# Twice a day workouts



## tom_h (May 6, 2008)

If I'm not sore from a morning workout, is there generally any benefit or harm to also doing a late afternoon workout? 

Eg, if 1st workout was hill climbing or repeats, doing some type of vO2max intervals at 2nd workout? 

I have a HR monitor, but no power meter ... no quantitative way of knowing if the 2nd workout was sub-standard.

I've noted in Carmichael's "Time Crunched Cyclist", he seems to simply combine both workout types into 1 session.

One could also argue, that if I feel frisky enough to consider a 2nd workout, maybe I wasn't working hard enough at the 1st one ;-)

Some 35 yrs ago, in college track (800m/1500m running) , we would often do twice daily workouts in season ... eg, long steady distance in AM (8-12 mi), then some combination of 200m/400m intervals in PM. Of course, a 20 yr old body can tolerate a more abuse than a 58 yr old ;-)


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## jarider (Nov 3, 2009)

I dont ride twice in the same day. I ride 4 days per week, tuesday, thursday, saturday and sunday. On tues and thursdays I do my resistance training in the afternoons. Upper body, legs and core combined. I do this so my off days, mon, wed and fri are all rest.


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## tethernaut (Dec 11, 2008)

[disclaimer - I'm not a coach or expert, so my response is worth what you paid for it]

I believe there are both advantages and disadvantages to 2-a-day workouts. On the one hand, your body has some time to recover in between the workouts, so if, for example, you do two 1-hour rides separated by 8 hours, you can likely go harder in the 2nd workout than you would have been able to in the second hour of a continuous 2-hour effort. So it's my belief that the 2-a-day approach is somewhat more efficient for improving your high-end (LT) capabilities. On the flip side, because you've had that 8-hour rest, you are not stressing the long-distance endurance aspect of your system as much as if you did a continuous 2-hour effort. So it's not as effective at building your 'base' as a continuous workout.


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## Ghost234 (Jun 1, 2010)

It depends on what you are after. According to Friel's book he says something along the lines of "2 a day workouts are excellent if you are working on speed skills or anerobic endurance, but terrible for aerobic training". 

Best advice: Don't overdo it. Doing 2 a days can easily lead to overtraining, but if you take appropriate rest periods they can be very beneficial. Especially if you take a nap between workouts.


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

I used to train twice in a one or two a week in the 80's and 90's, and I thought the benefit was tremendous.
I think it's ok, but I wouldn't do if you feel sore....


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## heathb (Nov 1, 2008)

There's not any proof that 2/day workouts are better than one or even doing a hard day/easy day or rest day. 

IMO the older your get the longer it takes to recover. If your after gains in your high end speed and you keep your workouts short and sweet then 2/day could work. Like the others if your looking for endurance I wouldn't ever do 2/day. 

Friel noted in his bible that 2/day can increase the release of growth hormone, but many argue that it's more likely to cause overtraining or little to no gains. 

Considering it often takes time to get your stuff together before you go out and ride, I think 2/day ends up being too much of a hassle.


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## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

I do 2-a-days 3 or 4 times a week, separated by 12 hours. It's called my commute.
15-20 miles in, work 12 hours, 15-20 miles back. Some days I use one direction as "active recovery", some days I do intervals or other focused activity, some days I just try to hammer it and see what I can do.

On my off days, I do longer rides or focus on a specific terrain (like hill repeats or hilly loops). I make sure that I take a day or two off a week to rest and keep burnout to a minimum. I try to listen to what my body is telling me, and try to decipher the difference between tired and lazy. It can be a fine line some days.


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## heathb (Nov 1, 2008)

I actually stop commuting for a few months because I find that any riding past my workouts only delays recovery, making my legs always feel heavy. 

For me I've never really gotten into the active recovery. I personally think it's best to grab a pillow sleep and eat, refluff the pillow and sleep and eat some more. Speed goes up, race results improve.


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## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

Yeah, that day or two off the bike a week keeps me feeling much fresher. As long as they aren't one directly after another, I don't feel like I'm starting with jello in my legs the next time out.

When I'm doing 3 days of 2-a-days straight (based on my work sch, if I don't do an active recovery day I find that my fitness takes a huge dive that takes a while to get over. You just have to pay attention to your body and try to keep the mind fresh.


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## martin_nj (Jul 12, 2010)

two rides in a day are beneficial in the sense that:

1) in the morning exercise will kick start your metabolism
2) in the evening you'll burn off any extra calories you might have taken in during the day.


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