Don't understand training jargon

[Stonechat]

I am probably still trying to find my question and I think there are parts I still want to know
These training plans indicate more days of activity that I at present do

On short rides I can't include many hills, are there ways I can train to improve my abilities?
I would like to tailor some of these shorter trainings to benefit me

 

[VamP]

I am probably still trying to find my question and I think there are parts I still want to know
These training plans indicate more days of activity that I at present do

On short rides I can't include many hills, are there ways I can train to improve my abilities?
I would like to tailor some of these shorter trainings to benefit me

How short (in time preferably)?

 

[Rob3rt]

This is simply not correct.

I used to do a lot of running and trained myself to a point whereby I could sometimes go out twice day. Doing so in the first few weeks of taking up running would have led very rapidly to overtraining. Are you trying to suggest the muscle ache in my legs over the weekend was imagined or that it should just be ignored?

Depends on the type of ache!

 

[Rob3rt]

I am probably still trying to find my question and I think there are parts I still want to know
These training plans indicate more days of activity that I at present do

On short rides I can't include many hills, are there ways I can train to improve my abilities?
I would like to tailor some of these shorter trainings to benefit me

How does this grab you for a training plan:

Monday: Have a day off
Tuesday: Ride bike a bit
Wednesday: Ride bike a bit
Thursday: Ride bike a bit
Friday: Eat 2 pork pies, a toffee crisp and drink a pint of chocolate milkshake
Saturday: Ride bike a bit, eat a few more pork pies!
Sunday: Ride bike a bit further than on the other days

 

[VamP]

I don't see how. You may just need to explain it better rather than just throwing random statements out there!

If you are arguing that if the loads are proportionate then the recovery should be the same then you could have a valid point but does not recognise the way many train. It is easier for a newer rider to overload their training effort compared to a far fitter athlete so would need more time to recover for that reason. When I train, rightly or wrongly, I leave everything out there and am pretty wasted when I finish. It may be that less effort may allow me to train every day, but if I hold back then the need for my body to adapt would be far less so I would gain far less. I would rather push hard and force my body to adapt to what I expect of it. Then I can push even harder.

An interesting topic though and I wish that this forum had a lot more of this type of discussion and not certainly not less!

Right, I promised you to expand on this so here goes...

First a few definitions:
Volume - the amount of training that you do best measured in hours.
Intensity - how hard you train, best expressed a coefficient of your functional threshold power (FTP), where 1 hour of training at FTP gives you a coefficient of 1.
FTP - The average power (measured watts) that you can produce in one hour of absolutely maximal effort.
Recovery rates - the speed at which organism repairs itself following exercise. There is a mathematical formula that can be used to relate the recovery rate to your FTP, and I am happy to expand on that too, but don't want to lose you right at the beginning Let's just say for now that the recovery rate has a half-life of around a week, and with small variations that is the same for all humans.

Now if you understand that the training load you can produce per hour is unique to you (pre-determined by your FTP), it becomes clear that your unique ability to dig yourself a training hole will be defined by your fitness. Your actual amount of fatigue is a function of volume and intensity of training that you have done in a week. The amount of recovery that you have had in a week is a function of time. The fitter you are the more you can train, but your recovery rate does not change. There is a formula that gives you a training score based on volume and intensity. An unfit person with FTP of say 200, can reach a training score of 100 in one hour of maximal effort training. The fatigue from that effort will clear away with a half life of about a week. A really fit person with FTP of 400 can reach a training score of 100 in one hour of maximal training. The fatigue from that effort will clear away with a half life of about a week. The really fit person will have won an Olympic time trial with that effort, while the unfit person will have covered 15 miles of undulating terrain, but it will take them both the same amount of time to fully recover. The fitter person will find it easier to dig themselves bigger training holes, and recover effectively - so called functional overreach. But they will not be recovering any faster than the unfit person.

Happy to expand on any points that are not clear.

 

[VamP]

How does this grab you for a training plan:

Monday: Have a day off
Tuesday: Ride bike a bit
Wednesday: Ride bike a bit
Thursday: Ride bike a bit
Friday: Eat 2 pork pies, a toffee crisp and drink a pint of chocolate milkshake
Saturday: Ride bike a bit, eat a few more pork pies!
Sunday: Ride bike a bit further than on the other days

I like it! Can I hire you as a coach?

 

[Rob3rt]

I like it! Can I hire you as a coach?

Only if you promise to do the core workout I will set in week 3! This will prep you for squats in week 7!

 

[Dusty Bin]

On short rides I can't include many hills, are there ways I can train to improve my abilities?

Riding hard on the flat is not too dissimilar to riding hard up a hill....

 

[VamP]

Only if you promise to do the core workout I will set in week 3! This will prep you for squats in week 7!

Yerrbut, do I have to buy my own pork pies? Or can I get sponsored by Melton Mowbray?

 

[Stonechat]

How does this grab you for a training plan:

Monday: Have a day off
Tuesday: Ride bike a bit
Wednesday: Ride bike a bit
Thursday: Ride bike a bit
Friday: Eat 2 pork pies, a toffee crisp and drink a pint of chocolate milkshake
Saturday: Ride bike a bit, eat a few more pork pies!
Sunday: Ride bike a bit further than on the other days

MIne probably goes like this
Mon Day off
Tues maybe very short ride
Weds about 8 miles
Thurs day off
Fri Day off
Sat Day off
Sun Ride as far as I think I can manage with some hills

At least one pork pie per week
So I do need help, it the better weather there are naturally more cycle, though I do have demands on my time
So I am wondering if the odd extra hour or so it the week can be used most profitable
It takes at least 20 minutes to get to hills

 

[Rob3rt]

Knowing nothing about your riding history (and I don't mean to insult or discourage) if I asked you how much riding you do and you told me the above I would probably assume you to be a beginner, and while I have no (cycling) coaching qualifications or authority with regards to telling you what to do, I would suggest you steer clear of interval training (or do it no more than once a week) and avoid intermediate training programmes since you will be lacking in the base fitness to be able to perform the intervals properly, with good form and at the intended intensity.

Instead I would recommend that you simply ride more. 3 days off in a row? Ride on at LEAST one of them days, preferably all 3. I would say, try to increase the frequency you ride up to 5 days a week. increasing the frequency at which you ride will have a big impact on your general bike fitness at your current level.

 

[VamP]

MIne probably goes like this
Mon Day off
Tues maybe very short ride
Weds about 8 miles
Thurs day off
Fri Day off
Sat Day off
Sun Ride as far as I think I can manage with some hills

At least one pork pie per week
So I do need help, it the better weather there are naturally more cycle, though I do have demands on my time
So I am wondering if the odd extra hour or so it the week can be used most profitable
It takes at least 20 minutes to get to hills

As others have said, you can train at any intensity on the flat, hills are not a requirement. An hour is a good block of training time, just riding at tempo for an hour would one good workout for you, given that your volume is generally very low, if you want more structure, you could do 3 x 10 minutes, going as hard as you can sustain (with effort!). That could be a second workout. If 8 miles is not your short ride, than I fear to ask how short the short ride is.

 

[50000tears]

Right, I promised you to expand on this so here goes...

First a few definitions:
Volume - the amount of training that you do best measured in hours.
Intensity - how hard you train, best expressed a coefficient of your functional threshold power (FTP), where 1 hour of training at FTP gives you a coefficient of 1.
FTP - The average power (measured watts) that you can produce in one hour of absolutely maximal effort.
Recovery rates - the speed at which organism repairs itself following exercise. There is a mathematical formula that can be used to relate the recovery rate to your FTP, and I am happy to expand on that too, but don't want to lose you right at the beginning Let's just say for now that the recovery rate has a half-life of around a week, and with small variations that is the same for all humans.

Now if you understand that the training load you can produce per hour is unique to you (pre-determined by your FTP), it becomes clear that your unique ability to dig yourself a training hole will be defined by your fitness. Your actual amount of fatigue is a function of volume and intensity of training that you have done in a week. The amount of recovery that you have had in a week is a function of time. The fitter you are the more you can train, but your recovery rate does not change. There is a formula that gives you a training score based on volume and intensity. An unfit person with FTP of say 200, can reach a training score of 100 in one hour of maximal effort training. The fatigue from that effort will clear away with a half life of about a week. A really fit person with FTP of 400 can reach a training score of 100 in one hour of maximal training. The fatigue from that effort will clear away with a half life of about a week. The really fit person will have won an Olympic time trial with that effort, while the unfit person will have covered 15 miles of undulating terrain, but it will take them both the same amount of time to fully recover. The fitter person will find it easier to dig themselves bigger training holes, and recover effectively - so called functional overreach. But they will not be recovering any faster than the unfit person.

Happy to expand on any points that are not clear.

Thanks for such a detailed post. Will re-read it a couple of times and pick up on other parts later.

For now can you explain the half life recovery time of a week and how if affects training in practice? Surely using my understanding of the basics of a half life you are suggesting that I would be half recovered from a full on effort in week, when in practice it would be a full recovery in less time. Maybe it was just a crude example but would appreciate a little more expansion. Cheers.

 

[Stonechat]

I may be underexaggerating, especially once better weather comes in.

 

[VamP]

Thanks for such a detailed post. Will re-read it a couple of times and pick up on other parts later.

For now can you explain the half life recovery time of a week and how if affects training in practice? Surely using my understanding of the basics of a half life you are suggesting that I would be half recovered from a full on effort in week, when in practice it would be a full recovery in less time. Maybe it was just a crude example but would appreciate a little more expansion. Cheers.

Calling it a half life may be confusing you, it's actually an exponentially weighted average period. The simple explanation is that the effects of a single training session last (measurably) for about 6 weeks. Now a single session in isolation will subjectively feel to you like it has passed in it's effect in a matter of a day or two, but don't forget that you are looking at the cumulative effect of multiple sessions, and that you are interested in the positive (fitness) as well as the negative (fatigue) effects of each session, and the cu

For a more complex description, you would be best served by doing some reading around the principles used by performance manager software. Maybe start your reading here. Most training software packages have a Performance Manager module which is a representation of the balance of fatigue and training, in a graph form, showing you how they are interacting at any one time. They all have one thing in common, using 7 days as Short Term Stress weighted average period and 42 days as Long Term Stress weighted average period. Simply put, STS represents your fatigue, LTS your fitness. The gap between them gives you an indication of your form, although some understanding of the principles involved is required to interpret this information correctly.

Here by way of an example is my PM chart over the last few months, even without much interpretation skill, it's quite apparent that I was reaching a long form peak in October and November for the bulk of the season and specifically in time for the Regional Championships, and then with a burst of heavy training in December, another short peak in early January in time for the National Champs, followed by a tailing off in my resting month of January.