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Effective Build Phase Training (Podcast #55)

Do you wish you could get more cycling prowess out of your build phase training?

So do a lot of riders.

Here's a short backstory: A while back I released a podcast discussing how you can get the most out of your base training by throwing out much of the old school rhetoric and focusing on new school science.  That podcast has become one of my most popular podcasts to date, sparking questions about everything from workout frequency to using High Intensity Training to rocket your fitness up during the base phase.  It didn't stop with the base phase either: people started asking how to turbocharge their build phase training too.

So by popular demand, this time, I'm going to tackle the build phase of your training plan.  Again, the name of the phase sort of gives away the goal behind it: to build fitness in an exponential way.  However, fitness is a tricky thing: there's general fitness (for you power meter users, that's the CTL on the performance management chart) and there's situation specific fitness such as climbing ability, sprinting ability, 3 minute power, etc etc (which can all be tracked if you're training with power).  Many athletes are happy with going out and doing the same old rides, watching their “fitness” (really, they're seeing an increase in CTL) steadily climb.  Then they register for a fondo, race or event and fail to meet their expectations.

Why?

Because they didn't train their weaknesses, nor did they build specific fitness to conquer their goals.

In this episode of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast, we'll cover that and more.  Show notes and links are available after the jump:

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Staying Safe In A Group

There are times when you'll find yourself in unfamiliar company, either on a group ride, a charity ride, a fondo or a race.  You'll be surrounded by people you don't know, you're not familiar with their handling skills and you're not even sure if they are comfortable riding in a group.  In situations like these, you'll need to be on high alert and ready to defend your space and yourself.  Let's face it: if you're stable, sure afoot (awheel?) and not afraid of contact while you're riding, you're actually pretty hard to knock over and crash out.  If you're nervous, twitchy and afraid of contact (I.E. you panic and steer away from the guy bumping you) then you're going down sometime sooner rather than later.

Protect Yourself By Protecting Your Bars
Defending yourself includes the space immediately around you and especially around your handlebars.  Your bars are your lifeline to your bike: if someone knocks them or takes them out, you lose complete control of your machine and are significantly more prone to crashing.  If you're always defending your handlebars, you'll be a lot safer, you'll be a lot more stable and steady, a lot more confident and you'll be a lot less prone to going down.

In order to defend your space and your handlebars, follow these simple tips (and practice them regularly with your regular group ride buddies and teammates):

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Saying Goodbye To A Helmet

Post crash, one of the hardest things for me is saying goodbye to a helmet.  You see, for me, throwing away an old helmet is like saying goodbye to an old friend.  It sounds strange, but there's something intensely personal about a helmet, almost moreso than any other piece of kit.  Sure, someone will point out your bibs are more personal, and they may well be from a physical standpoint.  But from a mental standpoint, I think the helmet is your closest confidant.

Think about it: it protects your most valuable asset (your brain) and it has an inherently intimate contact with your body in the process of doing that job.  Nothing in cycling is worse than the feel of a poorly fitting helmet, which can dig into your head, pinch your skin, chafe or flop around.  Finding the perfect fit, the perfect colour, the perfect shape are a time-consuming process that leads many to purchase several of the same helmet to ensure a steady supply of them.

But spending a little time with your helmet can change it from a piece of kit to a trusted friend.

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The “Do’s and Don’ts” of Embrocation

Embrocation:

em·bro·ca·tion
ˌembrəˈkāSH(ə)n/
noun
  1. a liquid used for rubbing on the body to relieve pain from sprains and strains.

Embro. Leg Lube.  Belgian knee warmers.  Whatever you call it, it's something that has fascinated cyclists for decades.  It is an essential part of cyclocross, but has become an accepted and even necessary part of fall, winter and early spring road cycling.  It's something that many people speak of in hushed tones, in reverence and wonderment. Embrocation is akin to leg shaving in terms of the depth of puzzling looks received by those new to the sport (and indeed, those outside the sport.)  It's a skin protector.  It's a leg “polish.”  It's a warming agent.  Truly, it's as close to the very essence of cycling as one can get without chattering over the bergs of Belgium on a steel Bianchi.  But why is that so?

If you're new to embrocation, you may rightly be wondering what the fuss is all about.  “It must be easy to just rub it in and ride off into the sunset, right?”  Sure, your legs will shine like gleaming beacons of power and destruction, and they will tingle with the a warmth indicative of the spring classics.  But beware, for circumstances can go horribly awry and end with an eye opening, possibly life changing (and certainly nether-region demolishing) experience.

As with all things in life, there's a right and a wrong way to undertake any task.  And the correct method of embrocating bliss is to speak of “The Ritual” which should accompany each embrocating experience you undertake.

First, you'll probably need some embro.  I'm personally a huge fan of

[easyazon_link identifier=”B00B5TAPQO” locale=”US” nw=”y” tag=”taicoaandthed-20″]Mad Alchemy Gentleman's Blend[/easyazon_link] for cool days, and 
[easyazon_link identifier=”B00BD4AVYM” locale=”US” nw=”y” tag=”taicoaandthed-20″]Mad Alchemy Warm Weather[/easyazon_link] for warmer days (the warm weather variety has no heat to it at all, just some delightful spearmint oil to wake up the legs, facilitate a solid pre-ride massage and protect your skin from sun, dirt, etc.)

Now that you have your embro, you need to apply it.  But before you do read more after the jump.  To help you out on the path to righteous embrocating, I'm going to go through some of the “do's” and “don'ts” of embrocating, along with the ramifications of each.

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Coaching: W’ Power And Effective Workouts (Podcast #54)

What is W’?

W' is the brain child of Dr. Phil Skiba.  He describes W' as the amount of work (in joules) that an athlete can perform ABOVE their Critical Power.  Critical Power, or CP for short, is essentially the power a muscle can provide without fatiguing significantly.  It is similar to functional threshold power, but there are a few differences on the physiological level.  For the purpose of this podcast, we'll consider CP and FTP to be the same since they are numerically quite similar.

Essentially, W' is a measure of energy, specifically a measure of Anaerobic Work Capacity, or how much anaerobic effort an athlete can put out before fatiguing to exhaustion.  If you look at the chart above, you'll see a black line drawn through the power curve.  Although this represents an effort during a workout, it perfectly illustrates W'.  Everything below that black line would be considered aerobic work that can go on for a LONG time.  Everything above that line would represent W'.

As a clearer description, Dr. Skiba has likened W' to a battery in the past.  He has suggested that each effort above CP/FTP causes your battery to drain a little bit.  Once you let off the gas and drop below your CP/FTP, your battery begins to recharge.  Unfortunately, the recharge is slower than you think, especially the harder you work UNDER your CP/FTP.  So it follows that if you burn your battery up, and then continue to perform just below your CP/FTP, your battery will recharge VERY slowly.  All the energy that would go into recharging your battery is going to power your performance.

Once you've expended all of your W', it's game over, you blow up and you're done for the time being.

There are some hypotheses about what causes W' to recharge and what happens when we expend all our W'.  Those are for another podcast, where we'll talk about how to possibly improve W' recharging, but for now, we'll deal with the practical application of W' using Golden Cheetah.

Check out the video podcast for some information on W' and how you can use it to interpret your training (assuming you're training using something like a Stages Power Meter.)

wprimevideo from Rob Manning on Vimeo.

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