Lactate Threshold ?

[bad boy]

Hi,

Ive read a few artciles about this and just wanted to know what you think is the best way I can improve my threshold at present.

Is it more pre ride diet and hydration or a better warm up etc.

 

[montage]

By training at your lactate threshold and slightly above it.

 

[Will1985]

Intervals, ideally longer than 2 minutes each. This isn't the right time to be doing them if you are training (ie: now in pre-season for 2010).

 

[ttcycle]

get the base fitness sorted now this time of year by getting some longer and steady paced easier rides in and when you're stronger then work at lactate threshold rate through intervals (depends when you want to peak for a race-this will influence the timings)

 

[montage]

Right.... I'm not a fan of this "do long steady rides only in the winter" malarky.
Firstly, the roads can be downright dangerous during this time of the year, and some days it is impossible to ride safely.
Also...longer and steady paced rides is a bit of a cop out. Long and steady rides are in most people's training regime anyway throughout the year - at least for the professionals. Winding down for the winter is fine, take a break and all that, but there is no reason to stop doing interval training at all, just do less of it!

At a low amatur level, it is very difficult to "peak". Yes a plateau can be reached as you get fitter if the training is not increased/changed, but I highly doubt many people who will read this thread (with a few exceptions of some very very good cyclists on here...Aran20 is a very very good Time trialist and from what I have read, Bill Gates seemed to be pretty nippy once ) have ever hit their "peak" fitness.

Some people don't ride in the off season at all, some take it easier. Doing long steady rides is a way of taking things easier.

To the OP, ride intervals if you wish, no harm in doing them now, and I doubt they will hurt your fitness....no need to do intervals every day though, as this will put far too much stress on the body.

 

[ttcycle]

Right.... I'm not a fan of this "do long steady rides only in the winter" malarky.

To the OP, ride intervals if you wish, no harm in doing them now, and I doubt they will hurt your fitness....no need to do intervals every day though, as this will put far too much stress on the body.

Now Montage, you're misquoting me here...Long steady rides are a main feature of cycling through most of the year not just for winter - exceptions being when you're tapering up to an event and when you do more specific and more intense work to prepare for that.

Intervals are fair game but it depends on the person's actual fitness and how much mileage/endurance they have already - it would be a bad idea too push the intensity up too high and too soon if the simple stuff isn't there such as simple endurance work.

 

[lukesdad]

Spot on tt there is far tooo much emphasis put on interval training before novices even have a base fitness.

 

[Bill Gates]

First of all you have to establish what your LT is.

LT as a measure of HR has been defined as the average bpm over a 60 minutes Time Trial or the average bpm of the last 20 minutes of a 30 minute TT.

It roughly equates to about 90% of MHR. In order to push the boundaries of LT you need to ride in the LT zone for around 20 minutes or so either on the road or on the turbo. You may have seen 2 x 20 mentioned before.

Basically this is a warm up of 10-15 minutes at 70/75% of MHR and then a steady increase in effort to about 85% of MHR and maintain for 20 minutes. Rest up for a minimum of 5 minutes easy pedalling and then repeat. You will find that the HR will rise without an increase of effort (power) over the time to 90% MHR. This is called cardiac drift and is why racing using HR as a guide can be misleading.

If you find that you cannot sustain the effort then back off as you will have gone too hard. Next time you try then start off at a lower rate. This exercise will also train VO2max, but LT is the one that will benefit most and is said to give most "bang for buck" and can be done all year round. Good exercise routine for the turbo during bad weather.

Shorter intervals of say 3 minutes or less primarily train VO2max (not so much LT), and should be a HR of above 96% MHR

Best done when not fatigued by training on the days before, so after a rest day is good.

 

[ttcycle]

First of all you have to establish what your LT is.

LT as a measure of HR has been defined as the average bpm over a 60 minutes Time Trial or the average bpm of the last 20 minutes of a 30 minute TT.

It roughly equates to about 90% of MHR. In order to push the boundaries of LT you need to ride in the LT zone for around 20 minutes or so either on the road or on the turbo. You may have seen 2 x 20 mentioned before.

Basically this is a warm up of 10-15 minutes at 70/75% of MHR and then a steady increase in effort to about 85% of MHR and maintain for 20 minutes. Rest up for a minimum of 5 minutes easy pedalling and then repeat. You will find that the HR will rise without an increase of effort (power) over the time to 90% MHR. This is called cardiac drift and is why racing using HR as a guide can be misleading.

If you find that you cannot sustain the effort then back off as you will have gone too hard. Next time you try then start off at a lower rate. This exercise will also train VO2max, but LT is the one that will benefit most and is said to give most "bang for buck" and can be done all year round. Good exercise routine for the turbo during bad weather.

Shorter intervals of say 3 minutes or less primarily train VO2max (not so much LT), and should be a HR of above 96% MHR

Best done when not fatigued by training on the days before, so after a rest day is good.

Well put Bill - excellent post

 

[bad boy]

Thank you all for the replies I will give some of those suggestions a go.

I believe my base fitness is good at the moment.

 

[Bill Gates]

I've just finished a 2 x 20 LT training on the turbo and noted that on the first session my HR was @ 88%MHR and on the second 20 minute session my HR was @ 95%MHR (same pace- cardiac drift), and the last minute with a final effort went to 97% MHR.

 

[Dan B]

Is that a measured maximum HR, or are you using one of the age-related formulae (e.g. 220-age) to calculate it? Those are often way off

 

[Bill Gates]

Is that a measured maximum HR, or are you using one of the age-related formulae (e.g. 220-age) to calculate it? Those are often way off

I'm 60 years old. 220 - 60 = 160.

My MHR is 176 as hit during red mist effort last year.

 

[Dan B]

P.S. "cardiac drift" would be a great band name

 

[Bill Gates]

I've just finished a 2 x 20 LT training on the turbo and noted that on the first session my HR was @ 88%MHR and on the second 20 minute session my HR was @ 95%MHR (same pace- cardiac drift), and the last minute with a final effort went to 97% MHR.

Too cold for the road today so back to training indoors and another 2 x 20. This time the first 20 minutes was around 88/89% but started off @ 85% and the second 20 minutes 92/93%. To be honest it's a tough exercise routine and that second 20 minute session requires a lot of willpower. It's easier in a race because the motivation is there.

I say to myself you must do at least 5 minutes; then another 5 minutes gets you to halfway. You've reached the turn so you might as well give it some on the homeward stretch. 5 minutes to go you've cracked it, can't give up now. All the time there is the steady beat of metallica, guns and roses and led zepellin, Nirvana and INXS and T Rex.

Does anyone else do this training, and if so how do you keep yourself going?