THE WHEELHOUSE
Cycling Studio and Human Performance Center
Your home for all things related to endurance and multi-sport training, including swim, bike & run, and the training hub for Pegasus Elite Triathlon & Cycling Team since 2013.
PROGRESSIVE CYCLING™
Like Having a Personal Cycling Coach
Progressive Cycling™ offers indoor cycling sessions that progress at a level that is both individualized and challenging. We will determine YOUR power threshold so that each workout is measurable and you are progressing at your rate – not someone else’s.
Just a few short years ago, watts-based training was the exclusive domain of professional cyclists and triathletes. However, that is no longer the case, and watts-based training is becoming increasingly accessible and popular among age-group athletes.
In PROGRESSIVE CYCLING™ the cycling sessions are designed to teach you how to get the most out of indoor cycling by building a solid aerobic base while developing cycle-specific skill and techniques. Once you develop your base, you will focus on developing the key disciplines of cycling fitness: sprinting, climbing, intervals and recovery and finally you will work on explosive power and improving your threshold to get you into peak cycling condition.
Whether you are training to improve your outdoor cycling or are looking to take your indoor classes to the next level, this program is for you. A heart rate monitor is recommended, but no other equipment is necessary.
Details of Each Phase of Progressive Cycling®
Prepare for greatness!
Progressive Cycling® Phase I
Improving fitness each year is like building a structure made of blocks. Every year you want to increase the height of the structure, which means widening the base. In Phase I of Progressive Cycling®, cyclists will do 8-weeks of long steady distance training, gradually increasing training stress to prepare the body for the improvements to come.
Long steady distance training has several effects. At a moderate heart rate, the body will use stored fat (vs. carbohydrate) as a primary fuel source. As we train aerobically, our bodies will increase mitochondrial density, allowing more blood flow to the muscles. Classes up to 2 hours on Tue + Thur. Classes up to 3 hours on Sat.
This phase includes an initial threshold test to determine FTP.
Sweet Spot + Polarized Training
Progressive Cycling® Phase II
The Sweet Spot is defined as 84% to 95% of FTP. Adding Sweet Spot training to a strong muscular and aerobic base achieves positive physiological adaptations due to its repeatability with a balance of intensity and volume.
Training in your sub-threshold Sweet Spot power zone will improve your ability to resist fatigue at reasonably high power outputs over substantial lengths of time, having positive effects on nearly all other aspects of your performance.
The concept of Polarized Training is that rather than training moderately, we should train either really easy or very hard — at the poles of the intensity spectrum.
Polarized training uses a lot of endurance riding and some time spent on very hard efforts over your threshold.
Suffer - and make others suffer!
Progressive Cycling® Phase III
In Phase III we continue to increase aerobic and muscular endurance. The greater your muscular endurance, the less fatigue you will experience towards the end of a long race and the more intensity you can handle while training. As we transition to late base season training, incorporating more volume and challenging yourself with power will help you target specific adaptations that lead to greater leg strength and muscular endurance.
Training with intervals of 10 to 30 minutes in upper zone 3 and lower zone 4 - with both power and heart rate - will allow you to place a large amount of stress on the muscles aerobically. While it can be difficult to find the perfect conditions outdoors for this type of focused training, training indoors with a power meter is ideal for these long, mentally challenging intervals.
Train to sustain prolonged physical or mental effort.
Progressive Cycling® Phase IV
The Build Phase tends to be the most demanding of periodized training. The workouts in Phase IV will focus on fatigue resistance during steady-state threshold efforts and developing stamina to hold power for rides longer than 3 hours, as well as for running off the bike. Phase IV generally peaks at week 5, with weeks 6 through 8 devoted to maintaining fitness and preparing for the demands of racing.
In Phase IV, we offer the opportunity for athletes to practice brick training and race simulations.
COMBINE YOUR BIKE TRAINING WITH A RUN OFF THE BIKE
Progressive Cycling® Brick
Mix up your cycling workouts with intervals of running or rowing. Perfect for triathletes and other multi-sport athletes - or for those interested in shaking up their training.
Similar to a strength circuit, this aerobic circuit utilizes more muscle groups in one session to accelerate your fitness and make the class time fly!
Preparing for a long ride and training with race specificity.
Progressive Cycling® Phase V
Riding outdoors teaches bike handling skills and adaptation to weather conditions (rain, wind, changing temps). But outdoor rides just don’t have the same structure and workout efficiency that you get during a well-planned indoor ride. Enter Progressive Cycling™ Phase V
The first 4 classes of Phase V will be 90 minutes and in order to hone your physical and mental toughness, each class will have an element of surprise. The last 3 classes will be 2 hours long and will included a ‘skills’ component.
BALANCE, AGILITY, STRENGTH, HIGH INTENSITY INTERVALS:
B.A.S.H.®
A training program designed to combine several components of fitness into one 90-minute workout. Competitive athletes can avoid injury and see huge gains in their performance by adding B.A.S.H.TRAINING to their LSD and skills training. Classes will combine 30 minutes of balance, agility and strength training, with 45 minutes of high intensity intervals on the bike.
Train for the anaerobic demands of off-road riding
Progressive Cycling® 'Off-Road'
Riding off-road places demands on your anaerobic system requiring you to recover quickly and flush lactic acid at a rapid pace.
Progressive Cycling® for Off-Road classes are 75-90 minutes of intense riding, short recoveries and out of saddle climbing. Although no one will get dropped and you probably won’t crash, this class is not for the timid! You don’t have to be an off-road rider to do this class. You just have to be up for the challenge!
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER WITH CROSS TRAINING, TESTING, & RECOVERY
Incorporated Training
Cross training is training in another discipline in improve your main sport. The options are almost limitless–runners can strength train, swimmers can row, cyclists can do yoga. At The Wheelhouse, we have it all.
Lab testing for athletes can be done on the bike (stationary) and run (treadmill), where we follow a protocol of a sub max test (ramp test) and max test (VO2 max).