An Hour OF Power!

Ade Merckx

Yeah thats another quote for me to get all fired up about Of course anyone who's been lurking on these forums for long enough knows this, but when its presented the way you've kicked it we all get a perfect picture of why FTP is so important...if I could just tease out a little more info before you start charging me . How close to race time do you start the short hard stuff - vo2max and anaerobic intervals? Thank you Sir. To be fair the original inspiration came from you when you said you were going to test your FTP in January. I hope the test goes well, build up gradually initially and see where it takes you

Bill Black

I don't mean to be evasive but... it all depends. What are the longer term goals for the season? By close to race time, do you mean the "A" event(s), or just the start of the race season?

Assuming just the start of the race season (assume May 1), and starting from now (Jan. 23), the balance of January would be 9 - 10 hours per week on the indoor trainer with Monday being easy and the rest of the days being solid L3 into just a bit of L4 but also doing the HOP which is solid L4 with surges into low L5 and looking to get one longer ride outside per week if possible. February continues the same general pattern (HOP once every 10 days or so) but also including some patterned 2min L5 surges during L3 60min+ sessions (usually 3 or 4 such surges per 60min). March continues but I am usually getting outside a bit more and some group rides start -- I make a conscious effort on the group rides to drop off the back of the group and TT back on in order to make sure I get in 3 or 4 L5 intervals of 3 - 5min each and it is during March that I start in more on the L5 work (I use 6 zones with L6 being absolute sprinting full out and L5 being sustainable power for 5 - 6min). April I continue working the FTP and my outside hours are going up. If I am doing training races, it is not necessary to do organized L5 intervals but if no racing then I am doing once per week sessions of 6 to 8 of 5min intervals at L5. Assuming our May 1 start, I will take my organized L5 intervals through mid-April than back off on the intensity for a week, doing solid FTP work but making sure not to become too deeply fatigued with excessive hours and then the last week of April I will do a session of L5 intervals about 5 or 6 days before the race date, back things off again and then do some short harder opening work as my opener the day before the race date.

Best,
Bill Black

ctgt

You called this a disguised HOP. I've seen mention of your HOP before, but never knew what it was (I guess I just assumed it was an FTP test-which made me not want to do it ).

So is this the actual HOP, or is it one of many variations?

I think I'm going to do this workout next chance I get (that's how my training is organized-when the opportunity arises, I train for as long as I can, and I determine the workout by what I've done recently, and what I might be able to do soon).

Bill Black

The Hour of Power (HOP) reference is something that I coined and then the Coggan/Allen book used some of my material and specifically deals with the HOP on pp. 85-86 (I think those are the pages). My reference to the "disguised" aspect of the workout described in the article link I cited/wrote is that the article deals with the underlying rationale for the HOP but it specifies a workout range for power percentages that allows for a somewhat easier session than the HOP set forth in the Coggan/Allen book.
Best,
Bill Black

ctgt

I should get that book I guess.

daveryanwyoming

A year or so ago I tried a few literal HOPs from Hunter and Coggan's book and just couldn't pull them off. When I thought about it, I wasn't surprised, if the rest power is up in L4 and the peaks are into L5 your NP (and possibly AP) are going to very near or above FTP. By definition it's pretty hard to finish a full hour above FTP, especially during normal training.

Anyway I started doing an easier version I refer to as Tempo with a Twist, which is basically what you've described in the USAC article. I ride steady high Tempo or low SST in the 80-85% of FTP range and do a seated jump every two to three minutes. NP ends up squarely in L4 and it's tough but I can complete the workout.

-Dave

Ade Merckx

Thanks very much Bill. I'll post a few race reports when the season gets going

Animator

Hi Bill, is there any reason not to do these more often than this? I just did my first (modified) HOP the other day and it felt great. I kept it at ~90% FTP and did 10 sec. jumps at ~140% every 2 min. I have a real problem completing steady state intervals of any intensity longer than 10 minutes, especially indoors. So being able to go a full hour was a huge breakthrough for me. I enjoyed it so much, I did 30 minutes of the same protocol the next day. I want to do all my indoor SST this way I think. Any reason not to?

frenchyge

Certainly there are many ways to help break up a steady-state effort. One that I use is to imagine I'm in a break with 4 other riders (or 3, whatever) with each rider doing one minute on the front of the paceline. So, it's 1 minute at about 110% FTP and then 4 min (or 3) at about 70-80% of that power to mimic the drafting effect. The average ends up in the 80-90% FTP range depending on the rest intervals and power selected, and it makes for a nice regular rhythm to the effort (ie, go hard everytime the minute strikes a multiple of 5, etc.).

daveryanwyoming

Nice way to visualize the ups and downs of riding with others and making it work out to a solid SST effort.

I use a similar method when training on gym ergs. They tend to have pretty big power jumps between their preset levels. The gym near work has ergs that jump from 240 watts to 290 watts between adjacent levels. So I'll do various mix and match workouts like you describe to get the average power where I want it and to break things up every minute or two. 1:4 ratios like you describe work great as do 2.5 minutes up, 2.5 minutes down and other variations on the theme.

I'd never thought about it like riding a 4 up TTT, but that's a cool visualization for those up down efforts.

-Dave

postal_bag

I've been doing one where I am in a two-man break with a weaker rider. I pull for 3 min @ 100-105% FTP, and he pulls for 2 min while I recover at 85-88% FTP, repeat for 30'. Actually, I usually take the last 5' @ 105% FTP because the other guy blows-up.

Another one I do is with a rider of equal strength: 1' @ 106-110% FTP, 1' @ 83-85% FTP, repeat for 30'.

I have been getting IF's of 0.96-0.99 for my 30' intervals.

Animator

Thanks guys! Very, very helpful!