The interest of working on your PMA

Endurance, strength and speed are often cited as the foundations of cycling training. It is true that these are qualities that are generally worked on by cyclists who want to improve their physical condition. However, at the other extreme on the intensity scale (precisely I5 on the model I1 to I7 developed by Frédéric Grappe) PMA work is essential for progress, and this regardless of the age or level of the cyclist.

By Olivier Dulaurent – ​​Photos: Depositphotos.com / Adobe Firefly / DR

A difficult but essential workout

PMA means Maximum Aerobic Power. This is the highest intensity you are able to sustain over a 4 to 5 minute effort. This value is expressed in watts.

The higher the PMA, the higher the engine displacement. We cannot say that the physical level is a unique reflection of the PMA but a trend is evident: the more you are away over 5 minutes you will be over 2 hours, 4 hours or on a cyclosportive such as the Etape du Tour.

The interest of working on your PMA
The higher the PMA, the higher the engine displacement.

The working methods of PMA

Three types of intervals can be distinguished:

- Short intervals: This is about developing the PMA. To do this, you will work at a supra-maximal intensity (between 105 and 120% of the PMA). The effort times are of the order of 20 seconds to 1 minute with recovery times (also called counter-effort) equal to or slightly greater than the effort times. It is important to note that in this type of work, the heart rate is not the most reliable way to check if you are at the right pace as you could do in sessions aimed at developing endurance. We will come back to this a little later when discussing the notion of cardiac drift.

- Average intervals: This time it is about working at PMA (at 100% therefore) over intervals of one to two minutes. Knowing that we sustain an effort at PMA for 4 to 5 minutes, the fact of "splitting" into several sequences will allow us to go beyond this famous support time. Thus 10x (1 min at PMA / 1 min recovery) for example, represent 10' of cumulative work. Here the recovery time must be more or less equal to the recovery time.

- Long intervals: This time, it is a question of supporting an effort of between 90 and 95% of the PMA over sequences of 2 to 4 minutes. Recovery times will often be slightly less than the effort times. We are talking about PMA support time work.

The interest of working on your PMA
There are different types of exercise to work on PMA.

What is a good PMA session?

Working specifically on this famous PMA will help you move up a level... on the condition that these specific sessions are carried out correctly, that is to say calibrated.

We must not lose sight of the main ones rules as for the work of the PMA:

– The intensity during the effort phase is almost maximal but This is not a sprint! It is necessary to feel that it would theoretically be possible to maintain this intensity for several minutes if necessary.

– From the first to the last repetition and from the first to the last second, the intensity must be constant : so have the impression of it keep under foot at the start on the first sequences (and the first seconds!) of effort to have the impression of finishing thoroughly at the end of the session. In fact, you will then have demonstrated consistency in terms of power developed. If you are unable to complete a given PMA session, it is because you started too strong.

– What is true within a series is also true within a session: if you have done two series (for example 2 series of 8x (30'' at PMA / 30'' recovery)) don't throw all your strength into the first half of the session.

– Another criterion for the success of a PMA session: you need to gain a few heartbeats with each repetition, the HR increasing crescendo until the end of the series. If you develop too much power on the first 2 or 3 repetitions you will reach a very high HR but at the same time you will drown the engineIn other words, the increase in the lactic acid level will be too sudden and you will not be able to catch your second wind: your HR will rise less and less, a sign that the power developed is collapsing.

- Recovery phases are active : it is about continuing to pedal but very flexibly (at around 50% of your PMA). Obviously the HR will remain high during the recovery phases (on short intervals).

Don't rely solely on heart rate. test to the effort will indicate that the work of the PMA if as soon as 95% of the FCMAX is exceeded. That said, obviously this value will not be reached from the first seconds of the first repetition. Cardiac drift is progressive. A PMA session must be designed in terms of power developed (even if you are not equipped with a power sensor): you must develop 100% (sometimes slightly more or slightly less, as explained above) from the first to the last second of each repetition. If you had to remember just one sentence, it would be this last one!

The heart rate will only be the result of the power developed, of the effort produced. It is not important. Worse, it can be misleading by relying everything on this tool. For example, it is normal for the HR to drop very little during a PMA session with short intervals.

The interest of working on your PMA
It is normal for the heart rate to drop only very slightly during a PMA session with short intervals.

12-week program

Twelve PMA sessions are offered here, which will ideally be spread over as many weeks. The sessions become more and more difficult, so it is possible to adapt the number of repetitions.

This program can be started as soon as a good land base is established.

It is quite obvious that if these twelve sessions are spread over as many weeks, it is not necessary to do we of PMA during this training cycle.

By only riding twice a week, it is better to plan a PMA session only every other weekAt best, the PMA work can only concern one session out of four, in order to promote good assimilation.

Regarding the proposed sessions, they will ideally take place on the home trainer, if possible at a distance from the Sunday outing. In other words, if possible between Tuesday and Thursday.

The session lasts 1 hour, with a 15 to 20 minute warm-up beforehand and ends with a 10 minute cool-down.

IntervalsSession details
Week 1Short2 sets of 8x (30''/30''), recovery 1'30 between sets
Week 2Short2 to 3 times the series: (20''/20'' + 30''/30'' + 40''/40'' + 50''/50'' + 1'/1) recovery 2' between the series
Week 3Medium(1×2’/2’ + 2×1’30/1’30 + 3×1’/1’ + 2×1’30/1’30 + 1×2’/2’)
Week 4Short2 sets of 6×45''/45'', 2' recovery between sets
Week 5Long2 to 3 times the series: (3' + 2'30 + 2'). Respective recoveries of 2'30 / 2' / 1'30
Week 6Short4×20''/20'' + 3×30''/30'' + 2×40''/40'' + 1×50''/50''
Week 7Medium2 sets of 5x 1'30 / 1'30, recovery 3' between sets
Week 8ShortOne or two times the series: (20''/20'' + 30''/30'' + 40''/40'' + 50''/50'' + 1'/1' + 50''/50'' + 40''/40'' + 30''/30'' + 20''/20'')
Week 9Long6x (2'30 / 2')
Week 10Short4×20'' / 20'' + 2×30''/30'' + 1×1'/1' + 2×30''/30'' + 40×20''/20''
Week 11Medium2 sets of 6x (1' / 1'), 2' recovery between sets
Week 12Long6x (3' / 2')
The interest of working on your PMA
PMA should find a prominent place in the training program to improve your performance.

Caution

PMA deserves attention because, when you think about it, it is the basis of performance. Therefore, it must find a place of choice in the training program.

The sessions offered here are just a few examples among hundreds. You should not exceed the rhythm of one session every two weeks by riding twice a week. If it is a rhythm of three to five times a week, then a weekly session is possible. So, what should you do? à côté ? In other words, how to fill the training weeks?

Several themes will logically come into play in the coming weeks:

- Land, with one long outing per week (depending on your region of residence, and depending on the weather)

- Velocity work

- Strength work

- Explosive work

To conclude

PMA work is scary. Even though it is gradually becoming more common, many cyclists do not want to engage in this type of work, which is considered too far removed from the usual criteria of their own practice, particularly among cyclists who do not race.

However, any cyclist, whatever their level, goals and age, will benefit from working on their PMA. After many years of practice, it is often the only way to reach a new milestone..

=> SEE AS ​​WELL : All our Coaching articles

The interest of working on your PMA

 

Olivier Dulaurent

- 48 years old. – Freelance journalist in the written press and the Internet since 2004, author of Le Guide du Vélo Ecolo (Editions Leduc, November 2020), State-certified cycling instructor, supervisor of stagcyclists since 2005 and cycling coach - Current sports practices: cycling route and mountain biking (occasional: running) - Strava: Olivier Dulaurent

9 comments on “The interest of working on your PMA"

  1. @Julien It also depends on what you want to do, I've been cycling since I was 12, I'm 74 and I still cycle, mountain bike and route, the chain is a little more to the left with each passing year 😂, but it's still moving forward. I've rubbed shoulders with cyclists who have had a professional career, in my department of Côtes d'Armor... Big theories and apothecary calculations have not made champions, at the beginning you have to love cycling, and then you have to ride, if you have class the rest comes with work. I've known some cyclists who had everything that can be done as new features on their bike 😆, sensors for everything, raindrop counters...etc. And in the end, they are not the ones who have shown themselves to be the best over the decades.

    1. Yes of course, but cycling and sport in general are changing. Performance is improving because more and more practitioners are training seriously, opening up to new methods, learning to use new technologies. Those who remain confined to an "old-fashioned" practice are being overtaken. This is an observation that can be made in all categories of competitors.

      1. I think that the article is aimed at professional cyclists or those planning to become one and their training is managed by specialists, and that the articles which appear on Facebook are read by amateurs or ordinary practitioners, so they are not really concerned.

        1. Make no mistake: many amateur riders are looking to improve themselves and optimize the time they spend on the bike to progress, whether it's to prepare for an event each year or simply to have more fun riding with friends. And using Facebook is not reserved for a certain category of riders.

  2. Did you understand something 🤨?? No?… Well it’s normal 🤣 it’s incomprehensible 😹. But pedal and don’t look back

  3. The stronger you are over 5 minutes, the stronger you will be over 2 hours, 4 hours or a cyclosportive such as the Etape du Tour.)
    Well no. Another wrong article.

    1. As it has been shown that there is a direct relationship between VO2 Max and PMA, a high PMA is synonymous with a high VO2 Max. Therefore a greater "cylinder capacity", which obviously favors performance over longer durations than over 5 minutes of effort.

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