comments on L7 interval protocol



badgerfan

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Dec 23, 2005
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I'm going to give a shot at designing an interval workout for nm/L7 and wondered if I'm on the right track. My main objective is to increase my ability to put out short bursts of power to match surges and close small gaps not necessarily out of the saddle sprints. I'm building an ERG+ file to run on my computrainer and am trying to make everything as specific as possible (eg seated, 80-120rpm ect). So here goes..... Start with a good progessive 20-30 min warm up then 10 x 12sec on / 3 min at 50% FTP (my FTP currently is 215W) and a good cool down. The question is with the work period. I've designed an erg power curve that has a sharp 2 sec ramp up to 800W, then a shallow drop for 10 sec (800-780W, followed by a 2 sec drop back down to ~100W for the recovery period. As soon as the interval starts I do a max acceleration from 80rpm. The increase in the load stops my cadence at about 125rpm and then drags it back down to about 85rpm by the end of the 10 second segment. I can currently do about 7 of these until I can no longer complete an interval without dropping below 80 rpm at the end. I plan to do these once a week and increase the workload by 20W once I can complete all 10 repetitions. The thing I like about this workout is that no thought is required other than GO HARD, the CT takes care of everything else. So, if I haven't confused everyone, I'd love to know if I'm on the right track here or totally out lunch.

Thanks for any input,
Lloyd
 
badgerfan said:
I'm going to give a shot at designing an interval workout for nm/L7 and wondered if I'm on the right track. My main objective is to increase my ability to put out short bursts of power to match surges and close small gaps not necessarily out of the saddle sprints. I'm building an ERG+ file to run on my computrainer and am trying to make everything as specific as possible (eg seated, 80-120rpm ect). So here goes..... Start with a good progessive 20-30 min warm up then 10 x 12sec on / 3 min at 50% FTP (my FTP currently is 215W) and a good cool down. The question is with the work period. I've designed an erg power curve that has a sharp 2 sec ramp up to 800W, then a shallow drop for 10 sec (800-780W, followed by a 2 sec drop back down to ~100W for the recovery period. As soon as the interval starts I do a max acceleration from 80rpm. The increase in the load stops my cadence at about 125rpm and then drags it back down to about 85rpm by the end of the 10 second segment. I can currently do about 7 of these until I can no longer complete an interval without dropping below 80 rpm at the end. I plan to do these once a week and increase the workload by 20W once I can complete all 10 repetitions. The thing I like about this workout is that no thought is required other than GO HARD, the CT takes care of everything else. So, if I haven't confused everyone, I'd love to know if I'm on the right track here or totally out lunch.

Thanks for any input,
Lloyd
lloyd, there are tons of ways of doing this workout. but i think what you have in mind is addressing your goal: NM repeatability. like you said, this isn't about max sprint power or standing, but quick, hard accelerations to keep in contact with a wheel or the group.

keep in mind the 30 second half-life for the physiological processes that are happening....15 sec @ 50% of FTP & 15 sec @ 150% of FTP will more or less 'smooth' out so that Avg Power is a useful metric. granted QA requirements will be very diff. than an isopower 100% FTP session.

you might find this helpful in planning - np calculator (in what i use, open office) or this one np calculator (for excel)- it calculates normal power for you based on inputs. this way you can see if the time/power/work period/rest period you have set up is reasonable. if NP is much greater than AP, you will likely struggle at least if you do this for more than a short few minutes. those QA pedal force/velocity requirements might be what makes it feel hard or it could be that NP is just too high. you will know pretty soon.
-your CT sure makes it easy to target the power you want, much more than eyeballing the display for time/power like the rest of us CT-less folks!
 
Lloyd, I've never ridden a CT so take this with a grain of salt, but a structured Erg-mode workout seems like overkill for an L7 workout. For seated spin ups like you've got here, doesn't the CT drag your cadence down initially during the steep ramp up unless you're keeping a close eye on the timer? I mean if it works, it works, but for crit work I'd just make sure your cadence stays high as if you're spinning to accelerate during a surge.

If I were doing something like this (without an erg), I'd just keep an eye on the clock and spin up as fast as possible for 12-15 seconds on every 3rd minute (3:00, 6:00, 9:00, etc.) of the workout for 45 min or so. But hey, I guess if you've got a CT, you may as well use it, right? :)
 
DancenMacabre said:
keep in mind the 30 second half-life for the physiological processes that are happening....15 sec @ 50% of FTP & 15 sec @ 150% of FTP will more or less 'smooth' out so that Avg Power is a useful metric. granted QA requirements will be very diff. than an isopower 100% FTP session.
Didn't the OP define the session as 10x 12sec(3min)?

DancenMacabre said:
if NP is much greater than AP, you will likely struggle at least if you do this for more than a short few minutes.
I'm not following you here. Doesn't one's MMP for a duration more or less constrain the "session" NP for the same duration? I would think that if planned session NP is greater than one's MMP for the duration of the planned session, then the workouts is not likely going to get done as planned.
 
I use a CT regularly and I totally agree with Frenchy on this one. I would use a 3d course or a RCV (NOT erg mode). For the "on" periods, just treat it like you would outside and go as hard as you can (will require the right gear). For the "off" periods I don't think it matters much what you do. You could maintain the 50% FTP by simply eyeing it, or pay no attention whatsoever and just do what feels right.

If you were to use ERG mode you would have to plan ahead for the intervals and get the cadence right BEFORE the interval starts, then try to keep the CT from slowing down too much as it quickly ups the resistance. I suppose you could learn to do this but it wouldn't seem very natural. Also, I think it would be at the expense of really getting up to max power. You would never actually be hitting your peak power (or alternatively if you did set it so you could hit your peak power you wouldn't be able to keep the CT from slowing down massively during the interval, ending up in a slog, which isn't very realistic either).
 
Fightin Boba said:
Didn't the OP define the session as 10x 12sec(3min)?
Correct. I stated a generalization about physiological responses which would apply regardless of work period/rest period length.


Fightin Boba said:
I'm not following you here. Doesn't one's MMP for a duration more or less constrain the "session" NP for the same duration? I would think that if planned session NP is greater than one's MMP for the duration of the planned session, then the workouts is not likely going to get done as planned.
Thanks for catching my typo. i meant MMP not AP. if Np does exceed MMP for the specified duration then either the workout wont be completed or the integration of the MMP curve will get larger thanks to a pb
 

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