Preparing your body for the intensity that will be replicated and sustained during an event is an important part of training. This session is great for triathletes, road cyclists, and can also be beneficial for mountain bikers, especially for events that are about an hour in duration such as a 40km Time Trial or the bike leg of an Olympic Distance Triathlon.
Each Sunday I’ll post a Smart-Trainer Session that you can do in about 60 minutes to enhance your cycling. See a previous post about training intensity (Levels) to know how hard to work. If you are working directly with Coach Ray he will in most cases prescribe either a Power Zone or Heart Rate Zone to work within if you are training with these tools.
The inspiration for this session comes from a workout in an article by Marc Evan’s in the December 2007 issue of Triathlete Mag.
Seated, Standing Cadence Mix
- 10min WU Level II;
- 3x 5min Level II (Cad 90-95, 95-100, 100-105);
- 5x
- 90sec Level III Seated Cad 100rpm;
- 30sec Level III standing;
- 90sec Level III Seated Cad 75rpm;
- 30sec Level III Standing;
- 12x 30sec Level II Cad 90-100, 30sec Level II Cad 100-110;
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a ten-minute Warm Up (WU) riding at Level II.
The main set starts with three, five-minute reps at Level II. Start with a cadence of between 90 & 95 rpm for the first rep. The second rep will have a cadence between 95 & 100 rpm. With the final rep having a cadence of between 100 & 105 rpm.
Next up is a set of five, four-minute reps. Each rep is further broken down into four sub-reps. The first 90 seconds is done seated with a cadence of about 100 rpm. The next 30 seconds is done at Level III standing, before sitting on the saddle for the next 90 seconds. This sub-rep is done at Level III and a cadence of about 75rpm, before finishing with the final sub-rep of 30 seconds at Level III standing.
The final set is made up of twelve reps all at Level II, alternating between spinning at a cadence between 90 & 100 rpm for 30-seconds and then increasing the cadence to between 100 & 110 rpm for 30 seconds.
Complete a Cool Down (CD) for seven minutes at Level II.
Finish with ten minutes of stretching to assist with your recovery.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729. Make sure you sign up for my informative newsletter.
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Download the Garmin (.FIT) and Zwift (.ZWO) files for this workout for FREE
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Prior to using this plan, you should be able to ride comfortably for 2 hours.
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Prior to using this plan, you should be able to ride non-stop for 60 minutes.
Purchase of this plan gives you access to my fortnightly coaching calls where you can ask me any training or racing related questions.
When purchasing, use the discount code “web25” to claim your 25% discount.