I’m curious about something that I experienced today with my Over/Under Threshold workout.
Which feel harder to you all, two minutes of just under threshold, or the minute over? For me, the 1 minute “overs” felt strong and completely manageable, it was the 2 minutes of “under” that had me really focusing to stick with it. on the Izaak Walton workout, the last 1 minute of the interval felt like a relief. This type of workout keeps me up at night and I really want to improve my threshold.
Longer unders are harder compared to short overs for me.
I just did Royce
4 min under
4 min at FTP
4 min over
In this case the 4 min over was the hardest.
My simplified understanding after reading this article
fast twitch fibers produce lactate
slow twitch fibers (and many organs, including brain) consume lactate as fuel
IOW, high intensity training teaches to produce more lactate and long slow distance riding helps to develop machinery to consume it i.e. maybe your current training phase is tilted toward HIIT?
As long distance rider myself, with 2-min 90%/110%, under part feels like work but it is immediately pleasant relief. Today I am going to tackle Palpana, typical O/U except between sets, recovery is at 70%. This is theoretically intensity where body is most efficient consuming lactate. Promises to be interesting challenge
After Tuesday leg day at the gym I do a modified version combining over/under with continuous effort that lasts either 10 minutes or 12 minutes: 3x (5 minutes supra-threshold, 2.5 minutes threshold, 2.5 minutes sweet spot) or 3x (4 minutes supra-threshold, 4 minutes threshold, 4 minutes sweet spot). Then rest interval. The unders feel like a blessing.
That sounds like a solid workout! Mixing over/under with continuous effort is a great way to push your limits and build endurance. I can see how those unders would feel good after leg day. Do you find this routine helps with your overall performance?
I think so, though I can’t do anything but endurance the next two days as my legs are really sore. It’s also out of necessity to avoid having more than two hard days per week (on my other lifting day I do a single 30 minute sweet spot effort as part of a longer endurance ride after lifting). Doing anything harder than endurance or tempo after you smash legs at the gym is really difficult, so part of why I start high and work down during the effort is that I can’t hold supra-threshold for multiple 10-12 minute intervals due to muscular discomfort. I could do it for one interval but the rest would fall apart and time in zone wouldn’t be worth the effort. Time in zone matters!
