Spread Intensity Out... vs. Block + Rest?

Aztec said:

I'm curious about the idea of two seemingly competing theories.

One says that you should take your doses of intensity in between days of lower intensity, say every third day mix in some kind of interval work, etc. I think this is the conventional route.

Another idea would be to do two consecutive days of intensity, followed by several days of lower intensity work. This is, per my CTS coach, the latest thinking, backed up by more and more research.

or a third one where you do lots of intervals/intensity e.g., six days.

however, when you develop a training programme their maybe other issues to deal with (e.g., time availability)

ric

ric_stern/RST said:

or a third one where you do lots of intervals/intensity e.g., six days.

however, when you develop a training programme their maybe other issues to deal with (e.g., time availability)

ric

higher intensity training sessions for several days? i try to maintain higher intensities for several week; i choose to do nothing on the forth, maybe light spinning or riding, but i do try to get away with doing as little as possible; i however find that this method of training has me re peeking all the time and i don't feel like i'm stuck at one level and tired, no longer do i feel like i'm riding on under developed thighs and deflated tyres.

I'm sure you can imagine that feeling.

Building and designing your training program is a very individual process. Ideally, you want to be fresh when doing high intensity workouts, but the amount of rest that each person needs is different based on their physiology and the other factors in their life.

It could be possible for one rider to do progressively harder days on consecutive days for a period of time, where another rider may need 48 to 72 hours to recover from a hard ride.

The goals of the rider are another factor that can affect the mixture of work and rest.

I have no scientific evidence to say which is best but I have always found that the block method suited me best. If efforts are similar to Rics Level 4 efforts then I think its possible to do 3 days on the trot. After a period of this training follow it up with some high end stuff (3-5mins x 4 days) for 2 weeks and you will motor but I must admit anybody I know who would use this would be pretty tired at the middle of the second week. If you are racing you have to take this into account as well as lifstyle, relationships etc......

closesupport could you give an example of what you would do?

morana said:

I have no scientific evidence to say which is best but I have always found that the block method suited me best. If efforts are similar to Rics Level 4 efforts then I think its possible to do 3 days on the trot. After a period of this training follow it up with some high end stuff (3-5mins x 4 days) for 2 weeks and you will motor but I must admit anybody I know who would use this would be pretty tired at the middle of the second week. If you are racing you have to take this into account as well as lifstyle, relationships etc......

closesupport could you give an example of what you would do?

for the last 9mths i have been working nights or rather very early mornings, so my riding for the last month or 2 has been minimum because of poor weather and dark nights etc, my chosen mode of transport however is to cycle, so on the way to work i do sprints 30+mph on 44x13 or 53x14 (91.4 102.2) my starts are done accelerating from traffic lights 3:30 to 4:30am "i don't stop to often, but i do either rolling starts through them or jump starts when i have been forced to stop, however i have been out on 2 or 3 occassions 10pm until 3:00am since the weather hasn't been to bad. best thing is coing how i have a 1200m straight road that i try to max out on for as long as possible, but at the minute i'm stepping down my calorie intake and getting ready to call it a year on the roads🙁

i find that i mash out larger gears of all 3 bikes (44x11 or 53x12) or spin medium gears (44x17 or 53x19) gears or even over spin on 32x19 trying to maintain 20+mph, this time of year there is no structure to my rides what so ever i do what i feel i can with lite spinning sessions every couple of weeks just to recover.

the 100s that i have done this year have been between may june july with a few outside that period, i hate riding in really bad winds, somethning for the last 2mths i have encountered from 30mph through to 70mph, and everytime i go out i find that that wind is always a headwind for me, so its a few hours on the rollers awaiting for the summer to get here again.

but other than that work work work, + building my martec for next summer, which i must admit is finally running sweat as a nut, eventually not really suited to this weather where having at the minute since crosswinds seem to cause a real fright.

based on my experience with running training the block method has a greater effect for most of the population... I is especially good for increasing lactate threshold, and the optimal blood pH's... Not so sure about what sort of distances you should be doing during cycling and was hoping someone could help me out..