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Howdy folks,

It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means, right? It’s…

2×20 Tuesday!

 – Warm up.

– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.

– Recover for 2 minutes.

– Go again for another 20 minutes.

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 workout is great on the trainer, and that’s how I usually 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! 🙂

Looking for something a little different to do today?

Feeling like maybe you were missing a little bit of oomph in the race this past weekend?

Well, today have a go at the…

Semi-Classic 

What the heck is that?

In short, you’re going to do 1/2 of the Classic 2×20 – a 1×20 – followed by 10 and then 5 minute 0ver-unders.

Huh?

Here’s how this goes:

– warm up. You don’t need to go crazy warming up, just spin around long enough that you know your legs are ready to go.

– Start by doing one twenty minute interval at your 2×20 pace. Check out the link above if you need to refresh your memory on this.

– Recover for 2-5 minutes.

– Do one 10 minute over/under interval.

– Recover for 2-5 minutes.

– Do one 5 minute over/under interval.

– Spin out your legs, go home, stretch, eat, and etc.

So, what the heck is an over/under interval?

– “Over-under” means that you are going to be working right around the level of your threshold, both above and below.

– What is your threshold? Well, for our purposes, we are going to reference the 20 minute interval we just did. Whatever wattage, heart rate, or gear ratio you used for that interval will serve as your threshold baseline.

Get a solid idea of the wattage, heart rate, or tempo you ride the 20 minute interval in, and keep it firmly stuck in your mind. This is important; you are going to bounce above and below this level for the rest of the workout.

After the 20 minute baseline effort, spin easy for 2 -5 minutes.

When you are ready, begin the 10 minute Over/under thusly:

– Ride for one minute at your baseline/20 minute intensity level.

– At the end of that minute, ride 10 seconds at 25 watts, 10 beats, or 1 gear higher than the baseline level.

– After the 10 seconds, ride 20 seconds at 25 watts, 10 beats, or 1 gear lower than the baseline.

– After the 20 seconds, you go back to the ten (over,) followed again by the 20 (under,) etc., etc.

Got it? 1 minute baseline, 10 up, 20 down, 10 up, 20 down. Repeat the up/down efforts to the end of the interval.

– Rest 2-5 minutes.

– Do it again for 5 minutes.

Have Fun!

M

~ by crosssports on September 10, 2012.

Posted in Uncategorized