Originally Posted by
bassplyr
This brings up a dilemma I have with this whole "ride for long Zone 2" advice. Many of us don't have unlimited time to ride. Typically, I have a fixed amount of time to ride on any given day. If one doesn't have the time to ride 2-4 hours at zone 2, then what is the best regime if you have 60-90 minutes per ride?
If you're not trying to build endurance for a very long event on very little training -
7-10 minute intervals as hard as you can one day a week. Stop when you can't ride at a supra-threshold pace. Rest 2-5 minutes between them. Riding easier doesn't stress your lactate system as much so anaerobic threshold improvements are limited. Empirically 3x10 seemed to work best for me. Data from Stephen Seiler's experiments showed supra-threshold worked better than sub-threshold, and 4x8 better than 4x4 or 4x16 all "as hard as possible" with 2 minutes rest. He suggested 7-10 minutes as the sweet spot for intensity on slowtwitch.com.
As long as you can manage below your aerobic threshold the rest of the week. That's a talking pace generally somewhere in Friel's zone 2, although you can raise your aerobic threshold with training. Riding harder causes your body to draw more from your lactate system so you don't train your aerobic system.
This is polarized training - 20% of sessions above your anaerobic threshold (AnT, lactate threshold), 80% below your aerobic threshold (AeT), although some of Seiler's experiments had two hard days a week.
Use rest weeks with reduced intensity. 1 in 4 is traditional, although some athletes (especially masters) need 1 in 3. Rest weeks are needed for your body to adapt and to maintain freshness.
I fell into the naive trap of riding "hard" "lots" when I was approaching 40 and figured I shouldn't be slow which translated into a lot of sweet spot. A few months actually riding hard intervals got me 20% more power, and enough zone 2 produced a 4-hour endurance pace I previously struggled to maintain for 40 minutes.
The reduced intensity was also better for weight - instead of leveling out at around 185 pounds as I added an extra hard day and my easy rides turned into tempo I lost another 45-50 and weigh less than I did in high school. Lower intensities draw from your fat stores instead of depleting your glycogen stores which makes you hungry (runners call the ravenosity following hard runs "runger").