The Number One Mistake Cyclists Make with Training

Free eBook for road cyclists: go.roadcyclingacademy.com/fre...
Apply for the Uplevel Program: roadcyclingacademy.com/apply-...
What is the number one mistake cyclists make in training? That is the question I will be answering in todays video, along with a real world demonstration of what not to do in training and what to do, if you want to start a pathway to getting faster, stronger and smarter on your road bike. We'll be discussing power training zones in particular in this video, with a focus on base fitness / aerobic adaptations.
Power Zones Calc: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rzk7qv...
#cycling #training #tips

[@minkenchannel5551]

I have experimented a lot over the last few years with different Training methods and structured Training plans. In the end I found out for me that I get the best results when I hear on my body and not only strictly follow a training plan. If I feel strong one day I do a hard interval (hill) training or some sprints, and if I am a bit lazy or leisurely another day I only do a relaxed Ride, which will probably be Most of the time in Zone 2 (but without looking every 5 seconds on my power output). You don‘t have to make it more complicated than it needs to be, just hear on your Body and have fun riding your bike.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Absolutely, and no doubt you have learned from the training plans you completed. Meaning, now you can incorporate some of those smarts into what works best for you. That is the idea here.

[@benjapolcycling]

Agree with one side of the story. another side of the story planning to schedule your training day and week to allow that "strong day" to happen. Structure does not need to be complicated, everything (workout, free ride, hard day, easy day) are already scheduled, just follow it.

[@robn984]

Thanks for this video. I’m still a newbie to cycling and have been doing triathlon for about 4 years. I would always shift gears when going up and down only to feel like I never get it right. Yesterday was my first outdoor ride for the season and employed some of tips like easing off on my power on elevation for a much better power zone targeting. Overall my ride was much better! Thanks!!

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

We're glad you gained some great insight into your training and are now enjoying the training more! -RCA Team

[@davidtyler5129]

Excellent presentation thanks Cam. It partially answered a few of my questions. Clearly I’ve got a lot more to learn.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

There is a lot to learn about this sport! -RCA Team

[@jamesshields1969]

Well explained pointers Cam, I’ve been at this like a crack fiend for over 10+ years, sadly I’ve only just begun to higher a coach in the past 4 years. My overall enjoyment of the ride and understanding of aerobic adaptations endurance adaptations and just better training alone have increased tremendously and every point you’ve made have been the focus of my coaches work with me. Again, great video and keep up the amazing work, Cheers

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Nice one James, thanks for sharing on the thread.

[@elvysmartinez7619]

Awesome video thank you for the excel sheet.

[@aldrinclementina4297]

Thanks for sharing. As someone that has been doing cycling for a long time, is always satisfying to hear these type of explanations. It gives me the feeling that I'm not the only one thinking this way. I'm a member of a club, but these guys do speedy group rides every time we meet. We don't do a lot of more structured rides and training. That's why I ride solo sometimes to bring the variation. I also do some long distance /endurance rides. We do it with the group. But also here some of them make it like do like it's a race. I'm more pro making hours on the saddle than pedaling like crazy. The time to race will come. I know that we need to be prepared for the race but, I'm more the more structured training guy then making every ride a race. I'm not that young anymore (49) But I still ride. Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Curaçao. And say Hi to my friend ( the guy with the crocodile Dundee hat).. lol 🤣

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

We're glad you are switched on and are getting that base riding in! Your body will thank you! -RCA Team

[@gavinbutler1109]

Another great video with some very good training tips.

[@rangersmith4652]

A lot of wisdom here. If you're trying to complete a given distance as fast as possible, it makes sense that you would strive to keep accelerating (climbs aside). On a given day, going too hard too early will fail every time. As a non-racing 60+ cyclist, my personal training goal is to avoid anything on the bike that feels especially hard or seems like I'm "training." I don't train; I just ride so my body gets used to riding and so I can spend enjoyable hours on the bike and never, ever wish I was somewhere, anywhere else.

[@markedwards7601]

Great teaching. Great video. Really stoked about training with RCA!

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Cheers Mark.

[@troycollett8540]

I like todays plan as you can deep dive into how you went with zones

[@tonyhanemaayer6407]

Cam, that was a great video and probably the best explanation of a zone 2 ride I have ever heard. You are also bang on with your description of how most of us ride. As for me personally I really struggle to do these "base" rides on the indoor trainer as I just find them to boring. I only have a power meter on one of the 3 bikes I ride but will try to do some of these rides this year. Thanks for all your great video, I really enjoy them.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Thanks for the great comment Tony! We're happy to here you are getting great value out of our videos! -RCA Team

[@benjapolcycling]

Maybe looking into pedal power meter - easy to swap between bikes :)

[@andysmith8877]

Just superb advise Cam.... Thank you :)

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Cheers Andy, Cam

[@Mr4xl]

Clear and concise. . . . Nice one

[@landmannmike]

Great video, well explained Cam.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Cheers Mike.

[@d3xtr0see]

Thanks for this educational content, greatly appreciated.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

No worries Dexter 👍

[@peterhart3898]

Great video, very informative. Finally picked up a power meter for the road bike, this week. Looking forward to applying your advice to my future rides. I'm certainly guilty of free wheeling down hills, more often than not. Thanks again, Cheers.

[@CrabgrassFarmer]

Indoor cycling over the winter really cured me of freewheeling down hills. You get so used to applying constant pedal pressure that it just becomes natural. It starts to feel weird not applying pressure.

[@taichihead42]

Another useless fucking gadget which proves what exactly?.

[@DutchmaninDenmark]

Excellent video, so well-explained, thank you! It doesn't beat outdoor riding, but I have started to reap the benefits of Zwift rides where I create a custom Z2 workout with ERG mode enabled, which makes it incredibly easy to spend 99,5% of a 60-90 minutes ride at the exact selected Z2 power level, e.g. 200 watts. Doing these workouts regularly, with such a steady power output (you end up with barely any pedal stroke below 199w or above 201w) is not only extremely effective, it also makes it very straightforward to monitor progress over time and notice changes in HR drift, power to heart rate ratio etc. Add Netflix to the mix, and a session like this can even be fun.

[@melvinredondo5439]

Good to have you back Cam! 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Cheers Melvin

[@kovie9162]

I'm one of those people who has a hard time riding much below my FTP. It just goes against my nature and can be quite boring, and feels like I'm not accomplishing anything because it doesn't feel challenging, except in a mental sense, because it's so boring. But I do realize the importance of cycling below your FTP, and sometimes well below it, for warming up, recovery and base training. I think that it takes more discipline to ride slow than to ride hard. Or, a different kind of discipline. It's the same for me when I run.

[@SecretLuckyValentine]

Cam, can you do a video showing your pre and post ride stretching exercises? Would be really helpful

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

See here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZ7WgHl_mJt3fpo

[@jimbot75carey77]

Great correlation to Phil Maffetones MAF approach to Zone 2 training (aerobic fitness). Makes such a difference to overall fitness!

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Thanks for the comment! -RCA Team

[@ElonMuckX]

Cam with the Zone 2 power and the recovery ride HR. I agree power meters are better than HR, but your Zone 2 power needs another 20 watts. I’m 49 and my Zone 2 HR is 137. Cams running 134 HR, and I’m sure he’s at least 10 years younger than me.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Yes but everyone’s max hr is different. Mines 183

[@davidpalmer8591]

Spot on

[@LEGALIZEROADRAGE]

just watched a vid this morning about pogacar saying he enjoys his zone 2 training

[@shepshape2585]

I couldn't agree more with everything you said. I use polarized training and therefore spend a lot of my time riding by myself because all my cycling friends can't seem to understand what base training is, they just want to ride at tempo all the time with some hard intervals mixed in. Anyway, great video and information. If I can make one small critique, that microphone is really tinny sounding. It actually has an annoying resonance. Or maybe it was the room you were in? Anyway, it's a small thing but maybe worth looking into. Thanks again and have a good one.

[@davidhawkins9206]

He could try turning the Mic side on

[@ohmy2542]

I always had problems with the 3:1 rythm in micro periodisation. Motivation-wise it was always tough for me. As soon as I changed to some kind of 1:1 in terms of hard days and easy days alternating, I noticed more fun in training and also better results. These „hard“ days could be eighther long zone1/2 or Intervall sessions though

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Interesting to hear and thanks for sharing on the thread! Makes sense.

[@lillysworld979]

Very helpful for a new cyclist like myself

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

We're glad we can help! -RCA Team

[@HUNHali]

The weight rack analogy at first glance sounds cool, but recent studies have shown that if you can choose any weight in the gym in order to increase your strength (cause muscle hypertrophy) as long as you can get close to failure in a reasonable amount of time (usually 20 reps at most). And there is a practical rep range, usually 6-12 reps. Of course if you are a powerlifter, you generally need to lift heavier to get used to it, but in general it's not neccessary. Where as in cycling it seems that you really need to focus on training all or at least most of your zones. Apart from this bit, love your content :)

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Thanks for the points. I guess the main focal point here is that it's tangible and immediate, like power. Cheers,Cam

[@sjoerdvisser76]

Thanks for the update. Very useful, in my case after a time of relative inactivity and getting back to training. Don't wanna overcook it. The link for the Power Zones Calc showed up empty for me. DropBox mentioned it was deleted...

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Fixed now. Thanks for the heads up

[@sjoerdvisser76]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 Cheers!

[@Ghostina1]

This is very great 👍👍👍👍

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

We're glad you are enjoying the content! -RCA Team

[@alexanderh2715]

With my weight unfortunately every hill is a smash fest if I don't want to feel like I am standing still. I do my zone 2 with my ebike. Upright position and a powermeter help. Can't wait to have a powermeter on my gravelbike too. Riding my ebike for thousands of kilometers and still trying to be fast really helped my overall fitness. 250 watts for 1,5hrs is my record so far. For short period of time I get to 950 watts but still in the saddle. I am very curious how those numbers look when I have a proper road bike, less weight and a powermeter on that :D

[@robertoe.germanjr.2631]

I subscribe due im interested to learn 👌👌👌 love it 🙂😊🙂 TNX God bless ❤️❤️❤️

[@smccarthy1975]

Super video . Great job with the explanation . The calculator link is not working though

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Fixed now. Thanks for the heads up

[@TheCerebralCyclist]

Couple things. Riding too hard too often= 1 & 2 are basically stating the same thing. I would avoid prescribing exercise intensity (i.e. setting training zones) relative to maximal anchors (e.g. max HR, peak power output, VO2max).

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Thanks for adding to the thread. I agree with you, it's more so trying to drill home the point. You need to say the same thing different ways.

[@PeterSteward]

Thanks excellent explanation and very helpful, but how can I manage this base training and keep riding "constant" without a power meter, or heart rate monitor. Not able to afford them. Any tips or suggestions?

[@pyrathian]

Really curious what you used to broadcast your map and body metrics to the gopro!

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Garmin VIRB

[@mmenjic]

If you go out of your z2 into z3 or higher it is accepted that you won't get back into z2 for next 30 minutes regardless of you slowing down.

[@ashleyhouse9690]

Coaches for a long time have been advising against going out and trying to smash every ride, it's the old "easy rides too hard, hard rides too easy" mantra, nothing new there. This might be a good idea training on your own on a closed circuit or even the turbo but out on the open road it's a totally different proposition (unless you live somewhere that's pan-flat). The difference between riding up a 4% climb and descending is massive in terms of the amount of pedaling you need to do to keep yourself in zone 2. With other vehicles on the road, junctions and street furniture it just becomes a nightmare trying to ride like that. In reality you just have to take climbs steadier than you think and maybe just keep some pressure on the pedals for the downhills. Just have an easy, enjoyable ride otherwise you'll get a pain in your neck constantly looking down at your power reading!!

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

It can be difficult depending on where you live but you will start to 'feel' when you are in the right zone and can enjoy the ride and get maximum training benefits! -RCA Team

[@richardmiddleton7770]

I literally only do races and zone 2! Because once you've raced HARD you realise you can not replicate that intensity in training and to try will just wear you out for your next race! TRAINING ISN'T RACING, RACING ISN'T TRAINING!!! ALSO, another BIG mistake people make is with the whole 'LSD' training thinking it stands for Long SLOW Distance! It is not, it is Long STEADY distance! Steady as in power, HR or pedal pressure! Sure you can free wheel or zone 1 down hill but you're going to need to be doing about 20+ hours a week for that to get you aerobically fit!

[@richcrompton6891]

I am totally that guy! Every ride, I have to go hard. I know it’s wrong, I have my best mate shouting, piano, piano at me to make me realise I’m being a dick, but years of swim training have instilled the need for speed and interval type training. Is there any hope for me Cam? Thanks for the science of why I should chill out more often and also give me a legitimate excuse to ride at power zones rather than seeking power max! 🤣

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Thanks for sharing Rich, it's the most common thing I hear from people before the join the RCA coaching program. It's a very real thing!

[@mjaynz]

Hey cam, do you have instant power showing on your unit or 3 sec?

[@MJarthur95]

Nice explanation, keeping it under zone 2 is pretty hard on a windy day 😅… The Excel document linkt isn’t working?

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Working now, thanks for the heads up

[@DieterWoestemeier]

Great video. It's saying the zones calc file was deleted.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Fixed now. Thanks for the heads up

[@SonnyDarvishzadeh]

Thanks for the swift reply, though it still says deleted

[@relaxwithbogo5579]

For base mitohondria development you shuld always use. Hr, at LT1 or a litell less, all pros do it, you dont need power for that.

[@clintlock9103]

With zone 2 training, can I split sessions to 2 1hour sessions. I have difficulty with time commitment and also sitting on indoor for more than 1hr 15. Outdoor I can buylive in very hilly area. Thanks

[@ribbyramone]

What about riding heaps in zone 1? Any studies/personal experience to support its (un)productivity?

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

It's a great recovery zone that activates cellular exchange. But I doubt you'll experience many fitness adaptations from spending a lot of time in that zone. You're not stressing the body enough.

[@MrAttilaabri]

What happens when your power stays in zone 2 but your heart rate goes to zone 3? Do you reduce power? Is this an indication of poor fitness? Thanks!

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

This is a great question! Depending on whether you are training to HR or Power we would recommend sticking to that zone. If you are experiencing 'drift' during your sessions that is a sign you are getting a great training benefit as the body is at it's end of it's ability to maintain that efficiency! Overtime this can reduce to nearly no drift at all! -RCA Team

[@Ajaybo]

I have this same question. at the top end of zone two(2 watts per kg for me) I know I am not going to be below zone 3 on heart for very long and it'll likely be 15-20 beats more after a bit but I'll give it a shot today....when I ride indoor I have a power meter but haven't invested in one for my outside miles so heart rate is more the driver. in your response to Attila, are you indicating that yes it is a fitness level issue and if you do more time in zone two it will actually improve? I agree with your video though, at lower levels of zone two it seems like a waste of time. One more question, how can I calculate/estimate LHTR? Not sure I got that number from the ftp tests I've taken on zwift, or maybe I missed it in the results.

[@MrAttilaabri]

@@Ajaybo Hi Jay, have you tried using Xert to analyze your data?

[@joelberman5981]

It seems like you have it backwards. I thought the whole goal of baseline training is to stay below your lactate threshold. This is usually a percentage of your max heart rate. If you target a certain power then over time as you ride your heart rate will drift up out of this zone. It seems like it would be better to keep your heart rate in zone one and reduce your power over time to keep it in that zone. Thoughts?

[@silviofontana5144]

what about if you like a challenge and are a rec rider from 65 - 75+

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

To get the most physiological adaptions following this guide will yield you the best results! -RCA Team

[@nixpix19]

Video starts around 2 mins in

[@markbentley4343]

Biggest mistake I've made and plenty of others is fail to build the aerobic engine with proper Z2 work. I mean low Z2, not creeping up towards Z3. 60% of FTP, 65% max. Or at most 70% of max HR. 70% of FTP is too hard. Makes a huge difference

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Thanks for sharing on the thread Mark. Cam

[@twraia]

How long should a zone 2 ride be? The reason I don’t do them so much is because I’m under the impression that they must be on the longer-end of the spectrum, something like 3+ hours. It just doesn’t seem like a practical thing to do for working people, to have 2-3 rides that las that long

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

There will always be benefit of doing zone 2 rides as the benefits you gain from them can be quite large even if you don't have a lot of time to train! -RCA Team

[@DrewKime]

Just curious, what was the difference in lap time between the two laps? I suspect it wasn't that much, and you felt fresher after the second.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

It’s a good question: I don’t officially know but we have many RCA get back from zone two ride pb’ing their local segments. Just because of the constant pressure focus. Cam

[@michalluckynowak]

For how long those zone 2 trainings should take? I believe for 20-30mins of low intensity riding my base fitness won't increase?

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Depends on the target goal, but I’d say you’d want at least 1-2 hours in Z2

[@willoneile5564]

Should I make sure I do a 20min power test, or do you think I can use my 20min power dictated from my strava power curve?

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Doing a 20minute power tests makes sure the number is exactly what it should be! -RCA Team

[@zebeddy]

Something I don’t understand - my FTP is 243w (zone 2 at 66% is 158w). Most of my training is indoors without great aircon (local gym) but if I train at 158w my heart rate sits at around 160bpm. My max hr is 203 so zone 2 heart rate would be in the 130s. If I follow Cam’s advice and follow only power, my heart rate is at nearly 80% max. How can that give me any aerobic base? Surely I’m just improving lactate tolerance which won’t change mitochondrial density? Apart from being utterly confused, really love this channel 😃👏🏼👏🏼

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Heart rate is highly variable, even a cup of coffee can have huge effects on how the heart rate is going compared to a steady state power number. Therefore we would always recommend using power to gauge your training zones as this is the most accurate way as that is your output! -RCA Team

[@taichihead42]

Would you get a life. Just ride the damn bike and train hard.

[@zebeddy]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 Fab, thanks Cam. Much appreciated 😀

[@zebeddy]

@@taichihead42 That’s such a stupid thing to write when you have no data from which to say that. Guessing you don’t believe in building a base or increasing mitochondrial density? Just ‘go hard’ and ride everything above threshold for 10 hours a week without burnout, fatigue or junk training because your legs are shot to pieces? Please never become a cycle coach 🤞🏼

[@carlrichards9333]

Just ride your bike, don't take it too seriously with all the monitors etc etc, enjoy the natural sounds and surroundings , breathe in the air and you will realise you can never make a mistake training which I prefer to just call natural riding..... Don't over think it...🙏

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

This is very true to enjoy the time riding when you want to! Although there are a lot of cyclists who want to improve in their training in the best way possible and this video outlines some of the mistakes that they could of made! -RCA Team

[@carlrichards9333]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 Yes I hear yeh and im not knocking what your doing, I just think sometimes all these things get to statistical and serious and people stop what it's all about ....Enjoying yourself whilst out riding, the more your enjoying , the more you are relaxing and this way alone you will be spending more time on the bike and improving.....as you know there are si many facets to cycling 🙏

[@vittocrazi]

@@carlrichards9333your advice IS good for most cyclists. But this video IS for competitve cyclists. And competitive cyclists need to get the most out of a workout

[@chriskent4687]

Would you say Z2 training is handy to keep to a gym bike/turbo - with no variables or temptations to speed up? Or would one benefit more from the discipline of applying it on the road? It’s sometimes tough to be everyone’s carrot up the road :-)

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Both, really. You should be able to do it out on the road. That is where you can go long @ Z2, 3-4 hours.

[@chriskent4687]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 Thanks mate

[@mt5150e]

Isn’t zone 2 training all about heart rate rather than power. If your HR goes above z2, you don’t get the mitochondrial adaptations which is what you’re looking for.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

high levels of lactate derails mitochondrial adaptations, so ultimately you would need be to be measuring lactate to truly know, but most recreational and amateur road cyclists have an underdeveloped aerobic system so their HR starts to drift into zone three within an hour of zone two pedalling. Following a metric that is driven from an undeveloped aerobic system will delay the conditioning of your base engine. We have seen this over 500 times now and have a study coming on this. Stay tuned.

[@gaspacg]

Cam, when referring to a percentage of your FTP are you talking about 20 min FTP or 1 hour FTP?

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Your FTP is your 60min power! -RCA Team

[@Daveyboyroy]

Hi Cam. My training plan begins at the end of the year, with a base training phase. Is it ok to ride hard a lot now, in the lead up to that period? To build strength? Thanks.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Really depends on a lot of things, but if you're not trying to peak for anything now, just enjoy riding. Do what you want. That is the best approach before a specific build structure. Cam

[@Daveyboyroy]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 Cheers pal. That's kind of what I thought. Just ride a lot and enjoy it! I will definitely be doing lots of low cadence stuff, to strengthen the muscles, ready for the start of the plan.

[@stephentait8734]

i am approaching 50 and i know i will never be a racing machine, however i would like to train smarter, i have a 27mile loop that i would like do, and have been able to increase my avg speed on it, but i also like to do longer ride of 50miles, and i would like to double that and do a 100mile rides, is training for endurance ride different? i took up cycling start of 2019 have have lost 40kg, but would also like to lose another 15kg, trying to get fit and stay fit,

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Congrats on the weight loss. If you've been riding to speed, then, yes. Your base endurance riding will look different. Cam

[@stephentait8734]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 thanks, will look in to that

[@crispyrad]

I just started using a power meter and have been practicing trying to stay in zone 2 during endurance rides, but find it very hard on rolling terrain. Constantly finding myself over 300 when the road tilts up and under 150 when the road tilts down. Does it get easier to manage your power zones?

[@ashleyhouse9690]

@crispyrad I find exactly the same problem. The difference between going up a 4% incline compared to a 4% decline is ridiculous. This advice might work on a flat road on your own or on the trainer but forget about trying to do it in a group ride!

[@crispyrad]

@@ashleyhouse9690 I wouldn't worry about power output on group rides. That's probably the biggest mistake cyclists make.

[@ashleyhouse9690]

@crispyrad Totally agree, just making an additional point that you can't hope to do zone 2 on a group ride.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

It does get easier to manage your power zones once you have been training in them for a while! You start to get a 'feel' of what the power feels like and can often go by that! -RCA Team

[@johnhardwicke7285]

pretty good stuff but I take issue with your statement that you " don't use zone 6 training because the heart is too slow to respond". I began using polar heart watch and wrist receiver in 1985. They are dead on accurate compared to anything blue tooth today. Aside from that, this anaerobic zone, and your ability to train there with or without a monitor, is the difference between winners and losers. Much like swimming underwater, some can go a long distance and duration while others cannot, but it is highly trainable. The max ergometer test with ramping resistance and RPM's until FAILURE was given highest emphasis when I was at the Colorado Olympic Training facility.

[@MrLuigi-oi7gm]

Hi John, I don't believe Cam was criticizing the technology of today's wrist worn heart rate monitors. I have an Apple Watch and like your Polar Watch, it is dead accurate. I believe his concern with using heart rate to train at Zone 6 is that THE HEART is too slow to respond to changes in exertion. For example, let's say you go from Zone 2 to Zone 6 in a HIIT workout. Your power meter will show this without delay, giving you accurate real time feedback. But your heartrate will take some time to ramp up in response to the increase in effort. By the time your heartrate finally says you're in Zone 6 you may already need to ramp back down to Zone 2!

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

This is correct! Hr can be slow to respond to instantaneous bursts of power therefore is not as accurate during some HIIT sessions as a power metre is! -RCA Team

[@robertlight2370]

I do Z2 rides for base fitness. I find them easier to do if I pick a flat route, but I’ve realised that a few hills won’t hurt as long as I don’t go crazy. Also, I found Z2 rides a bit tricky when I first started doing them. It’s a bit more effort than just riding along, so it can take a bit of concentration to stop slipping back to Z1. On the other hand, I’ve done enough of it now to sort of train myself to ride at Z2 automatically, rather than just pootle along. The thing that I dislike most about Z2 rides is that I find them boring. Long, flat, constant power rides. But that’s a minor quibble.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Flat routes are usually easier to keep the power consistent but we do like the challenge of going over some lumpy terrain to keep the mind bouncing on trying to keep the power even over the ride! -RCA Team

[@darrengarvie8832]

I struggle with how to train and wish power meters cost less.

[@stefanloh7994]

OK, base training in zone2 sounds easy. What makes it difficult is keeping the power constant for 1-4h consistently (if you don't have specific cycling track as shown here...).

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Yes it can depend on where you live for sure.

[@DrooManShow]

What helmet are you wearing? Thanks.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Specialized Prevail

[@brusselman8253]

Looking for Nice cyclingjersys with Nice designs!!

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Our Pedla kits do certainly stand out in the crowd! -RCA Team

[@CycoWarriorx]

If that's the No 1 mistake, the .0 mistake is starving themselves by not eating... 💁🏽‍♂️

[@giusepperigato1856]

It's correct the power meter? Because like the same CS 600X of the Polar that Smart Trainer Mycycling of the Technogym to speed 35 kmh given to Me the 260 watts . For going to 350 watts i have need stay in the 41 kmh about speed

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Environmental factors and road conditions change your speed more than most people realise! -RCA Team

[@giusepperigato1856]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 Yes Man you have will reason, most factors depend for it . I think after, because in to MyCycling Technogym the power that Me spread it's average of power .. have a good one and nice day nice Guy 🤣🔝😎👍🤗

[@likemarksee]

My Fairy Tale Power is 450 watts, is that any good (for 64kg)? 🤷‍♂️.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

You’ll go pro. Cam

[@davidburgess741]

Fixed gear this feels a lot different. You'll get that low cadence drill, develop the ability to get uphill with moderate effort. Downhill you will develop neuromuscular abilities as you apply almost as many watts with much lower torque. No coasting ever. Geared bikes will feel like cheating and downshifting will often not get you uphill as fast. To an extent geared bike riders legs are their gears also. It can be a challenge not to charge up hills and hold back a bit.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Gears are there to use! -RCA Team

[@kitkat5153]

What about the length of time of base rides? I know it probably depends on individual fitness but is there a rough time frame outside which they become less effective?

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

A very difficult question to answer because it depends on many many variables. But as a general rule anything between 1-2 hours is a good starting point. Focusing on constant pressure on the pedals in zone two. Then, gradually build the length of your Z2 rides over time. Cam

[@kitkat5153]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 Thanks so much!!

[@wrightwoodwork]

Turn off strava segments

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

@@wrightwoodwork haha! Good call

[@Penalist]

Use the (free) Strava Sauce plugin, and see whether and where on endurance rides your 'aerobic decoupling' ("Pw:Hr" in the analysis-view) goes above 5%. Cam has, I believe, a video on this decoupling. This 5%-level is a good indication on when an endurance ride shifts from training to fatiguing.

[@drwatsonpe]

Hi Cam...the link for the power zone calculator gave me a dropbox error saying the file was deleted. Have you removed the link from dropbox? Was it ever in dropbox? Thanks...

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Fixed now. Thanks for the heads up

[@drwatsonpe]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 No worries!!

[@doomguy2000]

leave-ridge? This is my version of mikro wave.

[@stephentait8734]

hi, it is saying the Excel sheet was deleted?

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Fixed now. Thanks for the heads up

[@TheFlowZoneX]

What to do if you have no power meter??

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Having a power metre is the best way to quantifiably measure the output you are producing however if you cannot get a power meter using a hr strap can be used to varying degrees of success! -RCA Team

[@TheFlowZoneX]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 ok thanks. Do you have m/any videos explaining how to ensure optimal results when working without power meter? I imagine I'm not the only one in this position and would be plenty of others out there who would benefit from such content.. 🙏🏽🙌🏽

[@kendericklin]

Curious what your weight is.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

80kgs

[@kendericklin]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 over 4w/kg that is really impressive!

[@hucklejoko4838]

hey cam great content. what would your advice be for us the smaller, lighter riders? i took an ftp test and it gave me 170w which is a respectable 3.4w/kg for me (as i weigh in at 48kg). 120w at zone 2 doesnt really feel that hard and i feel like i should be doing more work, can this training still be effective as this is relative to ones own ftp or i really need to hit bigger numbers.

[@markbentley4343]

120W is already too hard. Try 100W

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

What you describe here is exactly why I tell most amateur and recreational road cyclists to aim for 70% initially. I feel if you really focus on constant pressure for a full hour or two, you will notice fatigue and feel the workout more.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Watch the full video Mark, and you may appreciate the 70% comment. Cycling isn't always science based. It's art meets science, and I can tell you from having over 350 members through the RCA now, that most recreational and amateur cyclists struggle with 70% because even that feels too easy. Of course, there is a place for 60% of FTP, for Z2 training, but that is once they are conditioned and pushing longer volumes. Cam

[@markbentley4343]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 I see your point Cam. Basically people can get bored, impatient and the average speeds don’t look good in Strava, but 70% is too hard. It’s above pretty much every beginner/lower intermediate and intermediate cyclist’s aerobic threshold (VT1/LT1), and therefore creates too much stress without the benefits. Better to train low and then very hard on the hard days, instead of somewhere near the middle all the time

[@DM-jh5rs]

power zones calc link doesn't work

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

I fixed the link. Can you try again? Cam

[@DM-jh5rs]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 works great! thanks. Waiting on my power meter to arrive so in the meantime I have to use HR when I train outside.

[@ezeekwheel]

you do realise gears are there to be used. If you go up hill drop the gear

[@relaxwithbogo5579]

Who says 75% of ftp power is your zone 2..where is Lt1 than? Ftp for what 10, 30, 20,minutes.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

It was stated in the video 65-70% of FTP. Additionally, from what we have seen coaching for 4+ years over 600 athletes, is that following heart rate for a one hour zone two ride, when you're unconditioned aerobically is a fast way to keep your aerobic engine underdeveloped. Stick with power 65-70% of FTP for an hour until you get any HR drift under control. Then increase the dose to 90mins, then to 2hrs and so on.

[@gerritfourie2239]

Cam????,,,,what is zone 7???,,,

[@gerritfourie2239]

(RSA)

[@timtaylor9590]

this is why i ride with slow ppl sometimes

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Train smarter is training harder! -RCA Team

[@livingwithfshd]

So is the Cam Nicholls channel no longer a thing. 3 months no video??? Whats the story cam, why have you abandoned your first channel???

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

No abandonment Peter. I did publish a video saying I would be 2-3 months away. I've had plenty of major projects to get completed on the RCA, so once they are done I will be back. Already planning the first few videos. Cheers

[@TheLemon333]

..Is that they're training.

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Training can change drastically depending on what you are trying to achieve! -RCA Team

[@DurianriderCyclingTips]

Truth. The biggest mistake I see is most cyclists eat WAY too much fat and protein and not enough sugar. That is the main reason they can't get as lean as they want. Next biggest is ignorance of what their hemoglobin, b12 and ferritin levels are. The reason my gf's get so fast/lean in just a year is I focus on things 99% of other coaches dont.

[@davemellor4697]

Cam,s talking about power zones and relative heart rate not your faddy sugar and rice diet son! Go away you control freak!

[@ed732]

Finally you leave your smp ?

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Haha see too ugly for me

[@donwinston]

I have a hard time accepting this zone 2 stuff. If I only have an hour to ride is rolling around at zone 2 going to improve my fitness more or as much as a threshold effort for an hour? I don't believe it. The only issue for me is how well you can recover for the next day. I believe the stimulus from threshold riding will much better than zone 2 training. The only issue is how fast you can recover and do it again. Just ride as hard as you can. Eat well and sleep well.

[@GabrielePiana]

The whole point is mitochondrial volume density. Obviously any kind of riding will increase FTP, zone training allows for increased work efficiency. Low intensity actively increases mitochondrial density and this will allow your body to clear lactic acid quicker. Very High intensity work has the benefit of increasing strength and adaptations at high level of efforts, it produces very high levels of lactic acid and requires LONG period of rests to be productive. The “ride as hard as you can with the recovery time you have” is exactly the trap discussed here as the rider will end up never riding hard enough to really induce high effort adaptation (since not enough recovery is allowed) nor will ride at a zone that’s focused on mitochondrial density (low effort). The rider will still likely improve over time but much much slower than he/she could. Z1/2 work will increase your ability to clear lactic acid, threshold and V02max work will induce adaptation for high effort while benefitting from the increased mitochondrial density (allowing for more power to be produced for longer further increasing adaptation). Lifting heavy weights will increase neuromuscular strength. Other specific “race” training will target specific needs. This is scientifically proven and established to be the “ideal” way of training any endurance sport. Time crunched athletes necessarily have to accept that fitness gain will not be as quick as if they could allow more time and unfortunately there is no shortcut to it and no other training “system” has been, until now, discovered.

[@Totalavulsion]

Your plan (in addition to the above comments) isn’t sustainable long term and often leads to burn out and reduced gains. If you’re a racer, then it’s also not specific enough to gain the physiological development required for most disciplines

[@raphaeltiziani7476]

Lol this is so wrong. All the research says the opposite and generally 99% of cyclist who train according to that are way faster then the "just ride as hard as you can" riders. But then in the end do what is fun for you :)

[@GabrielePiana]

Also, Donald, I realized I really did not address directly the question you posed although with enough legwork you could extrapolate the answer. If you only have 1hr to ride per day, 5 times a week, the most productive way to use your time would be to have 1 or maximum 2 really hard workouts (threshold/vo2) and the rest in Z1/2, as this will elicit a virtuous circle of increase mitochondrial density and higher efforts. Any increase in available time should be dedicated to increased Z1/2 volume. Squeezing 4/5 workouts at high efforts will be impossible on the long run creating burn outs, which is a vicious cycle where with every session you will struggle to meet expected power. The difference between creating a virtuous cycle vs a vicious one is key to long term fitness gains.

[@donwinston]

@@GabrielePiana ok. But I think there's nothing "special" about zone 2. It just lets you optimize fitness improvements that is constrained by your recovery ability.

[@taichihead42]

Yr taking about mistakes and your riding a racing bike that looks likeva mountain bike

[@roadcyclingacademy6476]

Descending at speed takes precision and skill. Having equipment that allows you to maximise what you're trying to achieve can only help! -RCA Team

[@taichihead42]

@@roadcyclingacademy6476 A bike with a sloping top tube is not s racing bike. Its a mountain bike or a bike for men with lady balls. Because the bikes geometry has been altered the rider ends up with tracking problems, in other words the bike wont corner or handle well. Somethings in life are meant to be left alone and that's traditional frame geometry.