Quote: Originally Posted by bgoetz [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]
Agreed Paul, which is why your post about your method of training caused me to add my perspective to the thread.
I was enjoy having a good discussion, wish I had more time to pour out my ideas, but restricted to pinching a few minutes here and there.
I pulled this from another coach on the wattage forum. It pretty much nails, how I train and coach my athletes
Quote: The problem with typical endurance based periodization models is that they tend to be more static and less dynamic. This means that they sometimes do not allow for change - as they put a training system into a rigid box, which can handcuff you from experimenting with what works best. I suggest you continue to experiment with HIIT because in a situation where there is limited time for conditioning (assuming you are not a pro and have a job!) the HIIT focussed training methods tend to work better, as long as they are phased properly.
In order to stimulate endurance, you have to tax endurance, and 2-4hr rides will eventually plateau that adaptive process - and it won't take much to do so. For you to spend countless hours "trying" to build an aerobic base, and adequate stamina, when time is limited is an exercise that is not warranted from my experience. Also, when you think about races, and when the "cracks" occur, your questions regarding endurance versus quality may be answered. Typically in shorter (1.5-3.5hrs) non-professional bike races, the cream rises to the top when fractures happen after multiple high intensity attacks. This taxes the capacity for the REPEATABILITY of HIGH INTENSITY anaerobic power - and you don't get that so much from endurance training.
I suggest you build a plan that incorporates "deficit-based periodization" and stimulates the various critical high intensity parts of your power curve adequately, with blocks of endurance focus. The specific cycling based model below is an example of what you could do to prepare for an amateur cycling race. It layers multiple levels of high qualitative with some quantitative conditioning. Then the last phase actually blends both systems together to prepare for races. Something like:
Period I - Endurance intro lower intensity - intro 14 days
Period II - Focus on specific anaerobic power (weak parts of PC) - 28 days
Period III - Endurance higher intensity - 10 days
Period IV - Focus on specific anaerobic power (weak parts of PC) - 18 days
Period V - Endurance with race specific stimulation - 7 days
Period VI - Focus on combo endurance/quality - race specific - 14 days
Total Time:3.5months
I have used many altered versions of "deficit-based periodization" with elite top level pro riders, Olympic gold medallists, world champs and many, many athletes in different sports, and it works - period. But you cannot follow this if you are stuck in the box of tradition.
In my experience with coaching pro-tour level riders, at some point in time, they cease to adapt (to the same degree) to the endurance based training model. Once an "aerobic base" is established with some years of training stimulus, and all the metabolic machinery take root, then they only need to re-stimulate that system with some intermittent blocks of aerobic base training. At this point, much less endurance based conditioning is necessary. It is a little like learning a language - if you learn it when you are young, then you only need to be "exposed" to it briefly for you to speak it fairly well again. So even for pros who race 5-7hr events, there is some merit to (eventually) shifting towards quality from quantity. The transition from the typical endurance periodization model/pyramid varies for everyone but regardless, when time is of the essence, my experience tells me to lean on the side of quality versus quantity.
P
FTP is the power you can sustain for ~60min (or a 40km TT)
MAP is the maximal 1min power you can produce at the completion of a
ramp test where the power is raised 15-25 watts every 60 seconds.
FTP roughly equals power at lactate threshold
MAP roughly equals power at VO2max
For the rest of the year, I spend blocks of time working on an athletes strengths weaknesses in order to prepare them for the above. How I do that will vary from athlete to athlete and how they power profile (5s, 1mim, 5min, 10min, 20min, 60min).
I don't go by the traditional, base building phase of high volume, low intensity approach. I adopt the principle in finding an athletes "gaps" and then fill in the gaps, they always adapt really quickly using that approach, as it tends to target what they do least in training.
Paul
