2EVOLVE :: PERFORMANCE & ENDURANCE TRAINING SYSTEMS

Reality: An athlete must have an honest appraisal of both his or her strengths and weaknesses in sport. It is only then that a specific plan can be implemented, designed to enhance strengths and minimize or eliminate weaknesses. Having said that, it is my experience that athletes are too slow, too weak or too fat. The really lucky ones combine some or all of these traits! It should also be noted that athletes must select events that are suited to their particular style, physical morphology and psychological make-up. In other words a 90 Kg. rider with a ferocious finishing sprint is unlikely to ever excel in a mountainous stage race. The acceptance of this reality and the selection of events that provide a suitable showcase for one’s talents is a valuable bit of self-knowledge.

Volume: Endurance athletes spend far too much of their training time at the improper intensity level for their sport. Long steady distance (LSD) training SHOULD NOT constitute the bulk of training mileage, yet in most cases it does.  It should come as no surprise then that most enduros are chronically overtrained in terms of volume, yet lack sufficient work capacity to perform at optimal levels. A competitive event is never contested at an intensity level that relies on the oxidative energy pathway alone, and any endurance built solely at this level is marginally effective, at best. In most instances competitive endurance athletes benefit greatly by increasing the time spent training the glycolytic energy pathway (this was formerly known as the anaerobic threshold, before the concept of an anaerobic threshold was proven erroneous). It is here that the bulk of racing occurs. The increase in intensity of training will necessitate an overall reduction in the weekly volume load. One session of LSD work per week is plenty. Doing more than this causes two problems that are immediately apparent: 1. It removes the possibility of more quality work to be done in its place and 2.  The athlete quickly reaches a point of diminishing returns, whereby more work does not produce physiologic adaptation in a degree that is worth the expenditure of time and energy. Some athletes will be very apprehensive about this at first, thinking that less volume is somehow inferior to the old “piles of miles” doctrine. Nothing could be further from the truth and several weeks after embarking upon the new journey athletes will realize the meaning of quality work.  Furthermore, excessive low intensity training has a negative effect on the ability to generate power, build muscle and maintain a healthy immune system.

Recovery: The training does not build the athlete, the recovery from said training does. In other words there must be sufficient rest built into the training cycle to allow for recovery and for adaptation to occur. Here is the second area where most get it wrong. Most enduros train too easily on hard days and too hard on easy days. An easy day should constitute no more than 10% of the total weekly volume. For example, a rider training 300 miles per week, on average, should ride no longer than 30 miles on an easy day. Additionally this time should be spent at a low level of intensity and without any undue strain or hard effort. By employing a Hard/ Easy approach to training it is possible to accumulate not only sufficient volumes of quality training but also to sufficiently recover from this work as well. Over the span of 14 days a micro-cycle might look something like this: HARD-EASY-HARD-EASY-HARD-EASY-LONG-HARD-EASY-EASY-HARD-EASY-LONG. This is merely an example but illustrates that rest days are a key component to a successful program. There will be some LSD training but it does not constitute the bulk of training.

Intervals: Hard days involve training at the upper limit of the intensity range. If rated on a scale of perceived exertion, with 1 being no effort and 10 being a max effort, these sessions will be performed in the range of 7-9 the majority of time. Note that never is an athlete expected to reach a “10” in training and seldom a “9” for that matter; however there will be a lot of “8”’s documented in the log book if an athlete is training correctly. The reason for this is that the physical development at the “8” range is nearly as beneficial of that any higher, yet an athlete is able to more quickly recover and is less psychologically damaged by a slightly reduced effort. In other words, we save the “9’s and 10’s” for competition. The specifics of a hard session will vary depending on specific goals (e.g. road races, time trials, track events, etc.) but a general example might look something like: warm-up 30 minutes, then 4 x 2 minutes @ 8/10 with 2 min recovery, 4 x 1 min @ 8/10 with 1 min recovery and 4 x :30 sec @ 8/10 with 1 min recovery; cool down with easy riding for 20 minutes and stretch post training. Here is a session that lasts barely 90 minutes total yet will yield far greater returns in terms of work capacity development and race specific endurance than 4 or 5 hours of LSD work. These training sessions develop power, and power is a key ingredient to success in endurance events. Power can be measured in many different ways (e.g. wattage produced, Kcal. expenditure, etc.), but the simple equation of P=W/T (Power equals work divided by time) does not change. More work in less time means that more power is needed to complete the work. Racing is about covering a given distance as fast as possible and this is an expression of power.

Hill work: hill riding is essential for road racers and enduro trackies as well. A climb that takes roughly 10 minutes to complete is ideal, provided it can be ridden mostly in the saddle at a good tempo. Three to six (depending on overall fitness level) repeats done @ ~75% of maximum and in a gear that allows a good cadence (~70-80 RPM) will build sport specific strength and high intensity aerobic endurance that has tremendous carryover to events that require sustained sub-maximal power output such as criteriums, time trials and pursuit events. Even the so-called non-climber will find enormous benefit from a weekly session of this type. There is so much carry over to other aspects of riding that this training should be incorporated on a year round basis.

Consistency: This is another area where athletes fail regularly. Anyone can have a good session or a good week. Champions have productive years of training. Almost any plan will yield results if adhered to, even a poor plan! Missed training sessions, wild fluctuations in intensity and losing focus all contribute to a lack of consistency. Patience is another quality that is required here. Many athletes have been poised on the edge of a serious breakthrough in performance only to abandon their plan just as it was about to deliver. There are plenty of athletes out there that change their training based on hearsay advice or on the latest article in an issue of “Muscle and Meathead” of whatever their training journal of choice happens to be.  Not surprisingly every one of these athletes continues to languish in mediocrity and never is able to live up to his or her full potential. Create a sound plan, train consistently and adhere to your plan. You will improve, be patient.