Pointing out obvious/sharing this year’s base experience… I live in a hilly area with bad road surfaces/weather and have started doing all my z2 rides on the trainer. Looking back at my previous’z2’ rides it’s absolutely insane how much more time i’m doing in z2. I have gone from doing ~2hrs z2 on a 4hr ride to literally doing 4hr z2 on a 4 hr trainer ride and I feel less fatigue. I was doing insane junk tempo, threshold and coasting basically and plateauing year on year. I thought I hated the trainer but the satisfaction from nailing every workout is so good. I train about 15hrs a week and it honestly wasn’t that hard to mentally adapt. Will move back outside when I want to get closer to 20hrs and start doing more intensity
Really liked the discussion on Z2. Keegan’s HR upper marker for Z2 of 150bpm translates into approx 75% HR max if you take his 178bpm threshold as 90% HR max (90 x 150/178). That would feel about right to me. I get what the guys are saying about when you move from Z2 to Z3. High Z2 still feels fine on the legs - just a bit heavier lifting. Z3 starts to feel like strain and a bit of work. I have made the mistake though of training too long at upper end of Z2 (3-4 hours) and feeing too tired the next day. I now discipline myself to ride long (4 hour plus) at low Z2 (around 60% HR max). I notice that some pros ride very long eg 6 hours in high Z1 - around 55% HR max or even slightly lower. I know Stephen Seiler (the academic who coined 80-20) says the distinction between Z1 and Z2 is a bit artificial whereas Z2 to Z3 is a first turnpoint from aerobic to glycolytic. So I think high Z1 is legitimate for a very long ride. I suspect improvement in Z2 in a base season is both the max watts you can do at the top end of that zone plus the length of time you can do at different levels of power within the large Z2 band. With aerobic training I tend not to feel very tired on the ride (assuming fuelling well at 40% of calories burned) but can feel a bit drained the next day until I’m better conditioned. I think this may be why people go too hard on Z2 rides - it doesn’t feel hard at the time but your rides later in the week can suffer if you overdo them. So I think the aim would be to progressively increase weekly length of time in low Z2 without feeling too tired at the end of each week. Then see if you can increase some of the rides at higher Z2 and build resilience that way. As Keegan says, that can be done interval style within Z2 both to help manage the load and make the ride more interesting.
great comment mate! i deffo think doing those mega long z1-lowz2 rides has a place too. but depends very much on the rider and what the objectives are for that moment. and, where they are with their condition in that moment. and yeeee i do feel that as well that when im doing bigger volume of aerobic work sometimes just the sheer amount of calories burned makes me end up feeling bit more drained. gotta binge out extra hard i guess!
@@KeggaGee I agree consistent very long (5-6 hour) rides are suitable for grand tour riders who need to be able to hold that day in and out in the tours, plus add intensity. For amateurs racing for 2-3 hours say, my guess in that being able to do consistent 3-4 hour zone 2 rides is a better target, and maybe no need to go as low as Z1. Though I can imagine the occasional 5-6 hour ride is still beneficial for amateurs, but keep it low and consider high Z1 for it if its part of a weekly block. If its just a fun long ride then give it a blast but don’t pretend to yourself that is optimal within a training block!
I am a fan from this video! Is there a level of too much volume of zone 2 during base training? For example if I ride 15 hours per week during the build phase, can I ride 15 or even 20 hours of mostly zone 2 in base?
if youve got the time, send it!! just be super aware of how your body is feeling. and as always, never be afraid to take a few spur of the moment extra days off it you are feeling a bit draggy.
these boys above are clearly two future TDF contenders. combining knowledge and vo2 and swag like never before
Word on the street is that kegga g has god tier glutes
😂
Pointing out obvious/sharing this year’s base experience…
I live in a hilly area with bad road surfaces/weather and have started doing all my z2 rides on the trainer. Looking back at my previous’z2’ rides it’s absolutely insane how much more time i’m doing in z2. I have gone from doing ~2hrs z2 on a 4hr ride to literally doing 4hr z2 on a 4 hr trainer ride and I feel less fatigue. I was doing insane junk tempo, threshold and coasting basically and plateauing year on year. I thought I hated the trainer but the satisfaction from nailing every workout is so good. I train about 15hrs a week and it honestly wasn’t that hard to mentally adapt. Will move back outside when I want to get closer to 20hrs and start doing more intensity
Really liked the discussion on Z2. Keegan’s HR upper marker for Z2 of 150bpm translates into approx 75% HR max if you take his 178bpm threshold as 90% HR max (90 x 150/178). That would feel about right to me. I get what the guys are saying about when you move from Z2 to Z3. High Z2 still feels fine on the legs - just a bit heavier lifting. Z3 starts to feel like strain and a bit of work. I have made the mistake though of training too long at upper end of Z2 (3-4 hours) and feeing too tired the next day. I now discipline myself to ride long (4 hour plus) at low Z2 (around 60% HR max). I notice that some pros ride very long eg 6 hours in high Z1 - around 55% HR max or even slightly lower. I know Stephen Seiler (the academic who coined 80-20) says the distinction between Z1 and Z2 is a bit artificial whereas Z2 to Z3 is a first turnpoint from aerobic to glycolytic. So I think high Z1 is legitimate for a very long ride. I suspect improvement in Z2 in a base season is both the max watts you can do at the top end of that zone plus the length of time you can do at different levels of power within the large Z2 band. With aerobic training I tend not to feel very tired on the ride (assuming fuelling well at 40% of calories burned) but can feel a bit drained the next day until I’m better conditioned. I think this may be why people go too hard on Z2 rides - it doesn’t feel hard at the time but your rides later in the week can suffer if you overdo them. So I think the aim would be to progressively increase weekly length of time in low Z2 without feeling too tired at the end of each week. Then see if you can increase some of the rides at higher Z2 and build resilience that way. As Keegan says, that can be done interval style within Z2 both to help manage the load and make the ride more interesting.
great comment mate! i deffo think doing those mega long z1-lowz2 rides has a place too. but depends very much on the rider and what the objectives are for that moment. and, where they are with their condition in that moment.
and yeeee i do feel that as well that when im doing bigger volume of aerobic work sometimes just the sheer amount of calories burned makes me end up feeling bit more drained. gotta binge out extra hard i guess!
@@KeggaGee I agree consistent very long (5-6 hour) rides are suitable for grand tour riders who need to be able to hold that day in and out in the tours, plus add intensity. For amateurs racing for 2-3 hours say, my guess in that being able to do consistent 3-4 hour zone 2 rides is a better target, and maybe no need to go as low as Z1. Though I can imagine the occasional 5-6 hour ride is still beneficial for amateurs, but keep it low and consider high Z1 for it if its part of a weekly block. If its just a fun long ride then give it a blast but don’t pretend to yourself that is optimal within a training block!
@@jeremyleake6868 that sounds like 100% on the spot ideas right there!
Man looking forward to seeing you guys at this years TdF
Ripping the front with Pogi!
Ok to do one interval session per week in winter like threshold session to keep moving the needle? From an Amatuer 4 watt per kilo cyclist
Hi, yes -- one high intensity session per week during base season can be a great way to maintain or even improve your top end fitness.
I am a fan from this video! Is there a level of too much volume of zone 2 during base training? For example if I ride 15 hours per week during the build phase, can I ride 15 or even 20 hours of mostly zone 2 in base?
if youve got the time, send it!! just be super aware of how your body is feeling. and as always, never be afraid to take a few spur of the moment extra days off it you are feeling a bit draggy.
Is it just me, or does Keegan's audio keep cutting out?
Is there a chance that pro rider kept his workouts private and is training for earlier season races like TDU?