Minion Posted October 29, 2011 Share Nope. Do the 23km in as close to 23 minutes as you can, or do it in 2 hours. Is there a difference in your body's reaction?It makes a big difference. It's your rate of work that counts All that matters is time at intensity. Distance is irrelevant when you have those two (but the initial post didn't mention them, so distance on surface becomes slightly relevant). Edited October 29, 2011 by Edman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Dale Posted October 29, 2011 Share Nice tips from bike radar.com below. All the best, man! Question: "I'm a 45 year-old male with a job that requires me to work long hours. Riding more than one day a week is out of the question and group rides are difficult to arrange, so I ride solo 35-40 Saturdays a year in a variety of weather. My Saturday rides are typically 80-100 miles with around 4,000-6,000ft of climbing. I try to sprint traffic light to traffic light in the first and last five miles as I work my way out and back into the city. My fitness level has remained consistent over the past two years, with roughly the same average speed and heart rate on each ride. I would like to increase my fitness and ride faster, especially when climbing, but the training resources I have reviewed always begin by recommending more days per week on the bike. Do you have any suggestions given my constraints? Thanks, John." Answer from wenzelcoaching.com's Scott Saifer: "Hi John, well, I'm certainly not going to suggest that you go longer on Saturday. What sort of work do you do and do you really have no opportunity to train in any way on the other six days? If your job is very physical, you're probably doing what you can. If not, a short run, spin on the trainer or a few minutes spent climbing stairs in an office building every other day could help improve your bike performance. Any aerobic exercise over 20 minutes is probably worth something. Even a shorter routine of core training and squats done on the floor as you roll out of bed could make a difference. You don't have to ride multiple hours to get a training benefit." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Dale Posted October 29, 2011 Share It makes a big difference. It's your rate of work that counts All that matters is time at intensity. Distance is irrelevant when you have those two (but the initial post didn't mention them, so distance on surface becomes slightly relevant). Yeah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodbadugly Posted October 29, 2011 Share The only thing that got me to go faster was intensity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjokkits Posted October 29, 2011 Share what works for me was to get a good interval program and hit it out on the indoor trainer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christie Posted October 29, 2011 Share what works for me was to get a good interval program and hit it out on the indoor trainerAgree! Short workouts with good intensity added will do wonders for fitness. Short ride at LSD pace are close to useless, unless it is a recovery ride between 2 harder days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ the Expat Posted October 29, 2011 Share Short ride = high intensityShorter ride = higher intensityLong ride = low intensityLonger ride = lower intensity The end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Break Posted October 29, 2011 Share Training is relatively simple: Long slow distance to build your aerobic baseThen you increase the intensity to make that aerobic base more efficientThen you use high intensity to make the perceived effort less during a race as you are more used to the pain.Get enough rest during al phases to allow the body to recover and adapt to the change in training loads. Then repeat, repeat, repeat, etc block, season. So to answer your question, yes, shorter session can be good if done at the right time of year and at the rigth intensity with correct rest before and after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOUDMAC Posted October 30, 2011 Share Smolster. Listen to TNT. You have not only limited time to train, but limited time to live.Get on your bike, ride till you smile through the blood!Yes you will get out what you put in.....like I said....LIMITED TIME!Anything is better than chips on the couch!ANYONE that says mtbiking doesn't count...has NEVER truly ridden off the tar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smolly Posted October 31, 2011 Share Thanks for all the advice. Went fora mud bath yesterday monring which has been my toughest 40km ever.So to conclude this thread:If you cycle shorter distances, make sure hurt it for maximum effectiveness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky Luke. Posted October 31, 2011 Share On average I'm out for an hour. No record breaking there. Warm up for 10 minutes and then put your foot down until your ears bleed and you are dribbling on yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamikaze Posted October 31, 2011 Share i do the same. ride between 18 and 25km three to four times during the week after work, then do longer 35-45km rides on the weekend. during the week i push a lot harder averaging around 19km/h, and on weekends i cruise at 15km/h.i try not to look at distance during the week, as long as i stay out for one hour to one hour thirty. i'm not training for anything, to me its about getting outside and enjoying life - destressing and getting the blood pumping. i ride for pleasure, always trying to "hit that tricky little section a little bit faster with better technique". when i race, it's against myself. ie, if i averaged 26 on a certain section yesterday, i try and do it at 29 tomorrow.indoor trainer? forget that!!!! i'd rather not do it at all. if you are limited by daylight, get a cycle light. i did for the first time this year (ive been mtb'ing since '91), and WOW, suddenly i can stay out as long as i want! and yes, offroad DOES make a difference, a huge one. compare riding uphill on uneven terrain as opposed to a smooth surface - there's way more rolling resistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mailman7412 Posted October 31, 2011 Share I think the point tnt tried to make between offroad and onroad is that if your heart is going @ 200 bpm the body doesn't know its going 200 onroad or offroad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minion Posted October 31, 2011 Share and yes, offroad DOES make a difference, a huge one. compare riding uphill on uneven terrain as opposed to a smooth surface - there's way more rolling resistance.That wasn't TNT1's point, though. Riding uphill at 90%HR, 100%FTP, 6 RPE etc is the same training effect, regardless of whether you do it on road or MTB. The only difference is that you generally go slower on the MTB while doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted October 31, 2011 Share For shorter rides go for High Intensity Interval Training. (HIIT) Warm Up properly (Stretch, open up the lungs and ride a couple of k's)Pedal as hard as you can for 45 secondsDrop pace for 30seconds to try get Heart Rate as close as possible to 120pbm. NO freewheeling, you HAVE to keep pedalingPedal as hard as you can for 45 secondsDrop pace for 30seconds to try get Heart Rate as close as possible to 120pbm. NO freewheeling, you HAVE to keep pedaling...repeat till sick in the stomach. Rest for maximum 5 minutes. Repeat HIIT. Do at least 4 sets twice a week As you get fitter up the amount of time sprinting and reduce "recovery time" and illimitable rest times. Training off-road will help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudi-h Posted October 31, 2011 Share you can also try a little cross training. maybe running one or two of your sessions a week will also benefit. but yes, short rides are a lot better than no rides at all, so get out there as much as your schedule allows Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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