Endurance training

davemac73

I've been trying to increase my endurance over the past month or so with the aim of building a good base for the coming year. I can now ride for 70 or so miles before really struggling. I'd like to increase this a bit further before getting down to threshold workouts, vo2 max etc.
Currently life is playing silly beggars with me and my time for training is a bit tight.
My question is:
Would training at endurance level (using a power meter) for 90 minutes or so on the turbo be beneficial to my endurance or would I be better off doing 2x20's or similar? I can still get a longer ride some weekends but its not something I can rely on.
Information on how useful these sessions would be is varied on the net, so what is the consensus here?

phil s

Up the intensity for a 90min session - look up sweetspot.

danlikesbikes

Hell yeah in this weather doing 90 mins at a that sort of level will do you real good through the winter and have you kicking censored when the weather comes. If you get bored you could always mix it up but don't forget the winter is just meant for base miles unless you an mountain biker or cross type.

Good luck with your turbo sessions though as thats about what I;m doing and our local club is just about to start a group turbo session. As one of the guys runs his own business and has a small industrial unit that we can use with a big TV and some good tunes on.

SBezza

phil s wrote:

Up the intensity for a 90min session - look up sweetspot.

90 min sweetspot on the turbo will be a very hard session, if done in the correct sweetspot zone, perhaps a little tough for the OP.

I would do the 90 mins at the very top end of endurance, or lower end of tempo, a mixture of both would be good, how much it will help for distances greater than 70 miles only time will tell. Mixing this sort of training up with threshold work will see good fitness gains.

When you have time, I would still get out for a decent endurance ride, longer rides take time to become more comfortable, though they should never feel to comfortable, otherwise you have gone to easy

Bronzie

Danlikesbikes wrote:

don't forget the winter is just meant for base miles unless you an mountain biker or cross type.

Groan :roll:

Just had a four page thread discussing this old myth
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12735026

phil s

sorry, missed the "on the turbo" bit... yeah if you're doing sweetspot then 90mins will be a toughie indoors

Alex_Simmons/RST

phil s wrote:

sorry, missed the "on the turbo" bit... yeah if you're doing sweetspot then 90mins will be a toughie indoors

Improving requires hard work.

We run 90-min SST sessions all the time at our training studio.

phil s

Not saying it can't be done, but it's a lake-of-sweat-inducing intensity without a super-big fan. If anything it's the heat that's fatiguing over time, not the output.

Alex_Simmons/RST

phil s wrote:

Not saying it can't be done, but it's a lake-of-sweat-inducing intensity without a super-big fan. If anything it's the heat that's fatiguing over time, not the output.

Which is why we use industrial strength fans, and is what I used with my home trainer set up.

I always tell people looking at buying a turbo to budget for a powerful fan. One without the other is sub-optimal.

SBezza

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

We run 90-min SST sessions all the time at our training studio.

Think I will stick to 90 min SST outdoors Just sitting for 90 mins on the turbo is hard enough, without that intensity.

davemac73

So as I'm understanding it, I can get the same benefit to my endurance capacity by doing 90 minutes SST but I'd be getting other benefits too?

Is level 2 purely of use on rides of 4or 5 hours where SST would be too much to maintain?

This would suggest that I'd be wasting my time sitting on the turbo for 90 minutes at level 2.

SBezza

You will get some benefit to doing it, but for that time duration, make the session a little harder, utilise the time you have available to do particular sessions. 90 mins at an endurance pace is OK, but not the same as 3/4/5 hours at that pace, so do it harder.

Alex_Simmons/RST

davemac73 wrote:

So as I'm understanding it, I can get the same benefit to my endurance capacity by doing 90 minutes SST but I'd be getting other benefits too?

Is level 2 purely of use on rides of 4or 5 hours where SST would be too much to maintain?

This would suggest that I'd be wasting my time sitting on the turbo for 90 minutes at level 2.

You will get benefits to your aerobic abilities from riding at all Levels 2 through 6.

The mix of intensity/duration that's right for you depends your current fitness level, recent and long term training history, amount of training time available, amongst other things. We can only provide general information.

Just be consistent, ride with quality in mind (Level 2 +), gradually increase what you do in terms of volume and intensity and the results will flow.

Anonymous

Just bought one of these bad boys!

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.209-1797.aspx

phil s

Any good?

naomi2011

I m doing and our local club is just about to start a group turbo session. As one of the guys runs his own business and has a small industrial unit that we can use with a big TV and some good tunes on

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naomi2011

I m doing and our local club is just about to start a group turbo session. As one of the guys runs his own business and has a small industrial unit that we can use with a big TV and some good tunes on

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