Heat Adaptation Score from zero to over 80% within 10–12 weeks
This schedule delivers 12–17 Heat Training Load points per week. This will take your Heat Adaptation Score from zero to over 80% within 10–12 weeks. You’ll build performance-boosting hemoglobin, which you can maintain by keeping your score above 80%. This is a great level at which to enter spring – you’ll be prepared for any warm spells, and can readily top up to 100% heat adapted for a hot race.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|
Easy ride 1 hour. Dress warm from the beginning. HTL 3–5 |
Threshold intervals | Rest day |
Tempo ride Dress warm from the beginning and hold tempo heart rate, decreasing power as you heat up. HTL 5–7 |
Endurance ride |
Easy ride Ride cool, then do a 30-minute passive heat session. HTL 3–5 |
Long ride |
| Endurance ride. |
Threshold intervals Do the threshold work cool, then overdress for 30 minutes while easy pedalling. HTL 3–5 |
Rest day | Tempo ride | Endurance Ride | Endurance ride |
Long ride Start cool, then dress warm for the last 75 minutes. HTL 9–10 |
Heat sessions in various workouts
Here are some details of how to build heat into each type of workout.
Easy ride
To do a heat session during an easy ride (zone 2 intensity), overdress from the beginning. Because intensity is low, you’ll need to trap the heat you generate from the start of the workout. Plan on 20–25 minutes to reach Heat Zone 3 (ideal heat training territory), depending on intensity and how warmly you’re dressed. During a 45–60 minute ride, you can readily accumulate a Heat Training Load of 3–5.
Tempo ride
A continuous tempo-effort generates a lot of heat. Dress warm from the beginning and you’ll soon reach Heat Zone 3. As you heat up, decrease power or shed layers to keep heart rate in your Tempo range and Heat Strain Index between 3.0 and 6.9. This is a great way to simulate riding hard in hot outdoor weather.
Threshold intervals
During intense workouts, you’ll want to do the fast-paced work while your skin temp is cool, so dress lightly and use fans to not lose performance. You’ll generate a lot of heat, and by the end of the intense portion, your core temp will likely have risen to over 38.3°C/101°F. Then, it’s a simple matter to add clothes to raise your skin temp and get into Heat Zone 3. Switch to a z1 or z2 power, and within 30 minutes you can pick up a Heat Training Load of 3–5.
Long ride
Plan on the heat portion to be the last 75 minutes of the ride. If it’s a low-moderate intensity ride, it may take 20 minutes to reach Heat Zone 3 after you’ve turned off fans and added layers. This is a great way to pick up a Heat Training Load of 9–10.
Extended warm-down
If you stay overdressed after your active heat session for 10–15 minutes, you can accumulate another 1.0–1.5 Heat Training Load points. Stay lightly active (dynamic stretching, or light calisthenics) and keep heart rate above 90 bpm. Maintain this until Heat Strain Index drops below 1.5.
Sauna/hot bath
You can do some of your heat sessions ‘passively’ (in the sauna, hot bath, etc). Within 5–10 minutes of ending your ride, hop into your favourite hot space. You’ll get a Heat Training Load of 5–7 within 30 minutes. But if you cool off first (or start from baseline temp), you’ll reach a much lower Heat Training Load. Be sure to take off your CORE sensor before entering the sauna/bath (it doesn’t work there). Use CORE’s Passive Heat Training Calculator to plan and record your passive sessions.