In this blog I share the 3 cycling workout types that I use to plan my training.
You may also watch the video
As a reminder, all the ideas shared in these blogs are the result of my interpretation, approach and practical use of cycling training concepts I have learnt for several years from recognized and reliable sources.
I am sharing them in an as simple as possible guide that includes what I consider to be the key elements to the very complex science of training using a GPS bike computer, as I understand and apply them, being myself a self coached cyclist.
Become a self coached cyclist with the guidance of The Self Coached Cyclist Training with Power, covering everything from training concepts to performance tracking.
We will use some of the concepts explained in previous ones that you can read in the Blog section. If you have not seen them yet, please do so to get all the benefits of this one.
I have identified 3 ride types that I use to plan my training and classify them as follows:
- Recovery rides
- Aerobic rides
- Anaerobic rides
What differentiates them is their training target focus.
Recovery Rides
As the name implies, they are very easy rides with the target to allow the body to recover from previous higher intensity rides or efforts.
They are done in zone 1 in either power or heart rate.
There are 3 practical use cases:
- First as short recovery ride that is very, very, very easy and slow, with durations around 30 minutes to an hour.
- Second, rides longer than one hour to develop the Endurance Cycling Ability.
- Third, during structured high intensity interval workouts as Rest Between Interval periods.
Strictly speaking they are part of the low aerobic zone that we will see next.
Aerobic Rides
Their target is to improve both the low and high aerobic systems.
By improving I mean to extend the ride time that can be sustained within the range of the specific training zone.
There are 3 Aerobic Ride subtypes
- Endurance
- Tempo
- Lactate Threshold
Endurance Rides are done in the low aerobic system in zones 1 and 2, either power or heart rate. As we saw, though training in Zone 1 can be used to train endurance, it is rather used for recovery.
For zone 2, the target is to extend the time that can be ridden within its range for as long as possible. Develops the Endurance basic ability.
Ride times start at 20 minutes and grow to several hours depending on the rider’s long term training plan up to at least to the duration of a planned event.
In my experience, Endurance rides should be at least one and a half hours long to yield a benefit.
Tempo Rides are part of the high aerobic system and are done in zone 3, either power or heart rate.
They develop the advanced Muscular Endurance ability by combining the basic abilities of force and endurance.
The target is to extend the time ridden in Zone 3, starting at 30 minutes of cumulative effort and for as long as 2 continuous hours for advanced cyclists.
Training starts with intervals that progress to continuous rides at the zone 3 intensity.
The result is to ride for longer at higher speeds.
Threshold Rides are also part of the high aerobic system, done in zone 4, either power or heart rate.
They also develop the advanced Muscular Endurance ability by combining the basic abilities of force and endurance.
The target is to extend the time ridden in Zone 4, starting at 20 minutes of cumulative effort up until reaching one hour for advanced riders.
Training starts with intervals that progress to continuous rides at the zone 4 intensity.
The result is to ride at higher average speeds for longer.
Anaerobic Rides
They develop the Anaerobic system, targeting to increase the power that can be sustained for a set time above the Anaerobic Threshold.
The result is the ability to apply sudden, very high intensity efforts for short durations.
There are 3 Anaerobic Ride subtypes
- VO2 Max
- Anaerobic Capacity
- Neuromuscular Power
VO2 Max Rides are done in zone 5, either power or heart rate. This is the intensity level limit to train with heart rate.
VO2max is a measure of the amount of oxygen the body can consume during all out endurance exercise. Improving VO2max increases the Anaerobic Threshold resulting in better riding performance.
VO2max is a major performance factor in cycling and training it should be a priority for every rider.
They develop the advanced Anaerobic Endurance ability by combining the basic abilities of speed skill and endurance.
The target is to extend the time ridden at this intensity starting in the low limit of the power training zone range and gradually increasing to the high limit.
For heart rate start at the low zone limit and up to 114% of the Lactate Threshold Heart Rate as the upper limit.
This is done through intervals training, starting with 1 minute durations and progressing up to 8 minutes for very skilled riders, with 5 minutes being typically the maximum continuous time that this intensity can be sustained by average riders.
The suggested total accumulated interval time shall be of 8 minutes maximum per session.
Results in increased VO2max capacity, improved Anaerobic Threshold and better overall performance.
Anaerobic Capacity Rides are done in power zone 6. Heart rate is not useful for this intensity level. We will show you why later in the blog.
This level can only be sustained for a maximum of 2 minutes, so they are short and intense efforts.
They develop the advanced Anaerobic Endurance ability by combining the basic abilities of speed skill and endurance.
The target is to increase the intensity that can be sustained in these 2 minutes time frame, starting in the low limit of the power training zone range and gradually increasing to the high limit.
This is done through intervals training, typically starting with 30 second durations and progressing up to 2 minutes for very skilled riders.
These are very hard efforts and you should only do them if you are healthy and in very good shape. Check with your physician to get approval to do this type of efforts. If in doubt, do not do them.
Neuromuscular Power Rides are done in power zone 7. Heart rate is not useful for this intensity level. We will show you why later in the blog.
This level can only be sustained for a very short time of maximum of 12 seconds, so they are very short and intense efforts.
They develop the advanced Power ability by combining the basic abilities of speed skill and force.
Training is done through intervals ranging from a few seconds up to 12 seconds for very skilled riders and intensities from the lower zone limit to maximal effort.
As with anaerobic capacity, these are very hard efforts and you should only do them if you are healthy and in very good shape. Check with your physician to get approval to do this type of efforts. If in doubt, do not do them.
Heart rate delay
Heart rate based training cannot be used for Anaerobic Capacity and Neuromuscular Power training because of heart rate response delay.
When a very high short effort is made, the heart takes some time to increase to the intensity level demanded and usually the effort is finished before the heart beating raises.
This is a capture of the Garmin Edge 1040 screen showing this effect on a short intense effort in a training session.
The top graphic shows power over time
The second one is heart rate over time
Next are the cadence and speed graphs
Upon applying a high effort, the power, cadence and speed graphs immediately show the increase in their values and notice that the heart rate does not react at the same time.
After a few seconds heart rate starts to increase
Once the effort is finished, the power, speed and cadence graphs show the decrease in their values but heart rate is just showing the intensity increase
Several seconds after the effort was finished, the heart rate starts to recover.
So, as you saw, the heart rate response to very high intense efforts is not fast enough to be used as a control parameter and that is why power is the only option.
With the information above and knowing your training goals, it is very easy to identify the type of rides you should include in your training plan.
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