Can You Go Too Hard on a Training Ride? With Dr. Stephen Seiler

How many hard days should you have in a training week and exactly how hard should these rides be? I get into this and more in part 3 of my interview with Dr. Stephen Seiler. Check out part 1 and 2 here:

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[CAIrondad]

This is excellent, Dylan, I would argue that most athletes should only go one or at most two days a week hard. It’s amazing how the adage, hard days hard and easy days easy has been around so long, and yet so few people truly follow it.

[stephen_]

Not first! This interview series with Dr Seiler is really valuable - thanks for taking the time to interview him and sharing it with us 👍

[todd]

Biggest learnings from Dr. Seiler for me is that training is merely a means of creating stimuli for adaptations. KJ or time or # of intervals isn't some sort of "high score" or magical calculation of how much mitocondria or fitness you get from performing them, but rather a way to systematically assure you're getting the right stimulus for what you're trying to to train. People shouldn't get caught up too deeply into the numbers but rather how their system/program is intended to grow to keep applying the optimal stimuli for how you want your body to adapt.

[markmcinnes]

Got to admire Dr. Seiler's commitment to performance - he even wears a trip suit to the office.
Such a great series Dylan!

[acem]

I recently this year from doing 15 hour weeks doing high intensity every other day to doing 12 hours a week and high intensity every third day. Pretty much the week I switched I started hitting personal bests across all intensity ranges, whether I was focusing on them or not. FTP went up by 4-5% in my 17th year of cycling training.
So, I've been doing it wrong this whole time! The best part is my legs are rarely sore, I have more time, I rarely ever feel tired, and I basically have no mental stress on high intensity days because I'm only doing 2/3rds the amount of it.

[Pertemba]

Lol! I should show this video to my group ride, every freaking ride is a hammerfest! It rings true that if you want to pace yourself or go easy on a ride you better off going by yourself or with a buddy who has the same mindset or goals.

[TheLadeef]

took two weeks off because of covid recently, my first hard ride back I saw my heart rate and power go up to a level I haven't reached in quite a long time and I felt fresh and great. Two weeks of rest is what I needed for a reset.

[TheKryztiandivor]

Thank You Dylan for these Dr. Seiler interview videos. Lot's of things to take in training.

I've been using polarized system for two years and I'm in best shape ever. Riding long slow distance plus strenght training has lifted me to next level.

[danielfelicianoferreira]

Most misleading thing: I learnt something wrong from a coach, that works sometimes, but I took it wrong. "A bad physical day is a good mental day" I was the guy going out totally over trained. I have paid the price more than once until realize that something was wrong, that my approach was extremist. Your videos are very useful. I should have paid attention or find someone like Dr Seile (or just been less stupid myself) years ago. Great job as usual young Dylan

[Dandelion-]

I've seen/heard more interviews/podcasts with Seiler, but you somehow manage to get new important nuances out of the discussion, that I don't think I've heard before. Thank you, both of you 🙂

[Thomas_Ekstrom]

This is excellent, the older i get recovery is more important. Those double rest-days feel really necessary for avoid fatique after some hard intervals or longer endurance rides.

[Requiredfields]

I've been over-training for weeks and I love it!

[rpdole]

Great stuff Dylan, and awesome B roll. You’re taking your YouTube-ing to the next level.

[PianMon]

Such a great conversation. "training is training and racing is racing. gotta know you've got the extra gear"

[JBmadera]

I needed to hear years ago! This whole series has been excellent.

[SignorLuigi]

Great video!!! I know when I've let the fitness horse out of the barn when 130 watts feels like 220 watts. LITERALLY! My goal in training is to never let that happen and your recommendations in this video resonate nicely with my personal experimentation. Keep up the great work!!!

[vincec]

So glad that Dr. Stephen Seiler mentioned the training program of Nils van der Poel. Nils training was considered extremely unusual with up to 30 hours of aerobic training in the off season; including long runs, cycling, cross country skiing and skating to break up the monotony. And as Dr. Seiler says Nils broke just about every longer distance ice skating record.

[stuartdryer]

These three videos are some of the most important content on cycling YouTube and i need constant reminders of this. Especially since the older you get the easier it is to overreach. I never used to log my RPE after rides. Now I do. Especially in the time of year where I'm dealing with extreme heat.

[SeasonCycling]

Very informative. I found I recover faster/better when taking a day off the bike vs an 'active rest ride'.

[luckyduckimages]

This is an excellent series of information. I'm older (56) and working my way back to performance level cycling.