Team BKool CycleChat

[Runexeter]

Well Bkool were quick replying for a change, the last 2 runs I have uploaded did not change my fitness rating, on asking them why they said it was more or less my fault for not uploading it as a run!, to which I gave them a roasting on the fact it was their end that was at fault etc etc. Sent them a link to the session to show it was a run and sent them the FIT file to look at and got this reply.

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your message. Sorry, you're right. There is a bug that will be fixed in our next website release (February).


See you at Bkool,

Bkool Team.

So how many more BUGS are there I wonder hmmm?

 

[Pedro2015]

20 mins @ 80% FTP? What is the point, 80% is tempo.... you should be able to hold that for hours. As a triathlete maybe you don't press on as much as a pure cyclist in the bike leg being that you need to run afterwards, but a reasonably good, pure cyclist would ride a 100 mile TT at over 80% FTP. If your aim is to increase FTP by doing short sessions of around 1 hour, you are going to be looking at doing the 20 minutes at somewhere between 90-105% FTP.

So an hour session, 20 mins at 220+ 10 easing off at 170 and 20 at 220+ the. 10 easing off at 170. 3 times a week strength core and a spin class in between twice a week long ride

i.e
Monday ftp session 1 hr
Tuesday strength core spin
Wednesday ftp session 1 hr
Thursday strength core spin
Friday rest day
Saturday ftp session 1 hr
Sunday long ride

 

[Darryn007]

20 mins @ 80% FTP? What is the point, 80% is tempo.... you should be able to hold that for hours. As a triathlete maybe you don't press on as much as a pure cyclist in the bike leg being that you need to run afterwards, but a reasonably good, pure cyclist would ride a 100 mile TT at over 80% FTP. If your aim is to increase FTP by doing short sessions of around 1 hour, you are going to be looking at doing the 20 minutes at somewhere between 90-105% FTP.

My recommendation is actually directed to Pedro, by the questions being asked, I don't really think he is out racing100mile TT's in the w-end. For someone looking to get a base and make improvements who is primarily using the BKool and spinning classes in the week I really think zone 3 is more than enough no?

 

[Rob3rt]

So an hour session, 20 mins at 220+ 10 easing off at 170 and 20 at 220+ the. 10 easing off at 170. 3 times a week strength core and a spin class in between twice a week long ride

i.e
Monday ftp session 1 hr
Tuesday strength core spin
Wednesday ftp session 1 hr
Thursday strength core spin
Friday rest day
Saturday ftp session 1 hr
Sunday long ride

In essence yes, personally I wouldn't be doing the same session, of that type, 3 times a week. I'd probably look to do one session at the top end, i.e. 100-105% FTP and 2 at the lower end, 90-95%, but in these lower end ones I'd build in progression by extending the duration of the intervals, adding additional intervals etc each week, so over time, you are increasing the volume, eg 2x20 mins, 2x25 mins, 3x20 mins, 2x30 mins, 4x20 mins, 2x40 mins etc. Ultimately, what you are doing should be dictated by your goals, what training you have done previously and how much time you have to train each week.

My recommendation is actually directed to Pedro, by the questions being asked, I don't really think he is out racing100mile TT's in the w-end. For someone looking to get a base and make improvements who is primarily using the BKool and spinning classes in the week I really think zone 3 is more than enough no?

I do not see any reason for limiting himself to Z3. Additionally, 2 x 20 mins @ 80% is not going to do much by way of base training, it would produce a very low training load (the 40 mins total time at 80% would give a TSS of 43) as both volume and intensity are low.

 

[Darryn007]

In essence yes, personally I wouldn't be doing the same session, of that type, 3 times a week. I'd probably look to do one session at the top end, i.e. 100-105% FTP and 2 at the lower end, 90-95%, but in these lower end ones I'd build in progression by extending the duration of the intervals, adding additional intervals etc each week, so over time, you are increasing the volume, eg 2x20 mins, 2x25 mins, 3x20 mins, 2x30 mins, 4x20 mins, 2x40 mins etc. Ultimately, what you are doing should be dictated by your goals, what training you have done previously and how much time you have to train each week.



I do not see any reason for limiting himself to Z3. Additionally, 2 x 20 mins @ 80% is not going to do much by way of base training, it would produce a very low training load (the 40 mins total time at 80% would give a TSS of 43) as both volume and intensity are low.

Yes that is correct, Z3 will build a easy base for him to build on and allow recovery, without any further facts that is about the safest approach.

Quite frankly telling someone 'what I'd probably do' and saying to build volume and intensity and explaining it all in percentages and detail based on...what? i assume you have Pedro's threshold and lactate anaerobic tests ...Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you have great knowledge, but unless you know in detail someones fitness base you absolutely cannot justify telling someone 'up the workload each week'.

 

[Rob3rt]

Yes that is correct, Z3 will build a easy base for him to build on and allow recovery, without any further facts that is about the safest approach.

Quite frankly telling someone 'what I'd probably do' and saying to build volume and intensity and explaining it all in percentages and detail based on...what? i assume you have Pedro's threshold and lactate anaerobic tests ...Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you have great knowledge, but unless you know in detail someones fitness base you absolutely cannot justify telling someone 'up the workload each week'.

I know his FTP, he posted it above, but even if I didn't know the actual value, it doesn't matter, this is irrelevant, any power values defined as a percentage of his FTP are relative to his current ability by default. Further progression comes from increased workload over time, either via increased volume or intensity, if you do not increase the workload, or modify the composition, you will cease to progress, given progression is the aim of the game, increasing the workload is essential, regardless of someones current fitness. Now the rate of increase, or how the increase is achieved, that is a different story...

Ultimately, the more training you do, the more training you can do and the more trained you will become.

 

[BILL S]

A bunch of the army lads I work with did this as a team.....was speaking to them about it this morning in the gym..might join the team next year for it

It's actually quite tough as a team as there's extra pressure and you'll be trying to beat your team mates and you've also got all that waiting around between laps. It is much easier for bike maintenance and nourishment though. You'll need a comfy warm place to wait between laps. As a solo rider you don't need that.

 

[noodleJam]

Geoff

Brilliant I will give that a go and let you know.

As someone's just stated, I hope you get paid by Bkool for your advice.

All the best.

Geoff,

That's worked the bots/ ghosts now appear as long as the session is on distance and not time. One of those odd quirks, but it does kind of makes sense.

Thanks again.

 

[Darryn007]

So knowing someones FTP is enough to go into workload detail for you....
Ok I will drop it here, thanks for the input.

 

[Rob3rt]

So knowing someones FTP is enough to go into workload detail for you....
Ok I will drop it here, thanks for the input.

Detail with regards to workload? What detail? I have not gone into any detail whatsoever...

Further I have not told him what to do, I have simply suggested what I might do if I were going to do 3 threshold sessions a week (which I wouldn't do in the 1st place). I also explicitly stated that what he does with regards to training should be dictated by his goals, what training he has done previously (i.e. his current state of affairs) and the time he has available.

 

[Add]

Wayhay! What a wonderful reunion with my glitchy old mate Mr. BKool! 20 miles completed.... Session failed to upload! After so long away its nice to see so little has changed! Now look out Geoff, I have you in my crosshairs....pfffft....just kidding, seen some of your achievements....you'll kick my ass now!
And huge pat on the back Bill! What an achievement! But I think we deserve a lot of the credit? After all, didn't a proportion of your training involve thrashing us?

 

[gbrown]

Jan 18, 19:09

Splits view shows zero for every Sprint and KOM result in League stages. For example ...

http://www.bkool.com/classification/showIndividualStageClassification/2814

http://www.bkool.com/classification/showIndividualStageClassification/2816

BKOOL (BKOOL)

Jan 20, 12:07

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for your message. We forward the incident to our software/web developers, we hope it will soon be fixed.

See you at Bkool,

Bkool Team.

 

[gbrown]

So an hour session, 20 mins at 220+ 10 easing off at 170 and 20 at 220+ the. 10 easing off at 170. 3 times a week strength core and a spin class in between twice a week long ride

i.e
Monday ftp session 1 hr
Tuesday strength core spin
Wednesday ftp session 1 hr
Thursday strength core spin
Friday rest day
Saturday ftp session 1 hr
Sunday long ride

Sounds a heavy schedule.
And don't forget the group rides on Thursday and/or Saturday!

They are usually High Intensity trying to keep within touch of Bill and Kipster!

20 out of our 25 members have taken part in at least one ride, imagine the fun if all 20 of us started the same ride!

I must get into doing some intervals and work on my FTP, but so far I have just concentrated on loosing body fat.

Since the end of October, when I got the bkool, I'm down 11lbs of fat (and only 1lb of muscle) so without changing my FTP I've improved my Watts/Kg by nearly 10%

Started at 26%, now around 21% and aiming to get below 17%, so need to lose another 9 lbs or so of fat.

Trying not to resort to dieting, just burn up more than I eat.

I think doing all the Mountain Goats rides has helped with the fat burning, but has also pushed up my FTP a bit!

Geoff

 

[burndust]

It's actually quite tough as a team as there's extra pressure and you'll be trying to beat your team mates and you've also got all that waiting around between laps. It is much easier for bike maintenance and nourishment though. You'll need a comfy warm place to wait between laps. As a solo rider you don't need that.

yeah they did one lap on 3 off, they enjoyed it though...it was just a bit of fun for them really, they took all the winter gear with them for camping, in their element they were lol....i'll tell you what though some of these guys are in their late 50s and are still fit as anything..pretty impressive tbh

 

[BILL S]

Wayhay! What a wonderful reunion with my glitchy old mate Mr. BKool! 20 miles completed.... Session failed to upload! After so long away its nice to see so little has changed! Now look out Geoff, I have you in my crosshairs....pfffft....just kidding, seen some of your achievements....you'll kick my ass now!
And huge pat on the back Bill! What an achievement! But I think we deserve a lot of the credit? After all, didn't a proportion of your training involve thrashing us?

Thanks Adam. Yes, you guys helped me a lot with motivation to try and stay ahead. I did for a while, but the writing was on the wall as the gap closed, and then Geoff and Kipster gave me a good thrashing at the Velodrome and others came too close for comfort on the Mtn Goat rides. I think Geoff leads at the moment, but again that's just great motivation to put in the effort. Of course there's a lot of enjoyment with the bkool when its not frustration.
I hope you get back on Geoff's tail ASAP as you somehow seemed to keep him in his place