- I think it might have been Eddy Merckx's fault.
He was rumored to have said
that the key to going fast, when cycling,
is to just ride your bike, ride your bike, ride your bike.
For many of us, we end up grinding out the same
sort of rides week in and week out
whether that's the club run on a Saturday or
commuting to and from work, Monday to Friday,
and yet, despite putting in the hours,
we don't actually go any faster.
- I guess the question we're asking is,
"If we train less, can we go faster?"
(upbeat music)
- The first point is to really question
what it is you're trying to achieve
every time you go out and ride your bike?
Now, that doesn't mean that you need
to stop with the social rides,
but what you should focus on
is trying to increase the variation.
So, going out for three days in a row
and doing the same ride at the same uncomfortable pace
is actually highly unlikely to
be achieving anything other than making you tired
and making you therefore, a little bit slower.
- Yeah, that's right.
Assuming you're doing around six hours a week,
rest between those sessions is your friend.
If you decide to jump on your bike
and do a two hour recovery ride,
well, you're just kidding yourself.
If you make an effort during that two hours,
well that is two hours wasted.
Unless, of course, that you just enjoyed yourself,
which is absolutely fine,
but it wasn't the focus of this video.
- You should really make the most of that down time
in order to then enable you to hit those really high peaks
where you're actually pushing much harder.
That is what is going to be getting you much fitter.
Time in the saddle doesn't automatically
make you fitter at the end of the day.
- Lack of rest and poor recovery
is also the undoing of many cyclists.
Riding that middle ground,
where you're not going hard enough
and you're not going easy enough either.
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- As we've already mentioned, you want to avoid
doing the same rides, day in and day out.
A great tip, is to try and do your hardest sessions
when you're at your freshest,
so the day after your recovery day.
Now, save that for interval sessions
where you're doing anything up to about five minutes.
Because you're a little bit fresher,
you'll be able to get your absolute maximum out
and really hit the right intensity,
so your sprints, your anaerobic sessions
anything else would VO2 max, really.
- Then on your second day, on another fresher day,
why don't you think about
putting those longer efforts to work,
so the 12 to 20 minute efforts,
with a short break and then go again.
- That's really going to polarize your training.
Now that is not a new concept, but it's super popular
with good reason, it's also very, very effective.
By doing that, it's doing your high intensity stuff midweek
when maybe you're a little bit shorter on time.
You can still do your longer endurance ride on a weekend.
Perhaps you add in a social element
by joining a cycling club.
- So, basically, we're avoiding that middle ground
where we're just thumping on the peddles.
(rhythmic music)
- Right, you're not going to improve overnight.
I mean that's a given,
but the more and more you push you limits,
the more you'll find yourself to be able to go hard
when it really matters.
- That high intensity training is really
gonna stimulate your body to adapt,
in a far more time efficient way,
then if you were just plodding along
in that aforementioned middle ground.
- Remember that recovery and rest days are really important.
You want to allow your muscles to recover enough
so when it goes hard, you can go really hard.
I would, at around three to four weeks,
put in an adaptive week.
This way, you can lessen the structure
and focus more on the fun.
- Just ease off on the training, I guess,
as much a mental break as a physical break,
but this is the week in which you will notice
you're actually improving.
When you remove the training simulation,
your body recovers
and then when you step on the gas, the week after,
you should notice, I'm sure you'll notice,
that you have just got significantly fitter.
(upbeat music)
- So now that we've ditched those junk miles,
and focused more on hitting those higher intensities,
we can now go out and smash our PV's,
on any ride and any segments.
- I reckon that because you're a little bit fresher,
you'll probably enjoy it more as well,
not to mention be more motivated
for when you really do step on the gas.
The other thing to take from this
is that you don't need to feel guilty
about sacrificing other aspects of life as well.
(music screeching to a halt)
(quiet drum beat music)
- Doesn't this all sound to good?
Is there no downside to this?
- Not really, no.
If you're a professional cyclist,
you had all day everyday to train,
then yeah, you would probably want to do more hours.
Then you've got more time to recover from it,
so the principle remains the same.
You will ultimately reach a plateau.
Some weeks, you're gonna wanna do it
harder than others still.
No, it's a great way for most people to train.
- Yeah, sounds ideal doesn't it?
- Happy days.
(bicycle chain clicking
- Well these were a lucky find, weren't they?
Now, make sure you let us know what you think about this.
How comfortable are you with the idea of riding less,
but yet, getting fitter as a result?
Get involved in the comment section down below.
- Yes, and if you did enjoy this video,
then give it a big thumbs up.
If you want to watch a video
on how to get the most out of your training,
then why don't you click down here.
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