Originally Posted by
digibud
I would refer you to a book called "The first 20 minutes". I don't recall the author but it stresses the research on High Intensity Interval Training. While long slow distance (LSD) rides absolutely have their importance, a half hour of HIIT training will build cardio (but not butt break-in etc) as well as a couple of hours of long slower riding. I think both are very important to anyone working on overall fitness.
I have to correct this notion of LSD. It is long
steady distance. It conditions the body and cardio-vascular system, assists in burning off fat stores and enables a rider to achieve the stamina to ride the distances they want.
The steady relates to the HR zone that a rider uses; a rider with a higher level of fitness and endurance will likely rider faster than a rider who is starting out with a low level of fitness.
HIIT is all well and good, but unless you have a base from LSD, you won't have the ability to sustain your efforts for very long, and I think the drop-off in fitness levels should there be a break in activities is much more rapid.
There are many athletes who train with HIIT a lot because of the very nature of their sports, but they won't last very long if they move to another part of their sport that requires endurance (think 100m sprinters compared with 1500m runners).
It's also notable that in early pre-season training for many endurance team sports, LSD, whether running or cycling or swimming, is an important component because coaches know that what effort is put into it improves sustained effort at the end of the season.
I believe it is important that there is a
combination or both LSD and HIIT.