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I’ve been asked to define fartlek training. This kind of training very simply is short, sharp period training which uses explosive high intensity efforts, with full recoveries in between. It means “speed play” in Swedish. The key difference in this type of training is it’s based on how you feel.  So you put in over 60% [...]

Bike rollers are more effective because they promote balance, core training, and pedal technique.  They don’t, however, help you develop strength because they don’t offer the resistances of turbo trainers.  They may be cheaper to run though: you won’t need a spare wheel, and that makes them quicker to set up too.  Neither replaces real [...]

You can improve your cycling performance when you train in the sweetspot which is the border of the training zones of level 2, steady, and level 3, brisk.  You are breathing heavily but still aerobically. By training at this point you can cycle for much longer, and your body will learn to burn fat.  But [...]

The point of aerobic endurance training is to increase your ability to do what you want to do – go further and with more power, which equates to more speed. Let’s clear things up first though, definitions.  Anything that isn’t anaerobic is aerobic.  And the border line between the two is called your VO2 max[imum]. So [...]

To be able to use the constant heart rate training test you will need a turbo trainer, such as the Cycleops turbo trainer, and one of a range of heart rate watches to monitor your pulse.  Your trainer will need to monitor your distance too. The basic principle is to choose a constant heart rate, [...]

There are many cycling training plans available both on and off line.  You have to be careful about just choosing something off the peg however, because we are different people, with different bodies.  The most useful cycling training program is the one that is designed to fit you, which either takes a bit of careful [...]

A friend of mine is undertaking a coast to coast cycle in the UK.  I had a bit of a laugh at his expense though!  Just after Christmas he was asking me how I was, and I said fine…my 5k training schedule had gone really well and I was now looking at increasing my running [...]

Even as I sit here I think I must be mad. Tonight is one of those nights when my heart is hurting.  Probably too much of that high caffeine coffee I had earlier on which my friend had left lying around last time he visited.  Or it could be a bug. The problem of living [...]