How much iprovement in 10 weeks?

This is a workout schedule i've found that works very well for boosting your speed. You need to do a couple of tests at the beginning but after that its quite easy to carry out.

pponline.co.uk0350.htmOpen ↗

93%!!? That's pretty amazing, I'm at about 84%. You didn't say how long the time trial was, but if you're a newbie or just never really pushed it before, doing high intensity intervals will help raise your V02 max. Since your threshold MHR is already very high I'd say raising your VO2 max is your best option. Doing 3-8 intervals of 90-93% V02 max for 4-6 minutes should do it. In terms of improvement, you can expect to see a significant improvement in 10 weeks and continued significant improvements for up to 1.5 yrs, after that the improvments in V02 max will become quite small. Don't forget to do some longer distances at around the length of your TT. Also do some long rides if you have the time. Keep in mind if you don't really push it then you won't see as rapid improvements, although you will be able to improve more later.

-Bikeguy

It was a 25 mile TT. When i look at the polar file my average HR comes in at 91%, though I was sort of bumping off 93%, its uncannily easy to sense where you start blowing I think.

Ive always had quite a high max (225 when I was 18, before I gave up for a long time, and 210 now at age 28 - which is how ive calibrated the polar), as well as tendency to time trial over 90%.

Anyway, thanks for the input, going to train like hell for a while!

robkit said:

It was a 25 mile TT. When i look at the polar file my average HR comes in at 91%, though I was sort of bumping off 93%

Wow! Over an hour at HR 191-195? :eek:

If you can already ride 1hr+ at 91-93% MHR, what are intervals going to do for you? I can't see you getting much benefit from riding 4-6 minutes at just a few beats above what you can already sustain for over an hour. 😕

That's what race pace means. It's a lot harder to do it during training than during a race.

frenchyge said:

Wow! Over an hour at HR 191-195? :eek:

I do it all the time, it simply depends on the person's body and how they train.

As you train you will find your max HR will fall, this is a general fitness thing.
VO2 max training isn't much help for time trailing however it is for anaerobic athletes such as sprinters.

I'd work on pedaling efficency and muscle training. Learn how to pedal in circles using different muscles in the leg. Start with imagining that you're scraping mud off the bottom of your shoe.

Do some power training while focusing on the pull section of the pedal stroke, and some (perhaps speed) training trying to use the forward section of the stroke (this may take a longer than 10 weeks as it's not a muscle cyclists normally use).

I'd put one or two such specific sessions in each week, gradually increasing the distance or gearing (depending on your goal of strength over endrance), with other rides being easy recovery rides to speed recovery the day after a hard ride (given you only have two hours a day to train)

Brizza said:

VO2 max training isn't much help for time trailing however it is for anaerobic athletes such as sprinters.

VO2max training *is* important for TTing (and RRing and MTBing etc) as it is the Rate limiting mechanism in endurance performance. It matters little how high your TTpower to VO2max is, *if* your VO2max isn't very high. This is because there is an upper limit to how high a % of VO2max that you can sustain (~ 90% for ~1-hr).

It is therefore important to raise both the % of VO2max that you can sustain and your VO2max itself.

VO2max has little importance for sprinters.

ric

robkit said:

I have just finished my first 'competitive' ride of the season - a hilly time trial - with an average speed of almost exactly 22mph. The winner's time translates to 25.8mph.

it's a good start to the season

Quoted post said:

My objective throughout the ride was simply to hold my HR at or sightly above threshold of 90-93% MHR , and cadence between 90 and 100. I was pleased with being able to acomplish both and now want to use this ride as a measuring stick to figure out where I can hope to be for my mid season objectives in aprox 10 weeks time.

HR can vary under different conditions (whilst riding at the same power) and can also differ with different cadences at the same power. It's therefore important to realise that neither of these maybe suitable race goals.

Quoted post said:

As I see it there are 3 things I could work to improve 1) Vo2 max, 2) % of V02 max power constituting threshold power, and c) "effciency" - I guess tantamount to power generated for each % point of vo2 max

increasing VO2max and % of that which you can sustain are the way to go. Efficiency itself isn't trainable as such, it just occurs with many years of training

Quoted post said:

I would be surprised if I could increse my threshold much above 93% MHR, 95% maybe.

this isn't your "threshold". HR has nothing to do with "threshold".

Quoted post said:

Therefore should I be focussing my training onto increasing VO2 max power - eg if I improve from 250 to 300 watts and can use 93% of that the benefit seems obvious.

if as it appears you have a power meter, i would not bother worrying about HR - it's a dependent variable.

You should be aiming to increase your sustainable power (i.e., TTpower) and your maximal aerobic power [MAP] (which is related to your VO2max)

Quoted post said:

My bigger question is - with the right training can I improve to a competitive level over these 10 weeks. I have 2 hours a night to train, plus weekends. In terms of the path I have followed to here, I averaged 6 hours per week of endurance riding in the months of October-March, and just started doing some variable length intervals in the last couple of weeks to sharpen the legs for this first test.

sounds like you have plenty of time to improve, and given your somewhat 'sparse' training over the winter i'd expect to see some fair sized improvements.

if you'd like some help with training or coaching give us a shout
ric

For a recreational cyclist I would agree, however someone who can maintain 90% of their max HR for an hour probably doesn't find themselves short of breath overly often. (VO2 max being the amount of oxygen that a person can transfer to their blood) Working on his maximal aerobic power is a good idea.

Pure sprinters who don't need to wind up or do any endurance don't require a high VO2 max, but how often does are road sprinters blessed with a 200m sprint?

are these in reply to my post?

Brizza said:

For a recreational cyclist I would agree, however someone who can maintain 90% of their max HR for an hour probably doesn't find themselves short of breath overly often.

do you mean when racing or normal living? just because you can ride at ~90% of HRmax doesn't mean you won't be out of breath doing it.

Quoted post said:

(VO2 max being the amount of oxygen that a person can transfer to their blood) Working on his maximal aerobic power is a good idea.

it's actually the amount of O2 that can be extracted by the muscles and organs from the blood.

Quoted post said:

Pure sprinters who don't need to wind up or do any endurance don't require a high VO2 max, but how often does are road sprinters blessed with a 200m sprint?

road sprinters aren't "anaerobic athletes" and while it's vital/important that endurance based athletes (including road sprinters) aim to increase their VO2max, an increased VO2max wouldn't specifically increase a riders 200-m power (which would be better served by working on peak sprint power and possibly anaerobic capacity)

ric