I met with WorldTour cycling coach and director of Science To Sport, John Wakefield, to discuss 4 essential cycling training sessions to improve cyclists strength, endurance, and performance on the bike.
A big thank you to John for his knowledge and openness in sharing this training information. If you’re interested in being coached by John and Science To Sport (from anywhere in the world), head to https://www.sciencetosport.com.
Please note: the training sessions discussed in this video are designed to improve your cycling ability when followed correctly. They should not be attempted without sufficient warm up. Please always ride safely, on roads with minimal traffic and pedestrians, and never go beyond your limit. The best fitness gains will come from following each session properly, maximising your rest periods, eating properly before, during, and after your rides, and consulting your coach or dietician if you have questions. This video is a guide only and does not constitute an a training plan written specifically for you.
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00:00 Intro
01:55 Preliminary questions
03:40 Training indoors vs. outdoors
09:05 Explanation of training blocks
10:53 Low cadence intervals
13:16 Metabolic work
16:25 Threshold intervals
18:30 Race specific intervals
22:01 Bonus CRAZY session
23:19 Final thoughts
This interview was filmed at the Science 2 Sport lab on Carrer Nou in Girona, Catalunya, Spain; a cycling mecca that has been home to many professional cyclists including Ben O’Connor, Jack Haig, Esteban Chaves, Ryan Mullen, George Bennett, James Knox, Dorian Godon, Jay Vine, and at one point George Hincappie, Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton. Girona is used for training for races such as the Tour de France, Volta Catalunya, Vuelta Espana, Paris-Nice, Giro d’Italia and more. Teams such as Bora-Hansgrohe, INEOS-Grenadiers, Israel-Premier Tech Pro Cycling, Human Powered Health, Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team, UAE Team Emirates and others use Girona for team training camps and rider testing.
44 Comments
Wait… what about z2?! 🤣
Quality content!!! 5star
Now you are working with a coach it would be interesting to see your diet
Awesome video Tristan, thank you.
You guys talked about training for short and sharp climbs… I do a bit of everything you talked about but what do you think the key workouts for a triathlete should be, I mainly TT for a certain distance, 40 or 90km. Cheers and thanks again
My absolute favorite channel. Keep it up Tristan!🎉
Great video!! I have a question i use wahoo Bolt unit, where i can find the data to execute the first workout…(sfr low cadence) usually i use Watt but i want to use that where i can find It? My Power Meter are assioma duo and SRAM quark axs…please help me 🙂
I've been doing big gear, low cadence, hill repeats as a mainstay of my training regime for years before I even knew they were torque workouts! I have a power meter but don't have a torque metric on my Garmin Edge 530 so I basically calculated the lowest equivalent power at 60 rpm that John recommends.
For those in the same boat as me that is 0.7 x 2 x Pi x weight (in kg) which for me comes out at 343W!!
At 67 years old that is in my dreams but I do get a good workout holding ~250W for around 4 minutes on my training climb of 8-10%
Is it possible to make a video about john's studies and professional path to get to pro cycling coaching ?
Thanks
This is awesome mate. Congrats on the 100th ep
Some good sessions there although do feel that some of the levels would only be suitable for pro/very high levels riders thus not suitable for most of those watching this video. Also, no mention of how these may fit within a training system not where you may introduce the progressive overload within that system. Maybe you could discuss that with him in another video.
Great vid.. guess John used to skateboard noticed his wearing a Ray Barbee t shirt 😃👍🚴🏻🚴🏻😊 does John class the rest days as totally off the bike ?
Congratulations on number 100! It has been a blast, cheers from oz! 🇦🇺🦘
Hi, awesome video. Congrats on cracking the 100. A question regarding the 2x 5 min ftp test. Is it the same as the 2x8min test protocol where a 5min all out effort is done as part of the warm up before the two test efforts?
3x15min @ 110% FTP should not be possible for most athletes if their FTP is set correctly. For Comparison, at a baseline 20min FTP Test you estimate your Threshold Power at 95% of your 20min all out effort. If you calculate backwards you should do 104,5% of that 20min all out Power for 15min. That will not work.
Sounds like he has worked well with Dr. Millan
Sell everything you've got.
Buy a pro bike, I would suggest a second hand from 2018 Tours down.
Migrate to Andorra, the rent is cheap😀.
The rest is history…..
Excellent, I'll incorporate those workouts to my routine, looking forward for the results after a few weeks
Warm up and cool would be in Z2 HR???
Low cadence session:
30 minute warm up
5×4 minute intervals
OR
3 x 10 minute intervals
2 8 minutes rest between each interval
Cadence between 55 and 60
0.6-0.9 Nm/kg torque for women
0.7-1 Nm/kg torque for men
Gradient of 6% or more
30 minute warm down
RPE: 7/10 during intervals if not using a power meter
Maximum 1 session per week
Metabolic session:
30 minute warm up
20 minute interval (increase to 30 minutes and 40 minutes over 4 weeks)
80-85% of FTP
Cadence between 80 and 100
Flat or undulating terrain
RPE: 8/10 during intervals if not using a power meter
After 4 weeks:
2 x 20 minutes OR 2 x 30 minutes at 80-85% of FTP
15 minutes rest between each interval
Avoid traffic lights and steep downhills
30 minute warm down
Maximum 2 sessions per week (or 3 sessions for well-trained athletes)
Threshold session ONE:
30 minute warm up
3 x 10 minute intervals OR 3 x 15 minute intervals
105-110% of FTP
8-10 minutes rest between intervals
Cadence 80-100
Consistent uphill gradient (between 3-8%)
RPE: 8.5/10 during intervals if not using a power meter
30 minute warm down
Maximum 2 sessions per week with 2-3 days between each session
Threshold session TWO:
30 minute warm up
3 x 10 minute intervals following this pattern:
2 minutes at 95% of FTP, 1 minute @110% of FTP
10 minutes rest between intervals
Cadence between 85 and 95
Flat or consistent gradient
RPE: 9/10 during intervals if not using a power meter
Maximum 2 sessions per week
High intensity session ONE:
40 minute warm up
5x 2 minute intervals with 2-3 minutes rest in between
OR
5×4 minute intervals with 2.5-3.5 minutes rest in between
115-120% of FTP during intervals
Consistent uphill gradient
RPE: Maximum power sustainable for entire interval length
30 minute warm down
Maximum 2 sessions per week
High intensity session TWO:
40 minute warm up
6 x 40s max, 20s recovery (6 minutes total)
Increase to 10 x 40/20 over 4 weeks
Uphill gradient of 3-6%
RPE: 10/10 during intervals
40 minute warm down
Maximum 2 sessions per week
Can you ask him how in which he has moved away from a 80/20 program?
Exceptional work showing 👍
Top top content as always!
Great presentation! Question: if I do longer (2-4 hr) group rides that tend to push me hard on the weekends (especially one of the two days; the second can be more mellow), how many of these interval sessions described in the video should I be doing per week? Right now I do two: Tuesday and Thursday. Is that excessive given the weekend efforts? I’ve been doing this for 2 years or so with 3 week blocks.
Great video! are all of these different training sessions considered as Hard so i should limit to max two in total for a week?
do u incorporate all 4 sessions in one week or use 1st session per week then gradually go up
How did you add workout like that into wahoo headunit? Could you also export workout and share in description?
13×30 sprints works as a cheater!
If you can manage 30s recovery
good on bro
Helpful video thanks. Will definitely try some of these workouts on the bike The audio is really bad on the video. It's definitely not the audio from the lav mics.
Great video on training. I did a lot of it in my younger days. At 65, I just look forward to a decent and enjoyable ride. My routes are usually around 24-25 miles, with one having a nice variety of flat and mildly hilly sections. As far as indoor training goes, it can be a pain. Your bike is locked in place and it is like riding on a brick. It doesn't really replicate riding outdoors on a decent ride. Rollers are better, but are out of the question for 99%+ of us. The new trainers on the suspended platforms are probably way more compliant, but they just aren't really worth it for casual rider and for people in my age group. Either way, just get out and ride. Enjoy a nice day and don't over do it.
Sometimes its unfortunate that I live in the Netherlands… No climbs!
Check your subtitle spelling of Tadej’s name
What about the days between these tough sessions? Z2 or my social rides here n there i guess?
Another excellent video Tristan, so down to earth with training methodology and people's resources. I really appreciate that. My goal is simple, I just want to drop my boyfriend on a climb! He's been cycling all his life and is much stronger than me, but he's not focusing on it now and meanwhile I'm training hard and secretly feeding him lots of cake. I'll add these training sessions and hopefully improve my chances of beating him 😀 great content again, if YouTube was about quality not clickbaits and quantity you would be at the top! You are to me anyway 🙂
My only question is how to calculate torque? And do you mean 0.7-1Nm per kg of bodyweight?
I have watched lots of videos regarding training but take a bow
This is the best one
Very clearly explained ❤
Sir please tell us a rough way on how to arrange our workouts in a week I mean endurance ride, intervals, threshold, climbing and recovery in a week
Thanks in advance
Fantastic video Tristan and congratulations on the explosion of this channel. This question is more for John but you may be able to explain it as well. I didn’t quite understand why training the various systems (metabolic, neuter muscular, anaerobic) during a one week period poses such a danger in a training regiment. Doesn’t the interaction of these systems not present benefits or does it constitute over training etc. or negative learning/progression training practices. Thanks
How many clients does John have?
Great content !
Does this mean i should only excercise 2 times a week or should i fill up the other days e.g. with lower intensity rides (zone 2, recovery)
On the subject of FTP tests. I’ve done the 2x5min, 20min, and ramp test and scored 233w, 260w and 280w respectively. It’s so hard to determine a real ftp these days
Great video. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!
Training indoors makes you a FITTER cyclist. Riding outdoors makes you a FASTER cyclist.
So, naturally indoor is better. FITNESS>SPEED.
May just be me but background music during a conversation is distracting