gonesh9

Just as background, I'm a decent climber and have fairly good endurance. What I need to do is get faster on the flats and the sprints for races. I keep reading "Do intervals", but no one really explains what doing intervals means. I've seen some links to super technical jargon relating to thresholds and zones and such....but to me that's kinda creepy for a CAT5 racer trying to get faster. That's the element of road bicycling that keeps almost turning me off: it's almost like you can't just try to start by checking it out because CAT5 racers are warming up with powertaps, have several spare wheels on the support car, and are wearing heart rate monitors.??? I just want to know, on my training rides should I try sprinting as fast as I can for as long as I can, then rest for a few minutes? Or sprint at about 85-90% as fast as I can? How long should I rest between these efforts? Since I'm already a climber by nature should I focus on flat sprinting, or go at hills hard for max result? Thanks-

astrodaimler

Poor man's innervals:
Version1:
Pick a spot down the block, how about umm, 1/4 mile or more. Pick a landmark (fire hydrant, light pole, car)
Put bike on big gear, say like 53/15 or so (don't know your strength)
Sprint at about 75-80% of what you would do on an all out sprint
Choose a rest period (1 minute? 2 minutes? up to you)
Stop at landmark
Repeat process until you barf
Increase distance as you get stronger.
Version 2:
Do version 1 on an uphill (you will have of course, be on a smaller gear)
Repeat until you barf
Version 3
Do version 1 with a watch or "1 elephant, 2 elephant". Do that for 30 elephants
When you get better, you can do this however long you want. 60 elephants, 120, 180...whatever
Stop when you barf

Its important to rest in between innervals

Be consistent. Don't give up. Don't do all out innervals (100% all out sprinting).

Forget about all the technical stuff. Worry about that next year. There is just way too much information on the innernet. Enough for people to get discouraged and confused. Just go basically go do sprints at 75-80% of all out sprinting until you are so darn tired you need to call your significant other, kid, neighbor, co-worker and pick you up.

And most important: Have fun!

HolyInstantRice

Go 'til you blow. But always remember to rest, because that's when you improve.

tbdean

How is this measured? Heart rate or just perceived effort?

I would assume a power meter would be the best way, but assuming we don't have one...

astrodaimler

Do a sprint as hard as you can for a certain distance. Then go at about 75-80% of that.
Power meters, bike computers, excel graphs. That's a lot of stuff.
You can always, go all out on a sprint, try to figure out how long it took you to get there. 10 seconds? 20 seconds? 30 seconds? Then try it again and make it there in 20%-25% more time.

This number will increase as you get faster so one person's innerval isn't the same as someone else.

I would imagine heart rate to be hard to monitor. I don't have one. And people's fitness levels are different.

So I guess the short answer is perceived.

Bantam

Well, you could estimate. Being EXACT is not all that important.

I sometimes do intervals at 100%, but my purpose is to put myself into oxygen debt. Obviously my 100% decreases each time, but it suits purpose.

ratebeer

Find a resistance trainer and a floor you can lay down on (will explain later.)

1. Get on a resistance trainer and pick a good hard gear.
2. Ride real fast but not all out for 20 seconds at a minimum of 95 rpm (guess if you have to).
3. Rest for 10 seconds.
4. Repeat 12 times for grand total of six minutes.


You should be breathing heavily as you start your third interval. If after the entire workout you don't fall on the (hopefully padded) floor gasping and moaning for about 5 minutes, then you need to pick a harder gear and/or spin faster. I will also get headaches, light headedness (gray outs) and cough up lung cookies a few hours later but rarely if ever barf. It's not that painful though really if done right. Do this workout at least twice a week.

According to available research, 20 seconds is one of the best possible interval durations. Because it's such a short workout and isolates the heart and lungs, you derive benefits without the extended rest required for longer more taxing intervals.

waterrockets 

Intervals are all about riding at a defined level of effort for either a given distance or time. Usually, that's bleed-from-the-eyes hard for 1-8 minutes.

Interval effort is defined differently with different tools (HRM vs power meter), and for different durations. Intervals are usually defined by an effort for a time, but can be bound by a distance (like in hill repeats). I have an HRM, but during intervals, I use it for data rather than pacing. I guage my effort based on feel (from experience). All of my intervals are about putting as much real estate under my tires as I can for the defined duration. When you get into longer intervals, the HRM becomes more useful, but in the 1-minute range, your HR is climbing the entire time, so you can't use it for pace.

For a 1-minute interval (my favorite), always do them on a familiar course (I have two courses where I do all my 1m intervals). I start them on the same landmarks every week. My start land marks, for example are the first 45mph sign on Burleson Rd, then the fire dept sign on Mc Kinney Falls, etc. There are 2nd landmarks that I'm trying to get to before my time runs out. These are always slightly too far for me to reach.

I go at them so hard that I can barely ride when the interval is over. It's completely consuming. Then I rest for 3 minutes or so, and go at the next start landmark. My usual route has 7 intervals, with an optional 8th. I've done as many as 10, but that's really rare. I stop doing them when the quality goes down and I really start to slow -- at that point, the damage is done, and it's time to recover.

Bantam

If increased VO2 is your goal you could try running intervals. Running seems to elevate my heart rate much quicker than cycling does.

gonesh9

Thanks all, this is exactly what I was looking for.

Zemo

Perfect description for me! thanks!

I am The Edge

so cat5s should just stay cat5s? should never try to improve? just stay there?

dumbest statement ever.

gonesh9

Yes I am very dumb, but I think you took it out of context. I meant for me as a CAT5 racer trying to get faster, it's kinda off-putting to only find super technical jargon when looking for ways to improve. The comments above were a refreshing change from that. Also pretty strange when the lowest level of racing appears to be made up of several sandbaggers looking for CAT5 glory...not that it really matters, but it does kinda creep me out, like 30-something dudes showing up at a frat party looking to get laid.

ElJamoquio

Many times I've read something along the lines of... 'you should end the workout feeling like you could do another interval'.

I've never actually tried that. Although my biking intervals are along the lines of 'what do I want to do today?', when I used to run, the intervals were very regimented at my school.

Interval workout #1 (running), all distances in meters:

Warmup, then... 600, 600, 900, 1200, 900, 600, 600 (a pyramid). Rest until HR goes below, say 160. Biking, you could do something similar: 1.5 min, 1.5 min, 2.5 min, 5 min, 2.5 min, 1.5 min, 1.5 min, or the like. No HRM? Rest 2 minutes after each.

Interval workout #2: warmup, then... 1 mile about as fast as you can go, 2 miles moderate, 1 mile as fast as you can go, 2 miles moderate, 1 mile as fast as you can go.

Biking translation: 5 minutes hard, 12 minutes easy. Repeat.


Interval workout #3: 400 meters hard. Rest one minute. Repeat twelve times.

Biking translation: 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, twelve times. I honestly haven't tried this on a bike ever, and don't know if I could still keep the bike upright at the end.

Don't forget the warmup/cooldown.

Good luck!

Starclimber

The big plus of this interval training for the flats and sprints is it will likely also improve your climbing.

You could also experiment with throwing in some intervals on your favourite long hills. Let's face it, when you hit a sprint for the win, generally you aren't feeling terribly well rested. Why not simulate that stress load where you're already skilled? A strong, well timed acceleration on a climb may eliminate the need for a sprint at the end of the race.

vantassell

I'm not trying to call you out, but where's a link/source so I can read more

astrodaimler

So glad you pointed this out. I hate this part of cycling and unfortunately, there will always, always be equipment junkies out there on the ride. Let them worry about the latest gear. Concentrate on your skill set.

I always ride my 22/23 lb steel Lemond on group rides and I see lots of people with $3000 bikes. For them, that's great. Its part of the ride. And they are having fun. Lots of it. But for me, the fun is being in front of a ride on top of a hill on a bike 5 lbs heavier, cheapo tires (increased rolling resistance for even greater inneficiencies), and a squeky chain. I have no excuses not to be in front like "oh, I don't have my carbon fiber water bottle cage, or these are my 1000g wheelset".

I'm having the greatest time right now riding my wife's $300 Fuji Newest on group rides. What a head turner. It even has bosses for a rear rack. Funny, I never see those guys who snub me when I get to the top of the hill.

ratebeer

At the risk of turning off the OP...

https://www.citeulike.org/user/brian/article/1021674
Look for the full article and google the terms Tabata IE1 interval.

There are other studies that examine various interval lengths. I've posted refs before. 20s is always right up there. Tabata suggests 20 seconds uniquely and optimally taxes both anaerobic and aerobic systems. The numbers he's produced in terms of improvements to VO2max (and "anaerobic potential") are still the highest ever published.

Prior to the 20-second workout (IE1), a 15% increase in VO2max in trained individuals in as short a time as a month was popularly thought to be impossible.

brianallan

I have some intervals scheduled on wed. I was planning on doing 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off on a local climb. This mirrors very closely a race i'm doing in two weeks, which features a 10% climb which takes approximately 5 minutes. Because the interval I have planned so closely matches the course profile for the race, I'm skeptical about changing my training. That said, I like to try new things. I think I'll dedicate a future work-out to these and post my comments. If anyone else trys them, give some feedback.

and re: cat 5 high end equipment, etc.. etc.. I raced on a 24lb steel 8 speed bike with many good results in cat 5. More important the equipment or even training for that matter is probably consistency. If your training is inconsistent, the 16lb bike and the well executed v02 and tempo work-outs won't meen much come race day.

waterrockets 

Yeah, the nice training gear really can help you train more efficiently, but it's not required. I sometimes use an HRM, I'd love to have a PowerTap, but I've seen my fitness go up a lot in the last year just by focusing. Making sure I go out to ride for every lunch (other than recovery), which meant giving up the lunchtime Battlefield 2 playing entirely. Making sure that every ride has a plan (sprints, intervals, hill repeats, TT, fast group, or recovery), and that I vary my workouts. It all adds up to massively improved fitness (17% time improvement up the local steep hill -- Jester).

I think that once you get to that high Cat 3 or Cat 2 kind of level, it's a little tougher to just "show up" for intervals on your bike and get fitness improvements. PowerTaps and coaches start to become much more useful. These luxuries can add value at any level of racing, but they're not required.

It seems that for every PowerTap wheel-riding-racer I drop, there's one up the road that just dropped me

grebletie

Correction, it will improve your climbing. Speed on the flats, or climbs, essentially comes down to power. It's only on the climbs that weight becomes more of a factor. But, power is power. If your good up the climbs, you should be able to put out the same effort on the flats.

simplyred

The point of intervals is to make you stronger. How? You tax your body causing neuromuscular breakdown. When you REST - this is where you actually become stronger, your body will overcompensate and be stronger than your inital strength before the workout.

Secondly, you want to try and bring your blood pH as low as possible - and this requires a big volume of anaerobic work in a session. Most people do 12 -15 mins - and that's plenty if you're doing it correctly. Pyramids, LT(olterance) Intervals, etc... they're all good for this purpose. 4 weeks of 3 anaerobic sessions/wk should do wonders - assuming you can properly handle the load. I tried and could only muster 10 sessions in a month. It's freaking tough.

Lastly, listen to your legs - if on a scheduled workout you feel $hitty - don't do it. It means you haven't fully recovered from last time. Take another day off and fight again fully restored - not half-@ssed.

Good luck!

Carbonfiberboy 

Well, I've got a technical question. My goals are always big rides in the mountains. That kind of climbing. I've done intervals and they don't seem to help me much there. Maybe that's because I'm always doing some short interval and sprint training as a natural part of my riding. What helps me the most is going hard, constantly z3 and z4 until I am totally beat, and then just keeping going as long as I can turn the cranks, which turns out to be longer than I think.

So the question is: it seems to me like these short intervals will stimulate my fast twitch, which would be good for crits, but not so good stimulation for the mountains. True? And if true, what's the best slow twitch stimulation? I've had good luck with just spending and hour and a half at LT in the course of a day's ride, but maybe there's a better way?

I am The Edge

i understand now. no worries.

KinjaBoy

We used to call them Gassers Oh, the memories...

There are some very good posts here; thanks to all.