Bike Sessions

Extensive Endurance 

What is an Extensive Endurance session?

An Extensive Endurance ride is your base endurance miles, sometimes known as Long Steady Distance (LSD) or Zone 2.

These sessions aim to accumulate aerobic, low-intensity volume, typically forming the foundation of any endurance athlete’s training plan.

The aim is to ride consistently but within the session's parameters. Avoid pushing on the hills and into the higher intensities. Maintain your effort on the flat and slight down hills to reduce time in the Recovery zone.

A standard Extensive Endurance ride will require 60 - 70% of your FTP, displayed in Training Peaks as an Intensity Factor (IF) or 0.6 - 0.7.

This is quite a wide range, and you should use this range to manage your training load. If you feel tired, ease off; if you are fresh and well-fuelled, push on. If the ride is short, then you may push the higher end of the range; if it's very long, the lower end will be more valuable.

If you have a high-volume plan or period of training, you will accumulate plenty of load, so its advisable to operate at the lower end of the range.

The session load (TSS) is a combination of intensity and volume. If you push your long rides hard all the time, TSS will be high, and so will fatigue.

Improving fitness is a long-term enterprise. One session rarely makes your programme, but it can break it by overloading the body.

Time in Zone (%)

An sample TiZ distribution from an Extensive Endurance Session

Options for performing Extensive Endurance rides.

You have three main means of performing your Extensive Endurance rides. Each option has its strengths and weaknesses; we tend to use all of them to ensure each athlete gets the best training for them. However, if you really don't like one, or for instance, prefer to ride outside at all times, that's fine; we'll be able to work with you on this. Just let us know which style you like and for which rides. I.e. you may prefer the real world, but when it's cold and raining, you would prefer a Structured Trainer session; it’s no problem.

The Real World

  • 1 - 8hrs (additional can be added but 8hrs is generally the limit)

  • These can be group rides or solo; please be aware of the differences. On solo or small group rides you have more control over the intensity.

    On larger group rides, you can often accumulate too much time above and below the optimal range.

    Aim to keep your effort fairly constant; use your Normalised Power to gauge your overall intensity; this should be within the target range for the session.

  • < 2hrs - will not require fuelling for most athletes - if the session is the only one. Recovery and subsequent sessions can be enhanced with 20 - 30g of carbohydrates per hr.

    2 – 4hrs – 20 – 50g per hour

    4 – 7hrs – 40g - 80g per hour

Robo Pacer or Group Ride in Zwift or similar

  • 45min to several hours

  • Robo Pacers (Pace Partners) are a Zwift feature. They are Pacers which proceed around a variety of routes at a set power to weight ratio (w/kg). There are lots of different ones, and you join the pacer and just aim to stay around them.

    The most popular attract a lot of other users, and there can be some big groups. The power requirement fluctuates depending on the group and the terrain.

    These are similar to organised group rides, except there are no leaders, and they run all day every day.

    Free riding is also an option, where you choose a route and ride to the scheduled plan.

  • Your session will have a guidline for power out, divide this by your weight to get a power to weight ratio in watts per kilograme (w/kg). Each pacer is ranked by the w/kg they will sustain. Join the one most suitable for you.

    Using Teleport you can move from one to another, so you can start with an easier one and warm up, then move to your main one.

    Group rides work in much the same way, except they usually have a start time and specific duration or distance they will cover.

  • < 90min minimal fuelling is required under normal circumstances. If you are coming from another session or have another one later you may chose to fuel during to help support those sessions

    90 minutes to 4 hours - Aim for 30 - 60g of carbs per hour in whichever form you prefer. Real food is fine as the intensity is low and transportation is not an issue

    > 4 hours - 40 - 60g will be sufficient, but you may prefer to take slightly more to help recover and support future sessions.

Structured Trainer Workout

  • 1hr to 5hrs

  • We have created a variety of structured rides that meet the requirements of an EE ride. These play around with intensity but are rarely above 90% FTP

    They will produce and IF of 0.64 - 0.69 usually, but you can use the game controls to change this if you prefer to ride easier or harder.

  • < 90min minimal fuelling is required under normal circumstances. If you are coming from another session or have another one later you may chose to fuel during to help support those sessions

    90 minutes to 4 hours - Aim for 30 - 60g of carbs per hour in whichever form you prefer. Real food is fine as the intensity is low and transportation is not an issue

    > 4 hours - 40 - 60g will be sufficient, but you may prefer to take slightly more to help recover and support future sessions.

Optional Extras

Polarisation

During some phases of training, we include some higher intensity efforts during an Extensive Endurance ride. Whilst these are high-intensity efforts, they are relatively casual. Whilst the session might be laid out like the graphic below, the reality is all we want is some high-intensity work with longer rest; the actual rest intervals do not need to be specific; you can choose to perform the efforts when it’s suitable.

Climbing

In some rides, we include a lot of climbing. If you are fortunate enough to live where you can ride long climbs in the real world, you can do them outside. The reality is that most people will need to do these on the train on one of the ‘Game’ platforms (Zwift etc). Climbing creates a different pedalling stimulus, even for the same power as riding on the flat. For these, choose your route to meet the specific instructions in the Description on Training Peaks. Use the highest difficulty level you can. DO NOT use erg mode, it completely defeats the purpose of the session. All you have to do is ride the climbs using your power out range in the session. Of course there will be a few moments when power spikes or drops; this is fine; ride the terrain.