Prepare for a slow ascent back to form. This is base. The simplicity of the term belies its critical importance to any serious athlete. It is a phase where attention to detail and razor perception are critical. No slip-ups are allowed here. A slight misstep during base can mean that weeks of careful training can be null and void. Here’s what you are trying to accomplish during base. First, you will increase your residual fitness through strict progression of low intensity aerobic training. This will be accomplished by keeping your heartrate in a very narrow low-pressure range through an eight week period. At the low pressures you will maintain during base, capillaries will push into new tissues, increasing the vascular network, and respectively increasing the capacity to deliver oxygen to the muscles. Capillaries are extremely delicate physical entities, almost microscopic in size, and are the end of the oxygen supply system. Like a balloon, a capillary will grow under low pressure, but will rupture under the stress of a high-pressure burst, basically ending the growth cycle and beginning a recovery cycle. Mitochondria develop and multiply in the cells and further the capacity to deliver oxygen to the muscles as well. That’s is why it is critical to remain at low pressure throughout the cycle and not interrupt the progress. Great gains in residual fitness can be made during this phase. These gains in vascular density and mitochondrial growth proportionately affect VO2 max. The second goal of base is less tangible, but no less important. The low intensity of this phase spares your Engine the depleting forces of intensity. This leaves important reserves available for the high-end demands of the season. In a sense, base is a building period, but also an extension of the off-season rest phase. The Engine can continue to stock-up during this phase. The Engine is the primary limiter during the season, in terms of form building and duration of peaks. If Engine reserves are cultivated during this phase to harvest later in peak times, then there will be enough to last the season. Otherwise, your reserves are tapped out prematurely or are doled out in lesser amounts that result in sub-optimal performance. Start out conservatively. Give the body a chance to adapt to the training once again. For most of my pro guys, I start them at 12-15 hours. You want to set your maximum HR for the phase at 70 % of your max HR. A good round number is 140. I use that for most of my clients. Stay as close to that as you can and don’t go over. I’ll give you five beats cushion. Over that and you’re busted. Each week, increase three hours. As usual in my program, every fourth week is casual. Ease it back to ten hours and incorporate some cross-training.You should do some very light weight-training during this phase also. You must maintain low pressure there as well, and the best way to do that is to home in on the perceived exertion you are sustaining during your rides and duplicate it in the weight room. Make these workouts a circuit that you can complete in no more than 30 minutes. Focus on pelvic girdle balance, emphasizing movements in the lateral/medial plane. Work on abs and lower back. Keep it easy. Don’t blow base in the weight room. Base is easy. The hard part is being patient and letting the growth happen. That is why more cyclists don’t get the full benefit of base. Cyclists aren’t patient people as a group. In this case, the inherent need for speed, is best fulfilled by taking it nice and easy. Enjoy this phase while it lasts; it gets intense after this. Build your base solid, and then you can build a very high peak on top of it in the months that follow.
Be the first to rate this post
- Currently 0/5 Stars.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5