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WHAT IS "ON TIME"?

triguy44triguy44
in General Training Discussions

Looking ahead in my get faster plan and I see "ON Time" for my bike workout... Can't find a explanation in any search for it....

 

Sorry if this is an obvious question/the answer is right in front of me...

 

Thanks!

Comments

  • John WithrowJohn Withrow
    Generally that is the amount of time you will spend at your VO2 power (120% of FTP or just use your actual tested VO2 number). You can split it up any way you want, but you should try to keep your "ON Time" roughly the same as your "OFF Time". I think your "OOFF Time" is supposed to be at 60% of FTP, but there was some discussion around this in the Out-Season and some people use different numbers for this or just soft pedal.

    For instance, there will be several ways to get to your 10 mins of "ON Time":


    20 x 30" ON/ 30" OFF
    10 x 1' ON/1' OFF
    5 x 2' ON/2' OFF
    2' ON, 2' OFF, 1:45 ON, 1:45 OFF, 1:30 ON, 1:30 OFF, 1:30 ON, 1:30 OFF, 1:15 ON, 1:15 OFF, 1:00 ON, 1:00 OFF, 1:00 ON, 1:00 OFF
    etc, etc, etc.

    Many people start their training blocks with shorter intervals like 30"/30" or 1'/1' and then as the weeks build up in their training plan, they try to stretch these longer and longer. Once you get much past 2:30/2:30, it's probably time to retest your FTP anyways.

    I don't train with HR, but if you happen to be not be a power athlete, just know that this 120% of FTP number is very very hard... so just do the "ON Time" as hard as you think you could maintain a maximum effort possible for 5'.
  • Michael ByertsMichael Byerts
    It's Z5/VO2 Max interval time. If your plan calls for 10 minutes of Z5 "ON" time, then you accumulate 10 minutes of Z5 power/effort as the main set of your workout. HR is a bad metric for Z5 work because it lags 30 seconds or more behind changes in effort. The "OFF" portion should be done at roughly 65% power/effort, and should be roughly equal in duration to the "ON" portion. You can accumulate that 10 minutes however you want, but some common methods are (a) 30 seconds ON, 30 seconds OFF, (b) 1 minute ON, 1 minute OFF, (c) 90 seconds ON, 90 seconds OFF, (d) 2 minutes ON, 2 minutes OFF; and (e) 2.5 minutes ON, 2.5 minutes OFF. I would see how the 60 seconds ON/OFF works for you and adjust the next time you do the workout. Since Z5 on the bike should be done pretty close to the actual VO2 Max power/effort, you shouldn't be able to hold it for more than 4 or 5 minutes, so 2-2.5 minutes at true VO2 Max effort is very challenging.
  • Dino SartiDino Sarti
    It's like "Hammer Time"...
  • triguy44triguy44

    Thanks!

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