Cycling program v4.0 2011-2012 (Page 22)

Sorry to jump into the middle of this thing with little understanding and hopefully my question isn't to elementary to go back too.

I am on the HR plan since I don't have a power meter.

I have completed the week 7 test and my data is below;

My avg HR for this test was 164, while my last test was 157 (below) and I don't really know what these tests actually show.  I will say that the first test was done with a full training week on legs that weren't exactly fresh and the second test I was pretty fresh (only ran 23 miles and nothing else for the week prior to this test).  Question: Would this kind of improvement actually be expected or did I thoroughly blow the first test?

As I understand it Dirk, your HR at FTP should not really change much, if at all, but the power/speed at that level is what changes.  So it's quite likely that you had more in the tank for that first test, or some other factor was affecting your heart rate for one of the tests.

I'm a little behind as well and just did the first 6x4' workout.  That one was stupid.

You have nooooo idea. 

It should be 1 hr... sorry bout that!

Correct. The 20MP correlates more with your CP hence the higher the 20MP the higher the CP. Also, the higher 5MP the greater your potential to grow your CP. But in the end, the CP has to become a reality with specific work which will come in the last portion of the plan.

In the end, if your 20MP and CP are higher than your competition you have the upper hand on them at least to start. If you race 70.3s or IMs then you will also have to do make the *specific* work to be able to maintain a higher % of your CP overtime. That specific can come after you complete the program and then you can focus on that while just maintaining your CP.

Anyway, awesome job in your improvements!

You and I have the same CP...My spread was different...5' was 268, 20' was 225.     Strange how the calculator works.

JorgeM - 2012-01-03 12:55 PM I am so happy to see everyone is loving the now sort of famous 6x4' of hell fun. Think of it as my Holiday and New Year present for you all

Lumps of coal getting hard to find?

Thanks Warren and Jorge.  I imagine the HR differential could be from the other workouts that I had completed during the week prior to the first test.  The week prior I swam 6000 yards, ran 27 miles and rode 4 hours with a run over 7 miles and a 2 hour trainer ride the day before the test.

JorgeM - 2012-01-03 2:55 PM I am so happy to see everyone is loving the now sort of famous 6x4' of hell fun. Think of it as my Holiday and New Year present for you all

I am glad to see others have reamrked about the 6x4' workout.  I did it tonight and thought I was going to puke.  I thought it was is a nice touch to ask us to go alittle harder on the last 4'.

oh great!!!

That's the thing Jorge, I am having a decent dinner with either rice/pasta and lots of veggies about 1.5 to two hours before the ride.  Now this last 2.5 hour ride was much better.  I started with some perpetuem right away and though I didn't hit my power numbers, I didn't feel that I needed to stop.  

So this brings up a question.... so how much and how prepared are you supposed to be for the test? I can rest and taper and get all preped... then do a killer 20' test and come up with a great looking CP... but then all my training will be at this higher level and during the week I'm killing myself trying to train to these levels I can only get on my most rested best day. I mean the rest of the month I'm still running 6x a week and swimming and all that.

So I get easy a few day, don't be cooked, same time same conditions, do your best to get an accurate taget... but how hard are you suposed to "try" to get a skewed number? Or do you want that high target no matter what to keep improving the most?

Hi Jorge,

Happy New year.

when doing the 6x4s, what is the downside of more rest between the 4' ? The reason I ask is I have/use Ergvideo who have some precanned 6x4 workout but they give 3 minutes between each 4'. If I up the power a bit but have a longer rest, will I be getting the same effects/adaptations ?

Depends on your trainer...I have a KK and its power curve is like you are going up a 1% upgrade, so slightly up hill, so cadence will be lower at same power output outside on a flat.

Hmm, I dunno about this.  Simply shifting gears will change your cadence for a given power / speed combination.

To the OP, I just aim for a power target and put myself in a gear that I feel comfortable pedaling at that gives me that power.  Typically this puts me in the 85-90 RPM range but I don't actively try to do that.  Cadence isn't even a screen I put on my computer. 

One thing I have "discovered" this winter is that if I put the bike in the small chainring up front, my gearing selection can be more finely tuned because I am further down in the cogs on the rear and shifting from one gear to the next isn't a big jump.  When I am in the big ring up front, I would typically be in the larger cogs on the back which have a bigger jump from one to the next and I often felt like I was between gears.

You should use the cadence you are normally doing. If it's too hard for a given cadence, then you are in too big of a gear. Higher cadence is more efficient... to a point of course. My natural cadence is 90 and I'm comfortable from 80-100. Your cadence should never really change, the gear you can push should.

Consistent "mashing" can lead to knee/hip issues if you are not use to it.  On my trainer (KK) I'm never static with the cadence. I'll change it from 60's to 100's for the same speed (power).  For intervals I may do one at a "normal" cadence (~90), then shift down (lower cadance) for the next, shift higher for the following (higher cadance), and so on.  I'll even break up long intervals such as the 20'x2 into 4-5 mini intervals at different cadences, as long as the speed (power) is the same.