Intervals for improving TT Pace



tuney

New Member
Feb 1, 2004
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Hope one of the Gurus can help here.

I've just started doing intervals once a week to try improve my Power Output.

There are loads of sessions which Ive read one can do, but im wondering how I should structure them over the next 8 weeks or so.

I did a session of 3 minutes on 3 minutes off @ 105% 25TT pace, this was my first 'real' session of this type since starting training in December. I completed 6 intervals which felt OK, the last one was a bit tough so I feel this is a good starting point.

Im going to increase the number of intervals by 1 or 2 each week.

Now here are the questions:

  • Is this power high enough to stimulate improvements, if so
  • Should I continue adding reps on until I hit say 15/20.
  • Should I just stick at say 10 and then reduce the rest/increase the work interval
  • Should I re assay my TT power once I hit say 10 and then expect my number of intervals to drop to, say, 6 again.

All these variables eh! I want to make sure Im stimulating my system enough to give continuing gains in TT Power.

Ill also be doing a couple of L2 rides, a tempo ride(90mins) and a race in the week.

I've very tempted to just 'Keep It Simple Stupid' and just do 3 week blocks and increase my power level each month.

Thanks
Chris
 
I'll try to make this as short as possible.

(1) Past research (Stepto et al., 1999) has shown that 3 weeks of 2 sessions per week of 8x4 min reps @ 85% PPO with 90 s recovery significantly reduced 40 km TT perfromances by 2.8%. And, I have also read an article by Laursen et al. (2002), which found 40 km TT performances improved by 4.4% - 5.8% when subjects trained 2x per week with 8x intervals at Pmax (lowest power output that elicits VO2max) for 60% Tmax (maximum time that a subject can ride Pmax) with a 2:1 work:rest intervals.

(2) Additionally, you should try to aim for 6-8 intervals. If you can not do at least five intervals the intensity is too hard. And, if you can do more than eight then the intensity is too easy. Therefore, you need to periodically readjust the intensity of your interval workload based on progress.

(3) Plus, you should also consider maybe doing one fartleck session per week every no and then to avoid staleness and to make things a bit more spontaneous.

(4) And, don't forget to stay on top of your diet. All of this high intensity work will quickly deplete your carbohydrate stores, if you do not replenish them. So, try your best to consume around 0.7g per kg BW every day....Otherwise, all of this hard work will just result in over training.

Good Luck,

Scott



(2)
 
I can't comment on Scott's post, because I don't have time to read the research. However, perceived wisdom in these parts seems to be that long-ish intervals at or just below 25mile TT power will give good results, and my own experience has borne this out. Example session: Warm up, then 20mins at 25mile TT power, 3 mins recovery, then 20mins at 25mTTW, then cool down.

The key to working in z4 / z5 is not manipulating the work / recovery ratio. It is simply a question of time done at that intensity so the rest interval could just be a drink and a pee or just to turn round. Therefore you could equally do 3 X 13s or similar.

As Scott pointed out, make sure you maintain muscle glycogen stores, as recent work indicates that this is more effective than Vit. C supplementation in staving off upper respiratory infections.

L.