The winter is a great time to make improvements to our performance, and for this session we’re doing 3 x 20mins at a moderate pace and with a range of cadences.
Working at 80-90% of your functional capacity is a great way to maximise your training time and work on your strength. I’d do a six-week block leading into the season. And if you’re riding with a power meter it’s a great way to monitor your power-to-heart rate ratio to gauge your fitness. I like to use these type of workouts a lot in my athletes’ workouts and believe they’re the back bone of any structured training programme.
With all training we’re not just looking at one awesome session that will bring those A-race performances, rather it’s about adding consistency and structure into your schedule. Perform this session outside ideally, but the turbo is fine.
And hold a position that provides the best power transfer.
WARM-UP
10mins easy
Cadence to suit
MAIN SET
3 x 20mins moderate as:
0-5mins @80-90rpm
5-10mins @70-80rpm
10-15mins @60-70rpm
15-20mins @90-100rpm
5mins easy recovery between each
COOL-DOWN
10mins high cadence
Adapt for beginners
Break the 20mins into 10min sections to start with and keep the 5mins recovery. Then over the coming weeks, add 2-3mins onto each block until you’re able to sustain the full 20mins.
Adapt for Ironman
Each week, reduce the recovery time by 1min on each 5min recovery until you bring the full 20mins up to 1hr.
