Forum menu
So after getting the bug last year I am starting to do more Enduro Races (Mainly Southwest Enduro and a few rounds of the Southern Enduro and Champs Lite). Now my mind has move towards training more that just "Riding my bike in the woods". Back ground, I run and swim once a week and also work with a Strengh and Conditioning coach once a week.
Now I have access to a WattBike at the gym, but I have no idea how to get the most out it beyond riding it. Time is tight (new born kiddo) so want to make sure I can most bang for buck. Base fitness is pretty good so thinking something interval based might help improve power and endurance during stages.
I am aware of things like TrainerRoad, FTP, Max Power etc but have no idea what any of it means!
So Roadies and XC racers of Singletrack can you help a brother get faster?
Roadie Racer here and part time XC back of the packer. I use a Wattbike 3 times a week.
I use Sufferfest, as a roadie I know my weaknesses. I use Sufferfest to work on those areas where I need to improve.
I've been using the Wattbike with Sufferfest for years. As I've gotten older I've had to stop following any of the specific training plans, I just couldn't face beasting myself 3 to 4 times a week on the Wattbike plus 2 outdoor rides, with one of those being a reasonably tough group ride.
Most of the work outs are between 50 mins to an hour. This includes a small warm up and cool down at the end.
My iPad connects to the Wattbike, so in the Sufferfest App I can then track my cadence and power. It's incredibly easy to set up and pair with the Wattbike. With Sufferfest its worth doing the 4DP Test and following the training plan to lead into the test.
During the off season my works on the Wattbike look the below...
Monday is an easy spin for 45 mins or a day off depending how I feel. (At less than 50% FTP, class this as my recovery ride)
Tuesday I do an endurance session (Zone 2) or a Sprint Session for 1 hours 30, another easy ride. But the Sprint session is normally Zone 2 apart from 10 ten second max sprints every 6 minutes.
Wednesday is a full on session -normally one of the racing sessions.
Friday is either an outdoor ride or another full on Sufferfest session working on weakness.
Sunday is my outdoor ride. Either in woods for 2 hours or 55/65 miles on the road bike.
I use sufferfest with mine, at the moment it's just pick the vid I feel like (or don't) and hit a good structure for the session. They do a free week trial I think so worth giving a go though still no android app....
Like the OP Im starting enduro and plan on doing some POC and the naughty Northumbrian. I've started going to the gym and I've been pointed to the watt bike and told to do 5km at 90 rpm to build me up.
I have absolutely no ****ing idea what any of that other stuff means. I doubt he will either going by his post. Reign it in and explain in plain English if you can.
Lol thanks @squirrelking. I guess there is a learning curve!
I guess my question is where am best focussing? Base fitness and therefore endurance is there and supported via swimming. During stages am I aware that fatigue is an issue and repeat sprint efforts take their toll. How can I help improve that?
These guys explain it better!!
5km at 90 RPM sounds a bit dull!! Resistance or power?
Generally workouts on video give you a power or intensity rating to hit, sometimes with a cadence (RPM) indication, you follow it.
The ail will be to build up one of your strengths or weaknesses - there are some that involved low down slow/climbing power, some that are pure cardio or anaerobic pain
Most online services link up and have a structure or plan so that you know what you want to achieve/weaknesses are and work on those
Speed and distance do not matter and cadence is of secondary importance. The only show in town is POWER!
The watt bike measures your power on the pedals, and workouts are built around the power you can in theory sustain over one hour - this is called functional threshold power (ftp). So you need to measure this first off and then your workouts are structured around this - a hard session might be shortish intervals above ftp, a medium session could be multiple sets at 85%, an easy session could be 60% twiddling etc etc.
Do we need to pedal hard for one hour to measure ftp? No we do not, as this is very tough and you need to be quite experienced to get an accurate figure like this. Instead, you can measure efforts over much shorter times and use them to accurately extrapolate your ftp. The watt bike will have programs for doing this.
Stupid.is the trainerroad gravity plan shares a lot of workouts from the cyclocross one - a lot of sprints and short hard intervals, some serious red zone efforts. If you're using the watt bike to sharpen you up for enduro races then these sort of workouts sound like the order of the day.
Mike, to be honest it's an effort just to complete it, right now I'm managing 2.5km, dropping to 70rpm for 500m then back up to 90rpm for the remainder. That's using fan resistance. 3 on the fan and 1 for the magnet.
Definitely getting better but I was never a sprinter, endurance was my thing.
Base fitness and therefore endurance is there
You think that.. I thought that (based on the ability to do 4-5 hour rides) until I had a coach and a blood lactate test, and I discovered I had virtually no base fitness in physiological terms i.e. ability to burn fat.
So what is your aim at the end of it? If it's 5km flat time trials then it's probably spot on!!
Thanks Garry that makes sense. Looks like I will be doing a 20 min FTP test tomorrow night! Do I need to take a bucket?
Trainer road is looking like a good option. Will report back on my findings from the test.
Do I need to take a bucket?
The Sufferfest one suggests you take a walk in the middle to get ready for the second half!!
From my time using trainer road you need something else in the background otherwise it's just staring at the graph!!
Lol nothing like honesty! I dont't mind the lack of music/video as I am happy to shove my own tunes on.
So what is your aim at the end of it? If it’s 5km flat time trials then it’s probably spot on!!
Great advice, thanks.
Gary - that's something to look into, cheers.
Well it's probably the most important question - what do you want from it?
Have the gym just put you on a boilerplate training plan? Do you want to be generally fitter? Better at racing? Faster on the climbs?
Work on your weaknesses, play to your strengths.
@Stupid.is if that's your first FTP test then it won't be particularly accurate. Basically you need to do a few tests to know how to do them properly. It'll do for now as a basis for future training. TrainerRoad adjusts the level of the workouts depending on your FTP so if you feel they are too easy or too hard then either adjust the level or do another test to correct things.
I'm on a "generally get fit first" plan right now. Literally just started in the last week. I'll be honest and say I'm not sure what I want to work on yet as I've not really got any good idea of what my main weaknesses are.
The watt bike is really just my cardio training for the moment but I'd like to incorporate it into something bigger. They have LFconnect bikes as well but they might as well be in another language. That's my biggest problem I guess, I have no idea how intervals work, how zone training works or any of that. I have an idea but that's not really the same.
What I like about Sufferfest is from a racing perspective it will look at my weak areas. In the test you do 2x5 second sprints, 5 min max effort, 20 mins ftp and 1 min max effort.
In sufferfest there are about 25 different work outs aimed at improving one or two of the above areas. For instance in a road race, there are a lot of constant accelerations, working on videos focusing on the 1 and 5 min efforts helps with that.
The Sufferfest take a walk section is after you have completed a good warm up, two max effort sprints and a 5 min max effort. before the start of the 20 min test it recommends you get off the bike and walk about, I think this is also to help you mentally get prepared for the 20 mins of hell.
Again on the benefits of Sufferfest, I know I don’t really need to work on my FTP, it’s reasonable, my sprint is OK, but for road racing it’s an important facet, so I work on that. Lots of other systems focus on FTP, which is useful for certain disciplines, but not necessarily at the neglect of the other fitness components.
GCN training videos also good. You tube GCN Training and loads of different type videos will be visible.
I sometimes do these when the mood takes.
What I think is important though is knowing a baseline starting point. So
Knowing your FTP, knowing your different power and heart rate zones etc. It’s worth doing a bit reading, I’m no training guru nor am I particularly bright, but with a bit of reading and YouTubing you’ll quickly learn.
https://support.thesufferfest.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002594326-Types-Of-Sufferfest-Workouts
An overview of different work out types - different things for different weaknesses!
Where is your HR going when your doing the ride?
You can link the newer ones to the app and most have ANT so a garmin etc can read them and upload to connect/strava etc
Depending on how you best learn it might be worth getting hold of one of Joe Friel's books. He goes through the various terms and will show you why you do a particular session as well as tell you how to do it.
TrainerRoad have an enduro plan you can follow.
Also Point1 Athletic is one of the main coaches around - their plan looks good http://point1athletic.com/products/
Sounds like you're already doing some strength training, which would be important, and also some other conditioning work.
I would work up to doing:
35 minutes LISS @RPE6 1-2x per week
AND
24 minutes HIIT (20s sprint @RPE10, 100s rest ie just keep moving) 1-2x/w
I guess my question is where am best focussing? Base fitness and therefore endurance is there and supported via swimming. During stages am I aware that fatigue is an issue and repeat sprint efforts take their toll. How can I help improve that?
IMO (also as a racer) for your 'Average Joe', if you're doing some gym & cardio work anyway, the gains you will see the most from will be riding your bike more & just ride trails harder. You will still benefit from an increase in fitness from attacking mundane trails, but you will improve your skill, which for most if fit, is the limiting factor.
FWIW, I don't do any turbo/wattbike/etc work (mostly because it's f*cking boring).
Now normally I am like Hob Nob, but sadly tiny human and dark nights make a good attacking ride tricky hence the WattBike. Now at the mo empirical's suggestion seem to fit well with me in that's it's simple and does not rely on an accurate FTP result. Plus I'm looking at the cost of Sufferfest/TrainerRoad etc and wondering if the money is worth it as I am never the best at stick to plans and doing set workouts etc.
Hmm