Workout Menu for Power Meter Users

Anonymous
Anonymous Posts: 79,667
Found this great resource via another forum.

Many thanks to Waterrockets and BDCheung from the bikeforums site!!

If you get bored/stuck in a rut with training maybe try some of these!

I stress again, this is not my work whatsoever but a copy and paste from the two above mentioned people...

As I get suggestions I'll add more to this initial post.

https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AR0O ... bmQ2&hl=en


Tempo Workouts:
Basic
90-240 mins at 75-78% FTP


SST Workouts:
Basic
90-180 mins at 85-88% FTP


Descending Pyramid
Warm up easy.
Do a descending pyramid of intervals, starting with 20:00 and working your way down, by cutting the time in half: This is 20:00; 10:00, 5:00, 2:30; 1:15; :45 Incorporate 3-5:00 of recovery in between each. Decide the effort you will repeat, having it be as near your 20:00 peak power value as possible, with a goal to bump it up a bit each time. Thereafter, cool down. If you have time constraints, stop after the 5:00 effort.


1x5 2x10 Workout
After warm up, do 1 x 5:00 effort in Zone 3-4, progressively increasing effort for the duration. Then ride easy at least 5:00 and do 2 x 10:00 in Zone 3, progressively increasing effort for the duration. Take 5-10min easy in between. Use various ways to work the effort. In this case, Jeff focused on keeping his cadence above 85 rpm, as this is his weakness. You can change it up, preferably focusing on your weakness.


Progressive Sweet Spot Challenge
The goal is to begin at 101-105% of threshold power and hold as long as possible, dropping back a few watts as fatigue sets in. She continues to hold the efforts as long as possible over the course of 45-60 minutes. At the end of the duration, she finishes with 3 x 4min Zone 1 & 4min Zone 4, then cooling down.


3-Minute Repeatable Power Efforts
Warm Up Easy Zone 1.
3 x (3x3:00X1:00) efforts with 1 min rest in between, and 2:00 complete rest between each full set.
Ride your first 3x3:00 efforts at a high cadence of 85+ in Zone 3 in a gear that doesn’t cause fatigue. Do not change gears during the effort. Perform your second 3x3:00 efforts in a bigger gear, still trying to work at 85+ rpm. The intensity will feel harder. Do the third 3x3 efforts in a bigger gear yet, still trying to keep cadence at 85+ rpm. This will feel very hard. It is likely that the cadence will drop as you near the end of the 3min, but battle to keep it up. Ride remaining time easy.

Threshold Workouts:
STUCI / Friel Pacing Intervals
After warm-up do a 10-minute work interval at just below functional threshold power (FTP). This is roughly the equivalent of your lactate or anaerobic threshold power. If you have done my CP30 self-test or know your actual CP60 from a race then that is what you would use for a power level on this first interval. So if your FTP (or self-test CP30 or CP60 or AT/LT power) is 250 watts try to make this first one 245-249w. You may find it very difficult to do this if you are not good at pacing. Watch your power meter very closely.
Recover for 2 minutes by spinning easily. Check your average power for the first interval.
Do an 8-minute work interval at a slightly higher power than the first. So let's say you averaged 248w on #1. For#2 try to average 250w.
Recover for 2 minutes and again check your average power for interval #2.
If the average power on #2 was higher than for #1 then repeat the 8-minute interval. If the power for #2 was lower than for #1 subtract 2 minutes and make this a 6-minute interval. Again, try to beat the power of the previous interval, but only slightly.
Recover 2 minutes and check power for the third interval the same as before.
If the power for #3 was higher than for #2 repeat the same duration as #3. If it was less subtract 2 minutes.
Recover. Check previous interval power.
Continue with this same process until your interval becomes 4 minutes. This is the last one regardless of what happens.
That's a good session so your ME should be nicely challenged. But you also know you need to focus on pacing. The fact that you are fading as the workout progresses gives you a good idea of what also happens in a race. Learn to hold back at the start and you will maintain a much higher average power and produce a faster race.

If you are good at pacing (and have your FTP correct) then the work intervals may have totaled 36 or more minutes. That's excellent.


Hour of Power
10min. warm-up;
60min. @ 80-95% FTP
every 90 sec or so, shift down, stand up, SURGE for ~30”.
10min. cool-down


Terrible 20's
10min. warm-up;
One rep =
20min. @90% of FTP with last 2min. thereof being @110% of FTP
Do 2-3 reps with 5-10min. @ L2 between the reps;
10min. cool-down.


ZeCanon Intervals
Good warmup (that's a given)
5 or 6 x 5' @ 103-108% FTP
60" rest between intervals
Cool down

The goal, as I've said before, is optimal (maximal) fiber recruitment. The first two feel easy - your anaerobic system is providing a good portion of the power. 3-end, you have exhausted anaerobic power and are relying entirely on the aerobic system.

Basically the first two are simply prepping your system, and are not providing any threshold gains in and of themselves. Gains in studies have been on the order of 2-3x standard 20min intervals. My favorite intervals by far.


Drive for the Line
10min. warm-up;
20min. @85% of FTP;
5min. @70% of FTP;
5min. @100% of FTP with last 30sec. thereof @140%+ of FTP;
5min. @70% of FTP;
5min. @100% of FTP with last 30sec. thereof @140%+ of FTP;
10min. cool-down.


20/5 Threshold Session
This session is based off of Threshold Power.
Warm up Zone 1 Easy.
20:00 @ 80% (as fitness increases, increase to 85%, 90%, 95%)
4 x 5:00 easy and 5:00 @ 85%, repeating without hesitation. (as fitness increases, increase to 90%, 95%, 100%) Ride remaining time easy and cool down.


15-5-15-1 Threshold Booster
Warm Up in Zone 1 (easy).
Based on a 10 min Power Test or your 10 Peak Power Value, do 4 intervals at a percentage of your test/value results. Take 5min rest in between.
Interval #1: 15:00 @ 80%
Interval #2: 5:00 @ 90%
Interval #3: 15:00 @ 80%
Interval #4: 3-6 x 1:00 @ 101%+ with 1:00 rest in between. Attempt to build each effort, by increasing watts just a tad more than the last.
Cool Down in Zone 1 (easy)


Criss Cross Threshold
Warm up at least 10 minutes and then ramp yourself up gradually to 75% of your threshold power over the course of 10 minutes. Now do a 7 minute Criss Cross Threshold interval as: 2:00 above threshold; 1:00 at 80-85% threshold; 2:00 above threshold; 1:00 80-85% threshold and 1:00 above threshold. Then ride easy 5min and repeat for a total of 3-5x, based on time available.


4.5 and Drive
10min. warm-up;
Ride at 70% of FTP (189)
Every 4.5min. go @140% of FTP (378) for 90sec. (so total of 6min.) and that is one rep and you continue that for 10 reps (total of 60min) never letting things go below the 70% of FTP base level;
10min. cool-down.


Drive for 5
10min. warm-up;
One rep =
5min. @110% of FTP then 2min. @60% of FTP
Do 3 reps per set and 2 sets with 10min. @ L2 between the sets.
10min. cool-down.

VO2max Workouts:
5x5x5 Hill Workouts
Good Warmup
5 sets of:
5 minutes hard
5 minutes rest
Shoot for negative splits on the intervals - i.e., each progressive interval should be done at a higher power than the last. Last interval should be all-out. Last interval should be 20w higher than first.


Plus-30
Good warmup
3' @ 113%, 2-4' rest
Add 30" each additional interval. Maintain 113% power. See how long you can last.
Cool down.


Anaerobic Capacity Workouts:
Waterrockets Intervals (WRIs)
Solid warmup
6 sets of:
1' interval:
Solid sprint to start off the interval, and hold max intensity until the end
5 minutes rest
Limp home


Pyramid Intervals
Good Warmup
"On" Intervals of 1-1-2-5-2-1-1 minutes
5 minutes rest in between
Cool down


Tabata Intervals
Set:
20" sprint
10" rest
Do 8 sets (4 minutes total) for a block.
Rest 4 minutes between block
Do as many blocks as possible.


Halvsies
Take a nice long warm up. Then do:
2 x 30s; 2 x 20s; 3 x 10s; 3 x 5s . Your effort is at your hardest effort. You can use your peak power values for the same duration, as your carrot to chase if you want Ride the rest of the workout easy.


30 Second Efforts
This session is based on work intervals with only 30 sec of rest in between. You begin by doing 30 sec efforts, but over time (weeks/months) you progress to 45 seconds and then 1:00. Warm up at least 10 minutes.

Do as many repetitions as possible of 30 sec of all out work (not so hard that you can’t finish the 30 sec) and 30 sec rest, without hesitation, shooting for 10 total. No worries if you cannot do 10 in a row at first. This is merely your goal to shoot for. The first few are going to feel much better than the rest, as the fatigue of repetition will set in. Afterwards, ride easy. You can then throw in a few more efforts if you really want, but it’s not necessary. Repeat every 10 days. When you can do 10 in a row, change the timing to 45 seconds. When you can do 10 of those in a row, then change it up to 1:00.


Strength Workouts:
Ascending Pyramid
Warm up on the bike in Zone 1. Then do an Ascending Pyramid of work for 2:00; 3:00; 4:00 and 5:00, with 2:00 recovery in between each. The work effort is done at the highest load/biggest gear that you can hold at 60 rpm. Noodle the legs in Zone 1 for a few minutes and then hop off the bike, making your way to the treadmill. Repeat the same ascending pyramid focus. The work effort on the treadmill is done at the highest grade you can sustain for the duration. Finish on the bike, repeating the ascending pyramid. You can also repeat the treadmill work if time permits; otherwise cool down.

Stomps & WindUps
Warm Up for 10 minutes and then do 4 x 5 minute efforts as follows: 10 seconds of stomping hard on the pedals and 20 second of easy pedaling, repeating without hesitation for the whole 5 minutes. You’ll need to add active recovery in between each 5minute effort, for 3- 5 minutes. With each set, shoot for a bit higher power output than the previous. Then for the rest of the ride, incorporate 10 wind-ups with at least 5 minutes in between each. To initiate, shift to a bigger gear and unleash an acceleration out of the saddle for 10 seconds. Again, try to shoot for a bit higher power output with each. Be sure to cool down a while before ending your session, as they’ll be a lot of toxins to flush out!


Bike-Specific Strength Circuit
Warm up on the bike easy Zone 1.
Then do an 8:00 force intervals interval as:
2:00 gradually building to highest load you can sustain at 70rpm
1:00 standing in that same gear (change cadence as needed)
2:00 back to the saddle in biggest load you can sustain 70 rpm
1:00 standing in that same gear
1:00 back in the saddle in that same gear
1:00 spin legs out easy, easy, easy. That is a total of 8:00.
Then, hop off bike & do as many walking lunges as possible for 1:00. If you do not have space to walk the lunge, just do them in place, but make sure you are always switching lead legs. Then hop back on the bike and spin the legs out easy for 3:00. Now REPEAT the 8:00 force interval and lunges for a total of 4-6x, or as time as time allows. Finish with an easy cool down on the bike.

Comments

  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Tempo Workouts:
    Basic
    90-240 mins at 75-78% FTP


    SST Workouts:
    Basic
    90-180 mins at 85-88% FTP


    240 mins or 180 mins on the turbo!? :shock:

    Some people are real gluttons for punishment!
  • chrisw12
    chrisw12 Posts: 1,246
    Some nice ideas in there. I enjoyed looking at them and guessing which ones would be easy and which would be hard. With an understanding of ftp and being in a playful mood I was hoping that I'd find one that was impossible, but no joy on my first look.
  • doyler78
    doyler78 Posts: 1,951
    chrisw12 wrote:
    Some nice ideas in there. I enjoyed looking at them and guessing which ones would be easy and which would be hard. With an understanding of ftp and being in a playful mood I was hoping that I'd find one that was impossible, but no joy on my first look.

    Try the pyramid one. I'd like to see your 5 mins @ AC :lol::lol:
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Pokerface wrote:
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Tempo Workouts:
    Basic
    90-240 mins at 75-78% FTP


    SST Workouts:
    Basic
    90-180 mins at 85-88% FTP


    240 mins or 180 mins on the turbo!? :shock:

    Some people are real gluttons for punishment!

    None of these are turbo specific!
  • scherrit
    scherrit Posts: 360
    I tend to prescribe the tabatas as follows:
    20s on = ftp x 2
    10s off = ftp /2

    If you have a decent sprint, that could be 3 or 4 times ftp- and you'll never last.
    Wobble home.....
    If you're as fat as me, all bikes are bendy.
  • incog24
    incog24 Posts: 549
    Is there any point specifying a power for tabatas?
    Racing for Fluid Fin Race Team in 2012 - www.fluidfin.co.uk
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    edited November 2010
    Tabatas should be done all out, definitely a workout for the turbo only... The only Turbo specific workout on there...
  • mclarent
    mclarent Posts: 784
    Pokerface wrote:
    240 mins or 180 mins on the turbo!? :shock:

    Some people are real gluttons for punishment!

    I remember a Harmon anecdote about soviet era cyclists spending hours on the turbo facing a blank wall, supposedly to increase mental strength (as well as fitness)...
    "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'."
    - eccolafilosofiadelpedale
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    mclarent wrote:
    Pokerface wrote:
    240 mins or 180 mins on the turbo!? :shock:

    Some people are real gluttons for punishment!

    I remember a Harmon anecdote about soviet era cyclists spending hours on the turbo facing a blank wall, supposedly to increase mental strength (as well as fitness)...

    It was the East Germans, when talking about Jan Ullrich when he was younger.

    Scary stuff.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I may add the chain gang workout I do courtesy of Adrian Timmis...
  • NJK
    NJK Posts: 194
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Tabatas should be done all out, definitely a workout for the turbo only... The only Turbo specific workout on there...

    If you do them all-out i'm not really sure what you hope to get out of them. A 20- sec sprint is exactly that, which would mean a higher recovery than 10 secs. I would suggest doing them at a harder than your 3-4min pace but manageable, this way you hit your volume.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    NJK wrote:
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Tabatas should be done all out, definitely a workout for the turbo only... The only Turbo specific workout on there...

    If you do them all-out i'm not really sure what you hope to get out of them. A 20- sec sprint is exactly that, which would mean a higher recovery than 10 secs. I would suggest doing them at a harder than your 3-4min pace but manageable, this way you hit your volume.

    The Tabata protocol states that you should do 20secs all out, 10secs rec. Anything else isn't Tabata protocol. Yes the power reduces after the first 3 or 4 but that's the protocol. I tried doing Tabata protocol last year (I started a thread about it entitled 'pushed for time'.) It had a big impact on my efforts up to 5 mins. Not much use for owt else for me, YMMV!

    The whole workout takes under 15 minutes, 'volume' has nowt to do with it.

    It may be more useful for track riders IMO.
  • NJK
    NJK Posts: 194
    NapoleonD wrote:
    NJK wrote:
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Tabatas should be done all out, definitely a workout for the turbo only... The only Turbo specific workout on there...

    If you do them all-out i'm not really sure what you hope to get out of them. A 20- sec sprint is exactly that, which would mean a higher recovery than 10 secs. I would suggest doing them at a harder than your 3-4min pace but manageable, this way you hit your volume.

    The Tabata protocol states that you should do 20secs all out, 10secs rec. Anything else isn't Tabata protocol. Yes the power reduces after the first 3 or 4 but that's the protocol. I tried doing Tabata protocol last year (I started a thread about it entitled 'pushed for time'.) It had a big impact on my efforts up to 5 mins. Not much use for owt else for me, YMMV!

    The whole workout takes under 15 minutes, 'volume' has nowt to do with it.

    It may be more useful for track riders IMO.


    My memory may be wrong but it isn't an all-out effort, it may over the years be translated into that due to the ease of saying that to gym users etc.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    The original was done at 170% VO2 max, dunno what my VO2 max is :? I would guess at around 1 minute power?
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Oooh, found the abstract from the original study...

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8897 ... t=Abstract
  • NJK
    NJK Posts: 194
    NapoleonD wrote:
    The original was done at 170% VO2 max, dunno what my VO2 max is :? I would guess at around 1 minute power?

    Ok. If i took 170% VO2 max as MAP, then a 320w MAP it would be 544w. My best MMP 20 sec effort this season was 633w. 544w would feel pretty hard and certainly would have an impact :)
  • Can I ask, what levels is he using? what is "zone 1" or "zone 2"?