(upbeat music)
- Now this is a GCN commuter session
to help you get stronger.
Now, I should probably admit it
that I absolutely hate strength endurance training
and if I possibly could,
I would always try and find a way to get out of it.
But now I'm training for the Maratona Dolomiti
and I've been told that strength endurance training
is absolutely essential.
So, guess I better crack on and do it.
First of all, let's warm up.
Muscular endurance refers to the ability
to perform a specific muscular action
for a prolonged period of time.
Whereas pure muscular strength
is a muscle's capacity to exert force against resistance
with no need to do it more than once.
So, for cycling as an endurance sport
we want muscular endurance.
A strength endurance session is essentially
a bit like doing weights on your bike.
So, then strength training with a very cycling specific
range of motion, what it means
in practice is overgeared efforts.
And by that I mean low cadence,
so a cadence of 50 to 60 RPM at an effort level of
about 7 out of 10, which is about 85% of maximum heart rate.
Now in this case I'm gonna be doing
five times up a five minute hill.
But if you're just starting out with this kind of session
you could start with three efforts and build it up to six.
And it's worth noting that some riders
do some really long strength endurance efforts,
like 20 or 30 minutes.
Now, a cadence of 50 or 60 feels really slow to me.
In fact, I think that's why I don't like this training.
It makes me feel really slow and bogged down.
It's a lot like the feeling of getting
dropped in a climb in a race.
So, it's got a lot of bad memories for me.
So, I'm trying to concentrate on good technique.
And that means controlled power,
really making sure I'm using my glutes,
on strong core and stability,
and really smooth pedaling technique.
As you can see I've got all my commuter luggage neatly
stowed in this generously proportioned saddle bag.
There are lots of strong opinions out there
as to which is better, panniers, rucksack, saddle bag.
And as you may know Si and I tested the different methods
in the wind tunnel at Milan Politecnico.
But to be honest, I don't care too much about aerodynamics
on my commute, my main concerns are comfort and convenience.
And I find a rucksack puts a lot of weight through my bum,
which is not very comfy.
And I don't have lugs for a rack
on this bike so, no panniers.
The giant saddle bag does make the bike
handle a bit differently and it feels pretty heavy uphill.
But then the bike feels fantastic in comparison,
when I take the saddle bag off.
That felt pretty terrible, to be honest.
I mean, I'm the kind of rider that likes to stand
when the climbs get steep, so for me to stay
in such a big gear seated, just feels really unnatural.
I guess you could say that that's why it's good for me
because it trains me at something
that I'm really, really, bad at.
Anyway, I'm gonna do the recovery just back down the hill
in really high gear spinning to try and remind my legs
that they can be coordinated.
So, to summarize, a strength endurance session,
five minute efforts, starting with three intervals,
and building up to six.
The cadence should be at 50 to 60 RPM.
And the effort level should be 7 out of 10
on a scale of perceived exertion,
or 85% of your maximum heart rate.
The recovery time should be a bit less
than the effort time, just spin back down the hill.
You don't actually even need a power meter,
you can base it all on feel.
And if you don't have a cadence sensor
then you can just count the pedal strokes,
which in some ways is good because it makes
the interval go by a bit quicker.
So, why is strength endurance like this
so important, according to coaches?
Well, like off the bike resistance training
or weight training, the theory is that strength endurance
intervals increase the power that your muscles can produce.
Both by overloading the muscle, followed by recovery.
And also by improving neuromuscular recruitment.
In other words, strength endurance training should
help you to use more of the muscle that you have.
As well as making those muscles stronger.
This strength helps you to maintain power
when you're very fatigued.
If you do these strength endurance efforts right
they'll strengthen your core and glutes
and improve your pedaling form and stability on the bike.
In effect, they simulate long seated climbs
when you're too fatigued to stand.
Or maybe you've run out of gears to spin
at your normal cadence.
And these things are pretty useful to train
when you're planning a long mountain sportif
like the Maratona Dolomiti.
Well, that's quite a relief actually
because I feel like I've been pedaling through treacle.
But on the plus side, it's very time efficient.
I mean, I'm all done and dusted in 45 to 50 minutes.
I know it's doing something because my legs hurt
for the whole of the rest of the day.
Yes, this session can leave you with real muscle soreness
and it's actually pretty draining,
even though you never get out of breath.
So, make sure you recover well with refueling and rest.
And a bit of a tip from me is that I found this
totally destroyed my legs so I would always avoid it
in a run up to a big event or a race.
And in fact, even if I wasn't planning to do
some high intensity training but then,
I mean maybe I was just being a bit of a wimp.
I hope you enjoyed this session more than I did.
And if you're interested in some other sessions
that you can do on your commute,
you can check out these videos down here.
For example, we've got high intensity interval training,
we've got fasted endurance training.
Don't forget to give us a thumbs up.