How to Do Base Training (The Three Step Guide) 

After I finish dressing up, I put on my heart rate monitor and I'm already on my Zone 2 lol

Why on earth would three people hit the dislike button? The guy has gone to a lot of time and effort for this video and he's not asking anything of you. Have some respect

if 250W is your Z2... brother, we are from another planet ;-)

Awesome, just what I needed as I embark on base training after a looong time off the bike! A few extras that have helped me in the past: Skill building, outdoors: -Looking over your shoulder without swerving. -Looking between your legs to check your gear (old school bike!) -Looking under your arm while in the drops (especially good for competitive cycling) -Taking things out of your jersey pockets, and putting stuff back. Don't litter! Skill building, indoors/outdoors: - Grab bottle, drink, put it back, all without averting your eyes (from screen or whatever). Advanced version: Practice this during increasing intensity so you can comfortably hydrate on that climb or breakaway! -Practice lots of different hand positions during many different intensities. -Practice smooth out of saddle and back to sitting position. Know your heart. LOVE this. This is all we had back in the day LOL. In addition to noticing hr drift during z2 with consistent pressure, also notice: -HR drift different in different cadences? This can be a great help in dialing in a good cadence for you, or to practice slower or faster cadence. Question: What do you think about the z2 coffee ride? For example, one hour out, coffee stop, one hour back home. Any significant difference in adaptive effect? Stay awesome!

I’m into cycling for 2yrs and no proper training when I started. Noticed my cycling quest is not improving. When I watched this video, I’ve decided to reset everything and start my base training. Thanks for this. 🤙🏽

VERY well said, I happen to do this a lot and noticed it really staggers the fitness level. That's why after being on Zwift all winter and then going outside I am a complete beast because you don't take your feet off the pedals especially in a race. But where I live there is a lot more traffic and it's hilly up/down a ton, so it is a challenge.

Brilliant video! When the whole RU-vid is telling you to go Zone 2 but you are the first person to really show the whole details of how to do so! Thanks! I might do my first dedicated Zone 2 on the first day of 2022!

Excellent video. Producing something like this takes time and effort. You did a great job on both content and production... thank you

Thank you again Cam for imparting this valuable info to the low power people who can't afford to pay for this kind of tutorial/coaching.

Explains why a lot of the pro's hold easy power up hills in the off season. I can resonate with the cyclist in the white however, riding on the trainer does make holding constant power a lot easier.

Everything you’ve said here is exactly what happened to me a few years ago. I’ve been working more in my base training and I’ve noticed a huge amount of improvements in my fitness overall. That cyclist you talked about that was me, great to see someone actually talk about it and making sense. 👍🏻👌🏻 thank you

I'm back again brother, another great video, right on time!

So far the best base training video I've watched.

Great info. I started cycling to cross train for my running (I do zone 2 training for 80% of my runs. ) I was that guy in the white until watching this video. I will make a bigger effort to keep peddling to better train consistently . Thanks this was very helpful.

Always a great video from Cam Nichols !

This is probably one of the best videos I've seen in regards to increasing base fitness, I knew all about zones, but had no idea about "constant pressure" thanks!!

This was awesome . Thanks so much. Started training for the last 7 weeks after a bad covid pneumonia and this vid has set the plan for the next 3 months for me

Thanks for a very clearly explained video of zone 2 training related to HR and HR drift.

Hi Cam, always appreciate your great content, and thank you for sharing your insights and tips with respect to training and racing! I live in Beijing, China and it could get really cold right now during the winter - the temperature often goes to -5 degrees. Love to see you sharing some of your training tips on how to cycle during winter. Thank you and please keep poping up those amazing contents!

Thanks Cam for your awesome videos. They really help me to become a better rider. I was one of those guys in the white shirt....but doing the base training for over 5 weeks now, I started to notice a massive difference in my endurance. I am no where near 240Watt, more like 150 to 170Watts, but I only just started this year in April. Keep the video's coming, they are the best!!!

I’m pretty new to tracking all this information but I’m glad to hear I’ve been doing it right (for the most part). Flat stretches? 125-130 bpm. Going up hill…? Gear down, same 125-130bpm. Going downhill…? Gear up. Same 125-130 bpm. 20 miles today on a perfect fall day!

One of the best advisory videos I have ever seen, both practically and technically correct. Well done Cam👍

Really good review of L2 Base Training. Think after watching this I will go back & watch the rest of your stuff :)

Very kind of you! Thanks for the video! 👍

This is such a helpful video, thank you for sharing!

Really appreciate your video content as always, watching here from UK

Great stuff Cam, been enjoying your vids over last few months!

Clear and concise. Excellent as always. Cheers mate!

Awesome video! HR drift was a very intresting part.

Great video! Really learning a lot from your channel

Beautiful, thanks so much for sharing this information it's invaluable Cam

Happy to see a front strobe light now 👍

Thanks for showing how to properly do a Z2 ride, I know the science behind it but have never seen such a good real life example

You went straight to the point from second one!😄👍

Your channel is the most usefull and helpful channel Ive ever followed on the youtube , simple guides simple info. And easy to learn things thank you so much and keep going. Peace & love from 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia. ❤️

Cam just know we appreciate all you do Man keep up the good work!

Thank you for this, Sir!

As a newer cyclist who lives/ commutes on David low way this could not be more helpful! Glad those road works are finally done too

I really enjoy the on the bike footage, keep them coming!

It begins, thanks Cam.

Thank you for your advice last year on zone 2 training Cam, it got me to a whole new level.

Great video, thank you!!

Excellent information Cam , thank you, going to give it a try today. Cheers from Long Island, NY.

Thank you sir!

a great video. well explained, and great tips on skill development. Yes, I can get better on my U turns for sure. The recommendation to train 120% of your intended race duration is losing favour with some people, but it’s always worked for me over the years, of running particularly

Some great training advice, Cam ;-) Subscribed!

Thank you for this, very useful

Another great vid Cam. Glad to hear you mention your fueling strategy (or lack there of). So many people think that if they dont constantly feed on the bike, they're going to bonk, and then they complain that they can't lose weight or they have stomach issues when riding due to trying to consume too many calories. Just like we train our CV system and muscles, we also need to train the body to become more efficient at burning fat and also at sparing glycogen. This will allow us to go harder for longer while eating less than we would otherwise need to. Just ask any Ironman triathlete about gut issues on the bike and then they end up walking the marathon. So glad youre cutting through the "bro-science"

This is good base advice. Targeting this avoids using creatine system and keeps focus on carbohydrate engine. This is essential to gain fitness, rather than just adapting.

Fantastic insight 👏

Thanks for the great video’s it helps me a lot in understanding how to start using my power-meter better. Greetz from the Netherlands 🇳🇱

keep em comming... All the best in your work and progress :)

Hey Cam, great advice. There is, however, an entire audience with very few channels speaking to them... beginners... specifically, training geared towards beginners. Different words are needed to reach them. Different motivations, encouragements, processes, thoughts, etc.

Honestly, I discovered your constant pressure training technique a few months ago, and I've never come across one single thing that's had such a measurable impact on my performance than that. It's super straight forward but it makes a 2 hour ride feel like 3, and it's helped train me to keep consistent power during high zone efforts on undulating terrain. Utterly fantastic advice and everyone needs to incorporate it in their training imo

Just found your channel Cam. Awesome stuff. Thanks !

Very helpful, thank You

my take from this video... and I say this as a large guy (135kg); my training strategy has been good, I have not focused on speed that much, but been focusing to be on pedals for as long as I can hold... When I started cycling again I was at 146kg and could be on the cranks for around 5minutes and then off for 1minute and so on and so forth, now I can be on the pedals with somewhat perceived the same effort for around 35-40 minutes with a 3 minutes rest (usually the traffic light is more than enough) and my speed has increased WAAAAY more than when I tried training for speed....

Awesome ! I saved this info for my workout regimen ✅

Really useful video, Thanks

This is great. Here in the UK it's incredibly tough to get smooth session like this in. Incredibly rough roads and short sharp, constant climbs. Narrow single-car lanes and millions of cars. Base miles are the bane of my life trying to keep the HR under control on rough, heavy roads pushing 300w just to go 18mph. I watched this video with some serious road envy!

Great job cam.Your spot on

Very good video cam. I'm going to give all these recommendations a go. Have never trained like this. Cheers

Awesome Cam thank you 👍🏾

AMAZING VIDEO AND PRESENTATION!!

Thank you!

also to mention, you have such a nice road to cycle !!!

spitting so much facts about how most people ride. im trying to stop riding like that and starting to train smarter

Very cool to see you powering on!

Love your videos, brother. Shoutouts from Barbados🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧🇧

Awesome!

Great video - thanks for the info.

Great content, thanks for sharing.

Thanks Cam ..professional advice .regards !

a ton of useful information, great video, gonna pay attention to my HR

Great content

Awesome, awesome content!

Great content 👍 Just a note on handling skills - figure 8's are good for practicing turning skills. Also trying to stop as fast as possible on grass sharpens up your braking skills. A note on breathing - fill your diaphragm to strengthen your core while riding ( eg: filling your chest is not the most efficient method). 🍻

Great video, great content 👍👍

Great thoughts! It is always part of my polarized training. Doing it 4hrs once a week preparing for Ironman70.3. Hope it really helps.

Excellent content, thank you

Great video - thanks!

I’m envious that his heart is so low for the wattage and mph.....

Spinteresting… very good video :)

Very good information, thank you for sharing! I have started to do zone 2 sessions since last year using HRM. Do you think that it is worth investing in a power meter if I can train about 4-5h per week? Will I see some improvements considering the low hours I can put into training and considering that I already training by HR?

Hi Cam, great video, one of the best I’ve come across. Just one question if you have time, Z2 is still quite a wide band 55-75% of FTP, where about in that zone would you aim for? Thanks very much. Don’t worry, I’ve seen your newer video. 70% 😊

This is gold

Man if only the roads I train on looked like that... Feels like a dream seeing this.

Great video

I raced back in the day and dropped a few future pro's ha ha but here's what I did for my two pence. As I worked full time, 2-3 mornings 30 miles ball's out. Summer, ride home every night you can 1-2 hours 42x17 fixed. Evening league, time trial, weekly track. Sat, Sun race. Winter, switch to 15 mins min running, same morning, nights tues, thurs, rollers 5 x 3 mins or 3 x 5 mins......

What a brilliant video and great experiment! Does anyone have suggestions on what to eat after riding 2 hours at zone 2 without eating anything on the ride? I did it last night and smashed nuts and some chocolate before bed. I woke up feeling great... But an hour later after 4 weetbix i completely crashed. My body felt like it had no fuel. I had a muesli bar and coffee and sprung back. Doing this on my trainer was really informative. I learnt how my cadence and breathing impact my heart rate, and got great feedback on my base fitness level.

I've started this sort of training to see if I can pick up a little more performance - even in my old age. Although I'm fairly fit, at 65 the 130 HR puts out less Watts for me. At times I'm travelling pretty slow up hills!

I’ve said it before. It’s worth repeating. I implicitly trust Ausies. And this video shows why.

Thanks for this coach

Definitely use these rides to practice bike handling on the tri bars

Always good

Used to ride based on speed only. Bought a computer and power meter last week. This week started riding my route based on WATTS(instead of speed)….and using CONSTANT PRESSURE ON THE CRANKS. My performance improved immediately. I used to power up hills at 700+ watts…and coast down the backside. I kept watts in 225-280 watt range the entire ride…with zero coasting. Ended up with a PB (15miles @ 20mph. 240watt average). And to be honest, I could’ve pushed much harder if I chose to. FYI: I’m 54yrs old. 6’tall and. 200lbs and got into cycling 18mos ago.

Great video Cam... :)

Its getting to the winter months, I need the most help I can get

Hello, Cam! Your videos are absolutely the best! I have one question, is there some way of doing this training without a powermeter?

Very interesting and informational video