lance armstrong performance program

I have exactly the same question (and a TCR2 FWIW).

I noticed it says "8-10 hours training" for intermediate, and if you add up the x hours in zone y, you only get 5.75 hours. If you add the Tempo and Fast-Pedal (gee, do I need to put TM), it adds another 1-2.5 hours. So I assume it means 1.5hrs in Zone 2 plus 60 mins Tempo.

Actually I don't have an answer to this either although I really enjoy Carmichael's suggestions. I don't follow the programs to the letter but I use them as a general guideline for training.

When in doubt, do more work, not less.

I would suggest that you get a coach's opinion on the program. as with a lot of programs, diets, etc... they may work for 1 person and not for the next.

Maybe sending him an e-mail would help :-)

i would say that the lance armstrong book is probably the worst training book out there (TM)

it is so vague, the latest book by Carmichael is better but still suffers from the same problem.

If they don't want to impart their valuable knowledge and give their advantage to competitors, then they should wait to Lance has finished to publish a book.

I had the same question (I'm just starting the "Intermediate" 7 weeks) so I emailed "www.trainright.com" and this is the response I got:

"I'm glad you're enjoying the book. When reading the workout prescriptions, the 60 minutes is the total ride time, and all of the specific workouts should be completed within that time. Using your example below, you should perform the 10 minutes of Tempo within a 60 minute ride. Please let me know if you have any other questions"

Hope this answers your question.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by c_record
i would say that the lance armstrong book is probably the worst training book out there (TM)

it is so vague, the latest book by Carmichael is better but still suffers from the same problem.

If they don't want to impart their valuable knowledge and give their advantage to competitors, then they should wait to Lance has finished to publish a book.

If you just want to use it for training, you're probably right. It gives you great basic guidelines but it's too high-level for the serious athlete. I bought it and enjoy reading it but do not train by it.

I was actually wondering if Ulle and the rest of the boys actually read it and watched reports on Lance (such as "The road to the Tour (2001)"😉 to get the info on how he trains. I remember a story that broke in early 2002 stating that Ullrich "now trained at a higher cadence using the same technique as Armstrong". Funny, since I see him riding the same cadence as in 2000 and 2001 (which seemed to work pretty well with Ulle 10 lbs+ lighter in 2003 than 2000 and/or 2001).

Just my 2 cents worth...

I have the 7 week program book and unfortunately it doesn't really work well with me. For one I don't have any hills where I live and to only do 1 hour of ride time, well I'm left wanting more and I don't feel I get enough.

I used the book and interpreted the 1.5h z2 with 60min tempo as being a 1.5h ride with 60min of that being at tempo; which is what they are advising.

On the back of doing that 2 month 'intermediate' training and supplementing it with a few races, I managed to win a race in my entry level category (4th in the UK). So I certainly wouldn't say it was a [censored] book.

I don't think you're really looking for people to poopoo the hard training you're already putting in, as you didn't ask for advice on that.

What I do think is that once you've got to a good base level (after the intermediate phase) you may want to look at getting a coach - their services are often much cheaper than you think, and they can individually tailor a plan to suit you, which no book can do.

I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater - this book is very good with the basics.

Regarding the book's suggestions, does anyone know how to integrate the numerous drills in the latter chapters (specific to climbing, sprinting, etc.) with the 7 week program of the earlier chapters? I guess I'm confused. Do you just incorporate a drill or two into the L2 75 minute ride that already has a 10 minute FastPedal (TM - HaHa) in it?

Any help is appreciated.

Dave
Seattle

c_record said:

i would say that the lance armstrong book is probably the worst training book out there (TM)

it is so vague, the latest book by Carmichael is better but still suffers from the same problem.

If they don't want to impart their valuable knowledge and give their advantage to competitors, then they should wait to Lance has finished to publish a book.

I would bear in mind that Chris Carmichael has probably had very little to do with training Armstrong for some considerable time. It is allegedly no more than a 'marriage of convenience': Armstong is reputed to have invested heavily in Carmichael's company some time ago. One thing is without question: there are better sources of information available (and those sources of information were equally available to Armstong's competitors).

L.

Hey...I started out training a couple of years ago using the Performance Program book. I worked my way up through the basic and intermediate training plans with good fitness improvement results. I got to the same place that you describe. Keep in mind that The Ultimate Ride has a lot more training meat to it if you are liking the CTS approach to training but are wondering how to integrate more of the specific drills into your basic workout format. It really helped me to understand how to flesh out a more thorough and comprehensive training program.

As has been said though, there is certainly a lot of guidance on the subject beyond Carmichael. But if you are liking the train right approach, don't hesitate to stick with it. The most important part of any training program is using the one that keeps you coming back for more! If you find yourself feeling wholly unqualified to run your own training program, consider the coaching route. Whether it's ric stern and his RST crew, or Carmichael and his, there are plenty of folks who are much more qualified than the typical rider to structure an effective and successful training effort.

In terms of structuring your workouts using the drills, the basic format would be to add a single drill per day to your endurance workout. So if your basic workout duration is a 1.5hr Endurance Ride, you could do 4 Fast Pedal Intervals of 5min efforts and 5min recovery in between each effort. So, for the workout, you would do 30min of warmup/endurance riding, 40min of intervals, and finish with a 20min endurance/cooldown. Each day that you add an interval, the key is to complete the entire interval effort to the best of your ability, then use the riding before and after to give yourself additional time on the bike.

The approach that works best for me is to target the weeks leading up to a goal event by adding a combination of the harder intervals. Building up in the weeks before an event, I would be doing Tempo rides, Steady State Intervals, Climb Repeats, Power Starts and Power Intervals. The week of the event, I would taper back significantly. After the event, I would come back with Tempo and lower intensity interval efforts and work my way towards my next goal event. Remember that you will need to schedule in a corresponding amount of recovery rides and/or off bike days to give your body the time to respond and adapt to the training.

Hope this helps. 😉