LarryOz
Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
I was reminded of something the last few days - Now I need to make a sign and post it on my wall so I do not forget it ever again: I have been having a little trouble lately finishing some of my workouts. I thought it was because I reduced my seat angle by 10 degrees and that might have caused some of the issue, but I also have not really been resting well enough between these really hard and challenging workouts.
#1: Rest as hard as you train. That is: make sure you "really" rest between really hard efforts. Just spin to let you legs move but nothing more. HR at about 100, nothing more. No more than an hour. Spin fast enough so do you hardly feel any force on your pedals. If you do not rest, then you are too fatigued to do a workout that will actually benefit you! If you are doing that you are wasting all the time and energy. So, Tues I did some endurance riding (and "thought" it was recovery) after a hard Monday workout and Wed I died on my workout. Thur I really rested and today I felt much better and also did not feel like I was going to fall over after the ride, even though I worked substantially harder during the workout. So, here is me taking more rest between hard workouts.
#2: Spin as fast as you can to keep maximum power during intervals. I am talking over 100rpm - preferably shooting for 110. This really takes more mental power than you might imagine. If I get distracted reading something online or take a call, my cadence almost instantly drops below 80, then it quickly decays until I cannot pedal at all. Then I also have put such a huge load on my leg muscles trying to pedal over 100% FTP at 50 or 60 rpm. This can cause early cramping and eventual premature failure during the workout, plus longer recovery. In my over/under workout today - I had 7x8 minute over-unders that started with 1 min at 95%, then 1 minute to get to 105%, then 1 min at 105%, then 1 min back down to 95%, then repeat those 4 minutes again, for a total of 8 minutes, then 5 minutes rest, then repeat 6 more times. Some of the intervals I got distracted and let my cadence fall under 80 and I had to stop and start over, but if I kept my cadence near 105 I could do all 8 minutes without having to stop, even on the last one after doing them for over an hour and a half. Spinning fast takes a little more cardio, but I have found that you adapt to it pretty fast. The really nice thing about the high cadence is that you are not loading you muscles up to heavy. Your legs feel fresh all the way through. You're lungs, not so much - but you will adapt. If you are an unbeliever, take a look at some of the footage of Wiggins: 1HR TT where he averaged 440watts and speed of 35mph, He rode that at 105rpm. So, here's me staring to pedals faster during all my workout!
#1: Rest as hard as you train. That is: make sure you "really" rest between really hard efforts. Just spin to let you legs move but nothing more. HR at about 100, nothing more. No more than an hour. Spin fast enough so do you hardly feel any force on your pedals. If you do not rest, then you are too fatigued to do a workout that will actually benefit you! If you are doing that you are wasting all the time and energy. So, Tues I did some endurance riding (and "thought" it was recovery) after a hard Monday workout and Wed I died on my workout. Thur I really rested and today I felt much better and also did not feel like I was going to fall over after the ride, even though I worked substantially harder during the workout. So, here is me taking more rest between hard workouts.
#2: Spin as fast as you can to keep maximum power during intervals. I am talking over 100rpm - preferably shooting for 110. This really takes more mental power than you might imagine. If I get distracted reading something online or take a call, my cadence almost instantly drops below 80, then it quickly decays until I cannot pedal at all. Then I also have put such a huge load on my leg muscles trying to pedal over 100% FTP at 50 or 60 rpm. This can cause early cramping and eventual premature failure during the workout, plus longer recovery. In my over/under workout today - I had 7x8 minute over-unders that started with 1 min at 95%, then 1 minute to get to 105%, then 1 min at 105%, then 1 min back down to 95%, then repeat those 4 minutes again, for a total of 8 minutes, then 5 minutes rest, then repeat 6 more times. Some of the intervals I got distracted and let my cadence fall under 80 and I had to stop and start over, but if I kept my cadence near 105 I could do all 8 minutes without having to stop, even on the last one after doing them for over an hour and a half. Spinning fast takes a little more cardio, but I have found that you adapt to it pretty fast. The really nice thing about the high cadence is that you are not loading you muscles up to heavy. Your legs feel fresh all the way through. You're lungs, not so much - but you will adapt. If you are an unbeliever, take a look at some of the footage of Wiggins: 1HR TT where he averaged 440watts and speed of 35mph, He rode that at 105rpm. So, here's me staring to pedals faster during all my workout!
