This was last night's 20 minute HIIT session

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

The Peleton does a good job of analyzing the workouts for sure....i like graphs. geek!
After a good while of training, you'll notice that your output will be higher and easier after a good warmup, but you gotta get some fitness before that happens.

It will take a month or 3 to get your body used to using oxygen and developing different fuel systems. Muscles and raw strength don't get far but they are like nitrous oxide in dragsters. That power fuel can be trained to recharge quickly though if that is what you'd like. The best part in this modern day is that the progress is measurable. When I used to lift that was measurable and easy to compare. Weight was weight and reps were reps. Now I got WATTS verus my own weight over time on how hard I can go.

It's good to ride easy like you say. It's relaxing too, at least for me, taking some pressure off the pedals. I'll post up a power graph profile that shows how power drops off over time.

If you get a HR monitor don't get a wrist unit. Get a strap unit that goes around your chest like a Garmin or Wahoo Tickr. They are accurate and the wrist ones are not good for immediate measurements. The wrist ones are good to show you just sitting around or waking up but have a horrible lag and lots of error. Once you get a HR monitor you can quickly find your HR zones and a MAX HR giving you a good indication of your output relative stress level. Everyone's HR and Max is different and doesn't have anything to do with faster beating hearts being better than lower ones. Like my MAX hr is 192bpm and know I can hold a heart rate of 180+ for only 2or3 minutes but I can hold 174 for 20min. I consider anything below 148bpm endurance. That is strictly personal and specific to me. There is a point where you can notice a breathing change. I don't breathe much differently until I get up into 160s. On days that is different, there is generally a reason.

Cool man.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

This one was tough, but it produced the highest total output for a 30 minute class.
I'm starting to not get exhausted until a couple of pushes, I absolutely powered through the first few pushes, but this one was tough, we did three sets of different pushes, twice, with a 60 second halftime flat road to recover, the max rest time for the intervals was 30 seconds, so it was full force for most of it.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

you must be getting a good feel for what it all is about now. You can see what you can do, how hard, for how much time, and how many times you can go and recover. Endurance activities is a whole lot different than what I used to think of as sport. If it took more than 10-20 sec I didn't do it My natural build is that of a sprinter/power guy (lots and lots of fast-twitch) but I've conditioned the slow-twitch over the years. The sudden burst of power will always be there if I train it or not but the training is about being about to "go" and recover and do it dozens of times over an hour or 5.

The biggest aspect to even looking at power (especially outside on hills) is the power to weight. Power to weight is like talking P4P in boxing. In kilograms, it will give you a number like 1.2 to the world elite level at 5-6 watts/kg. At my peak, I'm about a 3.98-4 W'kg. Here is my power curve for 2020. Cross-reference the power left vertical versus time at the bottom. That's how long I can hold whatever versus time. For example: I can hold 350 watts for 5-7min and 290ish for 20min to an hour. The curve drop off radically for everyone. 1 min is in the 600-700 watt range.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

I'm fighting.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

You might even get an outside bike Truth.
It's a cool damn feeling to be able to pedal effortlessly on the flats covering a lot of miles.
Fresh air and sun are damn good too.
I could even tell you that the sub-freezing temps are a shit ton of fun too like a damn high-speed rollercoaster on snowmobile trails up here in the mountains....but that shit ain't for everybody.
You can ride outside at sub 0 temps and not get cold but you gotta have the right shit.

Yo V, so I've been taking some of your advise of course, specifically the one about not me burning myself..
So yesterday I went in for a 30 minute live class, with the intension of pacing myself while still keeping course with the class, this is easy because when we are being told to maintain a cadence of 70-90 with a resistance of 35-45 for example, I'll simply just go 80 38 to keep it light, but man, it was too easy and I ended up beating my 30 minute output with ease.
So today I'm going to jump on a 45, and see if I can with Vince tested effort beat my beat output for a 45 minute class.
I was drenched when I was done last night, but for the first time I was almost completely recuperate less than 2 minutes from getting off the bike.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

IT getting easier and you being faster/stronger will happen like magic when you might not even expect it. The absolute best thing you can do is improve your aerobic output (i.e with oxygen) while at the same time improve your utilization of fat as energy and keep that high power gas in reserve for when it comes to hammer. To do that, you have to ride as long as you can sit there and turn out 55-65$ of FTP or maximal sustainable output. You might not know exactly what that output is until you do a real formal test to find out.

It's not exciting, but it's better to do it and just watch a movie putting out what Id guess to about 100 Watts give or take. Drink water. There will get to be a weird feeling you have at I'm guessing at 40 minutes in and that will be you starting to burn fat. Take in some sugar or eat something during the ride if you have to. Doing this will give muscles time to relax and repair from the interval workouts. Your circulatory system will also make adaptations over time. If you aren't already use a good fan. Most of your body's power is actually going to waste just trying to cool you off. You'll be able have better output the cooler you are. It might not make sense at first but I promise its true.

Do a test after a rest day...warm up for 10 or so and then put out as much as you can without any surges at a steady state for 20min and take note of what that number is. Peleton has an FTP test on demand I am 100% sure of so do that...whatever that FTP number is the long endurance pace is 55-65% of that number. And believe it or not, riding there for a long ass time will give you the best benefits. right now. So if your FTP is 130....85 WATTs is where you should ride watching a movie...or 2.

If you do this twice a week and ride a long time I absolutely 100% guarantee you that if you go back to your intervals and start out with an easy warm-up up you'll smoke your personal bests. It will be like magic but it requires patience. Aside from the easy riding with about 15% at high intesity REST is where your body will make the changes to improve. Its not intuitive because we keep thinking harder is better and more is better.

I ride about 5-7 hours/wk on a short week like now. But when I'm getting fit I ride 12-15hr/wk. 2 rides of 3hrs+ at 60ish% and then other rides with high-intensity intervals like hills. I might even warm up for an hour at the low intensity and then blow out some intervals for an hour after that and cool down after. Some of my personal bests has been 2+hrs into a ride. Next thing you know....50miles done in 1 sitting.

So, here is a good example of what I'm talking about riding low.
I literally didn't sweat with the fan running except a drop on one climb over an hour in.
Just watching a movie with my daughter.

This is about as rested I've been because I've taken a good month not to do too much after 7000+ miles this year with about 600k worth of climbing ft. The thing about being rested is you lose aerobic output but get big high output short power. The problem is that you can repeat the big power and go into oxygen debt and no matter how big your muscles are they won't respond without the oxygen.

I think I'm about ready to get back at it but I was burned up mentally as much as physically. At my peaks, I can put out 280-300Watts for an hour at 155lb and at about 7min I can do 350Watts. That is how big the power drop-offs become going over what you can sustain with oxygen with your heart and lungs doing most of the work. My 1 min peak power is about 650-700Watts. Its not too shabby for a 51year old man aging sprinter. My strongest tool is still sprinting/accelerations.

I've got friends who are better than me by quite a margin over the long 20+ min range but they can't shake me off their wheel because of drafting. I'll always win at the line. Drafting allows you to work 20-40% less at the same speed of someone who is breaking the air in front. And I'm small relatively and its like being behind a big truck tucked in behind.

Not happy with my performance today.
Did I break my personal output record for 45 minutes? Yes.
Lethargic though, and I played myself by thinking I could do this live class at 5pm without my phone blowing off the fucking hook because of work.
Motherfuckers.
Henny on ice feels right now, about to take a couple pulls.
A
Meet you at the drugs and alcohol site.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

Don't sweat the days that your body doesn't want to work. There is usually a reason or many reasons. Normally, someone like me do periods of 4-8 weeks of work hitting a peak and then do an off week. The off week is either completely off or very light stuff. This is an ebb and flow thing and you can't ride a peak forever. Formal plans are a pain is the ass and can take the fun out of it for some, but they work the best hitting muscles, fuel systems, and everything in between. A person can ride so hard one day and the next can't pedal for shit.

I have some complicated ass analysis of my fitness cycles over the last 2 years where it estimates fitness, fatigue, and form/performance. There is a balance in there somewhere but it's hard to find. To a point, this gets mental as fuck. Pedaling hard with the biggest ass muscles your body has can be an exquisite fucking pain. 5 min in on a hard effort I sometimes think I can't go anymore. I back down ever so slightly and then get at it again and it goes harder and faster. Sometimes it takes a bit for arteries and your system to start flowing. Holding your heart rate at 95% of its maximum is some crazy ass don't do it very often kind of thing. My max hr at 51 is 192ish and my race pace is 172ish. I can hold 172 for an hour but 180 for about only 5 tops. 130-150 is all day long. And strangely, as you get super fit your max goes down while your power will be higher at all heart rates depending on cooling or the temp outside.

Give it time and when you feel burnt back off and ride easy for a few days. Not 1 or 2, but ride easy or not at all for 3-5 days and get back on it. You'll be fresh and fly. Right now the feelings are new and it will be hard for you to tell what's going on. For as long as I've done this I still get lost. Its something hard to measure but your Peleton numbers won't lie.

Truth...here is another example of edging the system at some higher levels without taxing it too much preventing a backward step early in a training block. For my particular body type, I found it better to nudge higher wattage zones without keeping my heart rate high. My race pace at an hour can be 170+. I'll do 1 min intervals and go back down for a min and go again. I take note of how well my heart rate goes back down during the rest minute as a guide to how I'm progressing. It also matters how you feel. In the beginning, the heart rate won't stay down and will keep climbing. Also, your heart rate drifts upwards over time at lower outputs but that is just an indicator of stress and your body looking harder for fuel in other places. Over time your heart rate will drift upwards less and that will allow you to ride longer. You should also take note on how you are breathing and during this one I'm never taking a hard breath and usually can't hear myself breathing until mid 160s for a few minutes. The enemy is lactic acid and the goal is to use it as fuel or not build it up too much. Slower and progressing gradually is faster over a long haul but it won't feel like it in the beginning of a ride.

I'm about to jump on for 30 in a few, I've found myself infatuated with a rating my previous output for the specific length I riding and I've bee it able to do so for the last 5-6 rides, I am giving in to this objective until my body simply says know and I'll know this very early on in the ride, and when that happens I'll just coast and get my sweat in without over exerting myself. I'm finding that I can lock in a personal best and just keep pace the remaining way, so I'm not killing myself.
My legs hurt until I start peddling, but the minute I have that day I can't beat a personal best, then I will follow that up with a few very light days to recuperate some.
Funny, today might actually be the day. I was forced to take two days off work today and tomorrow prior to going on my two week mandatory leave in a few weeks, and I've been shut down the entire day, not sure I'll be able to get on and produce the same type of bursts that have been pushing me past my personal best.
It's hard to get on and not try to beat your personal best, the numbers are staring right at you, so you naturally just go for it.
The 30 minute classes I've been taken have 3 different zones, Hills, intervals and just straight trying to blow out th and cadence with a relatively high resistance, then a flat road in between. The reason why I've been able to constantly beat my personal best, I'm having better bursts and during the flat road recovery I'm not bringing the resistance down too much, while everybody else is really light on resistance I'm keeping mine where I can feel the pressure on the pedals, it helps me keep my legs and body disciplined with the pressure, and when the zones hit I load up and really out a hurting on my legs, to the point where I have to rise and take it out of the saddle to meet the hill I'm supposedly climbing.
I'll let you know when I get I feel strong enough to do one of those tests, I found the classes, too early right now though I need to get used to longer hills before I dive into that shit.
Good looking out V keep em coming. I have a three week streak, today is the beginning of my 4th week with the Peleton.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

Shatrered my 30 minute output best by 31 points, but I etted 292.
Got two glasses, one with tequila on the rocks, the other Henny on the rocks. Rice and beans with pork chips once the high sets in.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

Yea Truth, you are getting a good feel of what it's all about.

Im sure you can just freeride without an instructor, so one day try something. Whatever your average maximum output number you have set over a given time, note that number. That number is probably during an interval workout with an instructor. Start a ride just riding at say at 75 watts for 10 min and then bump up to the average output number you have during those interval workouts and try to just hold it and see how it feels at a steady state. My guess is you will find it easier to maintain that number or best it at a steady state. Gradually increase output by 10 watts every min and note where you start to sweat and how your breathing goes. These are all good indicators of where your output zones are over time periods. In this beginning phase getting your body used to the type of stress, a steady-state will give you the best benefits but you won't think so until a few weeks from now you'll think the Peleton bike is broken or worn in because it will just seems easier.

Today I watched a long movie on Nflix working endurance and aerobic systems with a few pushes just to stretch. You can get stiff after a while.

V that's insane. I would have to round up on miles per just to get to 40 miles in 2 hours, and that would require maintaining the effort I just had which has produced my most important performance.
Those are the stats I'm aiming for. I will let you know what my numbers are this upcoming weekend, when I plan to take my first 60 minute course. I expect a drop off, just knowing I'm going 60 will motivate me to pace myself significantly. My max on the bike has been 45.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

It's all relative Truth. I've been doing it a long time and I don't think I was this strong in my 20's on a bike. I just understand more now and train better. You'd be surprised at how easy I ride most of the time like today. 85'% is easy..15% hard. Back then I rode too hard too often and got worse over time especially during the racing season. I'd start the season great and fade out until resurging in the fall enduro races. I was working night shifts too and that didn't help.

I'm curious how Peleton rates their leaderboard. I see it on a few friends Strava fed who ride a Peleton. Is it a strict measure of Watts output? It should be Watts/kg. A big guy putting on more watts can be slower than a smaller guy or gal who weighs half as much. It doesn't matter much until you get to a hill though.

Get a HR monitor if you can. A Wahoo Tickr strap or Garmin with Bluetooth will connect to the Peleton computer I'm sure and it costs a third as much. NOt all Garmins have Bluetooth but instead, use something called ANT+.

You are already getter fitter without question. Your heart will get strong!

Finally happened V. My steak of obliterating my records came to an end last night as I hopped off the bike dropping in sweat with my legs fucking weak as can be.
I'm almost relieved. I'm looking forward to riding a smooth 30 minutes today, knowing I won't come close to my personal bests, I just want to get the workout in and stretch my legs. I'll select a low impact class.

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

Once you hit a big PR you'll find it takes its toll later if you really put yourself in it....especially if you don't or take it easy for a few days.
It's mental too and the physical hurt doesn't lie.

I'll give you as much advice as you want. My main advice is to do the FTP test and set that as your real benchmark to measure where you are when riding at any given moment. A ramp FTP test would probably suit you best. ITs shorter, more intense, to failure, and will give you all the info you need to hit the right zones during your sessions. You can then have personal bests at given times like peak sprint power, 1 min power, 5 min, and 20 min, and so on. It's the best way to know how to pace yourself. On any day that you can't hit zones comfortably when you used to it tells you that it's time to back off.

I rarely hit maximum efforts knowing it doesn't do me any good to build a better machine. I save maximum efforts racing or chasing King of the Mountain crowns on Strava outside. You'll get the best power numbers if you just save the hard efforts to 1 or 2 days at most a week. The most common and biggest mistake most make is going too hard too often. The longer you can ride at a low pace will improve everything you are doing. Remember its heart, lungs, blood flow, and fuel sources is the biggest part of this game. It's shit you can't see or hardly feel. It never gets easier, but you just get faster.

I'll post up some of my best efforts so you can get an idea of how easy I ride for the rides I've shown you. They won't look believable. My point will be to show you riding easy you'll make you strong. There are inside trainer rides and outside GPS tracked rides with power numbers.

I worked a full ridiculous shift today. Did chest. Triceps..
Went to Shoprite, argued with a freckle face 16 year old only let me buy one pack of toilet paper, came back home and went on to my nice and easy 30 minute ride.
I beat my personal record. Again.
At this point one has to ask the question.
Do I consider going professional?

_________________


How I feel after failing the Anis test

If it floats your boat.

Here's is an outside ride on my fat bike bike just doing hill repeats
this is a hard workout....i did it in the rain..its good for cooling
VO2 workout...350Watt @ 5min x 5-7 repeats
with some 700Watt @ 30sec to finish the climb
2000 vertical ft/hr on a 40lbs bike with 5inch wide tires.
ave Watts is close to 300 but I have to coast back down the hill

Long solo ride with a few hard efforts about 2hours in.
Most of the time steady pedaling with some coasting downhills.
almost 1200ft vert/hr.