From Bourne to Bond

I watched the second film in the Bourne trilogy yesterday. Once again I was knocked over by it. The Bourne Supremacy is every bit as good as the first film, quite literally from the first opening seconds through to the last (and beyond as the closing music from Moby is totally right) it is quite simply:  stunning.

This got me reminiscing. I don't think the hero's name was just picked out at random, "JB" is just one nod the series makes to the "greatest" secret agent of them all, "...Bond, James Bond".   

Mr Bond celebrated his 50th birthday in film last year which makes him pretty much contemporaneous with me. It's more than just a coincidence in time, the original books were the first "adult" series that I read and I have watched most every film many times over. Back in the day no Xmas was Xmas without the family sitting round the TV to watch the umpteenth repeat of one or the other along with the Xmas special when some celebrity or other introduced some of their favourite scenes. 

Sadly, nearing half a century the old man was showing some of his age. The Bourne series gave him a bit of a kick in the nuts and, happily, Bond showed his character in his latest, Daniel Craig, representation.

But then he always has come good. Just for fun I thought I'd list my top 7 Bond's in release order, with some passing references to "Bourne, Jason Bourne" along the way.

 
 

Bourne again

The Lifecycle hasn't had much use since it was moved to the son's bedroom to make way for the VR trainer.

I finally got round to fixing it up so could watch DVDs while doing some recovery rides.

Just did a test run,  watching "The Bourne Identity". 

I knew this was a great film first time I watched it and it has only got better. Stunning film, made all the better knowing there are 2 excellent sequels to come. 

VAWs: It's not just about "watt" you do

Anyone following a training plan, for a specific event or just to get fit,  is going to spend an awful lot of time doing workouts. 

These come in various types, are extensively documented and are probably the most frequent topic in training forums. 

However mostly what gets covered is just how many watts/HR/effort you should do for how long. So you may do a workout of 2x20mins at 95%LTHR. Or a 3 hour endurance ride. Or 2 sets of 3 5 minute intervals at 340W with 5 min RBI. etc etc.

Of course watts or whatever other measure is used is important. But given how much you will be doing workouts it makes sense to try and get as much out of them as possible.

So in addition to just having a target wattage/HR/speed and time I would suggest that every workout has additional objectives that can be done as well. Taking a leaf out of my work experience I've coined the term "Value Added Workouts" to describe this, the idea being to get as much value out of a workout as possible.

This has a number of potential benefits

• It makes the best possible use of your time
• The workouts feel as if they have more purpose which can make them more enjoyable and make doing the bread and butter work of hitting the workout's effort targets easier.
• Many goals will require more than just getting fit. The best way to tackle this is practice and improve whatever is needed alongside putting in the effort, since that is what will be needed for the real thing. 

Here are some examples. I am not of course suggesting that every workout should contain every one of these. Some may be appropriate for regular use, others just on an exceptional basis. Variety is the spice of life after all and adding a few extra goals to a training session can spice it up too. 
  

• Interval pace/profile: A training plan will specify the effort for an interval but this can be refined to add some variety/challenge. Here are some different ways to tackle, for the sake of argument a 5 minute interval at 320W, though ofc could apply to any duration or even a full 4 hour ride (which would be broken down into various segments each of which would have one or more of the various types)
• > "Top Hat" - first 15s done at 350+W, then target power until last 15s@350W
• > "Negative split" - First half at 310W, second half at 330W
• > "Peak and fade" - Push hard at start 340W+ and hold for as long as possible. If the your zones are set correctly you should not be able to hold this for the full 5 minutes but keep going as hard as you can until the 5 minutes is up
• > "Ramp Up": start at 300W and increase 10W every minute. 
• > "Over/Unders" Minute1 330W, M2 310W M3 330W, M4 310W M5
• >"Mini MAP" Special case to be used as warmup. Use a MAP protocol as a warmup but stop early just above target zone and hold until total time since starting the MAP is 10 minutes.  
• RPE: Even if using a powermeter it's good to note how tough or otherwise the intervals feel. Give the intervals a score 1-10 in terms of how hard they feel, or at just note if they felt "easy" "OK" "tough" "extreme" whatever and keep a record of this in a training diary. Apart from helping judge your current state of form it's also useful from a historical viewpoint. Hopefully you will get fitter year on year. It can provide quite a fillip if you find sessions to be tough to look back and see that 12 months ago a "tough" session was something you now use for tempo training. 
• Visualisation: Imagine each interval/workout as a real life situation. A tempo workout could be a long mountain climb for example. Or 5 min VO2 be a lone break from the pack to get to the finish first. This can give benefits both ways. It can make the quality of the intervals better as most people will perform to a higher level when in competition even if only pretend. And when doing the real thing it can help to know you have practised it many times in training
• Simulation: Goes hand in hand with visualisation but a step further. As much as possible the training is like the event itself, so you ride the bike you will ride, in the position you will ride, eating/drinking as you would on the day etc. 
• Physiological: Not really a goal this, but it's still worth thinking every now and then about exactly why you are doing a workout. If its a sprint workout then its all about developing max power so you really want to give it your all every effort. On the other hand if its a 2 hour tempo ride then max power is the last thing you want to be doing. 
• Skills/Technique: There are a number of bike skills that make you a better rider and may be needed as routine or in an emergency.  Examples are hands off riding, eating/drinking while on full gas, putting on/taking of a gilet, cornering, descending etc. They can be included in workouts either during intervals or recovery. An example is the ability and confidence to bunny hop over an obstruction at top speed which could save your bacon if needed for real. If conditions are safe you could mark the end of an interval by doing one so that if you have to do one for real you will be prepared.
• Body Awareness: Every muscle and every joint from your waist down will be contributing to your effort in some way.  Above the waist some areas will be active, others relaxed. It can be helpful just to focus briefly on a specific area of your body and be aware what it is doing.  You may feel it could be doing something differently, in which case you can spend some specific time on it experimenting to see what does/doesn't work. One way of doing this is put extra emphasis on one area. e.g. when I do over/unders during a tempo workout I will make a conscious effort to keep my quads as passive as possible during the under phase. Then on the "over" effort I will get them to kick in to add the extra power.
• Cadence: Most people have a default cadence. This may be the best possible one or it may just be one that has been settled into as a result of habit. Regardless it can be useful to force yourself out of a comfort zone and do workouts at higher or lower rpm than you are used to. e.g. if do 2x20 usually at 80rpm do one at 70rpm and the second at 90. Or start an interval at 70rpm and build to 95rpm at the end while keeping power steady.
• Pedalling: The ideal power produced through a pedal stroke is a balance, with high power being delivered during the drive phase (when the pedals are roughly between 2/3 and 5 o'clock) and continued power being produced at other times (i.e. from 12-2 and 5-6 o'clock) so that there is no "deadspot" and the transfer between legs is as smooth as possible. This can be monitored while doing intervals e.g. by noting the pressure on the soles of the feet which should rise and fall during a stroke but never get to zero.  To experience different styles try extremes of all power being concentrated at a single point e.g. 4 o'clock or keeping power flatlining from 12-6.
• Leg Balance: Ideally both legs should contribute equal power. However most people will favour one or other leg and its rare to find that both legs actually measure the same in terms of length, one will usually be longer than the other and may well be canted at a different angle too. Some sources recommend "one legged" drills. I think these are at best a waste of time and at worst counter-productive. However it may be useful to consciously favour one or other leg in the course of a session. e.g. do alternating minutes odd minutes trying to get a 55/45 split of effort left/right and even minutes 45/55. If you find one or other easier it will tell you something. (If so suggestion is to do is get a good bike fitting that will tell you if you have a skeletal imbalance. As a general rule, in fact, its always worth getting one of these done before starting any serious training programme. If this reveals nothing it may just be that one leg is a bit lazy in which case more drills like this one should help)   
• Breathing: While this of course is pretty basic it can also be a useful guide. This is illustrated by the fact that the table here which is used  to set power zones also includes notes on breathing. It can be useful to sometimes focus on how you are breathing and check this matches that expected for a zone. For harder intervals I find it helps to establish the breathing pattern in the last few seconds of the preceding recovery and pay attention to keeping  this steady as the interval progresses. For long temp climbs I find it useful to synchronise breathing with pedal cadence, e.g. breathing every 4th rev.
• Food/Drink: Longer workouts can be used to check eating/drinking approach, checking that performance does not fall towards the end due to lack of nutrition. Shorter workouts typically will not actually need food to complete, but it can still be worth occasionally eating whatever you plan to use in an event. Something that tastes fine as a snack watching the TV may not be so appealing when pushing to the limit at the end of a hard interval.
• Bike Setup: As already mentioned above getting a good bike fit is an essential prerequisite to starting a serious training plan. However even having done this minor adjustments may still be necessary as you get fitter. Workouts are an ideal opportunity to try something out and see if it makes a difference. Main rule is only change one thing at a time and only make very small changes.  
• Stress Management: I have left this to last but it is far from least. Training is all about developing 2 things:
• >> Your Physical Capacity
• >> Your Mental Toughness
• Both will be needed to do well in events. Part and parcel of training is to improve your stress management. This can come in various form, the ability to handle the pain of short intense efforts or the ability to maintain focus and concentration for long endurance rides. One effective way to handle this is use some of the ideas above to shift focus from a negative area stressor to something positive.e.g. if suffering pain you can try to just block it out. But this can have the opposite effect and just make you think about it more. An alternative is to focus on something else, say maintaining a steady breathing pattern or focus on keeping a smooth steady cadence/pedalling rhythm. Again if you do this during training it becomes habit for the real thing.

All the above is a bit of a brain dump and makes for a pretty long list. However in practice the key thing is simply to ask yourself how can I turn a workout into a Value Added Workout and just pick a few off the list and apply them. 

Just a couple of examples to finish, hopefully the VAWs will be more appealing and seem to have more benefit than just doing the numbers.

• 4 x 5 mins VO2 becomes:>>>  4x 5 minute Vo2 workout: simulate breakaway then push to finish, do each interval starting with 20s top VO2zone effort then stettle back and maintain steady  VO2 till last 30s when push top again. Efforts will be done on drops in aero position.  Focus on breathing preceding each effort with 4-5 full beaths then go. When it starts to hurt imagine being chased by bunch and concentrate on keep cadence high and smooth. During recovery if safe ride no hands. Ride every interval as if its the last and record relative RPE for each.
• 60 minutes sweetspot >>> Big climb: 60 minute sweetspot effort. Do alternating 5 min mid zone, 3 min top zone to 40 mins then try to maintain top zone pushing threshold at end. Eat and drink as if the last climb on a long event. Push a big gear with low cadence around 70rpm for first 30 mins then drop gears and increase to 80rpm+ to finish. Each change of pace shift position slightly moving foward/back on seat and note if results in any changes good/bad. During last section focus on keeping heels well positioned through stroke.

© 2013 Martin Sigrist

Why 1 ctd "Feel the Heel", Good Heels, Good Torque

Building on the previous post it's possible to give an example as to how turning the pedals rather than just blindly pushing them can generate more power for the same effort.

The majority of power occurs during the Drive phase of the stroke. This is when the big muscles operate and consequently it's the time when getting things right in terms of force>torque conversion is the most important.

It's possible to exercise some control over this because power from the leg is not transmitted directly to the pedal in simple linkage. Instead the ankle adds an extra joint and this can be used to fine tune the direction in which force is applied.

One way to do this is to "Feel your heel". The position of the heel plays a big part in determining the direction force is applied.

Ideally it should not remain fixed but alter through the stroke as shown in the graphic below:

• During the preparation phase it will be lifted
• The drive phase starts in earnest shortly before the crank hits 3 o'clock just prior to this point the heel will drop, ideally to just below level. This will create the best angle to maximise torque
• At 3 o'clock where you really do "push down" the heel will be level 
• Past 3 o'clock it will gradually lift keeping the angle of force delivery as close to ideal as possible
• During follow through the heel will continue to lift to the point of transfer which to hold a good position and give the best angle for the muscles that operate during that phase.

This action has been likened to "scraping the mud off your shoes" at the bottom of each stroke. 

This is a helpful image but is more useful if you understand the reason exactly what you are doing and why. This will help reinforce the point that the actions all take place while force is being delivered to the cranks and they start early on during the stroke. 

This avoids the danger of thinking what you need to do is make large quick movements just at the end of each stroke. These will provide little benefit and may well be counter productive

Turn Don't Push: Why 1: Power == Torque <= Force

The previous post explained that cycling is all about power which can be measured by powermeters. 

Actually though, strictly speaking, this is not the case. Powermeters do not measure power directly.  (An example is here>>> SRM  )What is actually measured is the torque being applied to the cranks. Along with cadence torque is used to calculate power.

"Torque" is a specific term, used whenever using energy is being used to rotate something. It is an indication of the useful result of applying a force in a turning motion, in this case to the pedal crank.

Power then depends on crank torque . The higher the crank torque the higher the power, so increasing  power implies improving crank torque.

Crank torque in turn depends on two key factors which vary continuously throughout a pedal stroke:

• The force you apply with your muscles 
• The direction in which this force is applied 

(Crank length also affects torque but since it is constant won't be considered further here).


The latter (direction of force)  is important when considering pedalling. It is calculated by looking at the angle between the direction the force is applied and the crank.

• If this is 90 degrees then the value is 1, i.e. all the force is converted into torque and therefore power (see this animation for an example)
• If this is 0 degrees then the value is 0, i.e. all the force is wasted, none is turned into power.
• Anywhere between these the value varies from 0 to 1 i.e. some force is turned into power and some wasted. 

It's easy to understand this when you consider the extremes. For example if you push straight down when the pedal is at 6 o'clock. No matter how hard you push the pedal will not move.  Indeed all the effort in the world would result in no useful torque being generated because the force is being applied in exactly the same direction as the crank.

The same holds true if you push straight down when the pedal is at exactly 12 o'clock.

Just a little past 12 it will be slightly larger than 0 degrees so if you push down with all your force at this point  the bike will move forward but only slowly.

Conversely if at exactly 3 o'clock if you press directly down then all your force is converted into torque, since the angle here is 90 degrees. So pushing down hard at this point will get the bike moving quickly. (We all of course have an intuitive sense of this, when starting off we wind the pedal round to a point near 3 o'clock to make it easy to get moving)

The important thing though is what happens at 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock. If you just follow the simple advice of "push down hard" the direction variable will be less than 1, it will be closer to 0.85 i.e. 15% of force is wasted.  To avoid this wastage you need to be conscious of the crank position and adjust the direction of force correspondingly so that it as close to 90 degrees as possible.
 
In other words you have to think about turning the pedals rather than just mindlessly pushing them, 

© 2013 Martin Sigrist









 

 

Tempo Workouts Examples

When preparing for events like the Marmotte, Etape or similar which feature long mountain climbs I always do lots of  "Tempo" workouts in my schedule.

Tempo is a zone (source)

• 76-90% of FTP
• 84-94% of HR at lactate threshold (LTHR)

Such workouts may not feature in standard plans aimed at road racing or century rides. These will be more likely to concentrate of <=20mins threshold+ intervals and long duration "endurance" rides.

Still I would encourage anyone intending to do the sort of events above to be doing these regularly, once or twice a week, from now on.

This is for the following reasons:

• Just by themselves they are a good way to build general fitness. The effort zone is above endurance and below threshold and is sometime referred to as the "sweetspot" zone. It gets this name because it a nice compromise in terms of a workout that generates a good amount of training stress which will promote fitness while not being too fatiguing, so needs little recovery.
• The climbs in the Etape/Marmotte and the like  will be done in this zone. So practising in it allows you to really nail these  efforts in terms of pacing, how you feel, eating/drinking and the likes.    
• These events are a test of mental as well as physical capacity, requiring a solid focus from anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour or more. Threshold+ efforts, while harder in terms of load, are too short to really build this and endurance efforts are too easy, especially if they include sections where you coast.. 

With a bit of imagination, you can pretty much replicate a climb or even a whole event despite not having access to mountains. If you are used to doing such a  tempo "climb" once or twice a week the event will be less taxing. Indeed, given the adrenaline of competition plus the motivation of climbing the real thing compared to riding a turbo the climbs may well feel, if not exactly easy also not especially hard. allowing you to really enjoy your time and hopefully hit whatever targets you have set yourself.. 

As an example of the sort of thing I am talking about here are a couple of tempo workouts I did over the last couple of days. (Both were done on a VR turbo using some real ride terrain data).

I have divided each into various sectors and would advise doing similar. It can help provide some training information and long climbs are easier if divided into chunks. 

Two "climbs" are shown: 

Climb1: 40 minute Cat 1 equivalent: Warmed up before start, flat pace start to finish except a final push final km.Just did that + a warmup for an hours worth of training. 

Climb2 1 hour HC equivalent (pace is pretty much exactly what's needed for sub 60 minute ADH). Started from cold, once at the top did some variable paced work.

Climb 1.

Sector	Time	Watts	%FTP	HR	%LTHR	Drift
Warmup	3:10	285	84%	144	84%	n/a
Climb	38:28	294/295	86%	157/162	93%	2.5%
Push	2:18	318	94%	165	96%	n/a
Climb 2
Warmup	13:23	295	87%	152	88%	7.1%
Climb	46:13	285/285	84%	160/160	93%	0.4%
To end	49:57	252	74%	152	88%	-1.6%

Notes:

• Watts are shown since I have a powermeter. For steady efforts such as this speed is also a good indicator for the purposes of setting target times and measuring improvement.  
• The two numbers in the climb row are the values for the first and second half of the climb. They are nicely consistent which a good sign. 
• Both climbs were done nicely towards the top of tempo zone both in terms of power and HR. If not used to such efforts a useful progression is to pace the first attempt at the bottom of the zone, then make each subsequent attempt a bit harder.
• When under load HR will naturally go up with time, even for the same power. "Drift" is a measure of this and it is automatically calculated by tools such as WKO. It can be a useful indicator, especially for steady state sub threshold efforts like tempo climbs. (If using speed as a pacing indicator you can calculate it by splitting the work zone in half. calculating the average HR per kmh for each then dividing the second half by the first.)  . While it varies with time in zone and ambient conditions as a general rule the lower the number the more comfortable the zone is. One sign of getting fitter is this number coming down for the same power output and any number under 5% is a good sign. (Note drift is useless for intervals with very variable power or while still warming up as the table shows)
• The second climb happened to have an extended period of variable terrain afterwards including some downhill sections which is why the power is less. This would be the same in a real event. Sustaining the same average power in such conditions would require a number threshold+ efforts which will be unduly fatiguing. 
• I find breathing is a good way to pace the efforts for these climbs. Good rhythm of deep but unforced breaths through the mouth, with a short pause between each. 
• Though not shown the cadence on the climbs was a steady 74-76rpm. I kept it deliberately low as I wanted to focus on using big slow muscles. I also made a specific effort to keep quad effort to a minimum. The only time they were pushed hard was on any short sections of threshold+.  
• Warmup was done at steady tempo pace. This simulates what should happen during a climb. It is much better to start at plan or below and push on in the second half than try to push hard from the start. This applies even more on climbs like the Alpe d'Huez where the hardest section is at the start. This is one time not to copy the pros who are racing head to head with those around them. They will attack here to try to break the others. There is no point doing this in a sportive where you are racing the clock rather than those in your group. 

Turn don't Push: Measuring Ability = Measuring Power

Cycling is the simplest of all sports in one very important way. Ability can be boiled down to just two or three variables

• Power (measured in Watts (W))
• Time (the duration that you can sustain a given amount of power. The shorter the time the higher the power. The relationship is non linear, sprinting for 5s you will be able to sustain 3-4 times the power you can hold for an hour. Going all out for a minute you will be doing well to sustain near 2 times your hour amount. The best power average you can hold for 5 minutes will only 15-25% greater than your hour power.)
• Weight (for events with any significant amount of climbing)

These determine what at what level you can expect to perform. The relationship is sufficiently precise to allow a table like the one here Power Profile .Of course there will always be exceptions to this rule but they are the minority. The brutal truth is that if you want to ride in the Tour de France then you need to be able to sustain at least 6W/kg for an hour or more. To win the number needs to be closer to 6.5.  Some professional teams will hire and fire based just on these numbers. 

Of the variables above time and weight are easily measured.

Power is more difficult since it requires specialised equipment. This has been around since the late 1980s. Initially it was very expensive and only accessible to professionals and laboratories. However its price has fallen and the range of suppliers increased since. So now, while still not cheap, power meters can be purchased by those wishing to use them for training. 

I would go so far as to say:

The cheapest carbon frame equipped with the cheapest components and good set of wheels plus a reliable power meter used sensibly will cost less and result in better results than a more expensive frame with all the latest go faster gizmos but no power meter. 

Anyway, now it is possible for most any cyclist to measure themselves and very precisely determine their capability and potential. 

Training is similarly precise. 

•  Your target event will tell you what the most important time period is. (Sprinters will measure in seconds, long distance time triallers in hours.  Many events will require different time efforts so a variety of time periods may be needed.
• Your objective is simply to raise the power you can sustain for that time period(s). 
• Your training plan will seek to increase the time you can hold power for a variety of time periods. As the plan progresses then more and more focus will be given to those time periods that are most important.
• If the target event includes any climbing (and often even if not) at all times you will be monitoring weight and trying to reduce it. 
• You will test regularly to see what your W/kg actually is, check it's improving and adjust training goals accordingly.

It really is that simple. 

So in the world of cycling power is king. More power = better results.  Crucially, getting back to the subject here:

The way you pedal has a direct effect on the amount of power you can produce and how long you can sustain that power. 

So:

Pedalling better > More Power > Better results.
  
Exactly why will be covered next.

5 Phases of the Pedal Stroke

Before going into the detail of why it's so much better to focus on turning the pedals a quick break to describe the pedal stroke since these will be referred to in the following posts. 

Each leg goes through the following phases every revolution:

• Preparation: This is roughly from 12 o'clock through roughly around 2 o'clock. The aim of this phase is to keep momentum and pick up the power from the opposite leg.
• Drive: This is roughly from 2 o'clock through to 5 o'clock. This is the where the big muscles put out most of their power.  
• Follow through: Roughly from 5 o'clock to just past 6 o'clock. The aim of this phase is to maintain good form so that power is retained ready for transfer to the opposite leg.
• Transfer: Roughly 6 o'clock. This is the point where power shifts to the opposite leg. (Note: this is sometimes referred to as the "deadspot". This is not the best description because it's an example of negative thinking and one measure of a good pedal stroke is that there is no deadspot.)
• Recovery: from 6 o'clock through to 12 o'clock. The aim of this phase is simply allow the leg to rest and to make sure the leg does not in any way hinder the other leg while it is generating power. The benefits of attempting to pull up the leg during this phase in an attempt to add power are pretty marginal and may well end up doing more harm than good.  

Why turn?

Any endeavour that is worth doing is, most often, a test of the mind as much as the body.

Cycling is no different. A positive mindset will help you train harder and perform better when you put yourself to the test. 

Focussing on how you pedal a bike can help with this. 

• Understanding why pedalling makes a difference can help get the most out training sessions and make you a better rider.
• This training transfers to events. It provides a set of cues that help maintain a positive focus which in turn will help manage pain and retain good form when the going gets tough. 

There are four key reasons why "turn" is the key word to bear in mind, two due to the physics of riding a bike and two due to the physiology involved in cycle training.

An understanding of these will help improve the quality of training sessions and how you to have a robust set of cues that you can use when pushing yourself to the limits. 

In summary the reasons are

• Cycling is all about sustaining power. This power is generated exerting a rotational force which means there are specific reasons why turning is good and pushing is bad.
• Cycling is all about sustaining momentum. This can be easy, it can be hard and it can be very hard. The capacity to maintain momentum when as conditions get harder is a key differentiating factor between good and bad.  Knowing how to turn the pedals to keep momentum will make things less brutal when conditions are at their worst. 
• One definition of being skilled at something is that every part of the body that can help in it's execution is used and used in the right order with the right timing. Attention paid to turning  will help acquire and retain pedalling skill.
• Ultimately power comes from muscles mediated through the skeleton. These have evolved to meet general survival needs quite different from those involved in cycling. The purpose of training is to change them to become specialised. This requires good  focus and correctly turning the pedals helps ensure this.   

The next few posts will cover each of the above in more detail. Hopefully that will explain why turning the pedals correctly is important. Then attention can shift from theory to practice and give some thought on how to learn to turn.