chimpchops27 said:
Ok that sounds good. I just feel I would struggle to just do L4 work, I like to break it up a bit.
I am mainly going to be doing time trials this year, but i will also compete in mtb events.
Someone mentioned to me that its great have a good FTP value, but if you are low on say Anaerobic strength ie minute intervals, this will drag down your ftp in a race situation where you have to grind up a steep climb.
When you work on your L5 And L6 will you also throw in some L4 at some point in the week?
hey, you know yourself best so if only L4 work isn't your bag, then for sure get a bit creative.
You can get some interesting workouts while still focusing on sustainable power.
Here are some alternative workouts to the ubiquitious 2/3 x 20 format:
Workout 1
-10 min warm-up
-5 minutes @ 85% of FT then 1 minute @ 120% of FT. work your way up to 60 minutes non-stop.
- 10min. cool-down.
Workout 2
-10 min warm-up
-7 min @ 80% of FT then 1 minute @ 130% of FT. work up to 60 minutes non-stop.
- 10min. cool-down.
Workout 3
microintervals like you had in your plan
-10 min warm-up
15s on @ 150% FT, 15s off @ 50% FT (or a diff. combination/mix of intensities if you prefer)
- 10min. cool-down.
Workout 4
-10 min warm-up
-5 min on @ 100% FT w/1min rest. do 8 (or more) reps
- 10min. cool-down.
Workout 5
- 10min. warm-up;
- 20min. @85% of FTP;
- 5min. @70% of FTP;
- 5min. @100% of FTP with last 30sec. thereof @140%+ of FTP;
- 5min. @70% of FTP;
- 5min. @100% of FTP with last 30sec. thereof @140%+ of FTP;
- 10min. cool-down.
Workout 6
- 10min. warm-up;
- 70% of FTP then every 4.5min. go @140% of FTP for 90sec. (so total of 6min.) and that is one rep and you continue that for 10 reps (total of 60min) never letting things go below the 70% of FTP base level;
- 10min. cool-down.
Workout 7
- 10min. warm-up;
- 5min. @110% of FTP then 2min. @60% of FTP and that is one rep; do 3 reps per set and 2 sets with 10min. @ L2 between the sets.
- 10min. cool-down.
Workout 8
- 10min. warm-up;
- 20min. @90% of FTP with last 2min. thereof being @110% of FTP and that is one rep; do 3 reps with 5min. @ L2 between the reps;
- 10min. cool-down.
Workout 9
- 10min warm-up;
- 57min. @75% of FTP and spaced out fairly evenly during that 57min. do 4 x 2min. @110% of FTP;
- 18min. @80% of FTP and spaced out fairly evenly during that 18min. do 4 x 1min. @120% of FTP;
-10min. cool-down.
Anyway there are infinite ways to do these workouts. some of them i picked up from other people like Bill Black who is famous for his 'hour of power' style workouts (#5-9 above are in that spirit), and others i kind of improvised.
I'd follow Dave's suggestion. I would always keep some L4 work in the program during a block focus on a diff. energy system. Even then you might experience some FT backsliding.
About this point:
chimpchops27 said:
Someone mentioned to me that its great have a good FTP value, but if you are low on say Anaerobic strength ie minute intervals, this will drag down your ftp in a race situation where you have to grind up a steep climb.
there are some riders who feel that strong Anaerobic ability is the key to making those steep climbs (or breaks, etc) in a race & they emphasize L6 work accordingly.
but i am more of the mindset that because any race over 1 minute long is primarily aerobic.....then that should be the focus since aerobic ability will be the most important factor.
keep in mind that anaerobic gycloysis is 2-1/2 times faster than the aerobic mechanism. but it is also much, much less efficient, (~2 ATP/glucose vs 36/glucose). it is like comparing airplane fuel to diesel.
a few more points:
yes AWC does regenerate to some extend, but not completely if you dig very deep. witness how the worlds best pursuit riders, even in the olympics, cannot match their qualifying times despite having 8+ hours to rest between rounds. now imagine in a race with repeated surges and little time to rest - you are going to drain that AWC tank and what will you have left after that?
if your FT is 250 and you have a surge that takes you to 350watts for 1 minute then you are at 140% of FT. you just burned a match right there. But get your FT up to 300 and now it is only 116% of FT - an intensity many do for several reps during routine vo2max work workouts.
given a choice of a high FT & high AWC, you'd take both & be hard to beat
but given a choice of a high FT or high AWC, i'll take a high FT & like my chances over a rider with a lower FT but high AWC.