How to develop power on a bike from the triathlete's perspective
http://www.cycling-inform.com/articles/319/1/How-to-develop-power-on-a-bike-from-the-triathletes-perspective/Page1.html
David Heatley
David Heatley is the director
of Cycling-Inform and co-creator of the RaceRight Cycling Camp. He has
medalled at national and regional events in By David Heatley
Published on 05-Dec-08
I'm a strong advocate of building strength before speed for many
reasons and apply it to my coaching programs all the time. While most
cyclists will have built enough
endurance base after three years of riding and can then start focusing
on their speed. This article,
written by Brian Grasky, discusses developing power on the bike from
the triathlete's perspective. It caught my eye as much of what he
writes about here are similar to the methods that we use in our coaching programs for building power on the bike.
I'm a strong advocate of building strength before speed for many
reasons and apply it to my coaching programs all the time. While most
cyclists will have built enough
endurance base after three years of riding and can then start focusing
on their speed. This article,
written by Brian Grasky, discusses developing power on the bike from
the triathlete's perspective. It caught my eye as much of what he
writes about here are similar to the methods that we use in our coaching programs for building power on the bike.
Written by Brian Grasky
Statistically speaking, most of us come to triathlon from either a running background or a swimming background. Few of us come to the sport with a base in cycling. Therefore, for a lot of triathletes, building Power on the bike is not an easy thing to do. But since cycling is almost (or sometimes even more than) half of a triathlon, it is the best sport to transform from a weakness to a strength. Since training on the bike can take a bit more time than the other sports, is there a way to build bike power in a time-limited environment?
This is one among many differing approaches to building power on the bike. This protocol has proven to work well for building power for many regimes of cycling, from triathlon to mountain bike racing to just making the quadriceps bigger! Since training for power on the bike requires a deep Aerobic base it is important to give the bike the respect it deserves in the base phase. Close to 50% of your weekly training volume (in time) should be on the bike if you are looking to improve significantly. Once a strong base is established, the build phase is where the power training comes in.
Early in the build phase, training should focus on climbing long hills to build overall cycling power. Pick a hill or mountain with a 4-6% grade and accomplish one or several climbs for a total of 40-60 minutes of climbing, twice each week, in heart rate zone 2. On these climbs alternate between cadences of as low as 60RPM and as high as 80RPM. Make sure you don’t stagnate but rather consciously change Cadence every 5-8 minutes. If you are in a location where hills are difficult to find, either do this into a stiff wind, or on a flat road sitting back on the saddle and maintaining the cadences above.
After 4 weeks or once you feel you’ve plateaued on this workout, move to shorter, more powerful climbs to build sustained power or Muscular Endurance. One day each week find a hill close to 6-8% and climb steadily seated in 4-6 minute intervals getting your heart rate into zone 3 or an effort of 6-7 on a 10 scale. This can be done on rolling hills as well. Rest on the descent for about the same amount of time as the work Interval, then repeat for a total of 20-30 minutes of work, increasing the total work each week. On the second ride, stay seated in zone 3 until the last minute of the hill, at which point you stand up and accelerate to zone 4 or effort 8-9, staying out of the saddle for the remainder of the climb. If on rolling hills, accelerate over the Peak until you are on the descent.
The third phase builds sprint speed, or the power required to leave the competition behind in a finish line sprint or drop your rival on the short climb in the triathlon, and starts after 4 weeks of muscular Endurance. Once a week find a road with rolling hills and ride a moderate pace, attacking the hills in a burst of power, while standing, at max effort. These attacks should take 60-90 seconds each, and the rest interval is 3-4 minutes of easy riding between efforts. One other ride during the week, find a very steep hill that takes 2-3 minutes to climb. Climb it, staying in the saddle, 6-8 times with 5-6 minutes of easy high-cadence riding between intervals. Cadence on this should be closer to 50RPM, unless you have knee pain or stress issues. If knee pain comes up, increase the cadence or stop this workout.
Keep your power sharp by performing 30-90 second max effort sprints in many of your training rides the rest of the season. Once you’ve completed this training regimen, you will have the power to pound the competition into the ground on your local training routes or in your races!
Source: http://mach3multisport.com/bike-training/building-power-on-the-bike-2
Written by Brian Grasky
Statistically speaking, most of us come to triathlon from either a running background or a swimming background. Few of us come to the sport with a base in cycling. Therefore, for a lot of triathletes, building Power on the bike is not an easy thing to do. But since cycling is almost (or sometimes even more than) half of a triathlon, it is the best sport to transform from a weakness to a strength. Since training on the bike can take a bit more time than the other sports, is there a way to build bike power in a time-limited environment?
This is one among many differing approaches to building power on the bike. This protocol has proven to work well for building power for many regimes of cycling, from triathlon to mountain bike racing to just making the quadriceps bigger! Since training for power on the bike requires a deep Aerobic base it is important to give the bike the respect it deserves in the base phase. Close to 50% of your weekly training volume (in time) should be on the bike if you are looking to improve significantly. Once a strong base is established, the build phase is where the power training comes in.
Early in the build phase, training should focus on climbing long hills to build overall cycling power. Pick a hill or mountain with a 4-6% grade and accomplish one or several climbs for a total of 40-60 minutes of climbing, twice each week, in heart rate zone 2. On these climbs alternate between cadences of as low as 60RPM and as high as 80RPM. Make sure you don’t stagnate but rather consciously change Cadence every 5-8 minutes. If you are in a location where hills are difficult to find, either do this into a stiff wind, or on a flat road sitting back on the saddle and maintaining the cadences above.
After 4 weeks or once you feel you’ve plateaued on this workout, move to shorter, more powerful climbs to build sustained power or Muscular Endurance. One day each week find a hill close to 6-8% and climb steadily seated in 4-6 minute intervals getting your heart rate into zone 3 or an effort of 6-7 on a 10 scale. This can be done on rolling hills as well. Rest on the descent for about the same amount of time as the work Interval, then repeat for a total of 20-30 minutes of work, increasing the total work each week. On the second ride, stay seated in zone 3 until the last minute of the hill, at which point you stand up and accelerate to zone 4 or effort 8-9, staying out of the saddle for the remainder of the climb. If on rolling hills, accelerate over the Peak until you are on the descent.
The third phase builds sprint speed, or the power required to leave the competition behind in a finish line sprint or drop your rival on the short climb in the triathlon, and starts after 4 weeks of muscular Endurance. Once a week find a road with rolling hills and ride a moderate pace, attacking the hills in a burst of power, while standing, at max effort. These attacks should take 60-90 seconds each, and the rest interval is 3-4 minutes of easy riding between efforts. One other ride during the week, find a very steep hill that takes 2-3 minutes to climb. Climb it, staying in the saddle, 6-8 times with 5-6 minutes of easy high-cadence riding between intervals. Cadence on this should be closer to 50RPM, unless you have knee pain or stress issues. If knee pain comes up, increase the cadence or stop this workout.
Keep your power sharp by performing 30-90 second max effort sprints in many of your training rides the rest of the season. Once you’ve completed this training regimen, you will have the power to pound the competition into the ground on your local training routes or in your races!
Source: http://mach3multisport.com/bike-training/building-power-on-the-bike-2