Training.
TRAINING RIDESThe AIRhub™ gives you the power to devise training rides that get a result regardless of terrain. Simulate climbs on flat road or ride at threshold with a button press. Extend the length and intensity of hill efforts, then switch it off for a cool down on the way home. The AIRhub can reduce road speeds by about 5 to 10kmh. With this reduction in speed your rides become safer and you automatically begin to ride at a higher power or exertion. This is hacking performance training like nothing before. |
PARTNER RIDESTrain with riders on their recovery days or ride with a friend or family member of a different ability. Increase resistance to accommodate the needs of your partner while still hitting your training targets. 60w to 100w of resistance massively increases training difficulty and reduces required training duration. The AIRhub™ lets you be more flexible with your training partners while maximising your training performance. |
BUNCH RIDESUse the AIRhub™ to maximise training time while riding in a big bunch. We know riding in a bunch can be great fun and important to build relationships, but is it really the best session for your physiology? The AIRhub allows you to ride with any bunch and increase the resistance you face at the flick of a switch. The addition 1 or 2 watts per Kmh that the AIRhub applies can turn the local bunch ride into a real struggle fest. You can go from being the bunch strongman who can roll through all day, to hiding at the back and having to really chose when you meet the wind.
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We don’t recommend adding max resistance to your ride every time. For general training choose a setting which will increase your riding power but not push you into the red. The biggest gains are going to come over a period of a few weeks. If you push too hard at the start you will fatigue too quickly and not see the training through. Train smart out there legend.
The 10 hour AIRhub training week!
When you are a time crunched athlete there is no need to over complicate things. Stick to what works and get the results.
For AIRhub riders there are 3 types of essential sessions.
They are solid endurance AIRhub Kms, Power intervals, skills work.
3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF CORE SESSIONS.
Its good to keep the sessions similar each week and watch the consistent improvements. The sessions can be effectively implemented on a morning commute and improvements can be monitored from session to session.
2hrs hard endurance - these will build the long term fitness and are the most important set of the week. This is the ride that will ultimately double your fitness. Try sit at a “Hard pace” for the whole 2hrs. Maybe around the 140 to 150bpm mark (75%-85%). This will change with comfort and fatigue. This is not a time trial but you want to feel a strong consistent load in your legs. The AIRhub is perfect for this. These efforts build a strong base of fitness and are what makes the biggest difference to your long term fitness. Anaerobic changes come and go, but these big sessions will keep you fit long term. As you get fitter each week your power output on these rides will continue to increase. Sometimes up to 10 watts per week.
1hr session with 40s hill sprints. 40s on - 1 min off, 4x reps, 3 sets, 10 – 15 min between sets. This session builds muscle power. These are all out efforts – Vo2 max style. Try to do them on a steep hill. 40s up, turn around and roll back to your start point, then bang, go again. The aim is to achieve the highest average power for the 4 reps of 40s. These are going to cause the most muscle damage each week but will help drive top end power and allow you to power over the small climbs in the group rides.
2hr Group ride. If you have time, add in a 2hr group ride in there on the weekend for a social, skills and intermittent power aspect.
This is an example training week.
Monday: rest
Tuesday: 1hr with hill sprints
Wednesday: 2hrs AIRhub endurance
Thursday: rest day.
Friday: 1hr with hill sprints
Saturday: Bunch ride
Sunday: 2hr AIRhub endurance
What happens if you have more than 10 - 14hrs per week to train?
Then we will implement a Polarised style of training.
Polarised is the 80-20 rule of training popularised by Stephen Seiler and implemented by Professional athletes across the world.
The 80 - 20 rule recommends that the majority of your training be completed below Lactate break point 1 or 78% of maximum heart rate. With 20% of training completed at maximal intensities above Lactate breakpoint 2 or 87% maximum heart rate
(please note that lactate testing is optimal to find your limits, however due to the difficulties in testing Seiler suggests using the Norwegian Heart rate targets just mentioned)
2 Types of sessions.
Long Distance Kms.
These should be completed with a rolling heart rate of between 65% and 80% max heart rate. This means that at every point during your ride your heart rate should be between these bands. What is required is consistent loading on the legs with minimal chance for your legs to take a break. Think of it as if you were swimming underwater, holding your legs in this tensioned state for long periods of time will force better aerobic and muscular adaptations than if your were to to take a break and come up for air every few minutes.
Just like riding on a climb, riding with the AIRhub gives you significantly more control of your power output during this riding style.
When you are recording your endurance training it is important to record the kilojoules burnt rather than the hours or distances travelled. KJ is a direct measure of Work. Unlike Running or Swimming where even the slowest moving slowly requires Work, Cycling permits long periods of freewheeling or easy pedalling. These periods can dramatically influence the training completed and distort the expected training effect.
Read more about the the habits of elite athletes here:
High intensity sessions.
Depending on what you are training for your specifics will change accordingly.
For the greatest adaption in power output at threshold, the duration of work completed at, or slightly above, LT2 has been shown to work the best. The latest research shows that 4x16min efforts completed at "maximal session effort" are the most potent efforts for improving threshold power. The recovery time for these efforts should be between 2 and 5 minutes.
What if the event you are training for is less about threshold and requires more intermittent power?
We suggest using hill sprints at the end of your ride for the maximal resistance to fatigue.
For elite athletes we recommend intervals should be completed at the end of an endurance ride. "With Great fitness comes great resistance to fatigue." Unfortunately for the elite athlete who has many seasons of training and racing under their belt, most interval sessions need to be preloaded. A preload is a training bout that is designed to fatigue before the main goal or session of the day starts. Without a preload the first intervals that are completed are going to have very little training stimulus or effect. You have spent significant time training your body to resist fatigue, so to provide stimulus you need to first break through that armour before your training will stick.
3hr preload with 40s hill sprints.
3hrs steady endurance prior to interval session. Focus on maintaining a consistent heart rate between 72-85% max HR. After the preload find a climb and begin the interval session. Our favorite is 45s hill repeats as above.
45s on - 2 min off, 4x reps, 3 sets 10 – 15 min between sets. This session builds muscle power. These are all out efforts that will stretch your muscular endurance.. Try to do them on a steep hill. The power output is not so important here. The focus is on maximal effort and pushing through the fatigue after the 3hr preload. Once an athlete has mastered these preloaded efforts, fresh intervals of the same style or intensity become significantly easier.
As a closing remark, more important than the structure of your training, is the culture you build when setting your training program. It has been known for almost 100 years that interactions with a training partner reduces exercise difficulty and improves performance. Integrating training sessions with partners and friends is a good way to break up the training week and have some fun while hitting your goals. The AIRhub is great to build a culture of hard work among athletes of different abilities. Cycling performance takes a long time to develop. Much of the work by Seiler focuses on performance through consistency and reducing breakdown of the athlete. Through consistent training comes long term high performance. Leveraging the AIRhub as a training tool to promote a high quality training culture alongside physiological improvements will build a high performance athlete.