Blog Posts From Active Expert: Gale Bernhardt Tagged With altitude_training

How much intensity should you include in your weekly training to improve? Part II – It’s Complicated.

guest — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:02:21 GMT

Yesterday I gave you this tidy guideline that says 20 percent of your weekly training volume should be at intensity and the other 80 percent should be aerobic.

Seems straightforward doesn’t it?

If read deeper into the research paper from yesterday’s column, you’ll find this comment:

Elite endurance athletes train 10-12 sessions and 15-30 h each week. Is the pattern of 80 % below and 20 % above lactate threshold appropriate for recreational athletes training 4-5 times and 6-10 hours per week? There are almost no published data addressing this question.

First, I’d like to separate non-elite athletes into two categories:

- Recreational Athletes: Training and racing is for fun and fitness. Though they would like to perform well at races and in comparison to training partners, training and racing in not a priority compared to many other things life has to offer. These athletes are not concerned with every angle possible to improve performance.

- Serious Age Group Athletes: Training and racing is a key part of lifestyle. Performance at races and in training is a priority. Training plans, recovery techniques, equipment advantages and many of the aspects of elite racers are utilized. These athletes ARE concerned with every angle possible to improve performance.

For the remainder of the blog, I’m talking to the serious age group athlete. If that is you, keep reading.

You see, you are a complicated beast. You want to emulate professional racer’s training – but few of you have the privileges of the pros. (Complete recovery, quality fueling, massage, ice baths, sleeping 8-10 hours every night with naps during the day, spouses or staff to help you with anything that doesn’t involve training and/or racing, youth, etc.)

Many of you are A-type personalities that are driven to success. Some of this drive made you perform above and beyond the call of duty to get to your current status in life. If others work hard, you will work harder.You now want to apply what made you succesful in school, business and life to athletics.

Some of you believe that because you don’t have the volume of time to train that the pros have – you should train more volume at higher intensities. I cannot prove that this is - or is not true.

I can make the argument that the 80:20 rule applies across the board. But, of course I cannot prove that this is - or is not true with hard data.

I’d like you to contemplate a few things:

- Athletes that cook themselves into illness or injury are seldom willing to publicize this failure. It doesn’t matter whether it’s done with intensity or volume. Repetitive injury or chronic fatigue is not good.

- The multisport athlete’s training is more complicated than a single-sport athlete.

- Though the research defines “intensity” – should the same intensity weighting be given to all training zones? (Several sources have designed training stress scoring systems based on power, pace and heart rate to name a few. Zone 3 intensity is less stressful than Zone 5b – how should this be accounted for across all sports?)

- Should the same intensity weighting be given to Zone 4 cycling and swimming that Zone 4 running receives?

- Should recovery in daily training receive the same considerations as recovery from racing?

- Do athletes living at altitude need another factor because there is less oxygen at altitude to recover from hard workouts? Maybe these athletes need less than 20 percent of the volume at intensity? (Altitude Training for Athletic Success)

And the biggest question is….

What is the absolute minimum amount of intensity that will bring athletic improvement?

This number not only brings athletic success but also minimizes risk of illness and injury.

I think the number is individual and I think several athletes can be less than the 20-percent number and see success. I also think there are some athletes that need slightly more than the 20-percent value.

So, if you’re a self-coached athlete, where do you begin?

1. First track what you have been doing and get a picture of your current status.

2. Make calculated changes and then track your success or failure.

3. If it all becomes too confusing, use the 80:20 and the 2-4 key workouts per week rules of thumb as a starting place.

Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Training Plans and Resources

guest — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:54:55 GMT

To help 100-mile mountain bike racers with some training references, this blog is a good start. Many of the resources can help 100-mile mountain bike racers for any event. Some of the resources are Leadville 100 specific.

First, training plan help.

In my newest book, Training Plans for Cyclists, you will find two foundation fitness training plans. (You can see the table of contents online.) The two foundation fitness plans are designed to help cyclists maintain or improve fitness in the off-season. Often, there are two Levels of training plan presented in the book. Level I is for completion and Level II is more competitive. Level I and Level II descriptions are also relative to event distance. For example, I classify a Level I rider looking at a 100-mile mountain bike race differently than a Level I road rider looking to complete a century. Of course, the event route itself can have a major influence.

The book contains detailed, daily workouts. (Not just general instructions on how to assemble your own plan.) Here are athlete profile descriptions:

Level I Profile (Chapter 19)

The plan in this chapter is designed for a Level I rider. Before beginning the plan, you are riding two or three times per week, indoors or outdoors; but, your workouts are not consistent. It is not a problem for you to ride for an hour, though.

You are looking to build strength, endurance and increase your riding speed. You’d like to begin a weight training program, but don’t know where to begin.

One big issue you have is time. There is never enough time and you don’t have much of it to devote to staying fit. If you can see a training plan that would whip you into shape on three to six hours a week, you’d jump up and down.

Get ready to jump.

(This plan is available in electronic form on TrainingPeaks )

Level II Profile

The plan in this chapter is designed for a Level II cyclist that is riding three or four times per week before beginning the plan. You are currently capable of comfortably completing a two-and-a-half hour ride. Your current long ride is mostly aerobic, but may include a small amount of intensity.

You are looking to build strength, endurance and increase your riding speed for next season. You want a weight training program included in your plan that will deliver on-the-bike speed later.

Your schedule allows you to train six or seven days per week.

(This plan is available in electronic form on TrainingPeaks )

It really doesn’t matter what your season goals are (road vs. mountain) because the foundation fitness plans can be used for preparation for century rides, multi-day tours, short-course mountain bike racing, 24-hour races or 100-mile mountain bike races.

After you have built foundation fitness on your own or used one of the above plans, then you transfer that fitness to a more event-specific plan taking you right up to race day.

Keeping attention focused on just the mountain bike events for now, below are the plan descriptions contained in the book:

Chapter 16, Level I Rider, 100 Mile Mountain Bike Race, 16 Week Plan

PROFILE

Before beginning this plan, you are riding consistently and doing between five and six hours of training each week. Your long ride is around two hours long and it includes some intensity as well as hill riding. At least one other ride during the week contains some intensity. That ride can be an indoor spinning class.

If your current fitness does not meet the description above, begin your training journey in Chapter 19 to build foundation fitness. After the last week of the Chapter 19 training plan, begin with Week 1 of this chapter.

During the week, you are limited to an hour of training on three days. You need two days off for other activities. Additionally, you do not have time to commute to a mountain course, so the training needs to be on an indoor trainer, spin class or a road bike.

GOAL

Your goal is to comfortably complete a 100-mile mountain bike race. While you want to ride in a time that is as fast as possible, you realize you are restricted for training time. You want the best time, given your limited training time.

(The biggest training week is 13:30. The online version of this race-specific plan is found here.)

Chapter 17, Level II Rider, 100 Mile Mountain Bike Race, 14 Week Plan

PROFILE

Before beginning this plan, you are training approximately nine hours per week. You are riding two long rides each week. One ride is around two hours long and the second one is roughly three hours in length.

You are riding two or three other weekday rides that are an hour each. You may or may not be strength training.

This plan is designed to follow the Level II Foundation Fitness training plan found in Chapter 20. After completing 18 weeks of that plan, you can move directly into the plan in this chapter. That combination provides you with 32 weeks of training.

If you are not using the Chapter 20 training plan, review the last few weeks of that training plan. Before beginning this training plan you should be capable of completing those workouts, or similar workouts, both in time and intensity.

Due to the volume of training necessary to complete this plan you will need to focus on recovery as much as you focus on accomplishing the training. Improved performance is accompanied by recovery techniques and high density nutrition. In summary, in addition to completing the training sessions, you need to get adequate rest and eat nutritious foods that fuel a high performance body. Be sure to read Chapter 3 that covers nutrition.

GOAL

Your goal is to ride a 100-mile mountain bike race in a personal best time. This competitive goal is more than just completing the event, it is competing at the event. The competition may be for a spot on the podium or to beat a past personal record (PR). You want a new PR.

(The biggest training week is 22:00. The online version of this race plan is found here.)

Now that the training portion is covered, below is more information within columns and blogs:

Description of key points and challenges in the Leadville 100 mountain bike race: (Note that the entry numbers are low compared to 2009 because the column was written in 2005):

Race Across the Sky: The Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race – Part I

Description of key training elements to any 100-mile mountain bike race and a few Leadville specifics:

Race Across the Sky: The Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race – Part II

Two-part training-specific interview with Dave Wiens after he beat Lance Armstrong in the 2008 race:

How to Win the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race, An Interview with Dave Wiens Part I

How to Win the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race, An Interview with Dave Wiens Part II

Acclimatizing to altitude before a race:

Acclimating to Altitude Before a Race Part I

Acclimating to Altitude Before a Race Part II

Altitude training strategies:

Altitude training for athletic success Part I

Altitude training for athletic success Part II

Post-race analysis of items that affected one of my personal races

Snow can be on the course in the weeks pre-race

Wiens and Williams family photos – for fun

A general list of columns that can be used by all endurance athletes.

Found here is my personal training plan, unconventional for a mountain bike racer. I will often post what I’m doing for training on this blog, Twitter and Facebook. I also try to answer as many questions as I can on this blog.

Hypoxic Training on the Bike - Part 2

guest — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:56:20 GMT

In yesterdays blog I mentioned that studies on hypoxic training in swimming have been very revealing. Indeed they have.

All studies on hypoxic training techniques in swimming have revealed that these breathing-restricted training techniques do not simulate altitude acclimatization.

Dr. Resignis and Dr. Sille have questionable research techniques and they are hoping for more than April fools to purchase their product - they need year-round fools. It appears they, and a long list of fervent investors signed up yesterday, will attempt to lure eager-to-improve cyclists and runners into their net of deception. It is rumored that they are all scheming up a plot to be multi-gazillionaires by the end of the year.

The business plan includes snorkel models of various styles and colors to be worn some 14 to 16 hours per day. They concluded athletes eager to improve would be willing to wear snorkels nearly all day, to achieve performance gains. Not surprising, there are evening wear models, complete with sequins. A foul weather model is displayed at the end of the blog, with a built-in nose plug.

Undaunted by the scientific evidence that their product does not work for altitude acclimatization, they are forging ahead. They are attempting to recruit periodontist Dr. Todd Singiser (whose office, by strange coincidence, is on Abarr Dr.) and professional engineer Scott Ellis to help on design. At press time, it is unclear whether the two professionals will lend their advice to the product design.

On a parting note, they have decided to add a product warning label, "Do not attempt to use this device while riding your bike near a cliff. Oxygen deprivation could cause a black-out and serious injury."