- 28/05/2025
How to ride faster for longer: We demonstrate three different cycling sessions to best prepare you for your longest ride.
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00:00Spring and summer is the perfect time for cyclists to do rides or events that are that
00:08bit more challenging. So as that's a hundred mile ride, a multi-day epic, or even just a
00:13long training ride, today we're looking at endurance sessions and how best to train for
00:19them. So I'm joined by coach Watteau and I understand that you've put together some
00:23sessions for me today. I certainly have, yeah, we've got three good sessions for you to try
00:26today, Reaper. Got the time strap cyclists in mind that most of us are, you know, we're training for
00:32longer events, we don't always have three, four hours a day to train, so we've got that rate down.
00:37So three sessions, one is going to be, I'll call it a pyramid session, so that's going to build up
00:42our ability to do longer, longer sustained efforts. There's a hill session because we're very unlikely
00:48to find a road that's a course that's completely flat, so we're going to do some skills that get
00:53us over the hill and some hard work on that. And then we're going to do some strength work as
00:58well because it's quite important and something that's quite often neglected is the strength work
01:01around it, so we're building up a nice solid core and some of the leg muscles as well that we can
01:05utilise then when we're back on the bike. Brilliant. Well, it all sounds like a lot of hard work,
01:10so we should probably get cracking. Yeah, let's do it.
01:16So coach, what is my first endurance session of the day?
01:20First session today is a pyramid session, so the idea of this is that we're going to build up your
01:26endurance by putting some harder efforts in during your ride. So you're going to go out in the lanes,
01:3215-20 minutes, half an hour, just get all nice and loose, get in the fresh air, you know, just enjoy
01:37yourself and then we're going to put some harder intervals in there. So you start off with two minutes,
01:44so two minute harder interval, two minutes easy, three minutes harder interval, three minutes easy,
01:49then a five minutes hard interval, and five minutes easy, and then we're going to go back again. So
01:54we start five minutes, three minutes easy, three minutes, two minutes easy, two minutes hard,
02:02it's all done, and then we're going to have a 15-20 minute, half an hour, and then you're going to go
02:06home. Yep. The intensity is going to be around about an 8 out of 10 effort, so it's not flat out, it's not a
02:13sprint, it's manageable, we've got to get through it, but you're going to feel it. You're going to feel it in the
02:17legs, you're going to feel it in the lungs, and you're going to push it, push it, push hard through
02:21it, and that. Brilliant. Okay, so the perceived wisdom behind this session, as I understand it,
02:26is that when you're doing this for an hour and an hour and a half, you can obviously ride at your
02:31max threshold, but then when you're doing your 100 mile ride with your mates or your riding buddies,
02:37because you'll knock that pace down, you won't be riding so difficult, you can do it for a longer
02:42period of time. Absolutely, that's exactly what we're trying to get out of this session, so that
02:47we want the 100 rounds to be sociable, nice and enjoyable out in the lanes. It's not the distance
02:54that tends to get people, it's the intensities, so if we can train to a higher intensity in training
02:59and ride at a lower intensity for the longer ride, then it's that much more manageable. Absolutely
03:04perfect, I think that is exactly what I need, so let's get into it and give it a whirl. Sounds good.
03:12So the bike I've been using to complete these training sessions is the Cannondale
03:23Synapse High Mod Disc with SRAM Red ETAP. The Synapse is well known for its versatility,
03:29its excellent handling, as well as its performance pushing capabilities. It really is an all-out
03:35brilliant bike, but it's also exactly what you would look for in the perfect example of an endurance
03:41bike, a bike that is going to keep you riding for longer. For starters, it's super lightweight,
03:47weighing just 7.3kg in this size 56 that I have here. It then also has disc brakes for more controlled
03:54braking and clearance for wider tyres. It even has a removable seat stay bridge so you can fit a mud
04:00guard should the weather turn sour. But what elevates this bike to an all-day super weapon is
04:07Cannondale's genius use of carbon fibre. It's called Cannondale's save system and basically
04:12different parts of the frame can flex to absorb road chatter and the horrible bumps that you might
04:17find when riding along, keeping you in the saddle for longer and keeping you faster for longer,
04:23which after all is the most important thing anyway.
04:25So that was session number one done. What a killer it was. Thanks for that coach.
04:38And now we're on to session number two, which is about climbing. And we're going to use this hill
04:43behind me. I'm not a particularly good climber. So what have you got in store? How much is this going to hurt?
04:49And you're going to feel it. Yeah, you're definitely going to feel it. So the idea of this is it's hill
04:55repeats and it doesn't get any more difficult than that. You're just going up a hill multiple times
05:00and practicing your climbing style and also getting the physiological benefits of going hard up a hill.
05:07So we're going to start with about six reps, six reps of a hill going up, recovery on the way down,
05:14spending anywhere three to five minutes recovering before you're going to start the next the next
05:18descent. And then you can build it up as you get stronger and fitter. You can build it up to
05:2210 reps, 12 reps, however, however you can manage and feel. But the more you do,
05:27the stronger you're going to get. Brilliant. And I, as my understanding is,
05:30this is an important session for when you're riding upwards of 100 miles, because if you're
05:34doing that type of distance, you're almost guaranteed to come across a climb of some sort,
05:39probably multiple ones, depending on where you live. And what this will help me be able to do is
05:44even if I'm 60 or 70 miles into my climb, I'll still be able to get up it because I'll have that
05:50conditioning and I'll have practiced it. And this will have given me that extra fitness and power that
05:55I need to get over it. Absolutely. So there's no completely flat roads in Britain. We're not,
06:00it's not a mountainous territory, but there's no completely flat road. So we're always going to find
06:03something. And if you're going on a course, it's a 80, 90, 100 miles, then you're going to find,
06:07you're going to find hills. Definitely to train it, it puts it in the bank, you condition for it,
06:13and you know how to do it. And then you can cut with it much better than if it, if it's a sudden
06:19surprise. So that's why it's very important to do hill repeats. And it's very important to practice
06:24hills so that when you get to ride them yourself, that you know what to do. Brilliant. And what type
06:29of technique am I looking for on the bike? It's common to, to bob, you know, it starts to get
06:34hard on your bob, but when you're bobbing, you're going to start to lose, lose some of your efficiency.
06:39So you want to keep it nice and tight because it's the hips and the, and the legs that are going to
06:43be doing all the work. Gear selection is very important as well. So you want to be changing
06:47gear before you have to. So as it legs start to get, start to lock, you're changing up, changing up,
06:52you know, you've got 11 gears on the back or most people have 11 gears on the back. You've got to use
06:55them. Yeah. And do that. And then the pedal stroke as well. So you're not just pushing down with your
07:00foot, you're pulling back as well. So you get a nice pedal stroke and that
07:04will carry you up the hill. Brilliant. Okay. Well, this sounds like a lovely,
07:08tough session. So I reckon we should just get into it and give it a whirl. Yeah, let's do it.
07:34So that's the first two sessions completed and they were great. I really enjoyed those.
07:41Enjoyed me out. Brilliant. I think they're really useful actually, especially the climbing one,
07:45always something I need to work on. But now I understand that you've got a circuit session for
07:50me to do. I certainly have. Yeah. It's a circuit based on building up some strength,
07:55core strength and leg strength off the bike as well. This is really, really important because the more
08:00stable that we are, the better that will transfer over onto bike. Sure. So by the sounds of it,
08:07flexibility is as important as strengths when it comes to cycling. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Because
08:12we've got to be agile on the bike, you know, as we pointed out in the hill session, you know,
08:16we don't want to be moving around on the bike. The only thing we want to be moving really is our legs,
08:21which is pushing the pedals around, which is our engine to get us where we need to go. So if we can be
08:26agile and flexible, then that can only be a good thing again. Perfect. Well, I think we should take
08:32a look at them and look at the form and how you're meant to do them. Absolutely. Yeah. Lots of that.
08:36Brilliant. Okay. So what we're going to do, we're going to start off with the, with the lunges.
08:40So if you move to the side like that, so what you need to do is you're going to take a big step forward
08:46and you're going to stretch out the quads, doing a step forward. But the form with this as well is we
08:51don't want to be your knee going over the edge of your toe. So a nice big step forward and then
08:59like that. Okay. Yep. Keeping it back nice and straight. How's that feel? Yeah, I can really feel
09:06it in the hamstring. Yeah. That's looking better. Forward again. Keep it back nice and straight and
09:10stand up. Okay. So what we're doing, we're doing, let's try with, start with eight on each leg and then
09:18you can build it up then. So you can do it to, you know, eight, nine, 10, 12, whatever,
09:22as you get fitter and you get more accustomed to the exercise. But remember, keep it, keep it low
09:27early on because we're going to be doing four exercises in a row and we're going to do three
09:31sets of that. So we want to make sure that we get through the whole routine and then we can build it
09:35up week by week. Okay. So the next one, we're going to go into a plank. Have you ever done a plank before?
09:39I have done a plank. Okay. So if you want to go into the plank position for me.
09:42So how would I do a plank? So plank position, exactly what you've got there. So arms nice and
09:51straight, back nice and straight. That's good. So what you should be doing is feeling it on your,
09:57on your abs there now. Yeah. Yeah. And feeling it on my one ab. On your one ab. And you shouldn't
10:03be feeling, the back should be nice and straight. So that's looking good. And then what we can do to
10:09make this a harder exercise is if you bring your knee towards your elbow and then take it back
10:16again. Then do it with the other side. And back again. They're called Spider-Man planks. How did
10:22that feel? Yeah, that's tough. That's tough. So start off with the normal planks first, but that's just
10:28a progressional thing you can do as you get better at it. Sure. And do that. Okay, you can stop now.
10:32Woo! Again, sometimes you can do that and leave it to as long as you can go. But because we're doing
10:39this in a circuit, let's start with 10 to 20 seconds of doing the plank and then we'll keep
10:44doing that circuit free. And then we'll see how we get to from that. So the next one's the hip flexor.
10:49So what we're going to do now is you're going to go back into that lunge position.
10:55Hold it there. And then what you're going to do, you're going to stand up and bring your knee to your
10:58chest. And then back into the lunge position. And again. That's it. So we're going to do eight of
11:06those in each leg. Stand up. Nice and straight. Leg up. That's it. And down again. Okay, stand up
11:12straight. And then do the other leg. But the beauty of this exercise, again, it's a real stretch out for
11:18the hips because we spend a lot of time bent over on the bike and, you know, with the hips,
11:24we can get quite sore. So it stretches those out. It's also stretching the glutes and the hands.
11:28Downstrings as well as you can feel as you're going up. So it's a great all over, all over
11:32workout that one. Okay, next we're going to do some glute bridges. So if you're lying on your back for me.
11:40Okay, knees bent. Put your knees in. That's it. About there. Close together. Put your feet together.
11:46Okay. And then what you're going to do, you're going to raise your pelvis up as high as you can.
11:51That's it. Hold that for a second or two and then back down again. And again. Up. Hold it for a second
11:56two and back down again. Okay. So again, we're going to do about six to eight of those depending
12:03on where we are with the circuits. But what they're doing as well, good core exercise, stretching out
12:08the core and the glutes and the hamstrings as well. So really giving you a good workout post bike and
12:15hopefully unlocking those muscles and adapting those muscles that you might be not using as much or being
12:22a bit lazy with on the bikes. Brilliant. And that's something you can do any time. It shouldn't
12:26take too long. You can do that any time. You go straight off the bike isn't a bad thing to do
12:31actually, you know, while you're still warmed up and it gives you that activation and it's something
12:35that you can fit in quite easily then before you have your shower and anything to eat.
12:40So there you go. Three, hopefully not so gruelling sessions that you can all try at home.
12:45Guaranteed to help boost your fitness and help you ride further, faster, for longer,
12:50which after all is the goal. So thank you very much to coach Watto, head coach of Team London.
12:56They're some brilliant sessions. Great pleasure. Thank you very much. But guys, if you have any
13:01sessions that you like to do at home or if you've got any big plans for this summer, do let us know
13:06in the comments section below and don't forget to like and subscribe and we'll see you next time.
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