Here are two sessions that are typical of the polarized approach to training.

Base session

Three hours in zone two with a consistent cadence of 95rpm+. Remember: it’s important to consistently remain in zone two, rather than using average heart rate/power over the duration of a ride.

Threshold session

Warm up with 15 minutes in zone two

2 x 10 minutes in upper zone four with ten minutes in zone one recovery between effort

10 minutes zone one

2 x 5 minutes in zone five with five minutes in zone one recovery between efforts

10 minutes cool down

The first session is working on the aerobic system. This will increase the number of mitochondria in the type I (slow twitch) muscle fibres, thus improving efficiency without jeopardising your amount of type II (fast twitch) ‘power’ fibres.

The second session is designed to increase the amount of power that the fast twitch fibers can produce. Putting the benefits of these two sessions together should lead to an increase in power at lactate threshold.

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