[FAQ] Pre-Race Warm Up Workouts (Warm-Up, Warmup)

Any chance we can get this made into a workout? I’d love to do the nate sky pre race warmup. I’m just crappy with the workout creator.

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I just literally do the ramp test :smiley:. When it asks you to accept your FTP say “no”. Then extend the workout a few minutes and do the rest.

Nates ramp workout sounds good. I’ve been doing Goddard -4 for my triathlon taper week (last ride) before a race. Works well for me, you get a bit of everything.

A bunch of us locally are into time trials and are masters athletes. Read that as old guys 50-70 years of age.

The warmup that works well for everyone that has tried it is:

10-15 min w/u 50-70% FTP

3:00 ramp working from about 70% FTP to 120% FTP in 30 sec steps

3:00 recovery

3:00 repeat ramp as above

3:00 - 5:00 and get to the start line

20-25 min total is plenty. You want to get warm and open and hit a reasonably high HR but not do a workout before the race.

If it’s 40k you can do just the first ramp but for shorter events the second ramp seems to help get the brain in the right place for the hurt that’s coming.

I warm up on rollers to avoid messing with the wheels. Particularly if using holt on skewers just hopping off the rollers and heading to the start is nice.

Mark

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Question for you guys. Have any of you taken the ramp test a day prior to a C class event.

Has it:
Weakened or wrecked your performance
Had no impact
Improved your performance

Yes I have, and although the next day I felt good, not to long into my session, I was done. I believe that a good test should drain you completely, kind of like a time trial. End of a TT I am blown as I cross the line. Next day I’m cooked.

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Thanks mate, even though it’s a C race I still want to hit it as hard as I can. I’ll reserve the Ramp Test for the following week as it’s the start of new phase - “sustained power” which happens to coincide with a race event

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That’s my next phase as well, Sustained Power" gotta get through this last week first!

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Nice topic.
Having no powermeter on race bike doesn’t let me use this but copying the general idea to perform a better warm up on the track just before the races will help for sure.

Just like the outside workouts, you can try to do it by RPE.

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Truuli -2 is another excellent pre-race workout.

Any thoughts on doing a warm-up several hours before the race? Prior to a 10m TT on Sunday, my training partner did her warm-up on her turbo at home before we even left for the race (which was an hour’s drive and then she had another 90 minutes before she raced). I can’t see it helping much, but wondered if there was anything behind it?

I am interested on why Plan Builder schedules a “Leg Opener” the day before the race. I am not sure if there is any benefit of doing a leg opener today for a race tomorrow. Thoughts?

To keeps your legs and body going and not go in to hibernation. It is crucial for me with a good leg opener the day before I race.

I say do the leg opener. It’s there for a very, very, very good reason.

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a very, very, very…unscientific, not proven reason, just anecdote. Do it if you want, dont do it if you dont.

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Very, very, very… Boring attitude Thanes.

Maybe it hasn’t been proven at a university research facility. I havent really looked it up.
For you alvaroe I would recommend to do the leg opener, it won’t put any heavy load on you and you will still get rid of some fatigue while keeping fitness up for tomorrow. I also like to feel the legs for the mental game, feeling prepared and confident which will help me sleep better, reduce stress and overall be happier all the way to the race starts.
My worste race performance was when I couldn’t do my leg opener. Even if that wasn’t proven in science I will never take that chance again not doing it. Especially since I know I often feel sluggish after passive recovery.

Most important: good luck tomorrow!

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I strongly believe in the Placebo effect… Even if it doesn’t do anything physical to my legs… If it makes me feel like it did… that is money on the bank!

I think I will do it… 30 minutes should be pretty easy :wink:

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I am puzzled. If these are supposed to be pre-race warmups, why does teh plan builder put them the day before?

AFAIK, TR only adds “Openers” to the schedule, assuming you select that option during the Plan Builder. An Opener is meant for the day before the event, and are different from a warm up meant for shortly

TR PB does not have an option for adding pre-race warmups (the focus of this specific topic). Those must be added manually by each users if they want them.

If there is confusion about which precise workouts TR adds for “Openers”, that is likely best addressed via support@trainerroad.com. My info in this thread and that other one are derived from TR podcast episodes and related searches for these efforts in the Workouts section. My info may be out of date if they have changed their approach.

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Anyone else have equipment recommendations for parking lot pre-race warm-up trainers?

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