soon receive some extra fuel – allowing you to ride harder than you ordinarily would.

Caffeine A dose of caffeine can also reduce perceived fatigue and improve performance. Doses of 2-6g mg per kg of body weight appear to be most effective, with the effects reaching their peak around 45-mins after consumption. However, many athletes experience side-effects with caffeine consumption (such as nervousness or gastrointestinal problems), so you should always trial caffeine intake in training and/or low-priority events before you use it in any key events.

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16.5 Post-Event Recovery Having looked at best practices for planning your pre-race taper, we’ll now turn to post-event recovery. The amount of recovery needed after a race will depend on the duration and intensity of the race, and also your recovery capacity (which includes both your inherent ability to recover, and also how much time you have to rest in a non-stressful environment). Generally-speaking, longer events will require longer recovery periods. You may be recovered from a short event lasting only a few minutes within 24hours or less. However, longer events (e.g. 3 to 4-hours upwards) may require up to a week of recovery depending on how hard you raced and how long the race was relative to your usual training and racing duration. Ultra-distance events may even require several weeks of recovery. By ‘recovery’ we’re not talking here about a complete break from cycling, although a day or so off the bike can be good if you feel you need a mental break from training. In general though, you’ll benefit from doing some lowintensity riding, around Zones 1-2C. This promotes blood flow to the muscles and can help speed up recovery. If you’re taking a longer recovery break (more than a few days), you might also want to include some rides with a little intensity (e.g. similar to the pre-race openers session described in Chapter 11), to help prevent your legs from feeling sluggish. These don’t need to be structured sessions, as their goal is to promote recovery and not to develop fitness, so these harder efforts can be incorporated however is convenient.

16.6 Chapter Summary •

When tapering for a high-priority event, gradually reduce your training volume by around 20-40% over a period of 1-2 weeks (we have personally found shorter tapers of ~1 week work best for most athletes). You should firstly cut down training volume by eliminating any non-specific training (e.g. strength), and following that, reduce the amount of low and medium intensity training. Try to train at least a little on most days of the week, and be sure to maintain your normal amount of high-intensity training. Keep the last few days

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before the race easy, but include an openers session with a little intensity the day before your race. •

Research supports a small performance benefit by including a block of overload training prior to a taper. However, there are considerable risks with following such a strategy, and in general it is not something we recommend except for very highly-trained athletes already accustomed to periods of overload.

•

When tapering for a lower-priority event, simply introduce a few days of easy riding over the 2-3 days before the race, including an openers session the day before. You might want to consider adding a short block of harder training at the start of the week to help maintain fitness progression.

•

For any events that will include an initial bout of riding above the lactate threshold, a warm-up should include efforts above the lactate threshold in order to prime the aerobic system so that it responds more rapidly at the start of the race/event. This should be carried out as close as possible to the start of the race/event.

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PART 4: MONITORING TRAINING An essential component of designing an effective training strategy is monitoring training. This helps to ensure your training is on the right track, the training load is appropriate and that you’re developing the intended fitness components. This section covers some key methods for monitoring training, including methods for assessing fatigue levels, and for measuring fitness progression.



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Chapter 17: Monitoring Training 17.1 Introduction Broadly speaking, there are three main things you want to monitor in your training. First is session quality: has a planned session been performed as intended, and could the session quality be improved, or session parameters tweaked in order to better suit your abilities and the intended outcome of the session? Second is looking for signs of fatigue: how are you feeling from day-to-day, and how are your fatigue levels trending over time? The final aspect to monitor is performance and/or fitness development: is there evidence that your fitness or performance is improving, and is this trending in the expected direction?

17.2 Monitoring Session Quality Session quality should ideally be assessed after each ride, or at least every week to ensure you’re staying on track with your training. Typical objective metrics to look at include planned duration vs completed duration, whether your time in zone distribution looks as expected (considering both power and heart rate), whether you’re staying within your power or heart rate targets, and whether your planned and completed TSS are in close agreement. If you find you’re falling short on any of these parameters, then you’ll need to evaluate why this is happening. Is it down to discipline, or are you perhaps struggling to hit your training targets because you’re too fatigued, or these targets are too ambitious? Another aspect to monitor is your subjective sensations during your training sessions. How hard do different parts of your ride feel, what’s your breathing rate like, and do these align with how these training intensities ‘should’ feel (see Chapter 10). This can help highlight whether a session needs adapting to make it harder/easier, or whether you might be suffering from too much fatigue to complete a session (which might mean you

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need to revisit aspects of your planning such as overall training load and the amount, frequency and/or timing of recovery days and periods).

17.3 Monitoring Fatigue Monitoring fatigue is important to help determine things such as whether your training load is appropriate, whether you’re ready for a hard interval session, or whether you’re sufficiently recovered after a recovery week/period. We covered the ‘Training Stress Balance’ (TSB) in Chapter 13, which is a numerical method that attempts to quantify fatigue accrued from training sessions. However, we explained, TSB and related metrics have some major limitations, and should never be relied on as the sole indicator of fatigue. We cover below some methods for assessing fatigue.

Subjective Markers of Fatigue One method for assessing fatigue is a simple evaluation of how you’re feeling. The following factors can all be potential signs of fatigue or even the early stages of overtraining: •

Low mood (e.g. feeling irritable or depressed).

•

Low motivation to train – particularly if you’re usually quite well motivated to train.

•

High levels of muscle soreness.

•

Difficulty producing a given power or heart rate that’s usually relatively easy to achieve. You should assess this after a proper warm-up.

Of course, transitory feelings of fatigue are a normal (and essential!) part of training. However, if you feel several of these symptoms for more than a few days, then it could mean you need to reduce your training load. There are formal tools that can be used to assess your mood, such as the ‘Profile of Mood States’, which is a psychological questionnaire comprising 65 short questions. This tool can be used if you want a reliable method of quantifying and tracking your mood state, but on the whole we think a

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simple and honest daily assessment of how you’re feeling is the most efficient approach.

Heart Rate Heart rate is also a good marker of fatigue, and can be used in several ways:

Suppressed or elevated heart rate Producing a higher or lower heart rate than you’d normally see for a given power output, and can be a sign of fatigue or early illness. It can be good to have an idea of the typical range for you heart rate when you’re at rest, and when riding at a given power (e.g. a Zone 2C intensity). If you heart rate is notably below or above this (e.g. 10bpm outside the normal range) for a few days in a row, then you might want to consider reducing your training load to see if this helps bring your heart rate back into the normal range. Suppressed or elevated heart rate can also be caused by other factors such as stress, environment, time of day, and consumption of caffeine or other stimulants. Over the longer term, your training and fitness level will also impact the relationship between power and heart rate. We therefore wouldn’t recommend using suppressed/elevated heart rate as a sole marker of fatigue, but should be used in conjunction with other markers (e.g. the subjective factors listed above) to get a holistic view of your likely fatigue levels.

Suppressed or elevated heart rate response Related to the above, another sign of fatigue can be a notably slow or fast responsiveness of your heart to a change in intensity. For example, if you’re doing a set of intervals, and you see your heart rate rise more slowly or more rapidly than normal, this could be a sign you might need to take things easy for a few days. Like a suppressed/elevated heart rate, a slow/fast heart rate response can also be explained by other factors, and should therefore be triangulated with other markers of fatigue, such as subjective feelings.

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Heart rate variability Like heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) can help identify excessive fatigue or early illness. HRV is the variation in time between heart beats, and can be measured using good-quality heart rate straps, typically in conjunction with an app. It’s normal to have some degree of variability in heart rate. However, if this moves beyond the norm, then this can be a sign of problems. The challenge with HRV (and the reason we do not widely recommend using it) is that it’s HIGHLY sensitive to lots of confounding factors, such as whether you’re sitting or standing, whether you’ve been to the toilet, what and when you last ate or drank… and so on. So, it’s really hard to get reliable data. In our experience, the challenges with obtaining good quality HRV data outweigh the benefits, and we’ve found that subjective markers and the more basic heart rate monitoring as outlined above are typically more reliable (and more easily obtainable) indicators of fatigue.

Lamberts & Lambert Sub-Maximal Cycling Test If you’re looking for a formalised method to assess fatigue (while also providing a means to track fitness progression), the Lamberts and Lambert Sub-Maximal Cycling Test (LSCT) is a short, structured and scientificallyvalidated test protocol we’d highly recommend (Lamberts et al. (2010); Lamberts et al., 2010; Hammes et al., 2016; Decroix et al., 2018). In particular, the test might be used to establish: •

how fatigued a cyclist is

•

whether a particular planned session or string of sessions are pitched at an appropriate load

•

when an athlete is ready to return to a heavier training stress following a period of recovery

•

to what extent key physiological markers are improving as a result of the training program.

The LCST is a 16-17-minute long test that’s not overly fatiguing, and can therefore slot into a training plan quite easily. To track fatigue, we’d recommend incorporating this test on a weekly basis, either as a warm-up 270

before a main training session, or as a standalone session when training stress is intended to be kept low, i.e. in a recovery-focused session.

How to perform the LSCT The test itself is split into 4 distinct stages: Stage 1: Ride at an intensity that elicits 60% of Maximum Heart Rate (MaxHR) for 6 minutes Stage 2: Ride at an intensity that elicits 80% of MaxHR for 6 minutes Stage 3: Ride at an intensity that elicits 90% of MaxHR for 3 minutes Stage 4: Stop pedalling after the 3 minute effort is complete, sit up, and allow the HR to drop for 1.5 minutes. Throughout the test, power output, HR and RPE are recorded. Each stage follows immediately after the previous (i.e. no break). The goal is to reach the target heart rate for each stage within the first minute, so you should ride a little harder at the start of each stage to cause heart rate to rise quickly, before settling into a power that sustains the target heart rate. A file will look something like the example in Figure 69, where an initial effort of a higher power output is applied to speed up the HR increase in the first minute of each stage, before power output is then reduced to a level sufficient to maintain HR as close to target as possible:

Figure 69. Example power and heart rate trace (pink and red lines respectively) during an LSCT test.

For stages 1-3, your rating of perceived effort (RPE) should be recorded at the end of each stage on a scale of 1-10.

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Analysing the data There are several pieces of useful information you can gain from the LSCT test: Power:Heart Rate Relationship: In stages 1, 2 and 3, find the average power and heart rate over the stage, excluding the data from the first minute of each stage, where heart rate and power are changing. So for example, in Stage 1, you’d find your average heart rate and power over the final 5minutes of this 6-minute stage. This allows the relationship between power and heart rate to be assessed at each stage of the test. An overall trend for improvement in your power:heart rate ratio over several weeks/months can indicate improving fitness. However a sudden change (whether an increase or decrease in the power needed to elicit the target heart rate) can be an indicator of fatigue. Heart Rate Recovery: Calculate heart rate recovery (HRR) by subtracting your heart rate 1-minute into stage 4 from your heart rate at the very end of stage 3. This tells you how quickly your heart rate dropped after the end of stage 3. An overall trend for improvement in your HRR (i.e. heart rate dropping faster) over several weeks/months can indicate improving fitness. However a sudden change in your HRR can be an indicator of fatigue. RPE: Recording your rating of perceived exertion (RPE) at the end of each stage can give useful information to help spot fatigue. In particular, some scientists suggest that if your RPE in stage 2 is one point higher than the norm, then intense training should be avoided. T90: The time taken to reach 90% MaxHR in stage 3 can also be a sign of fatigue. Some scientists suggest that, if it takes more than 1-minute to reach 90% MaxHR in stage 3, or if you don’t manage to reach this target at all, intense training should be avoided. Generally speaking, all the data above should be interpreted collectively to determine if fatigue is present. So for example, if you see a notable change in your power:heart rate relationship, but your RPE and HRR and T90 are normal, then you are probably ok to proceed with your planned training. 272

However, if you have several warning signs, it may be best to do a lowintensity session or take a day off before doing any intensity/racing. At least 3-4 weeks of baseline data will be needed before you can begin to identify test results that stray away from the ‘norm’. Tips In order to get reliable test results, the conditions of the test need to be standardised as best as possible, as there are many factors that can impact your heart rate independent of fatigue. Most importantly, the intake of caffeine (which has a large impact on heart rate) before the test should be the same each time you do the test, and ideally no caffeine should be consumed within 3-hours prior to the test. It’s also advisable to control the timing of any food intake (e.g. making sure you always eat 2-hours before any test), and to try to do the test under similar conditions each week (e.g. at a similar time of day, and at a similar point in your mesocycle, such as after a recovery day). The testing is best done on an indoor trainer, so you don’t have any interruptions from traffic etc. You’ll also need to make sure the device you use to record heart rate doesn’t have auto-pause switched on, as otherwise you won’t capture the stage 4 data. The test relies on iteratively adjusting your intensity to maintain specific HR values, which can be challenging for some cyclists. Therefore it may take a few familiarisations to develop this skill to a level that produces accurate results. Finally, it’s important to note that the test cannot identify where fatigue is coming from (e.g. training, work/home life, poor nutrition or sleep etc.), and an athlete will need to reflect critically both on recent training and non-training factors that might be impacting fatigue and the ability to train and perform optimally.

Wearable devices There’s been an emergence of wearable devices (e.g. smartwatches) that record data on various aspects of our day-to-day life (e.g. heart rate, sleep quality, activity levels), and then integrate these measures to 273

provide some sort of daily ‘fatigue’ or ‘stress’ score. These have been promoted by athletes across a variety of sports as being a good way to monitor fatigue levels. In principle, these devices sound great. However, the scientific evidence supporting these devices is poor. For example, wrist-based heart rate monitors are not overly precise (Sartor et al., 2018) and are sensitive to the placement on the wrist (Stahl et al., 2016). Moreover, wrist-worn sleep trackers have been shown to have very poor validity (Evenson et al., 2015). Thus, we would not recommend these devices based on present technologies.

17.4 Evaluating Fitness Progression The final piece of the puzzle in terms of monitoring training is evaluating fitness progression. Like with fatigue, there are several different ways that fitness progression can be monitored. We’ll discuss some key methods below.

Formal Testing A first method of assessing progress is through formal testing, for example employing one or more of the testing methods outlined in Chapter 5. Appropriately selected testing can help to understand the physiological adaptations that may be occurring, and can help to steer your training. As an example, you might learn that recent training has over-developed your peak anaerobic power, leading to reduced endurance and power over durations of 20-mins upwards. Knowing this can help you adjust subsequent training to address this. In general we’d recommend using formal testing approximately every 10-16 weeks.

LSCT Tests In addition to providing a useful tool for monitoring fatigue, the LSCT test can also help track changes in fitness. In particular improvements in the power:heart rate ratio within each stage of the test can reflect improving fitness, and studies have shown strong correlation between 274

performance in the LSCT test and peak power output, performance in 40km time trials, and V̇ O2max (Lamberts et al., 2011; Lamberts 2014; Lamberts & Davidowitz, 2014). A trend for faster heart rate recovery (HRR) over time is also a sign of improving aerobic fitness. A limitation with LSCT testing is that it does not provide information on where any changes in fitness are coming from (e.g. is this from improved cardiac stroke volume, neuromuscular efficiency, or something else?). So it’s not possible to determine whether specific training goals are being met. Nevertheless, as the LSCT test is really simple and easy to integrate within the training week, we feel it’s a worthwhile test to include in order to bolster formal testing, or to provide data on fitness progression during periods when formal testing isn’t appropriate (e.g. during race season).

Power-Heart Rate Ratio Following on from the LSCT test, it’s also possible to examine trends in your power:heart rate ratio more generally, where an upward trend in your average power:heart rate ratio is generally reflective of improving fitness. It’s important to note, however, that the power:heart rate relationship will differ with intensity, and is also impacted by factors such as temperature, dehydration, caffeine, stress (to name a few!). This is therefore quite a crude method of tracking fitness development, and we prefer the more formalised approach used in the LSCT test, which helps to eliminate some of these confounding factors. Like the LSCT test, examining your power:HR ratio does not provide information on where any fitness/performance improvements are coming from, and therefore this type of fitness monitoring should be used in conjunction with formalised testing, to make sure you’re developing the right aspects of your fitness.

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Heart Rate Drift When you begin riding at a constant power output, heart rate will initially increase rapidly to meet the oxygen demand of the exercise. However, after that point, even when power output is kept constant, heart rate will continue to drift upward at a slower rate, as shown in Figure 70.

Figure 70. Heart rate trace over time, in response to a constant power output.

This phenomenon is known as ‘heart rate drift’ or ‘power-heart rate decoupling’. You can also see the same phenomenon if you ride while trying to keep your heart rate constant. In this scenario, you’ll see a slow decline in power output over time. You’ll see many references in training books and online articles to the fact that this heart rate drift represents fatigue or lack of aerobic endurance. This idea has led to the development of the ‘power:heart rate decoupling’ metric, which measures the amount by which power and heart rate diverge over the course of a ride. It’s often said that a power:heart rate decoupling of less than 5% indicates good aerobic endurance. Logically, this theory makes sense. We’ve already discussed in previous chapters that efficiency begins to drop with prolonged cycling, and that the amount and speed with which efficiency drops impacts aerobic endurance. It’s also well established that as efficiency drops, the oxygen demand of a

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given power output becomes higher (Mattson et al., 2010). With an elevated oxygen demand, it makes sense that heart rate will also go up. However, to our knowledge there is no good evidence to support this theory. Instead, research suggests that this heart rate drift, at least in the earlier phases, is related with a reduction in the heart’s stroke volume (amount of blood pumped per stroke), so that cardiac output remains constant (Coyle & Gonzales-Alonso, 2001). It’s not fully understood why this change occurs, but the prevailing theory is that it’s linked with an increase in core body temperature (Coyle & Gonzales-Alonso, 2001; Dawson et al., 2005). Dehydration is also a major contributor to heart rate drift (Coyle & Gonzales-Alonso, 2001). When both oxygen consumption and heart rate have been studied over 24-hours of exercise, it’s been shown that heart rate does not track with changes in oxygen consumption (Mattson et al., 2010), which directly contradicts the theory that heart rate rises due to an increasing oxygen demand. In this study, oxygen consumption increased gradually through the 24-hours, before reaching a plateau (as expected), whereas heart rate increased only over the first 6 hours, after which point it unexpectedly began falling. Overall, therefore, the scientific research tends to suggest that heart rate drift is influenced by a variety of factors and probably doesn’t consistently represent loss of economy, fatigue or aerobic endurance very well. In our personal experience, it’s also rare that intensity is well controlled enough to reliably measure power:heart rate decoupling rates, except when rides are performed indoors, where dehydration and overheating will almost certainly be the driving factors for any drift. Ultimately, we think that better measures for aerobic endurance include subjective assessment of how fatigued you feel in the latter stages of riding (e.g. can you now ride 3-hours comfortably when you previously struggled to complete 2-hours?), how sore your muscles are after a long ride (e.g. did you previously have muscle soreness after a 3-hour ride, whereas now you don’t?), and how much you feel you need to eat during a long ride (e.g. did you previously need to have some food or energy drink

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in order to complete a 2-hour ride, whereas now you can ride 2-hours without fuelling?).

Subjective Markers A final, but very important method of monitoring fitness progression is to monitor your subjective feelings in rides. We’ve already discussed monitoring subjective feeling in relation to assessing session quality, and detecting fatigue, but subjective feelings can also give insight into how your fitness is progressing. Some useful questions to ask yourself include: •

Do I feel like I can ride for longer more comfortably? If yes, this might reflect improving endurance.

•

Have I found I need to eat less on my long rides? If yes, this might reflect improved fat oxidation.

•

Can I ride at a higher power before getting out of breath? If yes, this might reflect an improved lactate threshold.

•

Am I performing better in group rides/races relative to my peers? This could reflect fitness improvements in a number of areas, and you can reflect on when you’re riding more strongly (e.g. over 5-min efforts or over short sprints) in order to understand how your fitness might have changed.

17.5 Chapter Summary •

Session quality should be checked on a regular basis (e.g. daily to weekly), and this involves reviewing objective training data, but also critically evaluating subjective feelings in the session to gauge whether it was pitched at the right level.

•

Fatigue can be monitored in various ways. In our view the best techniques include a combination of tracking subjective feelings, and paying close attention to sudden changes in your power:heart rate ratio, and/or speed of heart rate response following a change in intensity. The LSCT test is a formalised test protocol that

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incorporates these techniques, and can be integrated into training on a weekly basis. •

It’s important to evaluate fitness progression to understand the effect recent training has had, and to help steer your future training to keep fitness progressing in the right way. Formal testing (as outlined in Chapter 5) is a key part of this, and we’d recommend including this approximately every 10-16 weeks. In addition, it’s possible to track changes in your fitness from your regular training data such as by examining your power:heart rate relationship, or from a subjective evaluation of how you’re feeling. Again, the LSCT test is a formalised way of evaluating progress on a weekly basis.



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PART 5: WRAPPING UP Through this guide, we’ve covered everything we think is necessary to plan and execute a good training strategy. However, it can be easy to get bogged down in the planning details. So, in this final section of the guide, we’ll wrap up by highlighting the key things to keep in mind when training. If you can follow these basic principles, then you shouldn’t go too far wrong!

Key Principles 1. Training consistency is key. By far the biggest determinant ensuring continued fitness development, or at least fitness maintenance, is the ability to train regularly each week. If you can manage this then you’re 80% of the way to having a good training plan. It’s therefore important to avoid overburdening yourself with training, which can result in burn-out, injury or illness and a subsequent sustained break from training. If you know you’re an over-achiever, then try to keep your training conservative, and plan a little less than you think you can achieve - this will probably be the right amount. 2. In relation to the above, if you’re new to training or have had a sustained break, then you should build into training gradually, focussing initially on training that helps you be a well-rounded athlete, who can tolerate the training loads and intensities to come. This might involve focussing on building strength, and a basic foundation of aerobic fitness and endurance, which could be achieved both on the bike and via some cross-training such as running. 3. The next key thing is to ensure you’re getting a good dose of Zone 2 training across each mesocycle (generally around 80% of training sessions). This type of training is important for almost all cycling disciplines, as it helps to build your aerobic fitness. Yet, this is one of the biggest areas for improvement in much of the training we review. Just because a ride has a normalised power that falls within

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the Zone 2 range, does not mean that it was a quality Zone 2 ride. We’re looking for a good percentage of ride time (at least 50% as a minimum, but ideally more) being within the Zone 2 range. You might need to look at picking less hilly routes, skipping some group/social rides and/or changing the gearing on your bike in order to achieve that. 4. Make sure your training is varied. This is important, not only for interest, but to make sure your fitness does not stagnate. In particular, it’s better to include rides of varied durations (e.g. some long rides and some shorter rides) and to include some medium or high intensity sessions, even if your main training goal is a long endurance event where you’re likely to stay around a Zone 2 intensity. 5. In relation to the point above, you should have clear training and recovery days. The recovery days should be much easier than your training days, and we recommend being liberal with these – remembering that it’s on these days that your body will make the biggest strides towards improving fitness. We find most cyclists tend towards training too much than too little, so make sure your body actually has chance to adapt to the training. Don’t forget about good sleep and nutrition too. These will go a long way towards helping you recover and adapt. 6. Try to figure out where your strengths and limiters lie. Even if this is a simple subjective assessment of where you tend to gain or lose places in a race (e.g. sustained climbs versus short, sharp efforts) or where you tend to be stronger or weaker than your peers on group rides, and try to figure out what this likely means about your physiology (e.g. do you seem to be limited most by your endurance?). This will help you work on the right things in training. 7. Listen to your body, as this will be the best guide of what’s achievable in training and how your fitness is developing. Don’t try to chase metrics like TSS and CTL if they don’t align with your own feelings on the bike. Likewise, don’t blindly trust results and training zones derived from performance testing if they don’t feel right. Try to be honest with yourself about what’s achievable in

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training and be open to adjusting your targets (either up or down!) if that seems appropriate. 8. Don’t get too bogged down in the details. The question of whether you do intervals lasting 7-min or 8-mins, or whether you ride at 95% FTP versus 98% FTP is really not going to make much difference in the grand scheme of things. The key is training consistently, with the right overall training intensity distribution, an appropriate volume and amount of recovery, and including sessions that work towards addressing your key limiters. 9. Remember there is no ‘magic bullet’. Try not to get side-tracked by new training sessions that promise the world. There is no such thing. Stick to evidence-based and time-tested training practices, which have been shown time and again to be effective when used consistently and in the right doses. 10.Lastly, don’t be afraid to seek advice if you need to! Sometimes you just need to talk things through with a fellow cyclist, teammate or coach who has encountered a similar experience to you. We very much hope that you’ve found this guide useful. Do feel free to send over any feedback to [email protected], as we’d love to hear from you.

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