2x1h = 2h ?

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frd
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Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 8:45 pm

by frd

This looks like a dumb question but I'm not sure it is.
If I do two 1h training sessions a day (one in the morning, the second in the evening), will it have the same effect as a single 2h session? (rollers, not road)

My main weakness is endurance and I want to build a solid base this winter, but working times force me to make some compromises and splitting training in two sessions could be one of the solutions.
However I'm not sure that it will have the same benefit on endurance as a single longer ride.

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Stolichnaya
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by Stolichnaya

While the extra hour in the afternoon will never hurt you, the recovery time between the two training sessions will not assist you endurance-wise to the same extent as riding one two hour session. But, c'mon, who really rides rollers for two hours straight? I go insane after 45 minutes...

EspenBjørgan
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by EspenBjørgan

I've done the rollers for about 5 hours straight. That was the time when I was young and stupid. I'm older now.
Hell yeah!

frd
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by frd

Ouch! 5 hours!

Yesterday I did 1 hours and an half, I think I can manage up to 2 hours, but not beyond.

rockymtnway
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by rockymtnway

No question about it in my mind, 2-one hour sessions is better than 1-one hour session and if that's all you can do, then you're better off than bagging the one. With that said, 1-two hour session would be better for building endurance if it was doable. Life is full of compromises. If you can make up for the lost long ride time on the weekends with a 3-5 hour ride every week, it may all work out for the better, but otherwise, you do what you can do.

My workout time is pretty much the opposite. I rarely have time during the week for more than a couple of 60-90 minute rides, but then make up for it with back to back 3-8 hour days on the weekends. I think it's tougher on my body, making me more prone to overuse injuries like tendonitis and immune system breakdowns leading to colds, but I can't gripe about my endurance. The real world is full of compromises, only the pros get to train a perfect schedule. :wink:

<edit> That said, I think mini-camps where you go someplace warm in the middle of the winter for a 4-day weekend do immense good for retaining and building off-season endurance. Massa Vecchia in Tuscany just might be calling your name. :D
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OLver
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by OLver

EspenBjørgan wrote:I've done the rollers for about 5 hours straight. That was the time when I was young and stupid. I'm older now.


omg 5 hours... did you know you have to do about 55-65% of the time you do on the road for the same fatigue (this is relate to something about inertia in the pedalling pattern)? So 5 hours on the roller is about 7 hours on the road... OUCH!

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simon
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by simon

endurance means fat burning mode in your body. the more endurance you have, the more fat you burn, the less sugar/carbohydrates, and the faster fat burning starts, the better. this in mind, try to do the morning session without breakfast, so your blood sugar is low when starting the session and this will start fat burning mode earlier(normal people burn fat not before nearly 1 hour of sport, that's why they say 2 times 1 hour fitness/cycling a week won't make you lose fat). with training like this you will make your fat burning more effective, meaning it will start earlier. this is good because human bodies have nearly endless fat storage, but only sugar for about 30 minutes. for a road racer this means, the earlier and more fat he burns, the better. like this he doesn't need any sugar while rolling along in the peloton and he can use his 30 minutes sugar for the finale.
also in the evening, try not to eat 2-3 hours before the session.
for example:
getting up
1 hour trainer
breakfast
working
lunch at 12
working
maybe small lunch at 3 or 4
session
dinner
sleep
if you have wife, children or girlfriend or pub friends, it gets more difficult, but i'm sure you can manage this somehow.
as said, 2x1 hour is better than nothing, 1x session without eating is better than no session without eating, so maybe in the evening you eat with the family and train when children sleep(and wife is in bed with her friend :shock: ), this is still better than train twice directly after eating.

EspenBjørgan
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by EspenBjørgan

OLver wrote:
EspenBjørgan wrote:I've done the rollers for about 5 hours straight. That was the time when I was young and stupid. I'm older now.


omg 5 hours... did you know you have to do about 55-65% of the time you do on the road for the same fatigue (this is relate to something about inertia in the pedalling pattern)? So 5 hours on the roller is about 7 hours on the road... OUCH!


Yeah. Average of 140 bmp, meaning around 70%. Aaaaaaand 100 rpm all the way.
Hell yeah!

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ihana
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by ihana

Just finished reading Friel's 'bible' and it seems like an ideal scenario
is to train early then again in the afternoon but with a quick nap
around lunchtime. The nap is the key, as it lets your body regenerate
and produce the growth hormone, so you get a double dose of it each
24 hour cycle.

At work its a bit obvious to the boss if I'm asleep though! :wink:

cheers,

Tom

Skillgannon
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by Skillgannon

I used to have to do this, and my coach said it was fine, but asked if I could only do it for some of my sessions, not all of them, as I needed to work on endurance for my goals, but when I was doing intervals in the morning + intervals or recovery at night, wasnt so bad I guess

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