Antiglycolytic training on the cycling stand.

[BER]

I am a novice cyclist and plan to use the fall and winter to build up my aerobic base with a very simple plan. I live in a hilly area and want to maintain some hill power for spring. I was reading up on Antiglycolytic training. An idea came to me that I could cycle on my training stand and do 10-12 sec of higher gear sprinting (stopping before or right at the point of feeling the burn) rest and repeat on the minute for as many times as appropriate. And do that a few times a week. I'm looking for easy to recover programs. I'm 40 and have slower than average recovery(in my opinion).

 

[Anna C]

I am a novice cyclist and plan to use the fall and winter to build up my aerobic base with a very simple plan. I live in a hilly area and want to maintain some hill power for spring. I was reading up on Antiglycolytic training. An idea came to me that I could cycle on my training stand and do 10-12 sec of higher gear sprinting (stopping before or right at the point of feeling the burn) rest and repeat on the minute for as many times as appropriate. And do that a few times a week. I'm looking for easy to recover programs. I'm 40 and have slower than average recovery(in my opinion).

I'm a long-time cyclist and I'm sure you would get some good out of that. I might suggest doing your effort every 2 minutes instead of every minute, but it depends on how hard your effort is. If your breathing and HR settle back to your recovery rate between efforts, then OTM might work. If you're really going hard during that work interval (like all-out on an airdyne bike... hard to really go that hard on a trainer), you'd need more rest than that, and there will be quite a noticeable difference between working 10 sec vs 12 sec. So a lot depends on how you do it.

I also might suggest 2 steady state rides per week plus1 like the one you describe, rather than 3x/wk as you describe. But overall whatever helps you put in volume/time is going to be best. Make somewhat enjoyable in whatever ways you can! You can build a lot of aerobic fitness in the off season if you can put in the time. Of course, building your volume with progression is important... you can't just jump right into 10 hrs/week. It's pretty easy to find a base building plan if you search online.

 

[offwidth]

I am a novice cyclist and plan to use the fall and winter to build up my aerobic base with a very simple plan. I live in a hilly area and want to maintain some hill power for spring. I was reading up on Antiglycolytic training. An idea came to me that I could cycle on my training stand and do 10-12 sec of higher gear sprinting (stopping before or right at the point of feeling the burn) rest and repeat on the minute for as many times as appropriate. And do that a few times a week. I'm looking for easy to recover programs. I'm 40 and have slower than average recovery(in my opinion).

What type of trainer do you have? Do you have power meter capability?
What type of ‘winter’ do you have? i.e. Can you ride outside at all?

I also agree with @Anna C about the 2 steady state rides.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

As a bike commuter, given your terrain is mostly uphill, I ask the question: are you more of a grinder or spinner for uphill?

 

[TobyC]

Been a cyclist for while, that plan seems like it may be good once or twice a week but with cycling I don’t think you can really replace long zone 2 rides.

 

[offwidth]

Been a cyclist for while, that plan seems like it may be good once or twice a week but with cycling I don’t think you can really replace long zone 2 rides.

This is a good point. Depending upon the OP’s goals and cycling aspirations a long zone 2 ride could (maybe should) be 2+ hours in length.

 

[offwidth]

One other point… if the OP’s terrain is really and truly very hilly it can be challenging to get decent, long steady state Z2 rides in.

 

[BER]

I'm a long-time cyclist and I'm sure you would get some good out of that. I might suggest doing your effort every 2 minutes instead of every minute, but it depends on how hard your effort is. If your breathing and HR settle back to your recovery rate between efforts, then OTM might work. If you're really going hard during that work interval (like all-out on an airdyne bike... hard to really go that hard on a trainer), you'd need more rest than that, and there will be quite a noticeable difference between working 10 sec vs 12 sec. So a lot depends on how you do it.

I also might suggest 2 steady state rides per week plus1 like the one you describe, rather than 3x/wk as you describe. But overall whatever helps you put in volume/time is going to be best. Make somewhat enjoyable in whatever ways you can! You can build a lot of aerobic fitness in the off season if you can put in the time. Of course, building your volume with progression is important... you can't just jump right into 10 hrs/week. It's pretty easy to find a base building plan if you search online.

Thank you!