Cycling Program v3.0 - 2010 - 2011 (Page 27)

Heehee, this is fun

I have a quetion though.  As you know I had a lengthy lay off due to injury this year.  I just did my initial 20 minute test from week 1.  My avg HR was 150 today so if I multiply by 0.97 my LT is around 146.  That's actually higher than what I got last year when I was in better shape.  (maybe 142 last year)

Couple of factors....I may not have done last years test right?  (entirely possible)
I didn't lose as much fitness as I thought?  (I swam 4 days a week for 3 months, something I wouldn't wish on ANYONE I cared for)
Do these sound right?

A quick question for Jorge or someone else knowledgeable.   I have been completely off the bike since December 3rd - just lost interest (I tend to do that).  At the time my calculated FTP was 260w.  Been running a lot instead for a race in February.  Well today I couldn't do anything due to ice on the roads.  So I found my bike (it was on the trainer in the basement - who knew!).  Repeated Jorge's W2D1 to get back into it.  Managed 4 1' repeats at 310watts and then hit 375 on the last one.  That's 30w better than what I did before I laid off the bike for a month. 

WTF?  How could I see a pretty decent improvement with such a layoff?  I felt pretty darn good during the intervals.  Pretty tired after, so maybe a bit of endurance gone, but the high power part felt pretty good.

Woo Hoo!  Nailed the 20 min. test today at 190W, a 5.5% improvement! 

Thanks GoFaster for the advice: I hammered to music (no TV), and monitored avg. power over 5 min. intervals w/in the 20 min, was much more aware of my progress during the test.  axteraa, thanks for the advice on rolling averages, I wish the Joule showed rolling averages.

Jorge, this plan is just awesome!

Nice job, and nice improvement.

How about everyone else - this thread seems to have gone kind of quiet since Xmas.  Hope everyone is keeping up with the plan and making progress.

I haven't trained in over a month now but the illness is finally subsiding.  I'm looking forward to getting back on the trainer but where the heck do I start after 4 weeks of doing absolutely nothing (although my abs are in good shape from all the coughing)?  I can't just jump right back into the 6x4's can I?

I'm a late comer to the plan, and I've been doing about 2 of the workouts per week for the past few weeks. I did my 20' test outside back in November, and I've been basing my riding on that test, which was 329 watts, and a FTP of around 310 watts.

Yesterday I did the 3' test - how can 3 minutes be so long??? I got 414 watts for the 3 minutes.

Today with all of the snow I didn't have to go to work (snow day!!!!), so I did the 20' test this morning and nearly matched my November test, getting 327 watts on my trainer. For some reason the 20' test seemed easier than the 3' one - anyone else feel this way???

These new numbers look to give me a CP of 312 watts and a w/kg of 4.12 - does this seem correct? I'm 165 lbs (75 kg).

Looking at the numbers it doesn't look like I've improved, but I feel like the effort on a trainer is more demanding than outside, and I do feel a bit more powerful than a month or two ago.

I'm looking forward to continuing with the plan for the next few months - thanks Jorge!!!

Dude, those numbers are huge - very nice.  I don't know that you can really compare your two tests, there are just so many different variables that come into play between the indoor and outdoor tests.  I'd say ride for the next couple of weeks with the current CP/FTP number that you have, and if you're finding you're not getting the most of the workouts then bump the nnumber a little bit until you retest.

And I agree - 3 minutes can seem like an eternity.

Well, since nobody else has responded, I'll give my opinion.  It's great that you had a good workout and are excited about it, but keep in mind, that workout is not a test, so you can't really make any judgement about improvement unless you were actually finding the 1' repeats difficult the first time you did them. In addition, these are short intervals, and you had very fresh legs.

Personally, the 5x1's as prescribed by the plan were not at all difficult for me as the suggested power level (120% of CP) was nowhere near what I can do for a minute.  In fact, I can probably do 5-10 minutes at that level.   I ended up doing the 5x1's at more like 150% and they still didn't feel at all bad.  I think Jorge was easing us into things a bit during the first month.  Then he hit us with the 6x4's in December...

Still, good job on the workout, and stick with it.  Maybe your next 3' and 20' tests will show a good improvement!

My most recent set of tests resulted in a CP that was only a few watts higher than a month earlier. Disappointing, but I think it's largely the result of missing nearly a week of workouts from Dec 20 - 25 and spending that time at sea level vs. my normal 5300'.  In the past, I've found it takes me nearly two weeks to come back after a low-altitude layoff of a week, or nearly 3 weeks lost in total.

It's coming back though.  I earned bonus points for today's workout.  Instead of the W11D3 plan for 2x15 @ 90 - 95%, I did a pretty solid 40' at just over 95% and it actually *felt* like 95%.

Legs have been sore since Sunday.  Still have a minor amount of soreness left.  Finished week 6 on Friday and ran a 5k on tired legs on Saturday.  Been taking it relatively easy.  Hopefully I can perform the 6x4 tonight.

I just finally started the program yesterday, been tinkering around with the trainer for a few weeks now getting used to it, I did a 3' and 20' test last week to get some kind of starting numbers.

Boy was I disapointed, only got 204 and 131 according to my nashbar watt master trainer. Do these numbers sound right, when I quit in sept I was averaging mid 19 mph's on flat out and back and looped courses. Of course I just started cycling again last year and started from 15mph in July to that 19 mph in Sept, so maybe I losdt all my cycling fitness faster than expected.

For the first prep day things seemed easy for warm up and recovery, and not overly hard for the intervals so maybe I left some on the table on those test since I am still getting used to the trainer. We will see again when I redo the test in a few weeks in week 1, wish me luck.

I am on week 3 so I've done the 5 x 1s twice now.  Yeah, they sucked big time at 120% for me.  Maybe your CP isn't accurate? 

Question for those using CTs.....
When doing CP percentage sets, are you in erg or 3D mode?

I am still getting to knwo the CT, but as I understand it, in erg you set the power and have to hit it or stop.  If you slow down your cadence, it just makes it harder.  In 3D, you drive the power (if that makes sense), and if you slow down your cadence it gets easier but your power drops.

I have been using erg but manually setting it, so I can't get to exactly 80% say, since 80% is (making it up) 197, so I go to 200. 

Are you using 3D and trying to hit that power number?  Erg and manually setting it to get as close as you can by 5W increments?  Or erg and actually programing the actual number in to a workout file (I don't know if you can program a number not in 5W increments?)

If the latter, can anyone point me to a tutorial as to how to create these workouts?  And preferably worded as you would to someone that is not tech savvy? 

Thanks

Edited by ChrisM 2011-01-12 4:08 PM

Indeed! only 3-4 BTers have tested for a 3rd time... come on people, this portion of the program is where you can make the most gains!!!

I wish my CP were inaccurate, but unfortunately, I think it's pretty close.  I seem to be one of those with a threshold power that's a relatively low percentage of my VO2Max power.  My 3' test wattage is 150% of my CP.   Everyone's power profile is different, but I'll note that according to the table by Dr. Andrew Coggan, 4.0 W/Kg FTP, 4.8 W/Kg 5min and 8.4 W/Kg 1min are all on the same line.

I'm really hoping to see an improvement in CP as a result of this month's threshold focus.

I do all my computrainer work manually using the handlebar controller, with all the normal workouts in erg mode, but test in the "other" mode, which they refer to as "General Exercise Mode" using program 5, which is like going up a steady grade so there's a consistent load.  I wouldn't worry about getting the wattage exactly right.  Rounding to the nearest 5 watts is going to give you the workout you want.

If you want to program workouts, I hear really good things about ergvideos, and they include a "ride designer" that lets you graphically create the workout you're looking to do.  The erg files are simple text files that basically tell the computrainer what load to use at a particular time.  A few pages back in this thread someone mentioned creating them in excel, and I also noted this web site (though haven't tested the files it produces):  

http://63.134.234.143/tri/erg.asp?rows=20

Catching up on Qs or comments:

marcag - I also noticed my HR is lower by 5-7BPM if I drop my cadence at the same wattage. I feel more tired at the end of a low cadence ride, but my HR will be lower for some reason. It would be interesting to look at the cadence difference between the 2 rides. >>> This is something we all experience in different degrees. It really has to do with our muscle fiber makeup and metabolic fitness (among others) which is why I have suggested using the cadence that yields the lowest RPE at the highest sustainable power for a given effort.

sand101 - WTF?  How could I see a pretty decent improvement with such a layoff?  I felt pretty darn good during the intervals.  Pretty tired after, so maybe a bit of endurance gone, but the high power part felt pretty good. >>> Those sets you did where short which rely a bit more on the anaerobic system as oppossed to the aerobic. It is possible when you tested a while back you didn't pace correctly and your power was higher or some of the training you've done improve your anaerobic system.

trinity - I'm looking forward to getting back on the trainer but where the heck do I start after 4 weeks of doing absolutely nothing (although my abs are in good shape from all the coughing)?  I can't just jump right back into the 6x4's can I? >>> I would go back at least a few weeks and see how I feel. If it is hard then go to the start. You most likely lost some specific fitness and starting ahead might be challenging unless your drop your CP.

natethomas2000 - Looking at the numbers it doesn't look like I've improved, but I feel like the effort on a trainer is more demanding than outside, and I do feel a bit more powerful than a month or two ago. >>> as gofaster mentioned, sometimes is difficult to compare indoors/outdoors wattage due to variables such as the type of trainer you use. Use the #s you got and see how you feel, if they match RPE then you are good and even though the #s are lower, when you test outdoors I am sure they will be higher.

cstoulil - keep at it. It is hard to relate indoors wattage with outside speed. Nevertheless if you follow the program consistently I can tell your speed avg in general will increase.

ChrisM - you can use both erg or 3D. I usually use 3D and try averaging the suggested % of CP because that way I can adjust my session based on RPE and doing so also feels bit more like riding outdoors where the power varies with terrain.

If I missed a Q, please let me know!

The 5x1's start at either 120% of CP or 98% of 3MP.  For some, this will be close to the same level.  The 6x4's start at your 20MP and (in theory) go up a few watts each week.

I would just like to give Jorge a big THANK YOU!.  I'm on week 8 and loving it.  I had to miss almost all of week 7 due to a busy schedule but I hope it doesn't cost me during the next test.

But what I really wanted to say is that I think my quads have doubled in size!  Those beasts look massive when I'm wearing my drag suit at the pool!  My jeans are almost too tight around my thighs.  <3

question- I read some pages back and can't remember who said it- but doing the last set of 6 X 4's and if you increase your numbers on the last set- I got my hr to 174- should I use that number (174*90) for the upcoming workouts or wait until my next 30min test?

CP was/is accurate, no doubt there.  I'm gonna repeat it for confirmation and just plug along.



Thanks.  I'm trying to get back on a decent schedule with this, but find it difficult with trying to get the running work that I am currently undertaking.  At some point I'll be at a point to redo my CP tests and can see if all this makes a real difference.


Edited by sand101 2011-01-13 10:20 PM

That is pretty much what I have been doing; hitting target heart rate but more so paying attention in keeping same cadence (low to mid 90's). After this week (8) I think I have another week of 6x4's before the next test and I know I can ramp the numbers a little higher. I'll keep it at the same numbers (149)and then wait for the next test. 

thx for your response rymac