Base training is the phase of training when cyclists focus on building cardio-vascular fitness and endurance in preparation for more intense training sessions leading up to competition. A major element of base training is the low-intensity ride over long distances. Riding at lower intensity enables the cyclist to burn fat rather than use carbohydrates stored in the body as an energy source. Cyclists who want to use a higher proportion of fat as an energy source when racing can design base training workouts to maximize fat burning.
Fuel Reserves
Forcing the body to use fat, rather than carbohydrates, as a fuel source is important for endurance events such as cycling. The body has a limited supply of carbohydrates, but sufficient fat reserves for many hours’ endurance exercise, even in people with a low percentage of body fat, according to the Peak Performance website.
Limitations
Using fat as the primary energy source reduces the demands on limited carbohydrate supplies, giving cyclists the potential to improve performance. In high-intensity situations such as a race in which cyclists are attempting to generate maximum power, carbohydrates would be the body’s first choice as a fuel source, according to cycling author John Forrester. This is because carbohydrates are easier to metabolize than fat. However, the cyclist would quickly become fatigued when the limited supply of carbohydrates runs low.
Training Objective
The training objective is to create conditions that improve the rate at which the body can convert fat to an available energy source. Endurance training is key, according to the website MarathonPal.com, citing a sports medicine study at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute in the 1980s, which found that the activity of enzymes that break down fats was 100 percent higher in highly-trained endurance athletes than in the untrained subjects.
Training Effects
By completing regular endurance workouts of three hours or longer, cyclists can force their bodies to improve fat metabolization. Long workouts increase the number and size of structures inside muscle cells called mitochondria. The mitochondria use oxygen to break down fats and generate energy to fire the muscle. Increasing the number of mitochondria increases the amount of energy available to the cyclist.
Experience
Triathlete Mark Allen, a multi-Ironman champion, reported that changing training intensity from high to low enabled him to improve his performance significantly. His previous approach to training was to put in an all-out effort in every session; this meant that the sessions were not creating conditions for fat metabolization. He switched to a training program including long, low-intensity endurance workouts in which he used a heart rate monitor to maintain his pace at a level where he was able to burn fat efficiently.
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