Mean power or max power?

Training
1

Hi
I was discussing with a friend today, and he got me confused about a definition of endurance ride.
I was thinking endurance ride to be a ride where the power never, or almost never, exceeds Z2.
On the other hand, his point of view is that an endurance ride is one where the average power is under Z2.
Who of us is right?

thanks

2

Endurance is the zone/level you can maintain for hours, hence the term endure-ance. It’s better governed by heart rate, due to cardiovascular drift after a certain time period and/or lack of fueling and hydration.

1 Like
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You are 100% right.
Average Power says nothing about your ride. If you mix Z1 and Z5+ and end up with an average power under zone 2, there could be no time in Z2 at all.
Surges disrupt the Z2 workout outcome. If you want to add some intensity in the form of short sprints, do those at the end of your workout. The purpose of an endurance ride is to maximize time in that zone with as little as disruption as possible. Like cruising with a diesel engine…

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Hi, thanks for your replies. I am happy I am right :wink: Lol. But I do have a question.
How strict do I need to be in not exceeding 75%FTP in an endurance ride? I have done three commutes so far trying to stay in Z2. It takes very conscious effort not to push, particularly on climbs. Sometimes however, I really do not see how to avoid going above FTP for a few seconds: when starting from a standstill for example, or when there’s a sudden steep gradient I did not anticipate. I guess these are fine, but I was surprise to find out that this morning’s ride was classed as “threshold” by intervals.
Here are the three rides I am talking about:

Essentially, for sure the classifier that intervals uses may have some false negatives, but how would you consider my rides from yesterday afternoon and this morning?

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There’s no on/off switch, but rather a change in the reliance of carbs and fat utilisation. So going over the upper limit is not the end of the world. It just means that you recruit different muscle fibers to help contract the muscles.

Zone 1-2 riding stimulates the Type I muscle fibers, whereas Type II (IIa and IIb) fibers are fast twitch, and used when ATP demand is high. ATP is the energy carrying molecule. The heart/powerhouse of the cell (mitochondria) uses fat and carbs to convert chemical energy into mechanical energy, but it has a limit to the amount it can produce. The more you have, the bigger your aerobic engine. This zone develops the aerobic capacity and “engine size”.

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How strict do I need to be in not exceeding 75%FTP in an endurance ride? On an endurance ride it’s probably HR you need to pay more attention to. As the ride goes on, depending on your efficiency at the watts you’re riding, your HR could climb and decouple from the power.

“Z2” also has a very wide range and again, depending on your aerobic capacity, you need to identify where within Z2 you want to ride. 75% FTP should not necessarily be a target for you to hit and for 99% of people riding at high Z1 to low Z2 range (in a 5 zone model) will help develop your aerobic range and allow recovery to go again the next day or add load elsewhere in the training block. Duration of ride also needs to be considered when deciding what watts to ride to within Z2.

It takes very conscious effort not to push, particularly on climbs It does. Bottom line. For most people. It’s a discipline game as much as anything else. If you want maximum bang for your buck from your endurance ride, then ease off on the climbs. There is no magic get out of jail card. You’ll also need to keep the intensity up at ‘Z2’ on the descents.

Sometimes however, I really do not see how to avoid going above FTP for a few seconds: when starting from a standstill for example, or when there’s a sudden steep gradient I did not anticipate When starting off just keep it easy, but a few seconds above FTP when you’re pushing off to start or restart a ride is inconsequential. During a ride you shouldn’t have to hit FTP to get over a climb if you’re on an endurance ride unless it’s up the Col de la Loze you’re going, and then, well, it’s not an endurance ride. Try pick a flat of relatively flat route to make things easier for yourself.

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Yesterday afternoon was not threshold, even though you had one surge up the one section.

This morning too, wasn’t threshold, but there shouldn’t be a need to get into Z4 and Z5 on a commute. Perhaps reaching into Z3 (Tempo) is okay, but because it was so short, heart rate couldn’t catch up.