The Power Meter Handbook: A User’s Guide for Cyclists and Triathletes

pedaling hard. The burning sensation you experience as a harbinger of impending fatigue is caused by hydrogen ions released into the body’s fluids, including blood, as lactate seeps out of the muscle during a hard effort. Muscular endurance workouts will improve your muscles’ ability to reprocess the lactate to create more energy and quickly remove the hydrogen ions.
    Muscular endurance workouts are done in the upper end of zone 3 and in zone 4. The differences between zone 3 aerobic endurance workouts and zone 3 muscular endurance workouts are the zone range, duration, and volume of the intensity within a workout. Muscular endurance involves working at the upper end of zone 3 with longer durations and greater zone volume within the session than in aerobic endurance training. And, as mentioned, muscular endurance includes zone 4 workout intensity.
    A common muscular endurance workout is 4 intervals of 20 minutes each at the upper end of zone 3 with 5-minute recoveries in zone 1. Another is 5 repeats of 6 minutes each in zone 4 with 90-second zone 1 recoveries between them. Muscular endurance intervals may be done on hills or on flat terrain.
    Anaerobic endurance. These advanced-ability workouts are quite common for road cyclists and mountain bikers as racing in these sports frequently requires anaerobic efforts beyond FTP. Triathletes are less likely to do anaerobic endurance training other than to improve VO 2 max. Workouts for this ability are done in zones 5 and 6. A typical session is 5 intervals of 3 minutes’duration done at zone 5 with 3-minute recoveries in zone 1. Another is 3 sets of 5 repeats of 30 seconds’ duration done in zone 6 with 30-second recoveries in zone 2 and 5-minute recoveries in zone 1 between sets. These intervals may be done on flat terrain or hills.
    Sprint power. This type of advanced-ability training is common in road cycling but unusual in other cycling-related sports. This is because road races often come down to a sprint finish. Workouts at this intensity demand focused motivation in order to fully recruit a large number of muscle units to produce maximal power. In that regard, these sessions are both physically and mentally challenging. An example of a sprint power workout is 5 repeats with each lasting only 10 pedal revolutions at zone 7 with 5-minute recoveries. The terrain can be varied to match what is expected in a given race.
    Even though the preceding discussion describes individual workouts for each of these abilities, it is possible and highly recommended that you mix them within a session to more closely simulate the demands of racing. This is very effective during the build period of the season—the last 12 weeks or so before an A-priority race. For example, during a workout you could, after your warm-up, include speed skills drills followed by anaerobic endurance intervals and a steady, long aerobic endurance ride. The possibilities for mixing abilities within a workout are endless, allowing for individual creativity to match your fitness requirements to the demands of an upcoming race.
    The only other types of workouts not described in these six categories are those intended to promote recovery and test progress.
    Recovery. For the advanced athlete, recovery is generally best accomplished as a low-intensity ride in zone 1. Active recovery has been shown to hastenthe return to intense training for veteran riders when compared with passive recovery. It’s just the opposite for novices. They are usually better off making the recovery day one completely off the bike. This does not mean that advanced athletes should never take a day off or that novices should never ride easy.
    Testing. In order to keep FTP current throughout the training season, you may need to test progress frequently. As mentioned earlier, testing should be done every 4 to 6 weeks following 2 or 3 days of recovery. Of course, as described above, there are other ways to determine FTP without testing. A few back-to-back days of recovery are still beneficial every few weeks even if testing is not performed.
     
    YOU’RE NOW READY to start training with your power meter. All you need to do is set up your power zones using Table 4.1 . This assumes you have established your FTP as described earlier in the chapter. If you haven’t had an opportunity to do a race or test to determine it, then use the estimation method. This will get you going with the workout types also described in this chapter. If