An hour at zone 3, is it useful?

[peted76]

I'm a time poor cyclist who's week typically goes like this:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday - 50min HIIT Roller session zone 4/5
Thursday
Friday - possible HIIT Roller session zone 4/5
Saturday - possible longer social ride
Sunday - 90min Club run, zone 3/4/5

However recently I've found some motivation to do some late night sitting on rollers in zone 3 for an hour whilst watching netflix/races/whatever..

It's better than 'nothing' I get that... BUT it is actually useful..?
It's not zone 2.. and it's not for very long .... as I can't do more than an hour on rollers my arse hurts too much.

I understand HIIT interval stuff and although there's no structure to my riding, it's clearly unbalanced with most of what I do at higher intensity.. I'm sort of hoping that by adding in an hour a night at steady state, maybe two or three nights a week, it 'might' balance out the HIIT stuff... what do you think?

[Nefarious86]

Better off doing zone 1 to just move some blood around.

https://castbox.fm/vb/131258299

[euan]

What he said.

[peted76]

Bugger. That’s painfully unmotivating.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dim]

zone 3 is Sweetspot training .... I do lots of this ... here's a video :

[Nefarious86]

The problem with just piling on Z3 is it hits your body the wrong way. The idea of "if I ain't hurtin it aint workn" will just fatigue you into a plateau.

The podcast even in the first 10 mins pretty clearly explains what most people refuse to believe.

[Jugi]

Training or racing objectives were not mentioned yet. If a general objective is just to make gains in performance and increase FTP, adding concentrated Z3 work to that week schedule would be better than nothing. However a Z1 workout will most likely be a better addition, as you're already doing the high intensity stuff and it will aid in recovery + bring improvements in metabolic processes + evade risk for over-training.

If you are aiming to specificly improve the ability to sustain that 75-95% FTP power for long periods, I'd say there has to be some Z3 work added in the schedule just to get used to the workload at that intensity.

[TheRich]

Training or racing objectives were not mentioned yet. If a general objective is just to make gains in performance and increase FTP, adding concentrated Z3 work to that week schedule would be better than nothing. However a Z1 workout will most likely be a better addition, as you're already doing the high intensity stuff and it will aid in recovery + bring improvements in metabolic processes + evade risk for over-training.

If you are aiming to specificly improve the ability to sustain that 75-95% FTP power for long periods, I'd say there has to be some Z3 work added in the schedule just to get used to the workload at that intensity.

Part of it depends on what the person in question can handle, in terms of TSS.

[peted76]

Ah now this is far more encouraging..

Goals wise they are broad and general, I've a race planned in a month which I'd like to be competitive for, a couple more later in the year maybe.. and a few very long rides planned but nothing more specific. Mainly it's about being 'faster' in our 25 to 40 mile lumpy club runs.

I'd be very surprised if I was in danger of 'overtraining'.... lack of training is the motivation for doing this steady z3 stuff... it feels 'convenient' to be able to sit there for an hour and watch the HR climb only very slightly over the hour yet still get a sweat on.. I'm 42 and need to drop some body fat. So this is also spurred on by just doing something rather than nothing.

I listened to that podcast and I can't simply justify going out and riding in Z2 for two or three hours.. I get it but I can't see me doing it. I 'could' sit on rollers for an hour in zone 2... but does the fact it's just an hour negate any benefit of being in Z2..

As for Zone1 - seriously, what's all that about.. the stress from trying to stay upright on rollers would probably tick me into Z2, it would be literally just 'doing the motion of cycling'. I could sit on my bike and pedal backwards for an hour... LOL

[Jugi]

BTW, which HR zone distribution are you using? And are we talking HR or power zones?

[peted76]

I'm talking HR zones only.
Re: which distribution model? I'm unsure.. just the usual 1-5 zones one.. (?) where Z2 would be 50-60% and Z3 would be 70-80% of my absolute max HR of 184.

[Jugi]

At least for me, hard interval workouts make Z1/Z2 stuff worthwhile. Based on how you have described your current training, I’d guess those HIITs are not hard enough if they don’t leave your legs aching and craving for some easy spinning. Or, you might be able to handle considerably more training stress. But I could be deducing this completely wrong.

[AJS914]

In your first post you have four rides, all of which include high intensity. I'm surprised that that isn't tiring you out. Assuming it's not, I don't see anything wrong with adding some hours of tempo or sweet spot. It's not going to be as ideal as proper base miles but give it a try and see how you feel.

I've listened to all of the Fasttalk podcasts. One thing they have recommend for time challenged cyclists is to try and get that 3+ hour ride in at least once every 7 to 10 days. You could also tack on another couple of hours to your Sunday club ride.

[TheRich]

Ah now this is far more encouraging..

Goals wise they are broad and general, I've a race planned in a month which I'd like to be competitive for, a couple more later in the year maybe.. and a few very long rides planned but nothing more specific. Mainly it's about being 'faster' in our 25 to 40 mile lumpy club runs.

I'd be very surprised if I was in danger of 'overtraining'.... lack of training is the motivation for doing this steady z3 stuff... it feels 'convenient' to be able to sit there for an hour and watch the HR climb only very slightly over the hour yet still get a sweat on.. I'm 42 and need to drop some body fat. So this is also spurred on by just doing something rather than nothing.

I listened to that podcast and I can't simply justify going out and riding in Z2 for two or three hours.. I get it but I can't see me doing it. I 'could' sit on rollers for an hour in zone 2... but does the fact it's just an hour negate any benefit of being in Z2..

As for Zone1 - seriously, what's all that about.. the stress from trying to stay upright on rollers would probably tick me into Z2, it would be literally just 'doing the motion of cycling'. I could sit on my bike and pedal backwards for an hour... LOL

"They" say that the benefit of long slow rides come in the later stages of the long part, so if you don't have the time to reach that point, do more intensity. Otherwise you're not creating enough stress to give you any benefit, assuming you can handle the extra stress.

Easy sessions have value, but only where they add value, like active recovery or endurance training.

[Nefarious86]

You do realize that in the podcast they're talking about the 3 zone model yes?

So much misinformation and bro science in this thread, slow stuff even if only for an hour has its place.