Go Back  Bike Forums > The Racer's Forum > "The 33"-Road Bike Racing
Reload this Page >

How many hours a week for a 60' time trial?

Notices
"The 33"-Road Bike Racing We set this forum up for our members to discuss their experiences in either pro or amateur racing, whether they are the big races, or even the small backyard races. Don't forget to update all the members with your own race results.
View Poll Results: How many traiining hours a week is optimal for 20 to 60 minute time trials?
Less than 7 hours a week
0
0%
7 hours a week
1
20.00%
8 to 9 hours a week
0
0%
10 to 13 hours a week
1
20.00%
14 or more hours a week
3
60.00%
Voters: 5. You may not vote on this poll

How many hours a week for a 60' time trial?

Old 05-21-21, 05:20 PM
  #1  
jlvs2run
septuagenarian
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Central California Coast
Posts: 49

Bikes: Concept2 BikeErg

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 42 Post(s)
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
How many hours a week for a 60' time trial?

I train year around for 20 to 60' time trials / races and do about 14 hours of training a week.
During the summer I do shorter time trials and more speed work, but keep the same hours a week.
How many hours a week do you feel is optimal to train for 20 to 60 minute time trials?
jlvs2run is offline  
Old 05-21-21, 05:43 PM
  #2  
burnthesheep
Newbie racer
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 3,406

Bikes: Propel, red is faster

Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1575 Post(s)
Liked 1,568 Times in 973 Posts
Originally Posted by jlvs2run
I train year around for 20 to 60' time trials / races and do about 14 hours of training a week.
During the summer I do shorter time trials and more speed work, but keep the same hours a week.
How many hours a week do you feel is optimal to train for 20 to 60 minute time trials?
I'm half joking and half being serious: how long is a piece of string?

Volume in hours spent totally depends on what your life can handle. Can you ride more without there being a divorce or job loss? Do so. Can you ride more with job/family constraints while maintaining good recovery with a proper sleep schedule? Ride more. But when riding more, ramp up your CTL. Don't go overnight from XX hours a week to 2x that. How old are you, as it relates to recovery and how much frequent intensity you can handle?

The periodization for TT I've found actually simpler (for me) than doing road or cyclocross. 14 hours a week, if you're under 50 years old and all you do is train for TT's you ought to go like stink (not judging age, just assuming recovery starts taking a hit as we age).

At 14 hours a week, I'd say someone under 50 ought to be able to do a 40k in 50min and a 10mi in under 20min.

Just don't get into the trap lots of triathletes do trying to shove volume into a work/life schedule that sees them stagnating or being really slow compared to their volume due to poor recovery and poor execution. If you work 40 a week and have kids and start doing 4am workouts and going to bed at 11 every night.........enjoy the brief fitness gain till your body rejects it or you get injured. You have to work within the constraints you have.

I'm praying I recover decently well as I hit mid-40's. My kids will be out of the house by then and my volume could double.

How many hours a week do you work?
Do you have a life partner? Pets?
Do you have enough money to pay for chores to be done? Pay for the grass/laundry/etc....

Start there. If folks start out saying they only get 5 hrs to 6 hrs sleep a night the answer right off the bat is going to be no. If you've got kids, 14 is already a freaking gift from God to ride bikes that much a week.
burnthesheep is offline  
Likes For burnthesheep:
Old 05-21-21, 05:47 PM
  #3  
furiousferret
Senior Member
 
furiousferret's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Redlands, CA
Posts: 6,313
Mentioned: 31 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 842 Post(s)
Liked 469 Times in 250 Posts
Age is a big consideration, but in regards to training, the answer is always more. Don't confuse that with added intensity, especially for something that is essentially a pure endurance activity.
furiousferret is offline  
Likes For furiousferret:
Old 05-23-21, 06:46 PM
  #4  
rubiksoval
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Music City, USA
Posts: 4,444

Bikes: bikes

Mentioned: 52 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2622 Post(s)
Liked 1,429 Times in 711 Posts
8-12 would be ideal for me. I can't imagine doing 14+hours a week for a 60 minute effort. That's what I'd do for 100+ mile road races.

Just doesn't make much sense from a practical standpoint when that time and energy can be condensed and specified very easily.
rubiksoval is offline  
Likes For rubiksoval:
Old 05-24-21, 01:51 PM
  #5  
wktmeow
Senior Member
 
wktmeow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: San Diego
Posts: 703

Bikes: CAAD 10

Mentioned: 59 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 277 Post(s)
Liked 229 Times in 111 Posts
The more volume the better IMO. Seems to me the guys with the biggest engines and the highest FTPs are the ones riding most.
wktmeow is offline  
Likes For wktmeow:
Old 05-25-21, 05:48 PM
  #6  
guachi
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 520
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 229 Post(s)
Liked 327 Times in 179 Posts
I noticed a big difference from adding more volume while still doing two higher intensity rides per week. Maybe it would have happened anyway. But after slacking off last Summer I did more volume in the Fall and by late Spring (that is, now) I'm in clearly better shape. Power across all times above about 3 minutes are up across the board.

For me, "more" was upping from about 6 hours to 9-10 hours. I've had a few 11-12 and a few 7-8 but mostly 9-10. Lots of work at what turns out to be around 60-65% FTP. Also, when I was training more I was getting more sleep. It was more of - when I get lots of sleep I am ready to train more. I don't think it's the opposite - training more means I get more sleep.

Yesterday I did the equivalent of a 12 minute TT (it's for the Navy fitness test) and I set a new PB at about 335W average. So whatever I'm doing is still working for me.
guachi is offline  
Likes For guachi:
Old 05-26-21, 02:48 AM
  #7  
ntnyln
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Columbia, MD
Posts: 304
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 79 Post(s)
Liked 153 Times in 72 Posts
Originally Posted by wktmeow
The more volume the better IMO. Seems to me the guys with the biggest engines and the highest FTPs are the ones riding most.
There's some truth to this as you get faster and faster. When starting out, shallow and wide works, but as you develop and you want to go faster, your fitness needs to be deeper as well, because you will have to deeper and deeper. That doesn't mean it has to be excessive and your time available will dictate what you can and can't do, but generally speaking, most are in agreement that barring super genetics, you can get so far on <10 hrs/week with more intensity, but to jump to the next level, you will have to overload something and more intensity is usually not the answer, so volume and therefore time comes in. The sweet spot for most non pro's and people with jobs/school is probably 15ish hours/week.

N=1, but we used last year to add a ton of volume, going from 10ish hours per week to about 15+ and I was recently doing some practice on our 40k TT course for the first time since I won there in 2019. I averaged 272 watts @ 170 bpm for the race and the training run with no warm up or anything (It was supposed to be my warm up) was 267 watts @ 147 bpm. The only way I got there, was adding volume and including a lot more endurance riding along with the intensity, to build a deeper pool of fitness.
ntnyln is offline  
Old 05-27-21, 05:42 PM
  #8  
Doge
Senior Member
 
Doge's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Southern California, USA
Posts: 10,474

Bikes: 1979 Raleigh Team 753

Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3374 Post(s)
Liked 371 Times in 253 Posts
How old are you and how many TT miles you got in your legs? Do you know how to TT?
If <30 male, I think many could in a year of < 7 hours a week of focused training. Not including diet and sleep in the training part but that matters.
If you are north of 40 you likely cannot recover from 14 hours/week if you are just starting out. You might dig yourself into a hole - the more you train, the slower you get.
Doge is offline  
Likes For Doge:
Old 05-27-21, 06:10 PM
  #9  
jlvs2run
septuagenarian
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Central California Coast
Posts: 49

Bikes: Concept2 BikeErg

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 42 Post(s)
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by Doge
How old are you and how many TT miles you got in your legs? Do you know how to TT?
If <30 male, I think many could in a year of < 7 hours a week of focused training. Not including diet and sleep in the training part but that matters.
If you are north of 40 you likely cannot recover from 14 hours/week if you are just starting out. You might dig yourself into a hole - the more you train, the slower you get.
I just turned 75, and time trials are the only thing that I train for, which is all on my indoor trainer.

I averaged close to 2 hours a day this past year, including 20 plus online time trials with best times in 10 events from 200 meters to 40 kilometers compared to the previous year. I recently reduced to 100 minutes a day because that feels more productive, and I'm doing more sprints and shorter events through the summer.

The events I like most are from 4 to 10 kilometers and I do shorter events more often. When I'm not doing time trials, I am training for time trials. I know how to prepare and how to do them, but am always experimenting and am open to learn more.

I've seen some of your postings, know you're quite knowledgeable about racing, and appreciate your input.

Last edited by jlvs2run; 05-27-21 at 06:18 PM.
jlvs2run is offline  
Old 05-28-21, 07:46 AM
  #10  
burnthesheep
Newbie racer
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 3,406

Bikes: Propel, red is faster

Mentioned: 34 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1575 Post(s)
Liked 1,568 Times in 973 Posts
Originally Posted by Doge
How old are you and how many TT miles you got in your legs? Do you know how to TT?
If <30 male, I think many could in a year of < 7 hours a week of focused training. Not including diet and sleep in the training part but that matters.
If you are north of 40 you likely cannot recover from 14 hours/week if you are just starting out. You might dig yourself into a hole - the more you train, the slower you get.
Yes. Lots of folks don't ramp their CTL properly over time. They ramp it too fast into big negative form then wonder why they can't hit numbers in their tough workouts.

Part of this also is I usually ask people if they spend any hours taking video and photos of their bike fit. Or working on their aero. In any manner. Doesn't have to be super nerd like some of us, but anything. Soooo often the answer is "no", they just prefer to bash out miles and workouts. What a waste of fitness that is!

I'm also a fan of doing a "club run" or self timed TT about twice a month. Practice getting in the kit (or most of it) and looking over your route, then executing your game plan. Familiarity with the pain of the 20ish min of a 10mi and the mid 50's min of a 25mi TT is worth a LOT. If you're not comfortable being uncomfortable you likely won't be able to utilize the same % of your fitness.
burnthesheep is offline  
Old 05-28-21, 08:37 AM
  #11  
Doge
Senior Member
 
Doge's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Southern California, USA
Posts: 10,474

Bikes: 1979 Raleigh Team 753

Mentioned: 153 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3374 Post(s)
Liked 371 Times in 253 Posts
Originally Posted by jlvs2run
I just turned 75, and time trials are the only thing that I train for, which is all on my indoor trainer.

I averaged close to 2 hours a day this past year, including 20 plus online time trials with best times in 10 events from 200 meters to 40 kilometers compared to the previous year. I recently reduced to 100 minutes a day because that feels more productive, and I'm doing more sprints and shorter events through the summer.

The events I like most are from 4 to 10 kilometers and I do shorter events more often. When I'm not doing time trials, I am training for time trials. I know how to prepare and how to do them, but am always experimenting and am open to learn more.

I've seen some of your postings, know you're quite knowledgeable about racing, and appreciate your input.
I'm not a coach but I've paid a lot of them in multiple disciplines and I ride with several older than you. I know older experiance riders can be quite fast. Starting at an older age - I just have no experiance with that. One guy, now 85 when 75 would constantly hold over 20. In his 40s and 50s he'd hold 25 and put major hurt on the racers then. So I know that growing older an maintaining is much different than building. We know it takes longer to heal from a cut as you age, it takes longer to recover and build, so the idea of doing 3X a week tear down and recover is not realistic.

2 hours/day sounds like a lot to me. Your events are not an hour, are they?
Here is what I would do....
-Get to know your morning resting heart rate. When it is elevated much, take it easy or don't train. Find a training frequency that you can be back to your low in a couple days.
-Do some strength hi resistance thing in line with the above maybe 2X a week. This usually means weights. It mean the muscles burn and get fatigued < 1 min. There are lots of caveats that go with this - don't get injured.
-Intense times on the bike trainer should be significantly less than your event. 2 hours on a trainer is likely not making you faster at a 30 min TT. Take a time half you event length and go harder. If you are recovered the next day after going hard, add another hard session on the same day. You might be faster if you road less. The miles in legs matter a lot more when doing 5 hour road races which I assume you are not.
The good news is when you are older you are less likely to over develop muscles and fatigue tendons. [One of my pet peeves is junior gear mandates which I think tend to overuse of joints and tendons in kids. My kid's ligament problems went away as soon as he got off of junior gears.]
-Ignore any fads that suggest you have to have balance in pedaling L to R etc. Different systems, and muscles develop at different rates and unless you are a beginner most that stuff is locked into you by now.
-That said - here is a system to pedal a certain way for a shorter TT. Stomp on you pedals during the bottom of the stroke. More like a running in place motion. That will typically produce a faster TT time than smooth power.
-Use a PM to see how low you can go at the same speed. Speed matters. Power is a thing that makes you faster, but position, comfort etc. do too. You can ride in front of a mirror, have video, take pictures etc., but what really matters in a TT is speed. so use speed and then try to adjust to get the most for the least. I'm sure you know most TT positions for most people are not their max power positions.
Doge is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.