6 Things you need to know - Base Training

What is base training?

Between the end of your race season and the start of the next one is the time to review what you have done, what went well and not so well, what you can improve upon and critically your opportunity to enter into your Base build period.

But what exactly is base training and how do you it?

Base training is the name given to the training that teaches your body to utilise oxygen as efficiently as possible. Base training rides are typically long and steady, undertaken at a moderate intensity which allows your body to make the necessary adaptations. Winter, therefore, is the perfect time to build you base.

The name comes from the idea of looking at form as a pyramid. Just like the building blocks of a pyramid, all the training you do builds on top of the training you have already done, growing towards a peak of form. However, base training actually serves two purposes.

Firstly, it puts in place the first big foundations for everything else to build on – it essentially teaches you body to deal with a given amount of training and this means that later on in the spring or summer, when you are doing harder training sessions, your body will be able to cope and you won’t become too tired. Just like in a pyramid, the bigger and stronger the foundation, the higher the peak of form can be, and the bigger your base, the harder you will be able to train further down the line to make those adaptations.

The second purpose of base training is to improve the efficiency of your body in order to increase the power, and therefore speed, at which you can ride without becoming fatigued. As a simple example, this means that if two riders are riding together then the one with the biggest base will be the freshest at the bottom of the last climb in the Etape du Tour. At the end of a big event this is often what makes the difference. Also, as outlined above, by having a bigger base they will have given themselves the opportunity to build a bigger peak of fork.

It should be noted that base training takes time and there is no quick fix, but put the foundations in place and you will reap the rewards.

Slow and steady wins the race

So how do you know if you are training at the correct intensity when working on your base?

The best rule of thumb is that if you can sustain a conversation then you are training at the correct level. If you need to take a breather from putting the world to rights on the club run then you are riding to hard and need to back it off.

However, the most accurate way to determine whether you are riding at the correct intensity – and, therefore, the best way to ensure you are getting the most out of your training – is to use a heart rate monitor or power meter. For those of you using a heart rate monitor, base training is between 60 to 70 per cent of your maximum heart rate (according to the Sally Edwards zone model). If you’re using a power meter then the correct base training intensity is between 56-75% of the power you can sustain for one hour (functional threshold power or FTP).

Training at this intensity teaches your body to burn predominately fat instead of glycogen. Glycogen is how your body stores carbohydrates in your body but these stores are very limited and even when fully topped up will only last for between 30-90 minutes of intensive exercise. As an example, To be able to ride for four or five hours cyclists use fat as an energy source, however in order to burn fat your body still needs a small supply of carbohydrates – so it’s important to keep eating on a base ride!

As the intensity of exercise increases, more glycogen and less fat gets burnt. Therefore, base training improves the efficiency of your engine, so the higher the intensity at which you can keep using predominately fat as an energy source, the more glycogen you will have in the bank for the last push on the final climb.

But why do you need to ride at such a moderate intensity to build your base and what is the actual science behind it?

Physiological adaptations, the biology lesson!

When training at the correct intensity for base training you should be working aerobically. This simply means you are providing your body with enough oxygen for the intensity at which you are riding.

In turn, lactic acid production is under control. Contrary to popular belief, lactic acid isn’t the nasty stuff that makes your legs burn at the top of a climb. Lactic acid is actually a fuel created in the chemical reaction going on in your muscles when they are burning oxygen to produce energy.

Within muscle cells there are mitochondria and these are the power stations of your body. It is within these mitochondria that lactic acid is burnt and energy is produced. When the mitochondria in the muscles reach their capacity in terms of how much lactic acid they can process, the additional lactic acid goes into your blood stream to be dealt with elsewhere in the body.

When base training correctly, the level of lactic acid in your blood isn’t elevated. That means the mitochondria in your muscles are able to process all of the lactic acid being produced and don’t need to pass it on into the blood stream for processing elsewhere. By training at base intensity, you are giving your mitochondria a workout, thus teaching them to process lactic acid, but you are also stimulating them to become better and more efficient at burning fat as a fuel.

If you train too hard then you are teaching your mitochondria to burn more glycogen than fat. This is the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve.

So how long should an effective base training ride be?

It's not all about the hours

Many people think that base training involves hours after hours of grim winter riding – and for the pros that might be the case. Pro riders will often complete rides of five or six hours in length and will clock up to thirty hours a week.

However, for those of us with less time on our hands and no prospect of riding the Tour de France, a solid base can be built by focusing on the quality of your training and not necessarily the overall length or quantity of sessions.

Consistency of effort and the amount of time spent at base intensity is key. For example, a two-hour ride at a cadence of 90-100rpm (which we’ll come on to) and 60 to 70 per cent maximum heart rate is far better than three hours spent riding going too hard on the climbs and then coasting down the descents. Also be weary of your average heart rate, remember, consistency is the key.

For riders short on time it is fine to ride at the upper end of the base intensity (65-70 per cent of maximum heart rate / 65-75 per cent of functional threshold power) as this will maximize the training benefit for the time on the bike. However, it’s important that you remain disciplined and don’t stray over the line and fall in the trap of riding too hard. Remember, if you’re breathing starts to become labored then you are riding too hard.

If you have more time on your hands you may find it useful to ride at the lower end of the base range. This will mean that you aren’t too tired after each ride and can maintain consistency over a prolonged period. Two back-to-back three hour base rides over a weekend is far better than riding too hard on Saturday and only being capable of an easy ride on Sunday.

You can also use base training rides to work on your technique. Read on for more.

Spin to win

Early on in your base training phase, try and keep the cadence up and around the 90-100rpm range.

If you are riding along at 96rpm instead of 64rpm then you are doing one-and-a-half times the pedaling. All that pedaling will create a much more ingrained muscle memory – this means that when you are getting tired towards the end of a hard race or sportive your pedaling technique will remain efficient.

Power = torque x cadence. In simple terms, how hard you are pushing the pedals x how quickly. If you keep the cadence up, it keeps the torque lower. This shifts the focus away from muscular power and onto the aerobic system. Doing this means your aerobic system (heart and lungs) is getting a bigger work out than your muscles and, as a result, you become more efficient on the bike.

Muscular adaptations may take place quicker than aerobic ones but you also lose them much quicker. Working on your base now and muscular strength later on means that both will be in top shape come the first events of the season.

Base training can seem a little monotonous at times or even boring. One element that you can add in that won’t affect the quality of the base training is short six to ten-second sprints. Sprints of this length use a different energy system than long endurance workouts and therefore the two can be combined into a session without one affecting the other. Sprints of this length have also been shown to increase your body’s production of natural growth hormone.

Therefore, not only does it make things more interesting, but by including five x six-second sprints with eight to ten minutes recovery in the last hour of a ride it can actually help you recover better for the next day.

That’s the science explained, the intensity set and the technique nailed, now it’s time to embrace the base. Here’s how your winter training plan should look.

Embrace the base

Base training should be enjoyable. It’s the most social type of training as it gives you the ability to go out with friends, chat and enjoy the view. There will be plenty of sessions later on the season spent staring at the wall and sweating on the turbo so embrace your time spent base training.

While the ‘easy’ intensity at which base training is undertaking can feel frustrating, it’s important to remember that the base phase represents the beginning of a longer process towards great form, and everybody loves having great form.

Base training, as with any sort of training, is about gradually pushing the limits of what your body is capable of. Aim to increase the weekly duration by ten to 15 per cent for two to three weeks and then take an easy week. Return to training at the duration of the last week before your easy week.

If you are short on time and increasing the weekly hours on the bike isn’t an option, then start at the bottom end of the base intensity and gradually increase the intensity towards the upper end of the spectrum.

Remember the reasons that you are training your base and stick with it. Don’t get sucked into training too hard and miss out this important step. For most riders, I would recommend a base period of 12-16 weeks throughout the winter. This period should be long enough to see the sort of gains that come with having a solid base and if you’re training correctly you should see a steady increase in the average speed/power at which you ride, but for the same intensity.

You should also notice that you feel more and more comfortable on the bike and are getting home less and less tired.

Towards the end of the base training phase you should be aiming to complete rides of a similar duration to the events you are targeting later on in the season. Once you can achieve this comfortably it is time to move on with your training and start to include some event-specific efforts to begin building your top-end form.

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