Cycling Fartlek Intervals Training Method, Max Watts vs Capacity | EVOQ.BIKE
This is Episode 10 of Cat 4 Questions, but for those of you that prefer to read as opposed to viewing, here you are!
Wow guys, we made it to Episode 10. That's amazing.
Fartlek Training
Can you provide more context around letting the road dictate your effort?
I said something like that in a video when talking about doing a fartlek workout.
Fartlek training is when you're planning on going out for a long ride, but also want to put some efforts in on your favorite roads.
What is fartlek training? Pick some one, two and three minute efforts that you want to do, or maybe pick some short range Strava KOMs, but the thing you need to be careful about is if you go out and do a max blaster, like three minutes all out, you might really zap the legs so that you're not going to have enough for the other efforts later on.
What is fartlek training best for? These fartlek workout days are good days to train or test your capacity, or repeatability (same thing). So you don't have to go full tilt at 100%, but try and do 95% of your max number for three minutes, then pick another one and do 95% of your max for two minutes.
Consider a bike race: you don't want to go full send so that you're totally wasted at the end of the race. This kind of correlates to the second question. So, fartlek training rides are when the road dictates your efforts, if it tilts up, go a little bit harder. If it's going down, keep pedaling, but you don't have to be jamming the gas the whole time. Time passes very quickly when you ride like that.
Fartlek Workout
What is a good fartlek workout? If you’re going to do fartlek training workouts, you want to make sure that they are in line with your training goals. Fartlek does not mean just going out and riding hard up a few hills and coasting the downhills (that’s called junk miles). Is your goal to train VO2max? Pick 3-5 segments of 4-7 minute in length to target. Want to train anaerobic capacity? Shoot for some 30-120 second efforts.
Fartlek vs. Interval Training
The main reason why structured intervals are so effective is that they allow us to target the exact energy systems we want. We are able to specify an exact duration and Wattage to elicit the adaptive response we are after. However, intervals also have some downsides.
They can cause you to hold back — Many times we’ve seen athletes who start out their workouts feeling really strong and are able to do more than the prescribed power. However, they hold themselves back because they are too focused on the numbers. If you’re doing a hard VO2max session and you feel like it’s too easy, it’s okay to up the power target a bit!
We can become slaves to the numbers — Some people get so used to focusing on power numbers during intervals, that they are more worried about what their power meter says than their actual effort. In a race, this doesn’t matter— you just need to go as hard as you can!
They can get a bit old — All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Sometimes you’ve just got to have some fun and chuck the intervals
What is fartlek intervals best for? When you want to have some fun, push the limits, and see what you are capable of. There’s not much more motivating than going for that PR or KOM on your favorite climb. Lots of times I’ve gone out to smash some KOMs on a fartlek workout and done power numbers that I never would have been able to do during an interval workout.
Fartlek workouts can be a great replacement for interval workouts from time-to-time.
Related Post: Complete Guide to Cycling Interval Training
Cycling Group Rides
(Wondering when a group ride is appropriate?)
How can I learn how aggressive to be in cycling group rides?
I feel like I want to push things early, but then it wipes me out to be strong at the end. I feel like I should just sit in and wait for the end if I'm going to get faster. Right?
Now in a group ride, when you're trying to learn how aggressive to be, ask yourself what the goal is.
There should be a goal to every single bike ride that you do! Even if it’s an endurance goal.
To sit on the front and pull people around, only to have them out-sprint you at the end, isn't really super beneficial unless you're trying to work on your TT skills (like you're just sitting on the front setting a hard pace and it's motivating to you to have people behind you).
Use the group ride to work on tactics. Maybe in the beginning, you try and start a break and see if you can get some other guys to bridge up to you.
If that doesn't work, it's going to end up in a sprint. You should be trying to get away from the group. But if you're just sitting in the whole time for two hours to wait for the sprint, that time is probably better spent somewhere else.
Remember that sprinting is half having big watts and half is understanding how to surf the crowd and getting into proper position. But most group rides shouldn't just be one sprint at the end, that would be pretty useless.
Make sure that the group ride fits within your training.
You'll learn how aggressive to be, and do you have what it takes to get a break?
What do you have to do to win the sprint? Do you have a big 3 minute VO2Max effort, coupled with insane aero positioning, that you can make a late attack?
Use the group to learn about yourself!
Group rides only offers so much value from a training perspective. Sometimes you're better off just doing your intervals and saving the group right as a social ride. But if it is a high intensity ride, make sure you're counting that as a high intensity ride for that week.
Max Watts Vs. Repeatability
After listening to your latest podcast, you talked about progression; you refer to doing cycling VO2Max workouts; when doing these am I better off going all out on each one, only see my numbers erode? Or should I be going hard, but able to do more consistent repeats.
Last week, I was doing eight by threes. I was trying to be consistent as possible. I could have went harder in the beginning, but my later ones would have eroded substantially. Great podcasts. Appreciate your insights.
Thanks for listening!
These two different types of workouts: one is working your max wattage, which is important. Every once in a while, test your max watts and see how hard you can go.
Let's use his example, three minutes. The other really important one is your capacity, or repeatability. How many times can you do 95% of your max effort?
When you're doing one effort, max watts, do these super well rested.you're super well rested. This number is good to know, but remember, it’s only one rep!
The repeats are more like a bike race. You're never really in a bike race at 100% freshness giving a 100% max effort. So the capacity is super important, because this is helping you understand your match book; how many times can you light it up before you fizzle?
These sessions are where you want to be able to hold 95% of whatever wattage you’re aiming for, for three times, four times, five times, whatever it might be.
So every vo2max cycling interval session is not a max watts thing. Sometimes it's a capacity thing.
Cycling Time Trial Pacing
I wrote this entire blog on Time Trials, but this is a good questions that isn’t covered!
I had a coach one time, and I wasn't super familiar with power. She would tell me to have nothing on my screen except for heart rate, cadence and normalized power.
“I don't care what your speed is,” she would tell me. Your target is x watts normalized power. Hold that for as long as you can.
I seem to set some race records doing that. Now I'm back in the sport. I understand a lot a lot more. And I have my first in real life rays coming up in a month. How do I set that target?
So I would disagree with this strategy. If you are only following a power number on a rolling course, a time trial is just the opposite. It's all speed.
You want to use watts to help you guide yourself so that you don't blow up in a time trial, but speed is the most important thing.
So when you ask yourself in preparation for the time trial, “where can I shave off seconds?”, it is not always going to correspond to you putting out the most watts. You might have to dig and put an effort out to get over a rolling hill to keep your speed up, and then if there's like a downhill section, you might be faster to aero tuck and coast rather than spinning out a 53-11.
You might be expending more energy by pedaling but not actually going faster!
So I wouldn't just look at normalized power. Also, you could be going way too hard and then coasting way too much and blowing yourself up by solely focusing on normalized power.
Think of consistent high speed; it's really important in time trial. I'm not familiar with best bike split but a lot of other athletes are and they've used it. So check that out. It might be very helpful.
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