Block training...who does

TiMan said:

Who does block training...and how's it going?

ie: 2-3 days in a row of one of the following....edurance rides, lactate threshold rides, or VO2 max intervals...followed by 2-3 three days really easy, with maybe a day off the bike.

I am especially interested in knowing how your VO2 max interval blocks help you.

TiMan

Gee nobody block trains around here?!

I remember Lemond talking about block training, even though he didn't call it that, and that was years ago......some poeple like Chris Carmichael like to think it's newish but it really isn't.

I do 4-6 days a week in a row of basically 1-1.5 hrs of hard riding.

The results? Good, but I tend to get sore, tired and cranky by the last day.
Then I take time off and usually feel like a lion on the first day and then slowly feel more tired after that. All rides average over 35 km/hr.

-Bikeguy

bikeguy said:

I do 4-6 days a week in a row of basically 1-1.5 hrs of hard riding.

The results? Good, but I tend to get sore, tired and cranky by the last day.
Then I take time off and usually feel like a lion on the first day and then slowly feel more tired after that. All rides average over 35 km/hr.

-Bikeguy

Bro that's not how to block train.....you should never do more than 3 days in a row of hard riding without then taking at least 2 days very very easy...with at least one of those days as a short recovery ride with heart rate below your endurance range. You won't improve very long training the way you do and in fact you will over train.

TiMan, yeah, except that I've been improving for the past 3 months, 35-36 km/hr at 156-158 bpm average doesn't stress me enormously. Every other week I do maybe 3 days hard and 2 days easy.

I should say I get very tired after the rides, but my performance is improving... so... I don't know.

I have my first 40 k TT tomorrow.

-Bikeguy

bikeguy said:

TiMan, yeah, except that I've been improving for the past 3 months, 35-36 km/hr at 156-158 bpm average doesn't stress me enormously. Every other week I do maybe 3 days hard and 2 days easy.

I should say I get very tired after the rides, but my performance is improving... so... I don't know.

I have my first 40 k TT tomorrow.

-Bikeguy

OH......three hard days is good...I thought you were hammering 6 days a week.
Try doing 2 hard days in a row and then taking 2 days after that of easy recovery rides for 60 minutes with a heart rate BELOW your endurance heart rate. Try this workout.....warm up for 30 minutes at an endurance pace....then do five or maybe six VO2 max intervals(all out) for 5 minutes each followed by 5 minutes of easy spinning to recover between sets. Then finish the workout by doing 20-30 minutes of lactate threshold work(just below tt pace) and then 30 minutes of endurance riding.

You could do the VO2 max intervals on the flats/rollers one week with a high cadence(110) and then the next week do them climbing at a lower cadence(like 85).

You can do two days in a row of VO2 max intervals but I would do shorter intervals the second day and maybe only 20 minutes total. The lacate threshold work can be done the same for 2-3 days in a row as long as you allow for full recovery for two days after that.

One or both of those "hard days" can be hard group rides or races.

The key is recovery....most of us have no trouble training hard...it's the recovery part we get wrong...most don't allow for enough recovery time to allow the body to get stronger.

I have had great results training in blocks and wonder how others have done with this type of training.

As a side I read in Carmichaels book that he see's greater increases in sustainable power at threshold when his boys block train lactate threshold work.

And then there is David Morris who always trains his riders in block fashion....all energy systems (aerobic, lacate threshold, anaerobic power VO2 max etc)

Hey TiMan, I've been doing 1-1.5 hr efforts (and occasional 4 hr efforts) because my long term endurance is a bit weak, I don't do interval work near V02 max. I will begin interval work for VO2 max after my TT tomorrow.

-Bikeguy

Yeah, it's been a long year. I coached myself by using block training. I give a weekly training schedule and I've been doing it since Jan. Results? Pretty good. I trained 5-6 days a week depends on how I felt. Out of those days, 3 days were pretty tough, including racing. All my LT workouts are done by HR. I don't even use computer anymore.

I guess I do block-training between two rest days of the week. But I separate my workouts to train a specific system, like muscular, aerobic and energy. So my week will start with the muscle training for a couple days and they get a rest for the rest of the week. Next comes the aerobic system for a couple days in the middle of the week while the other two systems rest. Then they all rest on Friday, which is usually road-trip time to a race anyway. And on the weekend, I work on the energy system and give the muscles, heart & lungs a rest. That way, I never work out any system for more than 2-days in a row, yet I'll ride 5-6 days a week. When graphed, it looks kinda like this:

If you take the sums of all the lines, they would be pretty even on the non-rest days...

DannoXYZ said:

I guess I do block-training between two rest days of the week. But I separate my workouts to train a specific system, like muscular, aerobic and energy. So my week will start with the muscle training for a couple days and they get a rest for the rest of the week. Next comes the aerobic system for a couple days in the middle of the week while the other two systems rest. Then they all rest on Friday, which is usually road-trip time to a race anyway. And on the weekend, I work on the energy system and give the muscles, heart & lungs a rest. That way, I never work out any system for more than 2-days in a row, yet I'll ride 5-6 days a week. When graphed, it looks kinda like this:

If you take the sums of all the lines, they would be pretty even on the non-rest days...

Interesting....and I am glad it works for you.

Usually block training involves training one energy system at a time for an extended period. ie: early season endurance work to build a big aerobic "Base" for about 12 weeks....then gradually adding lactate threshold work while reducing endurance work.....then a few weeks before your first races VO2 max intervals are the focus with less focus on lactate threshold work and endurance riding is reduced even more.
Most do some sprint work year round.

DannoXYZ said:

I guess I do block-training between two rest days of the week. But I separate my workouts to train a specific system, like muscular, aerobic and energy. So my week will start with the muscle training for a couple days and they get a rest for the rest of the week. Next comes the aerobic system for a couple days in the middle of the week while the other two systems rest. Then they all rest on Friday, which is usually road-trip time to a race anyway. And on the weekend, I work on the energy system and give the muscles, heart & lungs a rest. That way, I never work out any system for more than 2-days in a row, yet I'll ride 5-6 days a week. When graphed, it looks kinda like this:

If you take the sums of all the lines, they would be pretty even on the non-rest days...

I do blocks similar to you. In fact since I race less lactively than you and only have one long ride on the weekends I really only ride 4 days a week 12-15 hours. My results have been good this year. So it's working well for me.