Block Training, Open discussion.

[ackgot]

Effective? Not Effective? Good/Bad? Give your two cents about it.
________________________________________
I have read about block training and am personally trying it out.
Its been about 2 weeks and I enjoy it. As far as it being an effective training method I would need a few more months to decide, but if anyone out there has any information about block training please contribute it to this thread!

 

[Doctor Morbius]

Effective? Not Effective? Good/Bad? Give your two cents about it.
________________________________________
I have read about block training and am personally trying it out.
Its been about 2 weeks and I enjoy it. As far as it being an effective training method I would need a few more months to decide, but if anyone out there has any information about block training please contribute it to this thread!

Define training block. From what I've read it seems that many coaches and riders have different definintions for this term, kind of like Tempo.

I've seen training block describe a month (block) of work designed to achieve certain adaptations. I've also seen the term used to describe 2 days of back to back intervals (block), such as 2x20 intervals on Tuesdays & Wednesdays followed by several days of lower intensity rides.

 

[frenchyge]

... if anyone out there has any information about block training please contribute it to this thread!

You might find the comments in this thread useful. A search of the forums might reveal other threads on your topic as well.

 

[otb4evr]

Define training block. From what I've read it seems that many coaches and riders have different definintions for this term, kind of like Tempo.

I've seen training block describe a month (block) of work designed to achieve certain adaptations. I've also seen the term used to describe 2 days of back to back intervals (block), such as 2x20 intervals on Tuesdays & Wednesdays followed by several days of lower intensity rides.

I define "Block Training" as 2 - 3 days targeted work followed by off/easy days.

I call 4 weeks of targeted work a "cycle".

I prescribe to the notion that block training works.

I believe that it allows the body to adapt to the stresses much quicker than if one was to do the hard/easy approach.

For an excellent discussion on this: http://lists.topica.com/search/?query=block+training&search_what=900009803&search_type=msg

An excellent book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071410910/103-1041095-4773432?v=glance&n=283155

YMMV

Jim

Jim

 

[SolarEnergy]

I've seen training block describe a month (block) of work designed to achieve certain adaptations. I've also seen the term used to describe 2 days of back to back intervals (block), such as 2x20 intervals on Tuesdays & Wednesdays followed by several days of lower intensity rides.

Too me Block training would mean the latter.

But I see it or approach it in a more general way. I'd define it as 2 (or more) workouts involving the same type of work (or two different types that are very close to each other), occuring without taking a day off, or taking a day ez. Two workouts that are part of a block may occur within the same day (e.g. one in the morning, one in the evening).

I have seen at mutliple times training programes setup like this :

Saturday and Sunday group ride and or group race
Monday off
Tuesday L4 orianted work
Wednsday L5 orianted work
Thursday L4 orianted work
Friday off

To me, there's not much difference between this 'Tue-Wed-Thu' combination, and a pure 3 day block of L4 workouts for instance.

Or if Saturday and Sunday both involve L2-3-4-5-6, to me that's a two day block of L2-6.

But for the purpose of this thread, I can conform the strick definition

 

[gvanwagner]

Effective? Not Effective? Good/Bad? Give your two cents about it.
________________________________________
I have read about block training and am personally trying it out.
Its been about 2 weeks and I enjoy it. As far as it being an effective training method I would need a few more months to decide, but if anyone out there has any information about block training please contribute it to this thread!

I personally love block training. Although I think 2-3 days in a row don't really follow the essence of block training. 4 or more is the most effective for me. Afterall the standard cyclist week that has been for decades has a "block" TWT.

My 2 personal favorite ways to do it are A. 5 days hard(>900 TSS) 2 days off. or B. a 7ish day block with a "rest day" of around 40 min at L4 3 days off after the 7. Even though though it isn't really a true rest day it does give some training while allowing you to recover and so the next days workouts well. Also, blocks work well with 2 a days because near the end of the block if you can't do 80 min in L4- splitting that into AM/PM will allow you to do the workout with the same gains.

I don't think you really need to have a 1:1 ratio. Somewhere around 2:1. Blocks are a good use of PM because you'll see that a lot of your workouts you may feel tired but you can put out enough power to make the workout effective so why rest until the end of your block. The longer the block the less relative recovery time you need.

Also, blocks are only really effective if your doing the workouts at stress levels that aren't sustainable. If you stay below the level of fatigue where you feel normal the day after a workout then either increase the workload and taker a rec day or keep going at that same rate.

Mentally I love em because I can bury myself in the block because I know I have two days of true deep rest. Also, I think they reduce the chance of burnout because after those 2 days of doing not much your chomping to get back to training. with easy hard training you never really 100% deep rest so that becomes a factor in August.

Also, (somewhat off topic) sometimes Ill do rec rides on the days off but usually because of scheduling just take them competely off. Also, taking those days off is good to let your ancillary components recover. Those off the bike days help the saddle sores, sore back, bum knee or whatever problem you may have caused during the block. I think that passive recovery is best for blocks YMMV.

 

[gvanwagner]

Effective? Not Effective? Good/Bad? Give your two cents about it.
________________________________________
I have read about block training and am personally trying it out.
Its been about 2 weeks and I enjoy it. As far as it being an effective training method I would need a few more months to decide, but if anyone out there has any information about block training please contribute it to this thread!

Oh, and as far as anecdotal reports are concerned I have found I gain fitness at a vastly higher rate while blocking. BUT, that could also just be because I tend to train harder in blocks because I don't have to worry about long term fatigue as much- IOW I tend to bury myself deeper with less consequence.

 

[AndROOb]

I'm doing LT blocks at the moment. If I do 3x20's at ~240w for 3-4 day blocks, then recover for 2-3 days, how many of these should I do before upping the wattage?

 

[gvanwagner]

I'm doing LT blocks at the moment. If I do 3x20's at ~240w for 3-4 day blocks, then recover for 2-3 days, how many of these should I do before upping the wattage?

If you have the time if you can do 3x30 at 240 then up the wattage. I agree with RD that in general more volume of high intensity time is better. So just go by feel- if you can complete your workouts then awesome but if not then you know where your limits stand.

Maybe

1- 3x30 or 4x25/ 2x40 at 225-230
2- 3x20 or 5 x15 at 240
3- 4x20 or at 240
4 - 2x20 at 250 in Am and PM

So even though it's still hard for 4 days the stress peaks and falls allowing you to do your 2 toughest days (1+3) with fresher legs then 2+4. Thats a pretty tough block though so either you won't be able to do it or you'll get a lot stronger.

Although, I like really go deep into the details of scheduling I've noticed that it doesn't really matter for me which order as long as their enough overload it will have the same effect.