What “High Quality Training” Actually Means

Quality training is often reduced to intensity, but that’s only part of the picture. In this episode, CTS Coach Adam Pulford breaks down what high-quality training actually looks like and why it’s often misunderstood.

We cover the three pillars of high-quality training: the process, the result, and yes, the FUN! You’ll learn why pushing harder isn’t the answer, how to close the intention–execution gap, and how to structure rides that actually move your fitness forward.

HOST

Adam Pulford has been a CTS Coach for nearly two decades and holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. He's participated in and coached hundreds of athletes for endurance events all around the world.

​​Free Cycling Training Assessment: https://trainright.com/cycling-training-assessment-welcome/

Interested in working with a coach? Schedule a free consult: https://trainright.com/coaching/cycling/

Self-coached athlete? Check out our TrainRight Membership: https://trainright.com/membership/

Find more free resources here: https://trainright.com/blog/

Resources:

• https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijspp/18/5/article-p557.xml
• Alex Hutchinson Interview: https://trainright.com/elastic-limits-human-performance-alex-hutchinson/

Transcript

Why Most Cyclists Guess

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Most cyclists have no idea whether their training is actually high quality or not. They know how many hours they rode, they know how many miles they logged, but when it comes to knowing whether their training is actually moving the needle forward on performance, most athletes are just guessing. Today, I'm going to give you the exact framework I use to evaluate training quality with my own athletes so you never have to guess again. I'll show you the three things that will actually make your training work. And the third one might surprise you, so hang out for that. But first, I've got some beef with how we all talk about this subject. Everyone talks about quality training, but what does that actually mean for cyclists? It's not just riding harder, it's not just smashing intervals. You need to stop thinking about quality as intensity and start thinking about if your efforts are bringing you the results that you want. Let's break it down into something you can actually use on your next ride. Most cyclists think if I push harder, I'll get faster. So what happens? Easy rides become medium intensity, hard rides become high intensity and unsustainably hard. Everything just turns into a grind and progress stalls. Because real training quality isn't about intensity alone, it's about how well your ride matches the intent of your training. There are three consistent themes that I see when quality is there and performance is high in my athletes, and I call them the three pillars of quality training. The first pillar is the process. This is your plan. It's both the why and the how of what you're supposed to do to get the results that you want. For athletes, that means your training block. This is the base, build, peak phases of an annual training plan, or your weekly structure, the type of intervals, the skill focus, the amount of work that needs to get done on the day. And most importantly, your ride intention. How does this session fit into the bigger plan? Let's look at an example. Let's just say today is a zone two ride, and I'm telling the athlete here to stay on the low end of the range just to get the legs going again after a rest day and set yourself up for a good day tomorrow. Tomorrow's a workout is seven by three minute VO2 max intervals at 106 to 121% of your FTP and 90 to 100 RPMs. Bring your A game, I tell them. This is meant to build high-end power and increase your VO2 max. Every ride should have a purpose and communicate that purpose. And that's a good process. Second pillar, the result. This is where most cyclists mess up. Let's say your ride is supposed to be that easier zone two ride from above. But you feel good, so you push a little tempo. That feels good, so you push some threshold. Legs are feeling great, so why not throw in a few sprints at the end? Full send on the last one to get the most out of it, right? Wrong. You just lowered the quality of your training because now you overdid it. You didn't keep it aerobic. You flipped the anaerobic switches on, and you could have compromised tomorrow's hard session, which has more impact to the purpose of the current training block. This is called the intention execution gap. And it's one of the biggest reasons cyclists plateau, and something that Alex Hutchinson and I talked about in an interview about high-quality training. Link to the full-length interview is below for that, so check it out after this one. Once you execute a workout, you should be using tools to get feedback quickly, such as in training peaks when the day turns green, if you stayed within 20% of the prescribed volume, versus orange or red, indicating that you went too far under or over the prescribed volume. Another handy tip is to compare the power prescribed versus the actual power you did within the workout itself. Here you see the prescribed low end and dark blue and prescribed high end and light blue with the actual power done in the pink line. If you have a coach, you might get a quick comment or text back saying, hey, nice work. Next time don't accelerate on the final interval though. This feedback is part of the result when completing a workout and is crucial in making sure that your training remains high quality. The third pillar, fun. Here's the one most cyclists ignore. And yes, I said fun. And no, that's not some fluffy foo-foo advice. It's actually a performance tool. Because if your training isn't enjoyable, you won't stay consistent. You'll burn out, or mentally you'll just check out during rides, potentially forming bad habits and likely skipping training sessions because something else sounds more enjoyable. Consistency is crucial when you're talking about high-quality training. And if you're having fun with it, you'll stay consistent too. Fun can look like this group rides, my favorite, for example. You can also explore new routes on your long rides. You could crush some Strava segments on your intensity days, or even the famous coffee shop ride to keep it chill. The key to all of this: add in fun without breaking the purpose of the ride. Here's a couple examples. An easy endurance ride is planned, so you ride with a friend on the bike path instead of on the road. And finally, hit that new coffee shop or burrito shop that you've both been talking about. Maybe you have an interval day. Try doing your VO2 work on flat terrain instead of the same hill that you always do, focusing on flat power production and leg speed versus just power alone. Finally, let's pull it all together. The pillars that hold up high quality training are the process, the result, and having fun. Here's what that looks like in real life. Let's take that zone two ride again as an example. The low quality version of this is the plan was two hours of an endurance ride. The result turned into a race. You added in an extra hill because your buddy talked you into it. Now you're three and a half hours deep into the ride, you're late for your daughter's soccer game, as your spouse rolls her eyes yet again. Fun? Yeah, that was high, but recovery status of your legs for the next interval day could be compromised. And it won't get into the whole family dilemma thing. The high quality version of this is your plan was a two-hour endurance ride. The result was you stayed disciplined in your power zone for the whole two hours and the fun? Yeah. Sustainable since you took the scenic route, but even more fun because you finally hit that coffee shop with your friend afterward instead of that extra hill climb. You kept the quality high. You set yourself up for a good day tomorrow, and that's how you actually get faster. Now, if you only have six to eight hours per week to train, this matters even more because you can't afford wasting a day because you got off track again. Every ride needs a purpose, a clean execution, and enough enjoyment to keep showing up. So if you remember nothing else, remember this. Process gives your training direction. Results make it clear that you are effective. Fun makes it sustainable. Miss one and your progress suffers. Nail all three, and that's when you start making gains fast. And that's high quality training. That's it for today. I hope you liked it. All of the links that I used to make this video are down below, and that's when you can find out more about coaching, consults, or training camps from CTS. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you back here next time.