The Hell of the North workout (now completed)

GiantMike
GiantMike Posts: 3,139
edited November 2012 in Training, fitness and health
Chaps, lasses

I've come up with a great idea to use YouTube cycling videos as a foundation for a power-based workout.

Full details HERE

This is the first, I'll do some more when I get the time.

Let me know what you think, particularly if you do it.

Comments

  • bigpikle
    bigpikle Posts: 1,690
    good bit of fun - what other sessions can you come up with?

    would be good to find something to go with a classic 2x20, and perhaps something that gives a few triggers for some under/overs...

    You do also seem to have a lot of L5 work going on in your training given its only November! L3/SST/L4 I get, but I'll be interested to see how you get on with your plan given the fairly high volumes you're also doing.
    Your Past is Not Your Potential...
  • GiantMike
    GiantMike Posts: 3,139
    Yeah, I don't really do that periodisation stuff*. I'm on a mission to get my FTP up (well, my 20 min power anyway) so now is as good a time as any while the nights are long and I can do some focussed turbo work free from the distractions of racing. Last year I raced cross up till mid-Jan and started racing in Mid-Mar so I didn't get a break and I don't think I missed it.

    *we are animals after all. I'm sure the cheetahs don't have a recuperation period at the end of the year and then start a base period of running after their prey slowly for a month or 2 before starting their build phase.They train and race all year, every year. :wink:
  • GiantMike
    GiantMike Posts: 3,139
    Well, I did it. Write-up here.

    It was good, in a very hard and sweaty way.
  • whojanicanackerov
    whojanicanackerov Posts: 383
    Looks like A cheap and effective way of suffering in style!!
  • bigpikle
    bigpikle Posts: 1,690
    looks interesting - well done for giving it a go!

    my issue with this sort of training though is not about the total time in different power levels at the end of the session, but rather how long any of the efforts were in one go? I'm a firm believer that aerobic intervals at L3/4 need to be maintained for >12 mins in a single effort in order to stress the system enough to be of any benefit, and while your power trace looks mostly L3/4 (not sure what level of smoothing is applied to those numbers though?) I'd want to know I was going to achieve this. I guess structuring the interval so that you recover at L3, and dont drop below that, means you'd get enough of a workout.

    I've done similar with just music on a tempo or 2x20 session. Big playlist on the iPod in random mode and when songs from a certain artist appear its time to go hard - and pray they dont come up with 2 songs consecutively!!!
    Your Past is Not Your Potential...
  • GiantMike
    GiantMike Posts: 3,139
    I can see where you're coming from. Obviously there are a lot of ways to skin the cat. As you say, you could aim to remain entirely within Zones 3-4, or any other self-prescribed set of rules based on the video (or any other video).

    Looking at my trace from yesterday, my HR showed a nearly-continual rise was >160 solidly for the last 30 minutes (LTHR 174). At times I was hating the sight of Boonen and was pleased when Lars Boom got a puncture so that the camera switched from Boonen for a couple of minutes. The 'rest intervals' between the FTP and 88% FTP intervals are very short and you can see from my HR trace that you don't really get to recover like you would on a 2x20 at sweetspot, for example.

    I wanted to complete the full 75 minute session, but I was spent after the hour. And my legs hurt this morning, so I'm assuming it did me some good.

    As I say, it's a useful distraction from regimented interval sessions and it's free and enjoyable. As you say, it needs to be part of a wider plan or amended to meets a rider's aims. Give it a go, you might just hate it :wink:

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