Ivan Basso SFR training
58585
Posts: 207
Anyone got any experience of SFR (Slow Frequency Revolutions?) workouts?
Ivan Basso has been doing "Aerobic-strength climbs training (SFR)" sessions a couple of times a week:
8 reps of 3 minutes at 380W and 45 rpm, or 115% of 1 hour max power.
What's the benefits of training at such low cadences?
Ivan Basso has been doing "Aerobic-strength climbs training (SFR)" sessions a couple of times a week:
8 reps of 3 minutes at 380W and 45 rpm, or 115% of 1 hour max power.
What's the benefits of training at such low cadences?
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58585 wrote:Anyone got any experience of SFR (Slow Frequency Revolutions?) workouts?
Ivan Basso has been doing "Aerobic-strength climbs training (SFR)" sessions a couple of times a week:
8 reps of 3 minutes at 380W and 45 rpm, or 115% of 1 hour max power.
What's the benefits of training at such low cadences?
Pushing big rings up hills in the off-season is nothing new for those trying to build power at a time when they also have adequate days to recover - but giiving it a fancy name with an appropriate abbreviiation will make it the "must do" latest and greatest technique for some poor sap. Isn't it wonderful that it is the opposite of Lance's theory that the best way of climbing is spinning up hills at 100+ RPM - science is in the eye of the peddler. Basso is a proven cheat looking for belated credibility that his future results will be due to hard work and technique. He blew it big time, ignore him and hope other great talents in the future avoid his mistakes.0 -
Despite the respondant's flame, I wanted to bump this based on the Cycling Weekly article where Cunego brings it up as part of the Mappei training centre's plans.
From a search, the scheme seems to be as the OP described more or less (bit more detail online), but I can't see how cadence would be a factor, despite the insistance on low cadence - red herring again? I.e. you could apply a lower force at a higher cadence and get the same training results, right?
Appears to me that the benefit then would be the adaptation caused by working consistently in a particular training zone, in this case Threshold/VO2Max, plus some muscle adaptations due to riding uphill a lot, plus the psychological benefits gained from training in the hills, none of which is rocket science or "special".
Any thoughts? Have I missed something?"And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
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Christ, not this sh!t again...0
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Thank you for summarising my point so succinctly. Strange that the Mappei Sports Center guys are such fans, I can't work put why."And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
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mclarent wrote:Thank you for summarising my point so succinctly. Strange that the Mappei Sports Center guys are such fans, I can't work put why.
Yeah, the real question is why this kind of stuff still exists. My theory is that top "coaches" need to get their riders to do something that isn't "in the books", as it were, to justify their doubtlessly extravagant fees. Then, assuming Basso goes on to have a good season, said top coach can say "aha, this is because of my secret training methods than science has yet to discover" and other top riders throw money at him.
I also suspect that top riders like to think they have an "edge" over everyone else - it must help when they've got to do some particularly nails training in the rain.0 -
I thought this was what the old timers did anyway.
Before the days of strength training in the gym this was how everyone strength trained - push big gears @ low cadence on climbs. Then came the gym and everyone jumped on that band wagon. I know of 2 elite climbers who are at the same level - one has never been to a gym in his life and uses the former method and the other does gym (& even squats) every winter.
Modern coaches (science led) dismiss both!0 -
Yes this has been around for a long time they have just given it a fancy name. It is great for building up strength but you have to be careful with your knees. Stop the session if you feel knee pain.0
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Not entering the strength* debate (been done to death) but as far as big gear hill climb work, the issue isn't whether or not it is of benefit, but rather whether or not it is of more benefit than simply riding up hill at same speed (i.e. power) in normal gears.InPursuit wrote:I thought this was what the old timers did anyway.
Before the days of strength training in the gym this was how everyone strength trained - push big gears @ low cadence on climbs. Then came the gym and everyone jumped on that band wagon. I know of 2 elite climbers who are at the same level - one has never been to a gym in his life and uses the former method and the other does gym (& even squats) every winter.
Modern coaches (science led) dismiss both!
It's a case of getting correlation (improved fitness) confused with causation (big gears, when it's the going hard (power) that matters).
* besides, such efforts don't build strength anyway, the forces are way too low.0 -
Conversely you could be building a bit of "muscular memory" by training at lower cadences? In sports that have more complex movements than cycling you always practice the movement slowly first to work out how to do it properly and think about it.0
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I think you know the answer to that question, cycling is a "low skill" activity etc etc"And the Lord said unto Cain, 'where is Abel thy brother?' And he said, 'I know not: I dropped him on the climb up to the motorway bridge'."
- eccolafilosofiadelpedale0
