I have covered sweetspot training in a previous article and while I pointed out its limitations, sweetspot training is also a valuable part of a varied training program.
Like threshold training, sweetspot training is especially useful for time trialists, especially when targeting longer distances, and is also ideal for riders planning to tackle long Alpine climbs.
Sweetspot training is great for increasing the sustainability of an effort and, in addition, takes place in the training zone in which you get the most ‘bang for your buck’ in terms of aerobic adaptations. To recap, sweetspot training takes place at the upper end of zone three and the lower end of zone four.
Therefore, for those of you with limited time available to train it can be a great way to maximise your time on the bike. As I pointed out in my article on sweetspot, the downside is that it can make a rider very diesel-like – by this I mean not able to accelerate and ride at higher intensities for shorter periods – so to try and alleviate this it’s a good idea to incorporate bursts into your sweetspot efforts. Not only do these bursts works on your fast twitch fibres, but they also increase blood lactate.
Continuing the ride at sweetspot intensity after each burst teaches your body to recover from a short effort whilst still maintaining a good power. This is especially useful on long climbs with steeper pitches or hairpins. It will teach you to be able to accelerate out of the saddle around the hairpins without pushing yourself into the red.
Example session: 2×20 mins sweetspot with bursts
- Warm-up for 10 mins zone two
- 20 mins sweetspot, including a 5-10s burst every four mins. This isn’t a sprint but an out of the saddle acceleration (if using a power meter do these efforts at 150 per cent of FTP power)
- 10 mins zone one
- 20 mins sweetspot, including a 5-10s burst every four mins
- Cool down 10-15mins zone two decreasing to zone one
