by Alan Couzens, MS (Sports Science)

This article covers my views on a fundamental flaw in the bike fit paradigm. Most fitting systems place a cyclist into a restrictive position on the bike based on arbitrary numbers – angles of knee flexion, hip flexion etc without first looking at what happens to the cyclist’s body when he assumes such angles!!

Our Indoor Brick Workouts are outlined in the attached Word file. If you have any suggestions, questions or amendments then please let us know.

Session #1 – Run 30, Bike 120, Run 45 (3.25 hrs)
• Strides to warm-up
• Bike 120 (60 min Zn1, then 60 min Zn 2)
• Run 45 min off bike (15 min cadence work then 15 min steady then 15 min cadence work)
• End with a minimum of 15 minutes stretching

Session #2 – Run 30, Bike 75, Run 30, Bike 75 (3.5 hrs)
• Strides to warm-up
• Bike 75 (middle 15 min are Zn 3, rest is Zn 1)
• Run 30 min (focus on cadence, head up)
• Bike 75 min (1/2/3 -- 25 min of each zone)
• End with a minimum of 15 minutes stretching

Session #3 – Run 30, Bike 75, Run 30, Bike 75, Run 30 (4 hrs)
• Strides to warm-up
• Bike 75 (middle 15 min are Zn 3, rest is Zn 1)
• Run 30 min (focus on cadence, head up)
• Bike 75 min (1/2/3 -- 25 min of each zone)
• Run 30 min (15 min of cadence focus then last 15 min builds to Zn 3)
• End with a minimum of 15 minutes stretching

Session #4 – Run 30, Bike 45, Run 30, Bike 45, Run 30 (3 hrs)
• First and last run includes strides with walkbacks, otherwise Zn 1
• Middle run final 15 mins should be Zn 3, else Zn 1 or 2 (steady pace)
• First bike is Zn 1 include 5x20s big gear sprints on 4 min easy recoveries
• Second bike is 15 min of Zn 1/2/3 (each)
• End with a minimum of 15 minutes stretching

Session #5 – Run 30, Bike 75, Run 30, Bike 75, Run 30 (4 hrs)
• First and last run includes strides with walkbacks, otherwise Zn 1
• Middle run – 10 min focus on smooth cadence 85-90, then Zn 3 for ten minutes, final ten minutes steady Zn 1 or 2
• First bike is 20 min Zn 1 then 5x30s big gear sprints on 4 min easy recoveries then hold Zn 2
• Second bike is 1/2/3 pyramid (HR Zn 1/2/3) using a 30/30/15 mins protocol
• End with a minimum of 15 minutes stretching

Our Brick Workouts (Bike & Run Combinations) are outlined in the attached Word file. If you have any suggestions, questions or amendments then please let us know.

EC-BR1_Big Gear Brick
Warm Up with 10 minutes Easy cycling
(10x) Alternate 30s Fast with 30s Easy
10 minutes Steady
5 minutes Easy
(5x) 8 min Big Gear (65 to 75 rpm), Mod-hard effort on 2 min Recovery
5 min Easy
Run off the bike for 30 minutes repeating the following pattern (3x) 3 min Steady, 3 min Mod-hard, 3 min Steady, 1 min walk.

EC-BR2_Power Single Brick
Warm Up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Alternate 1 min “On” / 1 min Recovery
Start the “on” effort at Steady and build to Threshold by the end of the set – do not max out, stay under control.
Total set duration is 20 minutes (which includes the Easy segments)
Cool Down with 5 minutes of Easy cycling
Run off the bike for 30 minutes Easy and relaxed, end with 6x75 meter Strides on 30s walking recovery

EC-BR3_Power Single Brick
Warm Up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Alternate 1 min “On” / 1 min Recovery
Start the “on” effort at Steady and build to Threshold by the end of the set – do not max out, stay under control.
Total set duration is 30 minutes (which includes the Easy segments)
Cool Down with 5 minutes of Easy cycling
Run off the bike for 30 minutes Easy and relaxed, end with 6x75 meter Strides on 30s walking recovery

EC-BR4_Power Single Brick
Warm Up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Alternate 1 min “On” / 1 min Recovery
Start the “on” effort at Steady and build to Threshold by the end of the set – do not max out, stay under control.
Total set duration is 40 minutes (which includes the Easy segments)
Cool Down with 5 minutes of Easy cycling
Run off the bike for 30 minutes Easy and relaxed, end with 6x75 meter Strides on 30s walking recovery

Our Bike Workouts are outlined in the attached Word file. If you have any suggestions, questions or amendments then please let us know.

EC-B1_Aerobic Ride
Ride aerobically inserting 1 or 2x20 minutes Steady effort being sure to stay below your Mod-Hard zone.

EC-B2_Up/Down Ride (20 min Main Set)
Warm-up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Main Set Pattern is 10 minute blocks Alternate 92-94 rpm with 70-75 rpm
Main Set Effort is Steady, use control

EC-B3_Up/Down Ride (30 min Main Set)
Warm-up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Main Set Pattern is 5 minute blocks Alternate 92-94 rpm with 70-75 rpm
Main Set Effort is Steady, use control

EC-B4_Up/Down Ride (2x20 min Main Set)
Warm-up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Main Set Pattern is 5 minute blocks Alternate 92-94 rpm with 70-75 rpm
Main Set Effort is Steady, use control, insert up to 5 minutes Recovery between the 20 min intervals

EC-B5_Up/Down Ride (2x30 min Main Set)
Warm-up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Main Set Pattern is 7.5 minute blocks Alternate 92-94 rpm with 70-75 rpm
Main Set Effort is Steady, use control, insert up to 5 minutes Recovery between the 20 min intervals

EC-B6_Change Up Ride (24 Minute Main Set)
Warm-up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Main Set pattern is Alternating 6 minute blocks 92-94 rpm with 70-75 rpm
Effort is Steady

EC-B7_Change Up Ride (32 Minute Main Set)
Warm-up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Main Set pattern is Alternating 4 minute blocks 92-94 rpm with 70-75 rpm
Effort is Steady

EC-B8_Change Up Ride (2x24 Minute Main Set)
Warm-up with 10 minutes Easy, 10 minutes Steady, 5 minutes Easy
Main Set pattern is Alternating 6 minute blocks 92-94 rpm with 70-75 rpm

This question comes up a lot...

Question: I saw a reference on your board about big gear ME sessions. Can you please elaborate?

Answer: It is pretty much as one might expect. Put your bike into a much larger gear than normal and grind it out. I have found it to be very effective to build my ability to push a solid gear in the flats. As well, I can get a lot of "work" done with a relatively lower heart rate.

Here's a range of variables that I use in my main sets:

• 2-8 intervals of 3-20 min duration
• goal is strength workout, not HR - don't leave your mod-hard zone
• HR cap is AeT+15 bpm
• RI is 25-33% of WI
• Start with 20 min of total work, build to 60 mins
• use a low cadence, stay in your TT position, push a big gear
• Think circles

++

Question: Do you schedule these as BT sessions or within other base building or long rides? For what limiters would you prescribe this workout? I’m assuming Force and ME. Is this session preferred to more traditional, TT cadence ME work? If so, why?

Answer: This is typically a mid-week bike session. I will also include a big gear set within the long ride when laying out a series of main sets. I'll complement this work with hills and traditional endurance training.