First let’s establish how important “Power at Lactate Threshold” is to cycling performance:
*** For more than 30 years, exercise physiologists have known that the exercise intensity at which lactate begins to accumulate in a person's blood - that is, their lactate threshold (LT) - is a powerful predictor of their endurance performance ability. This is because although an individual's cardiovascular fitness, i.e., their maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) sets the upper limit to their rate of aerobic energy production, it is their metabolic fitness, i.e., their LT, that determines the percentage or fraction of their VO2max that can they can utilize for any given period of time. The physiological factors determining LT are complex, but in this context blood lactate levels essentially serve as an indirect marker for biochemical events within exercising muscle. More specifically, a person's LT reflects the ability of their muscles to match energy supply to energy demand, which in turn determines the fuel "mix" (i.e., carbohydrate vs. fat) used and the development of muscle fatigue. Consequently, LT - especially when expressed as a power output, which also takes into account cycling efficiency - is the single most important physiological determinant of performance in events ranging from as short as a 3 km pursuit to as long as a 3 week stage race. – Andy Coggan ***
OK, if that seems complex, well it is. But what’s most important is the very last sentence: “LT - especially when expressed as a power output, which also takes into account cycling efficiency - is the single most important physiological determinant of performance in events ranging from as short as a 3 km pursuit to as long as a 3 week stage race.” That is a crazy strong statement. Andy states that power @ LT is the single most important physiological determinant of performance in basically any event lasting more than 3-minutes! That would include Group Rides & The Tour de France :^)
Here’s the good news, Lactate Threshold is HIGHLY TRAINABLE. The body will respond and adapt for years as LT improves (few ever truly reach their potential power @ LT). Riding hard, riding long and riding frequently will promote year over year improvement in LT. We see it all the time, riders who ride a lot keep getting stronger for years. But there reaches a point where the gains start coming more slowly, we plateau. We continue to ride hard, long and frequent but the gains just aren’t as noticeable. We may be getting stronger, but the gains are much smaller. To get off this plateau we will need to focus in and target specifically what truly is most important… Lactate Threshold. We need to pound on LT squarely in the nose. Forget everything else, if we want some real improvement in LT we will need to hammer on it… hard!
Here’s the deal, its complicated. But basically, to demand that the body beef up its power supply (increase power @ LT) we will need to send a strong message… repeatedly. We need to make it absolutely clear what we want. We need to prove to our legs that the current LT is not working for us, and that we are insistent that the body do something about it. We need to hammer on LT… A LOT. If the message is loud, clear and repeated, the body will respond and we will get what we want.
LT is kinda funny though, you have to peel back a few layers before you can really get to it and start to work on it specifically. It takes about 8min of steady hard effort to blow through all the anaerobic energies and pedal our body into a state of sustained metabolic metabolism… that’s where we need to go if we want to speak directly to Mr LT. If we want to send LT a message, we’ll have to work hard for 8minutes before LT starts to listen. That means in a 20min interval, the last 12 minutes will be our opportunity to speak clearly as to what we demand. We get to preach from our soapbox for 12min… make it count and do not forget the 8min cost to buy the box.
For interval 2, same deal.. though if you keep the rest short you may hit that sweet spot a bit quicker. The body reloads fast, so don’t rest too long if possible. Most people use a 5min rest, but if you can get back on it in 1 or 2 min, good for you… you’ll have more time on your soapbox.
OK, this is getting wordy and I apologize, but it’s a wordy situation. Group rides are great, they are a great way to train and build fitness and to generally destroy yourself if that’s in order. But group rides really don’t target any specific system. Group rides hit all the systems from parked to 100% anaerobic bliss. This is the problem, by spending energies across all systems we never really send a clear message as to what we want (specifically), we don’t spend enough time speaking to any individual system (Neuromuscular, Anaerobic capacity, VO2max, Lactate threshold, Tempo & Endurance). The message we send is “I want more of everything”, and that is too broad and vague to expect significant improvements from any 1 specific system. To truly stress a specific system, we need to accumulate time at an intensity that approaches our limits for that specific system. This is best done with interval training.
This is where getting strong and getting stronger are two different things. If we want to be strong, the “I want more of everything” approach will work just fine (with sufficient volume). If we want to get stronger (off the plateau), then we need to be more specific and planned in our approach. The getting stronger approach can range from a highly complex training plan, to something as simple as “let’s just focus on what really matters most”. If one were to choose the “let’s just focus on what really matters most” approach, then for certain the plan would focus on improving LT. If that be the case, there is no simpler (yet effective) routine than the 2x20min LT workout once or twice per week (mixed in with group rides etc) for several consecutive weeks.
After a few minutes I found myself in an ideal spot, or so I thought. The leaders were stretching out off the front and there was a sizeable gap behind me, leaving me all alone to pace the course and make the most of my energy… what I failed to factor was the giant headwind I had to tangle with for the next 30min. I might have been better off in the string of riders behind me where I could have drafted a bit on the way out. Oh well, I had a great position (and worked hard for it) so I put my head down and chugged along.
