WHY RIDING EASY MAKES YOU FASTER: THE POWER OF ZONE 2 TRAINING

In endurance and high-intensity sports, performance is often determined by how well athletes can recruit power, sustain intensity, and resist fatigue. While traditional warm-ups focus on raising body temperature and mobilizing joints, a more performance-oriented approach involves potentiation - priming the neuromuscular system to perform at its highest capacity.
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Potentiation is not just for race day. It also plays a vital role in daily training, particularly in the lead-in to key interval sets. By integrating potentiation into warm-ups and early training phases, athletes can enhance both immediate output and long-term adaptation.

What is Potentiation?

Potentiation refers to the temporary improvement in muscle function following specific conditioning activities. Through a combination of neural activation and muscle contractile readiness, athletes achieve:

1. Greater motor unit recruitment – the body “switches on” high-threshold fibers needed for explosive power.
2. Faster rate of force development – muscles contract more rapidly and efficiently.
3. Improved muscle-tendon stiffness – enhancing power transfer and running/cycling economy.

In practice, potentiation feels like the body is sharper, more reactive, and more powerful than before the primer activities.

Potentiation Before Races

On race day, potentiation is essential for bridging the gap between a general warm-up and the demands of competition.

1. Activation drills (short sprints, high-cadence accelerations, or explosive jumps) prepare the nervous system for the high-intensity demands of racing.
2. Race-specific readiness – Potentiation ensures that when the gun goes off, the athlete is immediately at full capacity rather than needing several minutes to “wake up.”
   
3. Reduced injury risk – muscles and tendons are primed to handle maximal forces.

For cyclists, a few controlled high-cadence bursts or 10–20 second sprints at near-maximal effort in the warm-up can make the difference between hanging onto a breakaway or missing the move because the legs weren’t ready yet.

Potentiation in Training Sessions
While its importance is obvious before races, potentiation should also be woven into every training session that contains key intervals.

1. Higher-quality intervals – primed muscles and nervous systems allow athletes to hit target powers earlier and more consistently.
2. Better adaptations – when intensity is reached from the first rep, the physiological stress is more precise and effective, leading to improved training outcomes.
3. Skill transfer – practicing potentiation in training makes it automatic on race day.

For example, ahead of a VO₂max set, including 2–3 short sprints or accelerations after the general warm-up ensures the body doesn’t “waste” the first interval ramping up.

Practical Guidelines

1. Timing: Perform potentiation activities after a general warm-up but before the main set.
2. Duration: Keep efforts very short (5–20 seconds) with full recovery. The goal is priming, not fatiguing.
3. Examples: Cyclists: 2–3 × 10–15 sec high-cadence sprints, 1–2 × 6–8 sec maximal standing starts.
   Runners: 3–4 strides at 90% effort, short hill sprints.
   Team sport athletes: quick accelerations, jumps, or resisted sprints.

Conclusion

Potentiation transforms the warm-up from a passive routine into a performance enhancer.
By including it before both races and interval-based training sessions, athletes maximize immediate output while also driving better long-term adaptation. In short, potentiation ensures that every effort counts from the very first second - whether that’s the opening move of a race or the first rep of a workout.

Matteo Cigala
Founder & Head Coach