The workouts don't change: who you are as a rider changes how you should do the workouts

Riders come in all shapes and sizes and we all have our own motivations and reasons we ride. As a result each of us has unique physical characteristics as a rider. In this blog let’s look at how different types of rides might approach the same workout with an individual approach.

For the sake of simplifying things let's think of riders falling on a sliding scale. At one end, the left, we have riders that need to improve their strength; in the middle we have riders that are fairly fit and have a good balance of fitness; and on the right we have riders that are very fit and experienced. Obviously, there may be some differences in the training plans between riders, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be doing the same workouts. The trick is that each rider should approach the workout to individualize it. Remember, in the Riding with your structured workout files blog, we talked about how wattage prescriptions are not a panacea. A great deal of individualization happens at the level of the workout.

In most of our minds we have this idea that working harder equates with getting better. It's human nature. This thinking applies to both workout types and work within the workout. Riders think that VO2 training provides more benefit than endurance. Or that when riding within a training zone that riding at the top of that training zone is always best. Harder is better is too simple a way of looking at training. What do we mean by that? Let’s take a look at how different riders might do the same workout. We’ll use a 4 x 15-minute tempo workout as an example. In the Sans Chaine way.

Rider 1 - A solid rider, but someone who sits in the group and hopes not to get dropped.

This rider is someone that rides consistently, but finds they lack some strength. They need to get stronger. Normally, at Sans Chaine we would say that heart rate should be a primary metric in guiding a tempo workout, see the How and why to do your tempo blog. A tempo ride should be done in the tempo heart rate zone, with the power moderated so that the heart rate doesn’t go into threshold.

Looking a little closer perhaps in this rider’s case that rule is too restrictive. Here we have a rider that needs to push some wattage, and put their legs under tension, so that they get stronger. When they push their tempo watts though their heart rate tends to move up towards, and into, their threshold zone. And while this workout is slightly challenging for them muscularly they can do it again the following day and not be overly fatigued.

In many cases this type of rider will not have a great deal of differentiation between their training zones, with the bands defining the zones being fairly small since they don’t have a big wattage range as of yet. Their objective should be to work on creating differentiation between their zones by building strength.

So what would be the recommendation to this rider? In order to be able to work against enough resistance, they should probably ignore the heart rate rule and ride in their power zone. This rider should be pushing towards the top of their tempo training zone and push more power but be careful not to get into the threshold zone.

Here is an example of what their ride might look like:

A nice tight wattage band within the tempo wattage zone.

But for this ride their heart rate builds and builds throughout the effort:

The key will be managing their perceived exertion and their fatigue as they progress through a training plan. As they get stronger they may have to change their approach to start following the heart rate rules.

Rider number 2 - This rider is in the group, doesn't get dropped and sometimes leads and pulls

This rider is fairly fit and can already push some decent wattage, having done the appropriate training to build their endurance base. They can push some wattage and have their heart rate remain stable. Their heart rate is coming inline with their tempo power, meaning that when they push tempo wattage they are riding at their tempo heart rate. They are in a good place. For this rider the rule of thumb, that heart rate should be the primary guide for tempo, should be followed. It will yield good results, with workouts that are appropriately challenging for tempo work. There is no need to always push to the top of the tempo training zone because in the middle of the zone they can do some good work.

An example of what this rider’s tempo could look like:

The heart rate comes into the tempo zone quickly:

But the rider does a good job of pacing the workout and is able to maintain and even slightly increase their wattage:

This rider may find that the differentiation between the training zones has changed - the bands defining the zones are getting broader. They may want to recalculate their training zones and, if warranted, create a split between their tempo and sweetspot training zones.

This rider has to pay attention to how each workout feels and make a decision each day as to what sort of wattage they are going to push. When making these daily decisions the goals of repeatability and longevity - the Sans Chaine way - should be top of mind.

Rider 3 - This rider is controlling the group and is able to put others on the rivet

Finally, we have our riders that have big engines and mature, well developed fitness. Paradoxically, for these riders it is almost a case of the stronger you get the easier you have to train. If these riders train at the top of their training zones they are sure to dig themselves a hole of fatigue, leading to mental burnout and the need to take some time away from the bike. Not the way to improve.

This rider needs to apply both heart rate and power metrics to their training. They may, for instance, start a tempo workout riding by power and wait to see what the heart rate does that day. Unlike rider number two, who’s heart rate may rise into the tempo zone quite quickly, rider number 3 may end up riding much of their tempo session at the top of their endurance heart rate zone while the power is firmly in their tempo wattage zone.

For these riders more diversification of their rides is important. In this example workout we are discussing tempo. Tempo training is about adding hours and accumulating back-to-back days. This rider may want to push a bit more watts on day one, with the heart rate rising nicely into the tempo zone. Day two may be the same wattage, but with the heart rate rising faster on the second day they may need to back off the wattage a bit to stay within the tempo heart rate zone. And day three may be a case of riding some very manageable, lower end, tempo wattage where the heart rate rises ever so slowly across the workout.

An example of what day one might look like:

While the rider pushes up into their tempo zone:

Their heart rate is slow to respond, but does eventually reach their tempo zone for a good chunk of the effort:

In the case of this rider what they need to think about and manage is muscular fatigue. For example, if this rider trains with their heart rate at the top of their tempo zone - honestly following the Sans Chaine rules - they will find the cumulative fatigue building up too quickly. Their level of fitness allows them to push too much wattage when using only the heart rate approach. In their mind the training won’t feel like tempo, it will feel muscularly more like threshold work. If we look again through the lens of repeatability and longevity this approach will not work. This training feels good for a while, until the rider gets tired and has to take a break. Thereby undoing all of the training they had put in. This ends up being a one step forward, two steps back approach.

What we are trying to emphasize is that it's not the type of workout that needs to be different amongst riders. What is important is that you should do the workout in a manner that suits who you are as a ride. Be aware of how the workouts feel. Know yourself as a rider and individualize your workout. Have confidence that your choices will have a lasting effect and that training is a long game. This will allow you to make the decisions that are necessary for your success.