Top Training Strategies for Long Distance Cycling

The process of going from a casual cyclist to a randonneur can be daunting. I struggled as a misguided young randonneur myself, rode with others who also struggled, and have had to rebuild my fitness and form from a state of inactivity this year. After careful reflection on my experience and those shared by fellow randonneurs, buckets of reading and research, and distilling that information to the simplest form that is still meaningful, I thought a summary of training principles and common pitfalls would be useful for those looking to enter or return to randonneuring or other long distance cycling activities. Leave a comment if you have questions or would like further information about the resources used in the video. One of my favorite parts of real life work is teaching about academic source selection and interpretation, so I hope to engage in the comment section often on this video. Basic Training Zone Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/... Sources: Science and Practice of Strength Training. Zatsiorsky & Kraemer, 2006. Treff, Gunnar & Winkert, Kay & Sareban, Mahdi & Steinacker, Jürgen & Sperlich, Billy. (2019). The Polarization-Index: A Simple Calculation to Distinguish Polarized From Non-polarized Training Intensity Distributions. Frontiers in Physiology. 10. 10.3389/fphys.2019.00707. Stöggl, Thomas & Sperlich, Billy. (2014). Polarized training has greater impact on key endurance variables than threshold, high intensity, or high volume training. Frontiers in physiology. 5. 33. 10.3389/fphys.2014.00033. Seiler, K. S., & Kjerland, G. O. (2006). Quantifying training intensity distribution in elite endurance athletes: Is there evidence for an "optimal" distribution? Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, 16(1), 49–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2... Tønnessen, Espen & Sylta, Øystein & Haugen, Thomas & Hem, Erlend & Svendsen, Ida & Seiler, Stephen. (2014). The Road to Gold: Training and Peaking Characteristics in the Year Prior to a Gold Medal Endurance Performance. PLoS ONE. 10.1371/journal.pone.0101796. Stephen Seiler's Youtube Channel    / sportscientist   Dylan Johnson's Youtube Channel    / dylanjohnsoncycling   Treff, G., Winkert, K., Sareban, M., Steinacker, J. M., Becker, M., & Sperlich, B. (2017). Eleven-Week Preparation Involving Polarized Intensity Distribution Is Not Superior to Pyramidal Distribution in National Elite Rowers. Frontiers in physiology, 8, 515. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00515 Sellés-Pérez, S., Fernández-Sáez, J., & Cejuela, R. (2019). Polarized and Pyramidal Training Intensity Distribution: Relationship with a Half-Ironman Distance Triathlon Competition. Journal of sports science & medicine, 18 4, 708-715 . Training in the ‘sweet spot’ – the relationship of volume, physiological strain, and training effect BY ANDREW COGGAN, PH.D. Trainer Road Youtube Channel    / trainerroad   Running power and heart rate. Stryd (2014). https://blog.stryd.com/2014/12/28/run... Nußer, Valentin. (2017). Evaluation of a Cycling Exercise Test. Is Functional Threshold Power an Accurate Measure of Endurance Capacity?. 10.13140/RG.2.2.12176.97283. Sylta, Øystein & Tønnessen, Espen & Seiler, Stephen. (2014). From Heart-Rate Data to Training Quantification: A Comparison of 3 Methods of Training-Intensity Analysis. International journal of sports physiology and performance. 9. 100-7. 10.1123/IJSPP.2013-0298. Ventilatory Threshold vs Anaerobic vs Lactate Threshold. Ken Nicodemus (2015). https://www.fitstop-lab.com/blog/vent... Muscella, Antonella & Stefàno, Erika & Lunetti, Paola & Capobianco, Loredana & Marsigliante, Santo. (2020). The Regulation of Fat Metabolism During Aerobic Exercise. Biomolecules. 10. 1699. 10.3390/biom10121699. #training #endurance #brevet 00:00 Introduction 01:29 Training Intensity Distribution Models 05:32 Polarized Training 08:08 Pyramidal Training 10:12 Sweet Spot Training 13:12 Measure and Monitor Work 20:15 Fuel the Ride