My training for 2023 was focused on the latest science behind Zone 2 training and how I can apply that as a very average amateur. More info can be found here. My training plan for 2023 is here.
Zone 2 training
January to March is aerobic base building. This phase was designed to build out my aerobic base. This means increasing my aerobic capacity. The foundation of this is to train at low intensity or Zone 2 heart rate. You can find more information on this here. The intention at this level of intensity is to increase mitochondrial and capillary density (more info here). This training will increase your power output at a given heart rate over a period of time, essentially increasing your aerobic capacity.
Current scientific advice is that 80% of training should be at this level. Evidence seems to suggest that most pro athletes spend 80% to 90% of their training at low intensity and 10% to 20% at the highest intensity (greater than 90% of max heart rate). Anecdotally most amateurs do their low intensity training at too high a heart rate and high intensity at too low a heart rate.
Zone 2 focus
I’d planned to do 80% of my training at Zone 2 and 20% and high intensity. Over the course of the phase the average is 79%. In January and February I was slightly below that with ~75% of training at low intensity. In march this increased to ~85% in March when I started doing longer rides.
I feel this focus has made the biggest difference to my training compared to previous years. I actually feel my fitness is a couple of months ahead of where I was last year. As well as giving me a clear focus, the gains made have been much better than I expected. The data below has really brought some clarity for me. Over the 3 months my average power output at zone 2 has increased by 13%.
A big indicator for me was the first endurance event I did this year, in mid March towards the end of the phase. I managed to maintain a weighted power output of 161 watts at a heart rate of 125 bpm over the course of the event. This is exactly within my zone 2 range, and shows that I can maintain this effort for prolonged periods of time provided I can fuel correctly. This has given me the incentive to continue to focus on Zone 2 and look to step up my average power at zone 2 heart rate over the next 3 months.
High Intensity and strength training
Whilst the bulk of training in this phase was Zone 2, I also consistently did Vo2Max sessions every week. From the stats below you can see this has also improved by 9% as well as my 5 minute power which increased by 15%. I don’t think you can really put these improvements down solely to the high intensity sessions. The impact of both the Zone 2 training is important, which in theory is increasing my mitochondria density. This allows me to use more oxygen at Zone 2 heart rate.
The third element of base building that I focused on is strength training. This was an area I hadn’t put any focus on for a few years, which meant it’s taken me a while to get back into it and to figure out what works for me. Early on I decided that large compound exercises were my preferred approach. It took me a while to figure of reps and sets. After a bit of trial and error and listening to podcasts (from Dr Andy Galpin, link here). I’ve decided to go with 5 sets of each exercise with 10 to 15 reps in each set.
The key exercises I’m focusing on are:
- Squats or Deadlift
- bench press, incline bench press or dumbell bench press
- Dips
- Pull ups of lat pull downs
- bicep curls
- body weighted hang
The variations are more usually due to equipment availability in the gym rather than anything more structured. My main focus is to make sure I work the main muscle groups to failure in each session.
On average I’ve increased the volume of Kg moved in each session by 50% and my estimated 1 rep for the major exercises by 25%. These stats seem amazing, but although I’ve not done weights for a few years but I have done weights before. So am just making up for past lost gains. That said I’m happy with the progress, longer term I want to get the key compound exercises much closer to my body weight, at the moment they are still quite a bit below.
Base building phase statistics
Conclusion
The focus for this phase was low intensity zone 2 training. I feel I’ve delivered on the main goal by having 79% of training at this level. Also doing my first endurance event in March where my performance was closely aligned with my training performance is really pleasing, and for me the most important indicator that the training is working.
Improving my Vo2Max and average power is also pleasing although it wasn’t my main focus. It does show how inter-related these are with zone 2 training. Zone 2 sessions lay a foundation to improve at higher intensities, something I’ve read about, but now have proof that it works for me as an average amateur endurance athlete.
I really want to build on this in the next phase, further improving my power output at Zone 2 and my Vo2Max, alongside getting my body stronger and potentially losing some weight as the volume increases.
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