Many cyclists believe that “riding more” is an ideal way to build more fitness. A large portion of their training is made up of “objective-less” rides in which they don't have any fitness goal other than to ride their bike. In reality, more focused training will help you see greater fitness gains in a shorter time, but that doesn't mean you have to go all out and follow a strict training plan.
In this short video podcast, I'll give you 3 tips to gain fitness on any ride you go out for. Whether you want to crush your group ride, start a race or hit that 18MPH average on your local neighborhood loop, these tips will springboard your fitness to the next level, create a functional fitness base you can build on and set you up for future success.
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3 Tips to Gain Fitness Every Time You Ride
Muscular Endurance is your body's ability to resist fatigue while under tension. Sufficient muscular endurance is an essential key to building a functional base of fitness. If your body can't resist fatigue, you can't build high-intensity fitness later in the season. Aim for 20-40 minutes of high pedal tension work at lower cadences during your rides. A good example would be 2×20 minutes at 70 RPM. Don't forget you can combine muscular endurance work with sweet spot training to get even more bang for your buck.
Sweet Spot Training refers to a very narrowly defined part of your power that gives you huge physiological benefits without completely burning you out. Compared to high-intensity interval training, sweet spot training is less intense, which allows you to repeat the work more frequently without over-taxing your body. For sweet spot training intervals, you're looking to accumulate 20-40 minutes of work at around 91% FTP (anywhere between 89% and 94% of FTP, really) at any cadence you like. Combine it with muscular endurance to get a double helping of fitness.
Neuromuscular technique training is almost as important as muscular endurance training, but improves different physiological parameters. These neuromuscular training block involve high cadence training: forget the 100 RPM stuff, we're talking 130 RPM and more! Consisting of superspin drills and spinup drills, you're aiming to get several blocks of really high cadence work in during your rides. You don't have to be pushing big gears, you just need to be pushing crazy leg speeds. These drills will help you to recruit more muscle fibers and coordinate those muscle fiber contractions so your body becomes more efficient. Again, you can combine neuromuscular training with sweet spot training for added benefit, but it'll make it even harder (and neuromuscular drills are probably the hardest intervals I program for atletes.)
How often should you use these 3 tips to gain fitness?
You can use these 3 tips during ANY ride. It could be a coffee shop ride where you do nothing but spin super high cadences. It could be a hill climb ride where you keep your cadence low and grind out some muscular endurance intervals in the hills. It could even be a group ride where you stay hiding in the group and spend most of your ride around 91% of FTP.
The point is: there's no such thing as a wasted ride. With these 3 tips to gain fitness in your back pocket, you can build a solid base of fitness every time you go out and ride.
3 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Any Ride from Rob Manning on Vimeo.
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