Lab trial update

Gags said:

I am still doing the lab trial that I started last week and it seems to be
going OK.....every second day I have to do 100min on the stationary trainer
at home with the Powertap meter fitted to my bike, the aim being to maintain
a steady 260W. I have now done three of these sessions and here is the
comparison between the latest one (this morning) and the first one (all
values are the overall average for the session):

30 Nov - Power 255W, Speed 27.35km/h, HR 147 bpm
05 Dec - Power 259W, Speed 28.94km/h, HR 138 bpm

Both of these sessions were done at the same time of morning and after the
same amount of food for breakfast and so I believe that I am able to draw a
direct comparison between them. I am pretty happy with achieving an
increase in power output (and hence speed) and at the same time a decrease
in my average HR.....and within one week of starting the training!!!

I am not sure if it is the 100min sessions that are providing the
improvement or the 8 x 5min intervals with 1 min in between that I do every
other day but I am not complaining either way!!!! I am looking forward to
seeing how much further I can improve and how the improvements will transfer
across to my overall riding once the trial has finished.

Gags

100mins is a mind-numbingly long period of time to sit on a stationary trainer holding the same power output / general intensity :eek: :eek: . What are you doing for distractions ????

Gags said:

30 Nov - Power 255W, Speed 27.35km/h, HR 147 bpm
05 Dec - Power 259W, Speed 28.94km/h, HR 138 bpm

wow - awesome results already! My money is on the structured intervals giving you the most gain here.. but I'm no expert in these things.

lama

"Friday" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

monsterman said:

100mins is a mind-numbingly long period of time to sit on a stationary
trainer holding the same power output / general intensity :eek: :eek: .
What are you doing for distractions ????

I agree, they ought to take samples of your brain before and after the
test to see what it does to the brain cells.

Mind numbing.....more like [censored] numbing!!! There are heaps of things to
do....I check my power output, cadence, and HR.....I also get to drink water
and a carb drink and use a towel to get the sweat off my face!!! My main
distraction basically involve having the radio on and forcing myself not to
look at the clock too often....I start at around 0450h or so and so up until
0600h there is pretty much straight music on Nova and then by the time the
news has gone I am getting close to the end.

I much prefer the 8 x 5min interval sessions.......mindset is 1/8th there,
1/4 done, that's 3, half way, only 3 left, 2 left, last one, done.....piece
of [censored]!!

monsterman said:

Gags said:

I am still doing the lab trial that I started last week and it seems to
be
going OK.....every second day I have to do 100min on the stationary
trainer
at home with the Powertap meter fitted to my bike, the aim being to
maintain
a steady 260W. I have now done three of these sessions and here is the
comparison between the latest one (this morning) and the first one (all
values are the overall average for the session):

30 Nov - Power 255W, Speed 27.35km/h, HR 147 bpm
05 Dec - Power 259W, Speed 28.94km/h, HR 138 bpm

Both of these sessions were done at the same time of morning and after
the
same amount of food for breakfast and so I believe that I am able to
draw a
direct comparison between them. I am pretty happy with achieving an
increase in power output (and hence speed) and at the same time a
decrease
in my average HR.....and within one week of starting the training!!!

I am not sure if it is the 100min sessions that are providing the
improvement or the 8 x 5min intervals with 1 min in between that I do
every
other day but I am not complaining either way!!!! I am looking forward
to
seeing how much further I can improve and how the improvements will
transfer
across to my overall riding once the trial has finished.

Gags

100mins is a mind-numbingly long period of time to sit on a stationary
trainer holding the same power output / general intensity :eek: :eek: .
What are you doing for distractions ????

I agree, they ought to take samples of your brain before and after the
test to see what it does to the brain cells.

Friday

On 2006-12-05, Gags (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

"Friday" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

monsterman said:

100mins is a mind-numbingly long period of time to sit on a stationary
trainer holding the same power output / general intensity :eek: :eek: .
What are you doing for distractions ????

I agree, they ought to take samples of your brain before and after the
test to see what it does to the brain cells.

Mind numbing.....more like [censored] numbing!!! There are heaps of things to
do....I check my power output, cadence, and HR.....I also get to drink water
and a carb drink and use a towel to get the sweat off my face!!! My main
distraction basically involve having the radio on and forcing myself not to
look at the clock too often....I start at around 0450h or so and so up until
0600h there is pretty much straight music on Nova and then by the time the
news has gone I am getting close to the end.

More cruel and unusualy punishment! Nova!?

--
TimC
CAUTION: The Mass of This Product Contains the Energy Equivalent of 85
Million Tons of TNT per Net Ounce of Weight. -- unk

TimC said:

On 2006-12-05, Gags (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

"Friday" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

monsterman wrote:
> 100mins is a mind-numbingly long period of time to sit on a stationary
> trainer holding the same power output / general intensity :eek: :eek: .
> What are you doing for distractions ????
>
I agree, they ought to take samples of your brain before and after the
test to see what it does to the brain cells.

Mind numbing.....more like [censored] numbing!!! There are heaps of things to
do....I check my power output, cadence, and HR.....I also get to drink water
and a carb drink and use a towel to get the sweat off my face!!! My main
distraction basically involve having the radio on and forcing myself not to
look at the clock too often....I start at around 0450h or so and so up until
0600h there is pretty much straight music on Nova and then by the time the
news has gone I am getting close to the end.

More cruel and unusualy punishment! Nova!?

It's certainly gone downhill.

--
Ben
Car related lyric of the week: "Rollin', in my 5.0, with my ragtop down
so my hair can blow"

gplama said:

Gags said:

30 Nov - Power 255W, Speed 27.35km/h, HR 147 bpm
05 Dec - Power 259W, Speed 28.94km/h, HR 138 bpm

wow - awesome results already! My money is on the structured intervals
giving you the most gain here.. but I'm no expert in these things.

I've been doing structured intervals as well and although the true test
will be this weekend's triathlon, I did the Warrandyte climb last week.
I didn't push myself much but still did a time comparable to when I've
been pushing hard in the past.

DaveB

Gags said:

I am still doing the lab trial that I started last week and it seems to be
going OK.....every second day I have to do 100min on the stationary trainer
at home with the Powertap meter fitted to my bike, the aim being to maintain
a steady 260W. I have now done three of these sessions and here is the
comparison between the latest one (this morning) and the first one (all
values are the overall average for the session):

30 Nov - Power 255W, Speed 27.35km/h, HR 147 bpm
05 Dec - Power 259W, Speed 28.94km/h, HR 138 bpm

Both of these sessions were done at the same time of morning and after the
same amount of food for breakfast and so I believe that I am able to draw a
direct comparison between them. I am pretty happy with achieving an
increase in power output (and hence speed) and at the same time a decrease
in my average HR.....and within one week of starting the training!!!

I am not sure if it is the 100min sessions that are providing the
improvement or the 8 x 5min intervals with 1 min in between that I do every
other day but I am not complaining either way!!!! I am looking forward to
seeing how much further I can improve and how the improvements will transfer
across to my overall riding once the trial has finished.

Gags

I'd be careful about drawing any conclusions based on an extra 4W. Especially since your goal is to maintain a submaximal power. It seems that the most likely explanation is that you are getting used to pacing on the trainer and riding at an even power.

As far as the lowered HR, it's to be expected as you build up training stress and isn't necessarily indicative of an increase in fitness so much as an increase in fatigue.

That said, the intervals and the 100 minute sessions will both increase your fitness, and the fact that you are accumulating fatigue leading to a drop in HR suggests a reasonable training stress (you are not undertraining).

Good luck with the study - possibly the best thing you'll get out of it is contact with Wee Kian and John H. They know their stuff so listen up!

On Tue, 5 Dec 2006 23:08:49 +1100, "Gags" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Friday" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

monsterman said:

100mins is a mind-numbingly long period of time to sit on a stationary
trainer holding the same power output / general intensity :eek: :eek: .
What are you doing for distractions ????

I agree, they ought to take samples of your brain before and after the
test to see what it does to the brain cells.

Mind numbing.....more like [censored] numbing!!! There are heaps of things to
do....I check my power output, cadence, and HR.....I also get to drink water
and a carb drink and use a towel to get the sweat off my face!!! My main
distraction basically involve having the radio on and forcing myself not to
look at the clock too often....I start at around 0450h or so and so up until
0600h there is pretty much straight music on Nova and then by the time the
news has gone I am getting close to the end.

I much prefer the 8 x 5min interval sessions.......mindset is 1/8th there,
1/4 done, that's 3, half way, only 3 left, 2 left, last one, done.....piece
of [censored]!!

Interesting. What is your cadence or do you vary it? What's your top
(sprint) speed on it?

How does 27mph for 100 min compare to your capacity on the road? If the
settings match, (taking account of the lack of wind indoors) but I'd be
curious as to how you matched it so well.

"HJJ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 5 Dec 2006 23:08:49 +1100, "Gags" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Friday" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

monsterman wrote:
> 100mins is a mind-numbingly long period of time to sit on a stationary
> trainer holding the same power output / general intensity :eek: :eek: .
> What are you doing for distractions ????
>
>
I agree, they ought to take samples of your brain before and after the
test to see what it does to the brain cells.

Mind numbing.....more like [censored] numbing!!! There are heaps of things to
do....I check my power output, cadence, and HR.....I also get to drink
water
and a carb drink and use a towel to get the sweat off my face!!! My main
distraction basically involve having the radio on and forcing myself not
to
look at the clock too often....I start at around 0450h or so and so up
until
0600h there is pretty much straight music on Nova and then by the time the
news has gone I am getting close to the end.

I much prefer the 8 x 5min interval sessions.......mindset is 1/8th there,
1/4 done, that's 3, half way, only 3 left, 2 left, last one,
done.....piece
of [censored]!!

Interesting. What is your cadence or do you vary it? What's your top
(sprint) speed on it?

How does 27mph for 100 min compare to your capacity on the road? If the
settings match, (taking account of the lack of wind indoors) but I'd be
curious as to how you matched it so well.

My cadence usually sits around the 90 - 93 rpm or so.

I have not yet tried for a top speed on it (not required by the program I am
on).

It was actually 27km/h (not miles) and I only included it for a relative
reference between the two sessions as I don't think you can translate the
actual figure directly to a speed on the road. For example, I did the
around the bay in a day ride a while back....first 160km in a bunch and
second 100km riding side by side with a friend (ie no drafting). Our
average speed for the entire ride was 34.5km/h......I am pretty sure I
couldn't maintain that speed on the wind trainer for the 8 and a bit hours
that the round the bay took us. I don't use speed at all for a reference
when on the trainer, I have the power meter set to display Power, Cadence,
and Heartrate for the 100min constant power sessions and I display power,
cadence, and time for the interval sessions.

Gags

Gags said:

I much prefer the 8 x 5min interval sessions.......mindset is 1/8th there,
1/4 done, that's 3, half way, only 3 left, 2 left, last one, done.....piece
of [censored]!!

Just out of interest, what power / HR are the 5 minute intervals done at?

Unregistered said:

Just out of interest, what power / HR are the 5 minute intervals done at?

Self-selected maximal intensity (=power) for the duration. HR doesn't come into it.

Roadie_scum said:

Self-selected maximal intensity (=power) for the duration. HR doesn't come into it.

Ouch :eek: 8 of those with only 60s to recover would really hurt.

Surprised something that intense would be prescribed every other day.

"Unregistered" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Roadie_scum said:

Self-selected maximal intensity (=power) for the duration. HR doesn't
come into it.

Ouch :eek: 8 of those with only 60s to recover would _really_ hurt.

Surprised something that intense would be prescribed every other day.

My last one of these sessions was yesterday morning and I was sitting on
around 325W or so for the 5 min intervals, dropping down to about 100W for
the 1 min recovery intervals.

Gags