You NEED To Train Your Anaerobic Capacity - This Is Why And How

There is a lot of talk in cycling about having a big aerobic engine. BUT, often the best bits in cycling actually come not from aerobic fitness, but from being a human turbo. Typically called anything from anaerobic capacity efforts, VO2 max, or going into the red! So here’s why you should train it and how! 🥵

0:00 - Intro
0:43 - Being a human turbo
2:46 - Training at high intensity
3:38 - How to improve your anaerobic capacity
7:00 - How to train
10:02 - Track your performance

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What zones do you train in? 🤔 Let us know in the comment section below! 💬

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[issaowaga]

I wish GCN had a training channel(not the one that exists already) that was dedicated to topics like this and the science of training

[ljadf]

I've been doing weekly 30min gym sessions for over 10 years now with a PT, that kind of 'hard as you can, recover, then again' training has put me in a position where I'm ONLY good at doing max efforts. What I discovered was I find zone 2 more difficult to maintain, and my 'battery' recharges very quickly. It's no good for long hills or endurance rides, but fun to nab a green jersey in the middle of a race, or watch a big group fall away when you do an 800w 1 minute effort. It won't win you any races unless you also have a high FTP, but it does make it fun to drop much better riders, if only for a minute 😉.

[popyourimage]

Excellent video. Basically you do zone 2 and go KOM hunting on shorter segments 😅 works for me

[krzysztofkolodziejczyk]

if you live in flattish area, where hills are short, good practical custom is to always go all out on every elevation encountered.

[thomasknudsen]

@gcn 1:20: Glycolysis is ALWAYS anaerobic. In short, glucose is transformed into Pyruvate, wich in turn can be used in the "Citric acid cycle". The result of the citric acid cycle is NADH and FADH2, wich will then be used in the Electron transport chain. In the electron transport chain, there's finally the use of oxygen, through "Oxidative Phosphorilation", to be able release the high energy hydrogen atoms from NADH and FADH2 out into the intermembrane space of the mitchichondria.

In short, the only Aerobic processes are in the electron transport chain, where the majority of the ATP is created. Though the Glycolysis process is much faster, it's a great source of ATP during high intensity workloads.

[jimbrittain]

Absolutely appreciate and enjoy these intermediate-advanced training videos done by Si. They are both well-articulated and very helpful. Excellent work and looking forward to the next training video facilitated by Simon!

[abosworth]

I just started cycling last summer and never really did any specific anaerobic training. I'm going to start incorporating hill sessions and sprints into my training. Thanks for the video.

[ellisroe]

Is it just me or does Simon look like the English version of Bill Nye the science guy when he puts on a lab coat? Cracks me up every time.

[texasflood]

I recall one time when I was feeling particularly good and I went all out climbing a hill (12% grade x 0.5 mile) and when I got to the top my legs were still good but I was in serious oxygen debt. I now know what it feels like to be asthmatic and it’s scary.

[mrgravyman]

Ha! I found this the other week. I'm by no means a decent rider but I started a couple of years ago to lose weight before really getting into it, then a year ago I go into weight training. Last week I was coming up to a 15% climb and just went full gas and blasted to the top 'before my body realised it was done.' Not sure why I haven't tried this before, but it's a game changer!

[nerdsofthefist]

I’m so glad they addressed the indoors and outdoors thing. I feel “Reverse ladders” would run me out of road.

[JDRELGOR]

One of my sessions is 8x 2 minute all out on an incline, then carry on with a 50+km ride, always with up hill finish ( due to where I live ). The second is 6 x 40 sec on 20 sec off repeat 3 x in a 60+km ride. I do these alternate rides with one long ride 90/100km between.

[hugobci]

My red zone also happens to be my zone 2 😅

[Kim_Miller]

The irony of calling it The Turbo is that anaerobic means 'without air' and the job of the turbo on a car is to pump in extra air.

[dougmcdougall]

I find the videos both helpful and entertaining so thanks for that ! What i would like to see is some data on ageing and the ability to improve both power and VO2 .

[marksticky]

Would have been good to talk about W' (watt prime) model for anaerobic capacity. It's possible to have this show on a garmin. Some workouts allow me to completely exhaust it (or more). These are 'fun' sessions.

[kevin._.farren]

Watching clips of Feather, it got me thinking…what are your thoughts on training in and out of the saddle when climbing?

[ghidfg]

interesting. I had to use my "turbo" to get around some traffic and I was wondering where that energy came from because I felt like I was riding my hardest already. this really explains it

[fede]

Or maybe for practicality we could increase anaerobic capacity and stimulate fast twitch muscle fibres by inventing some form of variable resistance objects that we could move around. We could keep them in a room, with variable sizes to allow efficient progression. We could visit such room now and then and get stronger and fitter. Why someone has not yet thought about that...oh wait...

[auls]

Maybe the most interesting video I've seen posted since the Zone 2 explanation, as a relative noice. As much as I enjoy bike tech - having done plenty of wrenching already - there's only so much that can be said about it.