“HELP ME BOOST MY BIKE STRENGTH & ENDURANCE”
Kevin Gerrard has strong legs but lacks the endurance to keep his pedalling power up for a 70.3 bike leg. Nik Cook has the answers…
Kevin: Over the last couple of years I’ve improved my bike strength so I can complete 8 x 3mins at over 330W. But I struggle to hold a high power for longer rides at pace, for example 70.3 distance. What’s the best way to raise the power I can hold for 2-3hr rides?
Nik: Often, the best way to train for something is to actually do it. So, the simple answer to your question is to do well-paced rides of 3+ hours, instead of 3min intervals. Ensure that your functional threshold power (FTP) is accurately tested [see Training Bike, p82] and, for 70.3-distance training, aim to hold 80-85% of it. Try to ride at a consistent effort, keeping your average and normalised power figures as close as possible. These rides should be a weekly staple of your training.
During the week, the classic 2 x 20min turbo session is your best bet. Warm up, ride 20mins at 100% FTP, spin for 10mins to recover, repeat and then cool down. Remember to re-test your FTP every 6-8 weeks to ensure you’re working to the right effort levels.
What are the best gym/weight exercises to build bike strength?
Combining strength and endurance training successfully can be difficult. Endurance training can limit your strength gains and strength work can impact on the quality of your endurance sessions. For this reason, it’s a good idea to schedule in a dedicated strength block so it can be your main focus. The early off-season is a good time for this as your swim, bike and run training will be at lower intensities.
Exercise wise, focus on squats, deadlifts and split-squats/lunges. If I had to pick one exercise, it’d have to be the Bulgarian Squat – a split leg squat with the foot of your rear leg resting on a raised surface, such as a step or bench, for example.
Set and rep-wise, keep it simple: 3 x 10 should suffice but you should struggle to complete the final set.
Of course, you can do strength work on the bike too. Find a steep hill, or increase the resistance on your turbo, and ride for 5mins in a gear that just allows you to hold 60rpm, then spin easy for 5mins. Repeat that 5-6 times.
What’s the best brick workout to improve my bike and run for middle-distance/70.3 racing?
I’ve always been a big brick fan and do a 15min race-pace run after every long ride. It just gets you used to finding your rhythm with jelly legs.
Before you start tapering down to your 70.3 event, a ‘metric brick’ at race pace and in full race kit is a great session. It’s called a ‘metric brick’ because you switch the units a 70.3 race distance is expressed in from imperial to metric – miles becomes kilometres. So, for a 70.3 race, you’d do a 56km (34-mile) ride followed by a 13km (8-mile) run.
“During the week, the classic 2 x 20min turbo is your best bet”