The trouble with trying ti get fit is that it can become a little more than a habit and become an obsession. You end up trying to do more in order to improve, but in the end just do too much. Resting is very much an important part of any training schedule and after last night MTB ride I think today and tomorrow will be rest days for me.
I felt tired from the start and I guess that isn’t surprising. The day before I did a turbo trainer session in the afternoon, followed by a circuit training session and a swimfit session. Then, on top of all that I didn’t sleep very well, only managing to fall asleep for an hour or so on Tuesday night. I then met Dave in Penrhyncoch for a long ride last night. We started off with a long ride up the Bont Goch climb and it wasn’t long before I realised that my legs weren’t up to it. I was soon lagging behind Dave who seemed to be more spritely than usual!
I made it to the top where we met Dan and we headed off through the mist and fog around the Summit Trail. Dan isn’t quite up to speed at the moment either, so at least I had someone behind me on the leg-burner climb, but Dan headed off home after that leaving me trying to keep up with Dave again.
We came back down from Nant yr Arian via Cymsymlog which although a descent does have quite a bit of pedalling along the flats and little rises so even that was hard work but at least I managed to put it in a big gear and keep up. The battery on my lights then died so I had to stick with Dave’s wheel for the last half mile or so in order to see where I was going.
As you can see, it was a fairly hilly 20 miles.
Last nights ride
A good ride, but I’m not sure how useful it was as I was just plodding around doing my best to keep going. Time for a rest day today and maybe some yoga in preparation for a nice long steady ride over the weekend.
I’m enjoying this and seem to be getting better.
I did the same workout as last week, 3:2 minute intervals on the turbo trainer. Last week I did them at 270 Watts with the final one at 280 Watts and my heart rate hit 164bpm on the last one. This week I increased the wattage to 280 Watts and expected to struggle. The first repetition did feel quite hard and I still thought I might struggle come the end, but as I got into it they seemed to stay relatively easy. So much so that I increased the wattage to 290 Watts on the last one. Despite that my heart rate only peaked at 155 Watts.
My legs were feeling it come the end, but it does seem as though I’m improving. Just in time for some races throughout the summer. It does mean I will have to increase the wattage to 290 Watts next time, which I sure will start to hurt!
Nice steady interval workout
It looks as though my hard work on the turbo trainer may be paying off as I seem to be making some improvements.
I did my 1 minute interval session yesterday, where after a warm up I try to do 7 repetitions of 1 minute hard and 1 minute easy. After a little bit of experimentation over a few weeks I found my limits and could just about do these with the hard effort at 350 Watts. I have since done a few of these at 350 Watts, which normally gets my heart rate up to around 90-95% of my theoretical maximum.
Last time I did them on January 19th they felt a little easier and heart rate was only 89% of its maximum so today was the day to increase the output to 360 Watts. I had tried them at 360 Watts before and failed miserably. On that occasion I only managed 5 repetitions, but today was different. In fact, although the last one did feel quite tough it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. I managed all 7 reps and with a maximum heart rate of 162bpm I was still only working at 89% of my maximum.
This may all sound very encouraging and it looks as though there are signs of improvement, but it also means that I should try them at 370 Watts next time. I don’t think I’ll be able to complete all 7 reps at that power output, but it has to be worth a go.
I felt quite good at circuits and in the pool on Tuesday too, so maybe I’m just having a good couple of days – We’ll see how I fare in the real world on my night MTB ride tonight.
Heart rate from todays Turbo Trainer workout
Ready to go...
I haven’t really been out on my bike in the ‘Real World’ for a while. I’ve been on the turbo trainer quite a bit recently and I’ve had one or two little rides in the snow, but nothing proper and nothing on my Commencal Meta 5.5 since replacing lots of bits on it. I wanted to give it a bit of a shale down and as the snow and ice seemed to have mainly metled I decided to do a circuit of the ClimachX Trail.
So off I set up the first climb with my new drive-chain, new rear wheel and new bottom bracket. All felt OK, although it did feel like quite a slog. The recent snow-melt had made conditions pretty claggy under-tyre and I was soon a little too hot thanks to having to wear a Buff to keep protect my ‘surfer’s ear‘.
Once onto the singletrack it wasn’t any easier. Claggy and hard work with some snow and ice here and there. It then started pouring with rain and as I got higher there was some areas of slippery ice on some of the fire-roads. Nothing too bad and all very rideable, except for the sharp turn onto the rocky climb up to ‘Better Late than Never’. I had to dismount here and shuffle across the ice.
The top of the final descent was a little difficult too as it still had quite a bit of snow on it so I took it fairly easy, although I think it would have been OK. The final descent after the rock garden was really good though.
I was a little disappointed with my time of 1 hour 10 minutes (my record is 56:17 – Click here for a report from that day.). Especially seeing as it felt quite hard and my average Heart Rate was 151 bpm. I’m not sure if it was the bike, the conditions or me. Most likely a combination of the latter two. The conditions would certainly have slowed me down quite a bit but maybe not by a whole 14 minutes. I’m probably not quite up to speed either, and the fact that I’ve done quite a bit of training this week probably means that I could do with a rest.
I’ve just looked it up and so far this week I’ve done 6 turbo trainer sessions, a circuit training session, 2 swims and 2 mountain bike rides. Time for a couple of rest days.
I’ve just done another PWC170 test on my turbo trainer. Hopefully this one is more accurate as well as the first one I did allowed me to find the Power Outputs that I should be working at to provide workrates of 120-140 bpm for the first 6 minute effort and 150-170bpm for the second 6 minute effort.
The first time I did it I had to ramp up to 180 Watts and 260 Watts respectively to achieve the heart rates. Today I was able to start at those wattages and sit at them for the whole 6 minutes. They actually worked out just a little too low as my heart rate after the first 6 minutes was 120bpm and after the second 6 minutes it was only 149bpm. I shall increase the wattages by 10 watts each next time to see how that works out.
According to my PWC170 calculator that gives me a score of 318. So, my power output at 170bpm should be 318 Watts. Hopefully as I do more training that will increase.
I’ve just done another of my 1 minute interval sessions on the turbo trainer and I think I’m finding my limit. The session involves a 10 minute warm up and then 7 repetitions of:
- 1 minute hard
- 1 minute recovery
Followed by a warm down. The first time I did it I did the hard intervals at 320 Watts, that was OK so I increased it to 340 Watts the second time which actually felt a little better! I then upped the wattage to 360 Watts on my third attempt but couldn’t do it and only managed 5 repititions at that wattage.
Today I decided to split the difference and try it at 350 Watts. This time I completed all 7 repetitions and it didn’t kill me. It was pretty difficult but it did feel OK. I think I’ll do a couple more like that over then next two weeks and then try it at 360 Watts again. My heart rate was up to 166bpm on the final few repetitions which is about 92% of my theoretical maximum so that’s a pretty good workout as far as I’m concerned.
Interval Training Heart Rate Trace
MTB Event
Exercise is a funny thing. Some of us hate it, some of us can’t get enough of it. It’ll soon be the New Year and people all over will be making plans to do more of it. If your New Year’s Resolution is to get fit, what’s the secret and how do you stick with it?
You really need to make a habit of it. We all know what its like, the first couple of sessions feel horrible and hard work, but the next few actually start feeling good as you get used to it and start improving. After 6 or 7 sessions though you hit a plateau and the excitement and enjoyment start to wane. You then miss a session because its raining, you have a cold or some other commitment gets in the way. You then do a couple more sessions but something else comes along and you miss another, then another and before you know it you are back doing nothing again.
So what do you do to make sure you stick at it?
Make a Plan.
Having a plan of action can help.
Rather than just going out for a run or a swim when you feel like it, sit down, work out your weekly routine and decide when you can fit some training sessions in. Maybe a lunchtime swim a couple of times a week, or cycle to work instead of driving. Once it’s written down and becomes part of your weekly routine it is easier to stick to it.
Better still, tell others of your plan, post it on your blog, publicise it on Facebook, tell us here. The more people that know of your plans, the more encouraged you’ll be to stick to them.
Keep a Diary
Keep a record of what you actually do. There are loads of software applications out there that will help you with this and chart your progress. Not only does it allow you to see if you have been keeping to your plan, but you can see improvements as they happen which will help with motivation.
Couple this with a GPS and Heart Rate Monitor and you can have a really interesting and fun way of analysing your performances. I have written review of Training Software for Macs and you can now even get apps for your iPhone that will do much of this. Keep fit and geek out at the same time!
Train with Others – Join a Club
Training with others has to be the best way to keep you motivated. If you aren’t feeling like an exercise session today, the fact that you’ve made arrangements to meet someone else and would let them down if you didn’t turn up will get you out there. Once you’ve done it you’ll be glad that you did.
Joining a club that meets every week at set times is also a good way to start making a habit of exercise. This goes back to ‘making a plan’ and having set times each week where you do certain types of training. Being part of a club is also a great excuse for a bit of socialising. Being around others who train regularly will encourage you to get out more. Their enthusiasm for sport will rub of on you. The added motivation of a bit of competition is also a great aid to spurring you on to do a little more.
Award Yourself
Award yourself with a meal out or something else nice if you stick to your plans and achieve your goals. Maybe a new pair of running shoes or something new for your bike. The award acts as an incentive for sticking with your plans and the new toy encourages you to get out there more.
Spice it up
Variety is the spice of life, so keep yourself motivated by spicing it up a bit. Instead of running your usual routes, head off to the hills, the woods, the beach or somewhere new for a run. Encourage others out to join you. Try some interval training or something a little different now and then.
Running Event
Enter an Event
There’s nothing like having a specific event to train for to focus the mind and make you get out there. There are countless numbers of running events, triathlons, duathlons, mountain biking events and much more to choose from. Most are inexpensive to enter and make for a great weekend away. Look through the listings, choose something you’d like to do, get together with some friends and enter. You won’t regret it.
If you do these things and manage to stick with it, before you know it your training sessions won’t just be a few random runs or swims, but you’ll have a structured training program and most importantly it will become a habit.
Habits are difficult to break so making a habit of exercise is a good thing. Just make sure it doesn’t become an obsession!
Yes, another turbo trainer post as I’m enjoying my work-outs on it at the moment.
I thought I would try another 1 minute interval session today. So I did exactly the same session as I did on Saturday, but this time increased the wattage on the hard efforts from 320 Watts to 340 Watts.
Surprisingly it felt OK and I completed it without falling off in an exhausted heap. My Heart Rate graph was pretty again but actually peaked at slightly less despite the higher power output. Maximum was 162 bpm this time as opposed to 165 last time.
Heart Rate Trace from todays Turbo Session - Click to enlarge
Looks as though I will have to try a higher power output next time. I think I’ll give it a go at 360 Watts for the hard efforts. How high can I go?
I’m quite enjoying my little turbo trainer sessions at the moment. I know that’s not right, they are supposed to be boring, horrible and painful, but I’ve been doing them at lunch time and feel so much better for it afterwards.
The secret is to mix it up, doing different sessions all the time so that you don’t get bored. I also do some multi-tasking, listening to podcasts whilst I’m doing it and watching the birds on the feeders in the garden.
I’ve been doing a variety of different workouts. The tough interval sessions from Jon following my tests at the Sports and Exercise Science department at the university, some of my own making and some from the Tacx website.
Those by Jon which have been individually tailored for me are supposed to be really tough so I’m only going to do one of those a week for now. The ones I make up are usually quite tough too. The ones from Tacx seem to be about right for me as well. They have various different types, aerobic endurance workouts, interval workouts, sprint workouts and more.
Todays session was session 2 from their aerobic endurance workouts sheet:
Todays Turbo Trainer Session - Click to enlarge
I followed it to the letter and it all felt fairly easy. There is mistake in the Time column; on line 11 the time should be 4 minutes no 1 minute, which also means that the cumulative time column is incorrect and should have an extra 3 minutes added to each value from there on in which gave me something to think about. In fact, as things are constantly changing, the workout seems to fly by. A couple of minutes of one thing and then its time to change the settings, change your cadence etc. so the time flys by and before you know it you’ve been on the turbo trainer for 45 minutes.
Not a bad workout though, nothing too difficult but then an aerobic endurance workout shouldn’t be too taxing. Here’s my heart rate trace during the workout.
Heart Rate Trace - Click to enlarge
I’m feeling a little fitter at last so thought I would have a go at a proper interval session on the turbo trainer this morning.
I had some sample workouts from Jon following my various fitness tests and lab rat sessions at the Sports and Exercise Science Department in the University so had something to aim for. The calibration between the machines at the labs and my Tacx Flow Turbo Trainer isn’t perfect so I made some adjustments to the sessions and gave it a go.
The first of the sessions was to do 1 minute hard followed by 1 minute recovery. The hard efforts were supposed to be at 390 Watts based on my Critical Power Output and the recovery was at 100 Watts. I didn’t think I’d be able to do that on my turbo trainer so adjusted it so that the hard efforts were at 320 Watts.
The first of the 7 hard efforts felt quite difficult, number 2 and 3 felt OK, number 4 started to hurt a little, number 5 was hard, but I was getting close to the end, number 6 was really hard (and I hated Jon while I was doing it) but there was only 1 more to go. Number 7 was difficult but as it was the last one felt OK. I probably could up the wattage a little, I’m not sure if I could do it at 350 Watts but I might give it a go next time. Cadence was kept at around 100 RPM throughout.
Looking at my heart rate for the session though it was pretty much perfect. The hard efforts all peaked at between 85% and 90% of my maximum Heart Rate and recovery was steady.
As you can see from the graph below, the first repetition, although it felt hard only got my heart rate up to 146bpm, then this gradually increased throughout the set.
- 154bpm for rep 2,
- 155bpm for set 3,
- 156bpm for set 4,
- 159bpm for set 5,
- 165bpm for set 6 and
- 162bpm for set 7.
The graph is almost pretty!
Interval Session Heart Rate
