Hour of Power and Strength

In the book Racing and Training with a Powermeter, Andy Coggan and Hunter Allen reference a workout called the “Hour of Power”. If you have not read the book, this is essentially a steady ride for one hour where you gradually ratchet up the effort/wattage steadily through the hour so you are spending most of the time around your FTP (Functional Threshold Power), finishing above this number. This is a tough workout but great for stimulating a strong response to the training and getting you ready for hard efforts during races and fast group rides.

To help build this hour speed/wattage, I have an indoor workout that mixes in strength training and bike/trainer riding to maximize your power and build more speed on the high end (anaerobic) while also increasing your FTP wattage. If you are not currently doing strength training in the gym, build into this workout over a few weeks by starting with light weights and lower reps. If you minimize your rest breaks, this will take about 60 min and get you home in time for dinner with the family. As with all strenuous activity, listen to your body and stop if you feel dizzy, nausea, etc.

10 min progressive warmup on the bike (make sure you bring the HR/effort at the end of the 10 min to your FTP level.
3x30 sec work at 8-9 effort on 10 scale, 125-150% of FTP watts, 30 sec recovery. 2 min easy spin transition before Leg Press.
Leg Press superset with squat jumps – Leg press 20 reps with enough weight that 20 is failure. This means you can do 19 or 20 but not 21. This should not be easy to do, if it is, add some weight. Immediately do a set of 10 squats exploding to a jump at the finish. Use a medicine ball or similar weigh to increase the difficulty.
2 min easy spin on the bike followed by another set of 3x30 as above. 2 min easy spin before repeating Leg Press/squat jump superset.
You guessed it, repeat the 3x30 on the bike with 2 min easy spin to get ready for the next set. Keep it up, you are past the halfway mark!
Lunges with dumbbells or on a smith machine. 10 reps on each leg with a weight that takes you to failure. (for added difficulty, bring the opposite knee up at the finish of each lunge) Superset these with stiff-legged deadlifts. Keeping your knee soft and your back flat, lift a bar or dumbbell by hinging at your hip joint. 20 reps to failure, start a bit light and focus on the hamstrings.
2 min easy spin followed by 3x1 min at your FTP with 1 min recoveries (8 on a 10 scale) with 2 min easy before repeating the lunge/deadlift superset.
One more time with the 3x1 min at FTP (this should be really tough to do now, if not, add more weight and bump the wattages a bit) followed by a 5 min cooldown with some stretching and core work to fill up the 60 min.

Do this 2X/week and I guarantee you’ll be riding faster. After just four weeks of this, I was able to increase my FTP by over 10% and drop 45 seconds off my previous Computrainer 10K test time!

Good Riding – Coach Kevin

Static Stretching and Active Stretching

After finishing an indoor cycling class this week I noticed a rather fit looking gentleman in the club getting ready for a run on the treadmill. After lacing up his sneaks, he proceeded to do some old school runner's stretches COLD! It made my legs hurt just looking at him.
There is plenty of evidence out there showing the benefits of static stretching AFTER your muscles are warm. Stretching with cold muscles is not only potentially dangerous but has also been shown to reduce the ability of your muscles to contract (less power).
Active stretching is something that many of us do during our warmup without even thinking about it. As cyclists, we tend to start pedaling easy with a bit of a lower cadence, gradually bringing up the effort as the blood starts to flow. If you add in some out of the saddle work along with some exaggerated pedaling action, you have just accomplished some simple active stretching of the muscles you will be using. Runners simply need to add some strides, skipping, knee raises and heel kicks to actively stretch the muscles. When strength training, doing an easier set with a lighter weight will take care of the stretch, just make sure you focus on a full range of motion with your active warmup.
These active stretches will make you feel stronger, allow you to get up to speed faster and help prevent injury all at the same time. Static stretching post workout is still a must to increase flexibility, just make sure the muscles are plenty warm first.

Advanced Indoor Cycling

Incorporating HIGH intensity class instruction with elite level training techniques, our Advanced Indoor Cycling program will provide you with maximum training benefit in a minimum amount of time. Stretching the boundaries of standard cycling classes, this program is perfect for those members who take their training seriously, and are looking to take their fitness to new heights.

The program will offer:

• USA Cycling certified coaches will provide instruction on proper technique and body positioning to maximize your comfort and efficiency.
• Each class will combine structured training plans utilizing the latest endurance and power training principles, providing you with maximized results.
• Progressing across 12 workouts, classes will provide you with a “building block” of advanced training to push you beyond your current fitness level.
• Heart Rate monitors are REQUIRED* and testing will be performed to establish training zones. Class intensity will be relative to YOUR personal zones and allow you to measure your fitness.
• Additional educational materials will be provided to extend your experience beyond the studio.
  

These will be STRENUOUS workouts and are not appropriate for members new to a training regime. You should be currently participating in a minimum of 3 cardio training hours a week, with the ability to ride comfortably on a bike for 60 minutes.

Classes are offered at $120 for 6 weeks, 2 classes per week, 75 minutes long and are offered on the following days and times.

Morning Track - Tuesday AND Thursday – 5:45am
Evening Track - Tuesday AND Thursday - 6pm

Don't delay, contact us today to sign-up. Be sure to specify your class track of choice.

Call ANYTIME FITNESS
317-733.4333

* Wide selection of heart rate monitors are available from Heart Rate Monitors USA your local Dicks, bike shop or simply search on-line.

The Best Winter Training?

This question is the one I have been getting asked the most and the answer is not an easy one. Most of the information you read still focuses on building the aerobic base during the winter months. These LSD (long, slow distance) rides are incredibly boring but sometimes necessary if the endurance is not up to par. Working on speed in December seems crazy to most since you won’t be putting down the power in anger for a few more months, it’s just too early right?

WRONG – everyone we encounter wants to go faster. Whether that is dropping time off your best 40k TT or getting another MPH or two on your average speed for your favorite loop, going faster is fun. Now is the best time to work on this area and come out flying in the spring.

A very simple approach is to hit the gym twice a week for some basic multi-muscle group movements to build some strength. Squats, push-ups, pull-ups and the all important core muscles are the key movements you should work on. Better yet, get a trainer to work with you once a week to keep you on track. Stay away from the isolation exercises if possible and build up to some explosive, plyometric training.

In tandem with the strength training, intervals 2x/week should be done. You have to train fast to go fast. A mix of short duration sub-maximal intervals and some threshold intervals of 5-20 min will add speed in no time. Essentially the same type of training you should be doing in season.

Most of us are not and will never be elite athletes. Focusing on basic strength and speed building workouts will pay off huge dividends in the spring.

Good riding – Coach Kevin

Using PowerTap to Study Fatigue in Cyclists

I found an interesting article today on the Saris website. It's about an "ambitious study to determine the effects of extended arduous work on muscle adaptations related to fatigue, fuel utilization, and performance".

Among the various data types collected over 2000 miles, Power was monitored using 20 Power Taps. Other data collected was gathered by good old biological samples including blood, urine, saliva, and muscle biopsies.

The full report has yet to be released and when exactly that will happen has yet to be determined. Keep an eye on http://www.soe.umt.edu/wpem/Giro%20Discovery_profile.html for updates.

For the original article and interview from Saris, click here:
http://www.saris.com/athletes/PermaLink,guid,8e5d9962-3a04-4ff5-9108-4eac5232eb53.aspx

Just starting with a Powertap...the benefit of your experience?

I'm constantly monitoring a Google Group on Wattage. There was a recent post that had some really good info. I would usually just link over to the page, but it's member based. I've pasted some of the recent posts:

Is there any advice from the folk that are experienced with using a
power meter? Any do's and don'ts? Or is it just a case of collect as
much data as possible and see what needs to be worked on.

-------

I just started training with a power meter myself a month ago. Reading
"THE BOOK - Training and Racing with a Power Meter" by Hunter Allen /
Dr. Andy Coggan, browsing thru all the posts in this group and
clicking thru the cycling peaks website gave me a good start.

Now I'm in the phase of testing and collecting data and after each
session I can't wait to download the data to analyse my ride. The
only downside - for the moment I just got one of my bikes set up with
Ergomo. But I think this problem will be sorted out soon :)

Cheers
eri

-------

1) Read through all the Power 411 info at www.cyclilngpeakssoftware.com
2) Buy the Cycling Peaks WKO+ software -- it is infinitely better than the software that comes with the Power Tap, and well worth the price of 4 race entries.
3) Record and download ALL of your workouts -- they will feed into the "Performance Manager" -- don't worry about it too much at the start, but as you get comfortable with the basics, you'l want to start playing with it more. Having a complete training history is important.

4) Perhaps most important -- never forget that bicycle races are decided by the order of riders at the finish line, not by Functional Threshold Power, or Training Stress Score, or any of the other myriad of numbers that you can pull out of your power meter. Power is an important training tool, but there's a whole lot more to performing well in a bike race than having perfect training. It's easy to get caught up in numbers & loose sight of that basic fact.

Chris Fischer
Ohio State Cycling

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I would concur with Rich_SC as far as giving it time to work and being patient with the interval work. My first 2 months I was really just using the PT and WKO+ as a data recorder, getting a feel for what the numbers meant. I then purchased one of Hunter Allen's power-based FTP- building plans from TrainingPeaks.com and spent 2006 racing season using that plan and the power meter to "grow" my engine and to help with my weight-loss (from 205 in 2005 to 167 in 2007). I also spent a load of time on this forum and reading T&Rw/PM to learn as much as I could about the wattage levels, TSS, and then the PMC. Then I developed a TSS-based training plan of my own for the 2007 season, and had a very successful season overall.

-------

I would recommend, in approximate order:
1) ride for six weeks just learning the PM - download everything -
learn to ride some segments of your rides keeping the power in a +/-
5-10 Watt range
2) read as much of the previously mentioned sources of information as
possible
3) get WKO+ software
4) test for your FTP, input into WKO+ and then import all of your
prior data
5) train with power
6) race with power
7) did I mention download everything?
8) when you get the hang of training and racing with power, try to
learn even more

oh,,,and try to ween off the HR strap.

Best wishes.

Steve Palladino- training with power since Oct 8, 2002

Knowing when to say when

Yesterday morning I got up early motivated to do some hard interval training. As I warmed up on the trainer I noticed my power was really low. I continued spinning easy and thought I just needed to wake up a little more and get the blood flowing.

After 15 minutes I started my first interval. As I listened to the familiar sound of the wind trainer winding up and watching my power output creep up to 300 watts I quickly knew that today something was wrong. I just didn't have "it". I shut it down one minute into the planned two minute interval.

From there I decided to take advantage of the situation rather than being discouraged. I spun easy for another 10 minutes or so and got off the trainer. I went inside and cleaned up our kitchen and took care of a few other chores that had been neglected the night prior.

So why did I get off the bike instead of hammering through the workout? Two reasons...

1. I could tell that I wasn't myself. I was well rested, but just didn't have my usual power.
2. I knew that without giving it 100% on an interval workout the time would be wasted and minimal fitness gain would occur.

Today I woke up with a sore throat and stuffed up nose. I couldn't be happier with my decision to throw in the towel yesterday. Hopefully with some extra zinc and more rest I'll be back on the bike this weekend in good form instead of sick for two weeks because I over trained.

The Coach and his Trainer

Teaching indoor cycling (aka "Spinning") classes keeps me around weight equipment most of the year. Chatting with a friend at a club last week brought about a very surprised look when I mentioned I was working with a Personal Trainer to keep me on a strength building program. "Can't you do that stuff yourself?" was her question to me. Of course I can, it is simply a matter of desire. Knowing what to do is only a small part of it. I am working with a trainer for the same reasons people hire us to work with them.

• Motivation - There is really nothing better than having somebody plan your workout and help keep you on track. Take the brain out of the equation.
• New Heights - Taking you out of your comfort zone is what a good coach/trainer will make sure you do to realize gains. It is easy to forego the last rep/set if you are training alone.
• Schedule - Everyone is busy, knowing when and what you are going to be doing turns it into an easy to check off "appointment" with yourself.
• Results - The coach/trainer needs to get results from you to keep more business coming their way. If you are not seeing results, you have someone to help you figure out why and change things up a bit.

There are certainly a bunch more reasons but my favorite is the fact that it simply makes things a bit more focused and fun. I still follow my own training plan using trainingpeaks and WKO+, just like we do with our clients. The added strength focus with the trainer is addressing some weak areas and allowing me to focus more on my cycling this winter. I know I'll be pushing new wattage highs very soon and flying in 2008.

t-max interval report

I did my first interval workout today following the t-max plan. As expected, it was pretty hard. So here is what I took from it.

As I went into my first to sets I realized pretty quickly that fighting a gusty 30mph head/cross wind was not going to make this workout any easier. It was a challenge in itself to keep the wattage at 310.

I also noted on my first set that sometimes the county doesn't strategically place stop signs and round-a-bouts at 2 minute intervals. What were they thinking when the put in this intersection!?

Later this week I'm going to try the interval workout on a more controlled platform. The dreaded wind trainer.

After recovering for about 3 minutes I felt pretty good and ready to go into the next set. But with my t-max, I get a 4 minute recovery period. So I waited that extra minute following the plan.

I managed to squeak out 5 sets of the intervals. At that point I had a little bit of vomit in my mouth and shut it down to cruise easy back to the car. Soon my legs will look just like Jan 's (above).

Kirk out. (and off to bed!)

The Cycling Off Season

If you live anywhere near me then the days are getting quite short and the wind is beginning to kick up while the temperatures drop. Sure the leaves are pretty and the occasional sunny day feels warm, but it's getting harder and harder to find a good time to ride.

Just this weekend we bagged a 50 mile ride because of cold, wet, rainy roads. Today as I look out my office window I can see my bike on top of my car waiting to be ridden. Just behind it, the trees are bent sideways in a 27mph wind from the South West. (hrrrm... If I could just get somebody to drive me about 40 miles south of here...)

So what are your plans for this off season? You could:

• let your saddle sores heal up
• see how big you can get your waistline by 2008
• start trying to break in that new couch while watching the latest Greys Anatomy
  

Or, you could be productive even if you aren't out braving the elements. Here is my plan:

• teach 2 spinning classes per week
• do 2 short interval workouts on the trainer (60 minutes at most)
• get 1 long ride outside each week (30-40 miles)

I also have some things I'm going to work on off the bike that I usually don't have time to do.

• set cycling goals for 2008
• work more on my blog!
• plan a cycling vacation
• tune up all of my bikes (including my wife and kids)
  

So what are you going to do!? Post your comments and let us know.

Check out Bike Snobs post about off season training.