The Fort William Session… Lactate Tolerance Training for Downhill and Enduro Racing

Dirt School
Jul 20, 2017 · 3 min read
Ruaridh at the bottom of a race run at Innerleithen to take 4th at the British Championships

This session is an advanced work out for Downhill and Enduro riders on the Privateer Programme. Don’t try this session unless you are completely confident in your fitness and health. If you have any doubts, seek medical advice before the session.

Downhill and Enduro racing is intense and there is arguably no tougher test than the classic World Cup at Fort William. You need to be able to work at your maximum, and to push through the onset of lactic acid for over 5 minutes. This session was developed by Kenny Johnstone for the Scottish Downhill programme racers and BASE college students to push through the red at the end of their Fort William race runs.

Where to Practice

This session is so intense that you’ll need an indoor trainer to compelte it. Either a turbo trainer or a specific exercise bike, like a Wattbike, will be perfect.

We recomend taking a note of or printing off the timings for your intervals. It can be easy to get confused during the intervals and to miss the timings. If you can programme the intervals and recoveries into a devise like a Garmin this will help you stay on track!

This session will help your tolerance to lactic acid build up if you race downhill or enduro

What to Do

7 minute warm up @ zone 2

15 seconds @ Zone 6 (maximal effort)
20 seconds @ Zone 1 active recovery
10 seconds @ Zone 6 (maximal effort)
15 seconds @ Zone 1 active recovery
10 seconds @ Zone 6 (maximal effort)
30 seconds @ Zone 1 active recovery
5 seconds @ Zone 6 (maximal effort)
20 seconds @ Zone 1 active recovery
15 seconds @ Zone 6 (maximal effort)
30 seconds @ Zone 1 active recovery
10 seconds @ Zone 6 (maximal effort)
10 seconds @ Zone 1 active recovery
5 seconds @ Zone 6 (maximal effort)
45 seconds @ Zone 1 active recovery
30 seconds @ Zone 6 (maximal effort)

10 minute cool down

Training zones table included in our 12 weeks plans and Privateer Programme

FTP Fitness Testing and How To Set Your Training Zones

To begin with you should aim for 1 set of intervals. Over time you might be able to complete 2 – 3 sets of intervals with 10 minutes of active recovery between intervals.

How it Feels

Your sprint should feel as though you are riding at your absolute maximum. Gasping for breath, muscles and lungs burning. It will be very, very hard, and difficult to concentrate.

Trev Worsey from Enduromag.com recovers after an intesnse session on the indoor trainer with Geraint Florida James at Napier University

Work on your skills as well as your fitness and download your free Mountain Bike Skills app for Android and iOS

This session can really make a difference in improving your sprint as well as staying composed during a race run. If you need more help of when this session will make the biggest impaxy in tpi then download The Mountain Bike Enduro Plan or sign up for our Privateer Programme.

Enjoy!

Dirt School

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Dirt School

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MTB Skills and Fitness — Stay up to date with features, training advice & techniques and have an insight into the world of Dirt School — www.dirtschool.co.uk

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