Interval Training

thegodplato

My wife bought me a cycling book for my birthday and in it are some tips on how to improve your fitness, etc. It mentions Interval training starting with the Classic ( as they call it ). I have just tried it for the first time this morning. Basically warm up for 20mins then on a flat junction free stretch of road do 6 mins at your supposed Lactate Threshold, 3 mins of recovery at your warm up pace, and then repeat the set 3 more times. After doing the whole workout twice ( not on the same day ) I'm supposed to increase the `fast` pace by a min and continue to do this every other workout until I reach 10 mins. After a few weeks I then increase to a High Intensity Interval, etc.
I was wondering what constitutes the lactate threshold pace - is it pushing a higher gear to make you go faster or can the same `improvements` be achieved by spinning faster but not at quite as fast a pace in terms of MPH? I know the lactate is the burning sensation you get in your legs so does it matter which way you go, as long as you can feel a slight burning sensation during the `fast` period?
Supposedly scientific testing can be done to measure blood lactate levels so the threshold can be found ( which happens at a certain percentage of your max heart rate ) but as I don't have a heart rate monitor do I just keep pedalling and see what happens?

Remarkable

When doing LT intervals you should be breathing hard but not gasping. A good gauge of this might be being able to say a few words but not being able to talk at ease to a training partner. It should be an uncomfortable pace. Most cyclists generally would use the big ring for this type of training, but try and keep your cadence more or less the same as you what you normally pedal at. Be careful pushing big gears, as it can be hard on the knees. Consider getting a heart rate monitor though, they are brilliant.

thegodplato

Sounds like I was pedalling right then. Fast pedalling and hard-ish to breath, sort of like going up a reasonably long steady hill.

mattshrops

Lactate threshold (also known as various other names) refers to your maximum sustainable effort for one hour. Whether you choose to grind or spin is down to you.

Alex_Simmons/RST

mattshrops wrote:

Lactate threshold (also known as various other names) refers to your maximum sustainable effort for one hour. Whether you choose to grind or spin is down to you.

Lactate threshold by most definitions of testing for the response in blood lactate concentration to varying effort levels, is a level one could sustain for much longer than an hour. It is not to be confused with Functional Threshold Power.

People often confuse what the various forms of threshold are called (and the relative intensities they represent - which are different), with the underlying physiological adaptations that see an improvement or otherwise through training (which are the same).

IOW, LT typically occurs at a power ~ 10-15% less than FTP, but the physiological adaptations required to improve either are the same.

Alex_Simmons/RST

thegodplato wrote:

My wife bought me a cycling book for my birthday and in it are some tips on how to improve your fitness, etc. It mentions Interval training starting with the Classic ( as they call it ). I have just tried it for the first time this morning. Basically warm up for 20mins then on a flat junction free stretch of road do 6 mins at your supposed Lactate Threshold, 3 mins of recovery at your warm up pace, and then repeat the set 3 more times. After doing the whole workout twice ( not on the same day ) I'm supposed to increase the `fast` pace by a min and continue to do this every other workout until I reach 10 mins. After a few weeks I then increase to a High Intensity Interval, etc.
I was wondering what constitutes the lactate threshold pace - is it pushing a higher gear to make you go faster or can the same `improvements` be achieved by spinning faster but not at quite as fast a pace in terms of MPH? I know the lactate is the burning sensation you get in your legs so does it matter which way you go, as long as you can feel a slight burning sensation during the `fast` period?
Supposedly scientific testing can be done to measure blood lactate levels so the threshold can be found ( which happens at a certain percentage of your max heart rate ) but as I don't have a heart rate monitor do I just keep pedalling and see what happens?

Read this:
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/ ... oggan.aspx

mattshrops

The chart contained in that link lists: zone 4- Lactate threshold, 91-105% power(presumably %age ftp- but it does not clarify),HR 95-105%(of lthr?). So although Lt and ftp may not be identical this would seem to suggest they are pretty close together? Or am i missing something?(wouldn't be the first time)

Alex_Simmons/RST

mattshrops wrote:

Or am i missing something?(wouldn't be the first time)

Yes.

The levels are descriptive, not prescriptive.

IOW they are describing the underlying physiological adaptations primarily impacted by training at such levels. So while LT occurs at a power level somewhat less than FTP, riding in around L4 provides the greatest stimulus per unit of training time on lifting one's power at LT (as well as FTP), since the primary adaptations required for each are fundamentally the same, even though they (LT & FTP) are different things.

Indeed if you are riding at LT, you are more likely to be riding at L3.