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Howdy folks,

It’s Tuesday, and that means – yup – it’s…

2×20 Tuesday!

No real surprises, here. I told you up front you were going to do lots of these, and I wasn’t kidding, was I?

At this point, you should be starting to get the hang of these, and you should be getting better at them.

Better and stronger.

Or, maybe you’re suddenly getting worse at them.

This would be one of those signals I’m always talking about… you know, the “Take a rest, stupid!” signals.

If your 2×20 numbers aren’t going up, you need to be better rested when you do them, or you need to go harder.

One or the other.

Or, well, you’re where you’re at, and you really aren’t going to be able to get any better.

That’s possible.

Not likely, but possible.

You need to figure out which category you’re in. Be honest with yourself.

Remember, if you don’t have trouble breathing… heck, with seeing straight at the end of these intervals you aren’t going hard enough.

OK, enough said.

Here are the workouts –

You can do the good ‘ol standard…

Classic 2×20 –

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/workout-of-the-day-for-914-2/

The 2×20 Get-Up Style –

https://crosssports.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/the-cyclocross-workout-of-the-day-for-tuesday-8-9-2x20s-get-up-style/

Or, if you’re looking for something new and different, you can try the…

Half & Half & Half –

– This isn’t the same thing as doing a 2×20, it’s something to do if you need a break from the damn 2×20’s. We’re going to be working slightly different energy systems here, so even if you really like this, don’t sub it for the 2×20 every week, ok?

– This is also a good way to start working your way into Over/Under intervals, something we will be doing a bit down the road. In fact, we’re doing part of an over/under for 1/2 of this (hence the goofy exercise name dujour…)

Here we go…

Workout is best done on a flat(ish) stretch of open road, with very little traffic. You need to be able to ride hard for 20 minute, going hard enough that you can’t see very well, without needing to stop.

I do these on the trainer. It’s easier and safer.
…and I’m crazy.

– Warm up well.

Do 1/2 of a Classic 2×20. (or a 2×20 Get-Up Style. Doesn’t really matter.)

Rest for 5 minutes.

Now you’re going to do a 10 minute effort.

…but wait… there are some details to get straight before you launch into it.

The baseline for this interval is the level of effort/output you just did in the 20 minute effort.

However hard you went in that interval, you are going to try and hold that for the 10 minutes.

Easy, right?

Here’s the rub.

You’re going to sprint for 10 seconds every minute of the interval.

How hard are you going to sprint?

Hard, but not so hard that after you sprint, you can’t sit back down and keep churning away at your 2×20 level.

This takes some practice to figure out.

Don’t get all freaked out if you blow it and can’t hold the effort until the end. You tried, right?

Having said that, don’t wuss out and quit. This is some difficult s***, man. You want to get faster, right?

OK.

Here’s how this works.

Use a stopwatch. Put it on your bars.

Start the stopwatch.

Start the interval with a sprint, out of the saddle pretty hard, but not full gas.

Sprint for 10 seconds.

Back in saddle, drop into your 2×20 zone. Hold this until the minute mark, then –

Sprint again. 10 seconds.

Back in saddle, 2×20 level until 2 minute mark…

Repeat.

Repeat…

Repeat, until you have hit the 10 minute mark.

At the 10 minute mark, finish with one 10 second all-out sprint.

If you have done the interval right, you shouldn’t be able to crank the final sprint all that much harder than the earlier sprints.

Pick yourself up off the ground, roll around and recover for a while.

Go home, get on with your day.

Have fun!

M

~ by crosssports on August 30, 2010.

Posted in Uncategorized