Posted: February 13, 2005

Cycling: Force and Aerobic Threshold

By Rich Strauss, Crucible Fitness

After Endurance, the most basic fitness component for the cyclist to develop is Force, or the ability to produce a forceful muscle contraction. To push the pedals harder. Force development is especially important for beginning cyclists, but we can all use a good amount of Force development. In my opinion, cycling strength is largely limited by Force production, not aerobic conditioning. At some point the muscular system is the limiter, not the aerobic engine. I believe low cadence cycling is an undervalued and under-explored training tool for Force development. Build the transmission to apply the powerful engine to the road, you might say.

Given the time of year and that Ironman athletes are now required to register up to a year in advance of their goal races, one of my primary concerns as a coach is: How do I address the basic limiters of Endurance and Force now, without putting athletes in bell towers with high powered rifles in March and April?

In my experience, the most time effective training protocol for these situations is to address Force and Endurance.

Force development is achieved in the Break Through (BT) sessions. The purpose of the Aerobic Threshold and Long Rides is to develop aerobic endurance concurrent with Force training.

Key Points

• In Ironman training circles, there has been a great deal of discussion about Aerobic Threshold, Steady and PE. These tools are great for building aerobic endurance. But at some point you just need to push the watts, period. A power training device is very valuable for Force training.
• At some combination of watts and low cadence (CP30 and 55-60rpms), the bike morphs from a mode of transportation to the most effective strength training tool available. Sport specific strength work, Force developed on the bike by pushing pedals harder, is an optimal alternative for the time constrained cyclist.

Weekly Structure

• 1 x BT session (see blocks below)
• 1-2 x Aerobic Threshold (AeT) sessions
• 1 x Long Bike

BT Progression: each BT block should be 4-6 weeks. Athletes with a significant Force limiter would fall to the right of this time scale, to ensure they have a foundation in the basics before moving on. In general, as you move through the progression, the Force component of the workout decreases and Muscular Endurance component increases. This is a function of increasing the cadence and the duration of each work interval while decreasing the intensity of the work interval.

Intensities are defined as a percentage of CP30 (Critical Power), as heart rate training zones (Friel Zones, and in relation to Aerobic Threshold (Rich and Gordo).

Block #1

• Reps: 6-8
• Work Interval: 5-6'
• Rest Interval: 3'
• Watts: CP30 or just under
• HR Zone: Zone 4
• AeT: Mod-Hard
• Cadence: 55-65rpm
• Remarks: If knees hurt, shift to easier gear

Block #2

• Reps: 2-4
• Work Interval: 10-20'
• Rest Interval: 3-5'
• Watts: 85-90% of CP30
• HR Zone: High Z3 to mid Z4
• AeT: Mod-Hard
• Cadence: 65-75rpm
• Remarks: Max sum of WI's = 40'

Block #3

• Reps: 1-2
• Work Interval: 20-30'
• Rest Interval: 3-5'
• Watts: 80-85% of CP30
• HR Zone: Low-Mid Z3
• AeT: Upper Steady
• Cadence: About 10-15rpm less than self-selected cadence

BT Guidance:

• Watts, watts, watts. For higher intensity interval training watts is the optimum intensity measurement.
• For cyclists without access to a power device, limit your intensity to the burning of lactate in the legs. Many beginner and intermediate cyclists are unable to push their heart rates up to LT during low cadence cycling and therefore heart rate is not the best intensity measurement in these cases. Use PE and your legs as the primary intensity measurement.
• The total session length of these BT sessions is unimportant.

Aerobic Threshold (AeT) Sessions

1.5-2 hours. After warming up for 20-30', repeat cycles of 20' on, 10' off. Indoor cyclists should limit total session time to 1.5 hours, max.

AeT, 20' On/10' Off

Athlete	20' On	10' Off	Remarks
Beginner	Steady	Easy
Intermediate	Steady	Easy	Self-selected (ss) Upper-Steady during race specific prep
Advanced	Upper Steady	Easy to Steady	ss Steady time in Off portion during race specific prep
Elite	Upper Steady to ss Mod-Hard	Steady	Reserve ss Mod-Hard for race specific prep

Note: Self-selected means the length and intensity of the particular interval is left to the discretion of the athlete, in real time.

Long Bike

I believe all athletes will benefit from a long ride of at least 3 hours. I tell athletes that the best position they can be in is to have a 3 hour ride date every Saturday from now until the end of time. That will set you up to do anything you want in this sport. For IM athletes, 3-6 hours in length, year round.

Similar to the AeT sessions, the Long Ride moves along a spectrum of Easy to Mod-Hard time as the athlete moves from Beginner to Elite. If you are riding with others, agree to the objectives of the ride before you start. I highly recommend you work with the clock, using the 20'/10' format above. This allows everyone to do their own thing during the On portion and regroup for social/trash-talking time during the Off portions. Indoor cyclists should limit total session time to 2-2.5 hours, max. It's a long season and you have plenty of time for longer rides. Stay mentally in the game and out of the bell tower. Put the gun down.

Long Ride, 20' On/10' Off

Athlete	20' On	10' Off	Remarks
Beginner	Easy with ss Steady	Easy	Goal is to increase Steady time throughout the season
Intermediate	Steady	Easy	Increase amount of Steady time throughout season
Advanced	Steady	Easy	Same for Int, but push Upper Steady near end of rides
Elite	Upper Steady	Steady	Late season, push ss Mod-Hard

As intensity increases, the importance of volume decreases. Likewise, as the ride becomes longer than five hours, the need to add intensity to the ride decreases and for most athletes will compromise downstream training sessions. The upper atmosphere of AG cycling is the 5 hour Long Ride at Steady, with On portions of Upper Steady building to Mod-Hard pulls near the end of the ride. I've only been up here for about 2 months and the air can get a little thin :-)

Athlete Definitions:

• Beginner: 14 hr + Ironman finisher
• Intermediate: 12-14 hours
• Advanced: 11:30-10:30. Knocking on the door to a Kona slot.
• Elite: sub 10:00. Kona ticket holders, AG podium finishers.

Copyright © 2003-2004 Crucible Fitness