I make it a point to execute every single drills in the workouts, cadence, ILT, SLF, climbing, kick-pull quadrant, spin-ups, form sprints, power sprints, aero. Whatever is the drill I do it. But I wonder how much more workload it adds to a workout.
I understand it doesn’t add anything power wise.
But clearly it adds to the workload since my heat rate increases and when the drill is over it decreases. This its particularly clear with climbing drills as for the same power my HR is 5-10 beats more when climbing. Same for aero drills.
My belief is they add 10%-20%. At least that’s what RPE tells me. It also makes Baxter an otherwise easy workout, not challenging but, much more difficult than what we should expect from an endurance workout.
This depends on the particular type of drill.
- Reviewing the list of drills from the TR help center, you will see 3 main groups.
Efficiency Drills
Efficiency drills seek to improve your overall cycling efficiency by addressing pedal economy (pedal speed and control) and muscle efficiency (gradual reduction in muscle stress at similar workloads).
- These should lead to minimal increase in stress on the body in most cases, with the fully Isolated Leg Training as the most likely exception.
Strength Drills
Strength drills not only enhance muscular contribution/activity but they can improve the health of your connective tissues and thus enhance joint stability in your knees, hips and ankles.
- These will most likely be an increase in overall stress.
Power Drills
Power drills can drastically improve both the number of muscle fibers you recruit during explosive efforts but also how quickly those fibers are recruited. They can also reduce muscle fiber fatigue over long rides by effectively distributing the workload over more muscle fibers.
- These will most likely be an increase in overall stress.
The amount of change for any one is likely very individual based on current fitness and training history with or without similar drills.
2 Likes