Base 1 Training, Part 4

This series on Base 1 training is probably stretching out a bit too long. Some athletes may be well into Base 1 and others may be even be starting Base 2. The good news, however, is that Base 2 is only slightly different from Base 1. The biggest differences are the workouts are longer and there is a bit more intensity. So what I will do in the following descriptions of the workouts is to include the adjustments made in Base 2.

Base 1 Workouts. There are 3 abilities to focus your training on in Base 1: Aerobic endurance, muscular force and speed skills. In Base 2 you can add muscular endurance to the list of abilities to be trained. Each of these are explained in my TrainingBible books for cyclists, triathletes and mountain bikers, but I’ll summarize each here. Go to the book for more details. The accompanying table summarizes the training of these abilities (click to enlarge).

Aerobic endurance is the heart of training for endurance sports. Until this is well-established there is no reason to move on to the more advanced abilities (muscular endurance, anaerobic endurance and power). These workouts are done at the or near the aerobic threshold which is usually about the 2 zone using my heart rate or pace system, or Coggan’s power system. In Base 1 I generally have the athlete build up to doing 1 or 2 hours steady in zone 2. In Base 2 this is extended. The upper end for the duration of this workout depends on the sport and the type of event the athlete is training for. (I’ve written about this here before. If you’d like to find more details do a search on the home page of my blog for ‘decoupling.’ You’ll find several posts on the topic.)

I generally start an athlete into muscular force with an emphasis on strength training. By Base 1 the athlete is lifting heavy loads with low reps. After Base 1 I reduce the importance of weight training and have the athlete go into a strength maintenance mode. This is all explained in the Training Bibles. (Interestingly, strength training seems to be well-adopted by triathletes but seriously questioned by cyclists. I may write on this topic and the research related to it later.)

In Base 2 I’ll have the athlete start doing force intervals for muscular force. These are low-rep, high-intensity intervals done on a short, steep hill for cycling and running. On the bike they involve selecting a high gear and then on a hill doing 6 max-effort pedal revolutions (count one leg for 6 revs or 12 strokes total for both legs). The cadence will be less than 50 rpm. A runner will do something similar on a hill with 6 max-effort revolutions (12 steps). A swimmer might use a bungee resistance cord with 12 max-effort strokes. This is a high-reward workout (good things can happen) which also makes it a high-risk workout (bad things can also happen). If you have easily injured knees (bike), lower legs and feet (runner) or shoulders (swimmer) then it is best not to do this workout. The risk of injury is too great.

Speed skills workouts should be done frequently in Base 1 and 2. Almost any workout that isn’t focused on aerobic endurance or muscular force can be devoted to speed skills. These workouts typically involve drills that exaggerate some aspect of technique. For example, on the bike this could be one-leg pedaling or high-cadence spin-ups. A runner might do grass strides with recovery skips. Swimmers already do a lot of drill work. Choose drills that emphasize the aspect of your skills that need improvement. Again, this is all explained in my Training Bible books.

Muscular endurance workouts are best saved until after strength training has reached a peak. This is typically after Base 1. The workouts are long intervals done at HR, pace or power zone 3. In Base 3 the intensity of these intervals goes up one zone and the intervals become shorter—in the neighborhood of 6 to 12 minutes. At this more advanced stage of ME training in Base 3 the recovery interval becomes critical. In Base 2 you can take a long recovery between the zone-3 intervals. In Base 3 the work-to-recovery ratio should be about 4 to 1. For every 4 minutes of hard work take 1 minute of recovery. This is the most overlooked aspect of ME training by self-coached athletes in Base 3 and later—they take overly long recoveries negating one of the primary benefits of this workout.

I hope that not only helps you get started with Base 1 but also gets you started into Base 2 and Base 3. In the Base period there is not much difference between sports or between the types of races being done within a given sport. It’s pretty much all the same with the primary differences being duration. It’s in the Build period, with about 11 weeks to go until the first A-priority race of the season, that the training varies widely between sports and types of races. More on that at a later time.

Comments

[Glenn]

Hi Joe,

Long-time fan with a quick question:

Does the on-the-bike strength workout you detail here replace the F1 workout you suggest for Base 2 in the book? I'm coming back to the sport after five years away so strength is a huge limiter at this point. I'm building up gradually but wonder which of those workouts will pay higher dividends on the climb once the racing begins?

[Curt]

In Cycling Past 50 p.78 you said that cruise intervals can be done year round. Do you still feel that it is okay for an experienced athlete to do this type of zone 4-5a work through Prep, Base 1, and Base 2 phases? Thank you. I enjoy your blog.

[Christopher]

Hi Joe,

should we do force intervals, in Base 2 only, or we can keep doing them in next periods as well, in order to preserve muscular force?

I understand that the increase of climbing of next periods can help in force maintenance, but i usually climb at around 85 cadence. Is it enough for maintaining force, or should i do force intervals also?

Thanks for the extra valuable blog!

[Joe Friel]

Christopher--Yes you can continue force training into the later periods by doing maintenance sessions about once a week, probably as a part of another ability workout.

[Joe Friel]

Curt--Yes, I believe you can do them year round with no physically negative consequences. But it might become rather boring, especially once you've fully adapted and plateaued. Lack of variety is something that contributes to athletes becoming flat.

[Joe Friel]

Glenn--Rather than 'replace,' I'd suggest that workout as an addition to.

[Tim]

Joe,

I have started reading your blog and find it rather interesting. I am getting ready to purchase your TrainingBible for MTB'ers. I am a former MTB racer. I was never a podium guy, but loved to ride/race. Unfortunately, I had a 3 year lay-off from cycling completely (long story). Anyway, I am getting back into riding with goals of racing. The big difference this time is that I want the podium spot(s).

With all that said, I have a question. It is a question that has always stuck in the back of my head and I could never get a straight answer from anyone regarding it. And please keep in mind that I have not read your books (as of yet) so if the question is answered within, please forgive me. I do plan to purchase soon. During Base training...when building aerobic endurance and whatnot...would it be counter-productive to do MTB rides that jack your HR? Rides that would not necessarily be considered training rides.

I love to ride. And being away for 3 years has only strengthened my desire to ride as much as I can when I can. Being that I have goals of being very competitive next season, I want to seriously train for next season's races. But, I do not want to pass on rides with friends throughout the winter because of fear for ruining my Base training.

What are your thoughts?

[Ryan]

Hi Joe, on which days do you typically recommend doing the skills training? It would seem they are best added to an aerobic endurance day or early on as part of warming up for a ME or Force workout as opposed to during an easier, recovery based ride. (with the focus on recovery and not adding extra stress)

Thanks!

[Joe Friel]

Hi Ryan--Skills work can be done at any time in any workout.

[Joe Friel]

Tim--It's the age-old question at this time of year: Is there a downside to doing anaerobic endurance training in the Base period? I find nothing in the research which suggests there is. But then I also find no research specifically on this topic. It only takes about 6-12 weeks for the anaerobic systems to peak so getting started too early on it means at best an early plateau followed by an attempt to maintain it for endless weeks. That seldom happens as enthusiasm is eventually lost for such training (which always sounds like fun in the early winter). My experience has been that athletes who do lots of AnE training in the Base period peak much too early and are burned out by mid-race season. I have those I coach hold off on this type of training until Base 3 at the earliest. In Build 1-2 MTBers will do lots of this. Best to be looking forward to it then than dreading more of the same.

[David Tichy]

Hi Joe...thanks for your continuing great information. I have a question re base 1 & 2 training, what is your recommendation for riders who race all year round. (We have no freezing winters) We have finished our winter road season and have now commenced our summer crit racing season. After a month break (no riding for 2 weeks and 2 weeks of very easy rides) I am into Base 2 and wondering how to fit in a Crit race once a week. Is it a good idea to race instead doing force reps?

Cheers David in Tour Down Under land

[Joe Friel]

David T--There is no one-way to train that works for everyone. If you are racing year round, steadily improving and enthusiastic about training then it's working and I'd be reluctant to make many if any changes. On the other hand...

[Christopher]

Joe,
could you be more explained about "force intervals"?
The 6 revs at big gear/slow cadence, count for 1 set, or it's 3 repetitions of 6 revs that count for 1 set?
If this is the case (1 set=3X6 revs), then how long should we recover between reps?

[Joe Friel]

Christopher--On a hill do 6 complete pedal revolutions in a high gear that keeps cadence below 50. These are all-out, maximal efforts done seated. That's 1 rep/interval. Recover by spinning easily for 3-5 minutes. Repeat 2 more times. That makes 1 set. Do 1-3 such sets for a total of 3-9 reps/intervals. (Be careful of knees!)

[Ethan]

Joe- A few more questions for you regarding force intervals. Do you recommend increasing the difficulty of these exercises from week to week? If so, how? Add reps? More pedal strokes? I tried this workout last night and was surprised by how easy it seemed (although I felt it today in my legs), maybe the hill I was on wasn't step enough, only around a 4-6% grade.

[Madeleine]

How do you advise road cyclists to set intensity for aerobic rides, particularly aerobic threshold rides, during Base training if their heart rate stays one zone below their power zone – by HR zone or by power? (assumes your HR zones derived from your LTHR protocol, Coggan’s power zones derived from a recent 40K TT). Does your advice differ from Base 1 to Base 2 to Base 3? Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

[Joe Friel]

Etan--start with a low number of reps/intervals (3 or so) and continue to add them over a few weeks. The intensity/power/effort should be max each time.

[Joe Friel]

Madeleine--If there is considerable difference between HR and power zones then use power zones. For example, my HR high z2 is low/mid-z3 power. So I use power. Same throughout training in base.

[Michael]

Joe, can you clarify? Above you mention "at or near the aerobic threshold which is usually about the 2 zone using my heart rate or pace system". In the Bible Zone 2 is Aerobic, Zone 3 Tempo, Zone 4 Subthreshold, Zone 5b Aerobic Capacity. I'm confused whether I should be at Zone 2 or Zone 4 HR during base 1 endurance.

[Wes]

whaddya mean, Base 2? My 2010 season isn't even over with ;-) LOL...

[Joe Friel]

Michael--zone 2

[Iain]

Joe,

I'm about to start base training having gone through a prep period and I was wondering about VO2 training. I have asthma and my VO2 max was a significant limiter for me last season. I've been doing aerobic work at the gym (non-cycling) and can feel it's hard to utilise my lungs to full capacity, there's resistance when opening up the final 25%. Is it worth me doing (eg) Tabata intervals during the base period to try to improve this, or is there anything else you can recommend?

Thanks

Iain

[Joe Friel]

Iain--I don't believe that VO2max intervals, or an increase in aerobic capacity, will change your asthmatic condition. Basically, it's likely that asthma will restrict your ability to do such intense training unless you are using a medication.

[Steve Fleck]

Joe,

A great overview of off season base training should be. Great information presented in an easily understandable way.

Thanks,

Steve Fleck

[mg]

Joe,
Only 1-2 hours in zone 2? Isn't the base period when you want to do much longer rides (depending on your skill level) of 3-4+ hours?