Endurance Blocks

Multi-day blocks to boost your fitness

If, like me, you’re one of those people for whom time is tight but you still have fitness goals, then you’ll know the pressure of trying to progress your cycling when the routine of life seems to want to stop you.

That is where Endurance Blocks come in.

Quite simply, an Endurance Block is a short 3 or 4 day stretch of longer, steady paced rides focused on endurance and aerobic development, rather than battering and chasing your mates on the chaingang.

I use them myself and for the people I coach who can’t always get the longer rides in. And what’s great about them is that with just a few blocks, 3 or 4 times a year say, you can add significant volume to your overall riding, improve fitness, provide much needed variation to your routine and help remind you of why you ride a bike in the first place.

Let’s take a step back

Most of us, if we’re not pros, must fit our cycling in around life, the universe and everything. We’ll have a limit to the time we can dedicate to riding and our routine will, more than likely be shorter, intense weekday rides and perhaps a couple of longer rides at the weekend.

It’s consistent, which is great – but over time it might lack the training volume we need to progress.

Adding endurance blocks to the plan can break this pattern, build volume and actually work on a part of our fitness we are probably neglecting.

If you are anything other than a track sprinter, cycling fitness relies on building aerobic capacity - the ability to sustain effort over time. To improve it, you need to ride long enough and often enough to challenge your aerobic system – and for many of us busy riders, it’s the long enough part that’s tough to get right.

Our normal time crunched week will tend towards faster rides, with perhaps some Zwift races or jumpy group rides. All good in themselves but all tending to develop higher end and carbohydrate burning abilities. What we miss are the consistent, steadier rides that promote the use of fat as a fuel, stimulate mitochondria to grow in number and become more efficient, and to increase capillarisation and blood flow to muscle fibres – everything that is the foundation of endurance fitness.

What To Do?

Endurance Blocks are simple, just do long, steady rides for 3 or 4 days consecutively. If you base them round a weekend that means only needing to make time on Friday and/or Monday. Even just taking Friday afternoon and Monday morning off can give you the time you need. Taking all day is even better.

Then the rides must be ridden In a specific way: long and steady - the duration will depend on your fitness and experience. If you are quite fit, 3 to 4 hours each day is a good level to aim for. If you are new to cycling and building up fitness for the first time, aim for 2 to 3 hours.

The most important part of it all however is the pace you ride at - this should be steady and at a pace you can hold a conversation at. There should be no attacking hills, chasing wheels or max effort intervals – we are looking for duration not intensity.

I know from experience that this is often the hardest thing to get right, especially if you are used to riding fast and battering most of the time. In fact, I spend a lot of time working with people on how to ride endurance rides effectively. I call it Ride Like A Pro and I have a blog dedicated to that idea alone. Have a look here: Ride Like A Pro

One way I think about it is to try and keep the power level consistent all ride, so average heart rate, power or sensation of effort is the same in each hour. I like to keep the chain tight, so as little freewheeling as possible (descents and towns obviously force you to stop pedalling) but the most important thing to do is back off on the rises. Most people batter up every rise and then just stop pedalling at the top. A consistent ride means keeping the effort the same on the rises as you ride at on the flat, and because of gravity you will need to consciously ease up on rises.

Here's a video of my thoughts on how to use Endurance Blocks...

Fuelling Matters More Now

As the rides get longer and consecutive, fuelling becomes increasingly important. When your rides are short, you can often get away with fuelling poorly. But in an endurance block, on bike food is essential. Here’s how to get it right. 

• During the ride: Eat continuously from the start and aim to consume the energy you will use riding. Think about your gut, so start with real food and move on to sports nutrition (bars, gels) in the final hours. Real food is personal, so experiment with a few things until you find what you like. I tend to go for bananas and then wraps with peanut butter.
• Keep drinking: I usually go for one bottle with carbohydrate and one with water – and will refill enroute if need-be.
• Post ride recovery: As soon as you finish, get a recovery drink or some food in you. As your rides go up in duration, what you eat and drink on one day will have an impact on how you feel the next, and so on.

Trust me - getting your fuelling right will make or break your endurance block.

Why It’s Worth It

There you are, that’s all there is to it… create the space to string together a few simple but longer than normal rides. Make sure you fuel well for them and recover sufficiently after, and the benefits can be huge.  

Endurance Blocks add layers to your fitness that build up over months and even years. When your normal routine hovers around 8 to 10 hours a week, adding several three or four day blocks a year will have a noticeable impact on your overall training load and fitness. And don’t forget, the type of riding in endurance blocks, the long, steady rides, will work on an undertrained but vital aspect of your cycling: your aerobic endurance.

But for me, one of the best things is that endurance blocks are not just about fitness – they are psychological too. They break the normal pattern and give you the opportunity for adventure. When upping the distance you can plot rides on new roads, arrange to meet people on longer group rides or even go to a new area for a short break.

A Few Tips to Get the Most from Your Block

Endurance blocks are simple and effective ways to enhance your riding, so here are a few simple ideas to make them work for you. 

• Plan Ahead: Use bank holidays, take a half day, or arrange a point-to-point ride where someone picks you up.
• Keep It Steady: Resist the urge to batter - what feels easy at the start will feel much harder by the end of the block.
• Make It Fun: Plot new routes or turn blocks into adventures. New roads make long rides more enjoyable.
• Fuel Well: Don’t let poor nutrition hold you back. Eat on the bike, refuel after.
• Rest Before and After: Go into the block fresh, and give yourself a couple of easy days afterward to recover and absorb the benefits. 

Conclusion

Endurance Blocks are a powerful addition to any rider’s training plan. They help you increase your volume and build fitness in a way that complements your usual routine. And they encourage you to rediscover the freedom and adventure that made you love cycling in the first place.

So, what are you waiting for?

Block out those dates, plan your routes, and discover the freedom of the open road.

A Thought...  and possible help

I know that when preparing for a challenge ride it can be confusing to know what rides to do, and when. That is why I created the Cent-Soulor. It's designed specifically for new and returning riders, and builds your fitness, skill and confidence. 

To find out if it could help you, check out the info page here: CENT-SOULOR 

Or if you feel more one to one coaching could help, my personal; coaching information is here: PERSONAL COACHING