Training advice needed:

[Dekonick]

Is it really necessary to take a few days off (even a week?) every few months? I have noticed that my max HR keeps getting lower but I dont feel like I am overtraining. I have a hard time getting my HR over 165-170 even on long climbs that make me want to puke. (long for me is whats available nearby; nothing like what alot of you ride. Its the Ellicott City stuff for me as its the biggest hills in the area) I used to be able to hit 180-190 in december.

I usually ride:

2 out of every 3 days, and I lift or use an elliptical trainer on the third day. I take 1-2 days off a week, but rarely back to back.

My legs are always tired after I ride with friends (they are in much better cond. than I ever will be in)

My usual rides are 30 or so miles;

I dont feel bad, but my max HR just seems to be low to me.

****
when you take a few days off of the bike do you do other cardio activities?

Do you do cardio every day in general? (I did stop running and just do bike or precor)

is lifting weights ok?

[Dekonick]

I guess what I really want to know besides the week rest thingie is:

for someone with my work schedule what training schedule would you suggest? (I work a 24 hour shift, then have 48 hours off. ie - report for work at 7 am monday, off at 7am tuesday - have rest of tuesday, and wednesday off. report for work at 7 am thursday- repeat.... I usually also work 7a-5p 2 weekends a month teaching at a local hospital. I usually do minimal workouts on those days (30 min or so on bike or 30 min on precor - gotta keep the family happy too)

I dont race, but ride with friends who do.
I have rolling hills, and some 2-3 mile long climbs near my house. For flat the B&A trail is 20 min away

My goals are to get faster, and have more endurance. Ill never be a climber (like it but wont be good as I weigh too much) because I keep upper body mass as a necessary evil (due to need for upper body strength at work)

I would estimate my weekly mileage at around 100-125 miles. with daily rides of 1-2 hours
-I can not ride for more than 2-2.5 hours without encountering the wrath of....well you get the picture. At least I now can ride 2 hours and not have a completely p.o.'d wife (she is wonderful but not a cyclist... bummer....)

At work I am given 2 hours to work out. Every fire house has different cardio equipment, but good weight sets.

Advice welcome! :cool:

[Too Tall]

Most coaching advice don't come cheap....luckily your talking to me ;) Your approach could use a little re-defining if you really want to get fitter and faster. Don't be so hard on yourself...you are having fun, riding your bike and the sun is shining.

If you want to improve ALOT I'll suggest you first do some basic testing protocols to see where you are at and set a couple goals....go from there.

My .02 advice, after looking at your schedule, is to go REAL long (endurance) one day and very intense eyeball poppin' (intervals, sprints) and short another. During the rest of the week stretching, yoga, resistance work. Check's in the mail right?

[Dekonick]

absolutely!

$.02 right? :D
So for me on my 2 days off I should: 1) day 1 do killer die scream in agony hill repeats or intervals for about an hour or so

2) day 2 do 3+ hours chill ride just for the fun and beauty of it

3) day 3 - at work just stretch, lift, yoga etc...

4) day 4 (back at work) repeat step 1, etc...

that sounds good to me!

Thanks TT!

[Hard Fit]

You need to rest now and give your heart a break.

[jeffg]

is that the middle range of your workout is lacking, i.e. the upper end of your aerobic range. Eye-popping intervals at or above LT will increase LT; however, you also want your body to ride faster at sustainable pace and, more importantly, train itself to use fat for metabolism and not glycogen as its primary fuel. If you only go eye-poppingly hard and then ride easy, any sustained effort will just devour your limited glycogen stores and then you pop, bonk whatever. I have spent lots of time (well, not as much as I should) riding at about 80-90% of LT I feel it has contributed a great deal to my performance gains over this year, which have quite frankly shocked me given the less than ideal conditions I have been training under. I guess it all depends what you are looking for. Too Tall is foresaking ultra events for that USCF nonsense ;) whereas I am an ultra hack, so that might explain the difference in focus. Nevertheless, I think increasing your aerobic capacity at "tempo" is the next foundation after one's base. I generally try to get one day of cadence work @ tempo, one day @ eye-popper or drool intensity, and one endurance day with several "tempo" efforts thrown in + 1-2 one-hour recovery rides.

As for rest: Dude, if your HR is really low compared to normal, you need at least a week of easy spinning! Have you done a field test lately? If your performance is going down along with your HR, it's time to chill and ward off overtraining. Cycling is supposed to enhance your feeling of well-being, not sabotage it.

[shinomaster]

I was thinking of getting some flat top bars like fsa's or something because is seems to put less presurre on the pad of my hands...I've been having lots of hand pain.. boo hoo

[dgauthier]

You mention your Max heart rate, but what about your resting heart rate? (You measure this by wearing your HRM to bed, and checking your heart rate immediately when you wake up.)

If I'm not mistaken, an elevated resting heart rate is a sign of overtraining.

[Dekonick]

ahhh - resting heart rate... interesting point. I have a marked sinus arrhythmia that I have always had...(my rate is never steady - it changes with inspiration and expiration)

Resting HR is actually quite good - 50 (as long as I am rested and away from caffeine) but not as low as when I was in my early 20's (40-44 back then)

My performance seems to have improved greatly, but I just cant get my HR up as high as I used to be capable of. - I guess its gonna be a week of computrainer light spinning (3 days off so far with no working out- I am going nuts!)

I am just worried that I might be reaching a point that I may be overtraining... I just dont know. I have a good cardio base (at least I think I do. I can go for hours and hours at 60-80% of what was my max and not feel tired at all) its when I go above 80%- in the 85-88% range that I feel 'winded' and get burning in my legs. I would pop for a coach, but I ride for pure enjoyment and health. (but it would be nice to be able to hammer with my friends and not always be the wheelsucker)

[zap]

You mention weight training. What are you doing? Upper body? Legs?

That 24hr shift can't help.

But as Too Tall stated, get one long ride in a week. Ride less (time) on other days to keep the house happy. I think jeffg has the right idea here.

Taking a week off two-three times a year is a good idea. I won a Time Trial many years back after a fairly easy week.

[Dekonick]

Yeah - I hate 24 hour shifts. 20 years ago it was fine cuz they werent too busy - but now you are guranteed not to get sleep (at least quality sleep)

Gotta say tho - its nice to be able to ride in the middle of the day when there isnt too much traffic and the roads are pretty much yours. I ride with a fellow firefighter on our days off. (who is in MUCH better shape than I am - he is 150lbs soaking wet and runs marathons as well as bikes... He kills me climbing.)

The reason I cant go for long rides is not time; its that we are trying to have kids and she (wife) doesnt want me in spandex any longer than an hour at a pop - I push it to 2-3 hours but that is THE MAX. Because of that I am limited to 30-40 mile rides for my long days.

Thats why I need an alternate training plan - I dont need to be cat 1 or even close; just able to ride and keep up with my friends. (some cat 2 and 3's - most 3 or 4)

What is absolutely frustrating is being able to ride for hours, but with friends they ride just that little bit faster - enough to tax me and leave me wasted after a 2 hour ride. I like being wasted, but it would be nice to feel fresh every now and again. (they tell me they dont hammer hard when I ride with them and I believe them...I can keep up for an hour but longer and its MUCH harder for me)

****
tomorrow will be day 4 with no aerobic workout. I dont like it.

Oh yeah - I do full body weight lifting on work days when time permits. I also try for 30 min to 1 hour on the precor too...but I dont get to work out every shift.

[csb]

wife dont want your boys in spandex ? ... well set the trainer up
in the living room next to the idiot box, hop on the trainer wearing nothing
but your birthday suit + shoes, let er get a good gander at that while she
watches opa, you'll be outdoors pretty quick just make sure you get
the spandex back on first.

[zap]

I would stay away from leg weights for the rest of the summer.

Regarding the other matter, umm, go for a long ride, take test ;)