Conditioning, anaerobic, interval, peak...how do I understand all this? Any pointer, please? MLHA (Make Leo Healty Again)

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
perceived exertion. some people think about your A-B-C in terms of how hard they feel they are working. So the same effort can
feel easy one day, and difficult the next - mostly based on fatigue, but sleep, and food count too. Since you use a heart rate monitor,
there are well defined zones based on your age/max HR that trigger different things to happen. I don't know the physiology, i just know that running
slowly helped me run faster, and farther. I trained at 10+min/mile pace to run low 9s for a marathon. go figure.

what this perceived exertion really did was enable a group leader to tell everyone to "recover" or "hardest effort" and it would mean different HRs and Power numbers
for different people - but each person was to judge their effort.

--

so if i look at an endurance ride - the distribution looks like
These are based on "me" - you could think of your A as Z2 and below, B as Z3, and C as Z4 - you can now match the
words about zones to your mental map.

View attachment 91963

Here is @terrabike01's race from yesterday (i forgot my HR strap) - he is your age (a few younger than I), but has a significantly different range
for each zone based on his max HR. In the race, he basically runs his heart rate in the upper end of the sustainable zone. Frank finished 3rd in fatbike
and had some podium finished in MTB last year - he is in very good shape to do this.

View attachment 91965

So as you've established on your trainer, you can "structure" or compose your work-outs, with your A - moderate/conditioning, B -tempo/interval training, C - threshold/Peak - above that is anaerobic - someone else can explain the biology here - i'll just botch what it means in a workout sense.

- so there you have it - some vocabulary - now what to do with it?
training plans will tell you to hit certains zones for a certain amount of time, on certain days....they expect you to follow the plan.
If you don't follow the plan, and fatigue yourself on a recovery day, then can't make the numbers (sustain your heart rate) the next day,
it is postulated that more damage than good was done. @Norm has discussed this in his blog.

As far as "base" - just getting your HR up 3x a week for an hour, then 4x, then add a bit. Nothing crazy. this gives you some fitness to
build upon. Many people go into this and start at zero fitness, and get frustrated. You are not at zero.

Since you are an analytical person, I think we just need to get the words into a working framework for you.
One thing about trail riding, it usually doesn't lend itself to long, low HR riding. It is max effort to get up a hill,
or through some rocks, followed by a recovery, either by stopping, or going very slowly. I found this very difficult
from a fitness standpoint. The roadbike was much better. I could choose a hill based on how i felt that day, and
ride "easy" whenever needed.

PS -

I wore lycra to a spin class full of women wearing yoga pants, and got some strange looks - and an odd comment from the owner.
I don't go anymore because of the smart trainer, but i did switch over to a pull up chamois and regular gym shorts.....

Thanks for taking the time to write all that, I can't read all of it right now but I'll dig in deeper later at home...I feel smarter already for just browsing! I'm also stopping to buy the book that Jim recommended on the OOS thread. Books usually work best for me, that's my mental 'conditioning' I suppose.

It may seem weird, but deviating form everyday English (whatever your everyday is, mine is colloquial, IT and automotive) can be challenging for a non-native English speaker.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
How or where do you start with training like this.

if you are a strava premium member, they have free training plans. - for the $75/yr it is worth it - so is the extra money for veloviewer.com to visualize your progress.

here is the beginner, indoor endurance plan for 4 weeks riding 4x/wk - hopefully readable.

Screenshot 2019-04-01 at 19.24.06.png
 

jklett

Well-Known Member
I don't know if it helps but if you have a speed sensor you can try trainerroad. I tried a whole bunch of different types of plans but this one was the most straightforward thing for me. Once you set it up, you just try to match the numbers they put up. It is a monthly fee for it but they have a 30 day refund policy. I like it because it's structured and I don't have to think about if I'm going hard enough or not, it shows me what to do. Whether or not it works has yet to be seen but I feel better than I did before I started with it.
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
my completely un-scientific point of view is that if you have limited time, then you should try to run on days you can't ride.... i hate it, but have found that (in un-scientific terms) it improves my stamina (defined as how long i can ride uphill without having to stop, or how bad/good i feel at the top of a climb) faster than if i only bike.

Slightly more scientific, I wear a Garmin forunner biking, find out my "max heart rate", adjust the training zones and see how much less time i spend in maximum vs. improved average speed on the same route...

I have bad ankles from my basketball days, ironically I wasn’t much of a jumper. Besides not liking it, my ankles ache after a while.
 

Juggernaut

Master of the Metaphor
Long commutes afford ample time for podcasts (not our podcast... that’s Vaporware). But I digress. The long established mantra of base miles in winter long rides with low to med efforts still work, but only if you have the time for them. You very clearly stated that you don’t so we’re moving on to plan “b” (not to be confused with the morning after pill), HIIT or high intensity interval training. It’s exactly what it sounds like. You’ll have no problem finding a mountain of written words on the subject. So, water, clean diet, consistent quality sleep and exercise. You will be awesome.
 
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serviceguy

Well-Known Member
Long commutes afford ample time for podcasts (not our podcast... that’s Vaporware). But I digress. The long established mantra of base miles in winter long rides with low to med efforts still work, but only if you have the time for them. You very clearly stated that you don’t so we’re moving on to plan “b” (not to be confused with the morning after pill), HIIT or high intensity interval training. It’s exactly what I sounds like. You’ll have no problem finding a mountain of written words on the subject. So, water, clean diet, consistent quality sleep and exercise. You will be awesome.
Sounds great. Can I try the morning after pill instead? J/K
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I instinctively smiled but didn’t get it.

Haha, let's go with "blank stare."

If you get in a car to go somewhere, you take it from A to B. I think my response to your first post is, "do you know what B is?"
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
Haha, let's go with "blank stare."

If you get in a car to go somewhere, you take it from A to B. I think my response to your first post is, "do you know what B is?"

B is getting off my HBP meds, and that for me also means loosing weight and get on a more active lifestyle.

P.S. also trying to enjoy the trip from A to B, why not?
 
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