Crosssports's Weblog

Howdy folks,

I hope you had an enjoyable weekend, and that it won’t be too much of a drag for you getting back on top of the work-a-day schedule.

(Hey, a guy can dream, right?)

ANYways, back to it. Here we go…

If you rode pretty hard on Labor Day, we’re pushing things back a bit, and today you’re going for a nice, mellow…

Recovery Spin – 

– Get on your bike.

– Roll out into the street, and just spin around for an hour.

Really small gear, no hard efforts – heck, no medium effort.

Spin.

You’re looking to move your legs around in circles, almost like there is no chain on the bike.

The idea is to get your body moving, flush the systems out, and speed your recovery.

When you do your recovery ride – if you have the time – just get out and spin aimlessly.

At a certain point, your legs suddenly feel better.

As soon as that happens, turn around, go home, eat, stretch, and put your legs up.

Relax, if you can. If not, head off to work, school, or whatever the daily drag is for you.

Did you take it kinda’ easy yesterday?

Cool.

That means it’s time to get on up…

and enjoy…

2×20 Tuesday!

 – Warm up.

– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.

– Recover for 2 minutes.

– Go again for another 20 minutes.

That’s the basic version. This is the get-up version, though, so…

Start the first interval out of the saddle, and stand for the first 30 seconds.

After those 30 seconds are up, sit down. Keep the effort going, and consistent. Don’t surge, don’t go harder when you get out of the saddle.

Stay seated for the next 1:30, then stand for 30 seconds.

Repeat to the end of the interval, and follow this format for the next interval as well.

The idea here is to go as hard as you can for the duration of both intervals without being forced to go easier at the end of the second interval.  If you run out of gas before you finish the second interval, you went too hard. If your vision isn’t blurry at the end of the second interval, you went too easy.

If you’re doing this with a powermeter, you want your wattage output to be as close to constant as possible. We’re talking 10 watt variance at the most. Keep it steady.

These take practice to do well, and the better you get, the harder they get. This is another workout that works great on the trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em, which is a good thing… because I always wind up flat on my back on the floor trying not to puke after the 2nd interval.

I’m really not kidding about the seeing spots thing. If you can learn to push through your limits when you do these, you will get better and well… you will get better.

So, step it up a notch.

Go just a tiny bit harder than you have before, to the point where you really need to grit your teeth to get through the interval.

If you have to, rest just a little bit longer between the intervals. Heck, if you do this right, you should need to rest at least 5 minutes between the intervals!

Really, really go for it today.

Make sense?

Tips:

– I do these on the trainer, with a stopwatch on the bars and an Ipod blaring in my ears. Start the stopwatch at the beginning of the interval, and the format is really easy to follow; you stand up for :30 at the 2:oo, 4:00, 6:00, etc. mark(s). Get it? It’s easy!

– A power meter will help you to keep the level of intensity constant. You want the power output to be as steady as possible with these. If you don’t have a PM, do these on the trainer,  choose a gear ratio and a cadence, and stick to that for the duration of the excercise – instant home made ergometer.

Have fun,

M

~ by crosssports on September 3, 2012.

Posted in The Workout Of The Day