Sorry this is going up so late, just didn’t have time to get to it until lunch… which is happening at 2? Yeesh…
Anyways, it’s Monday. Today, you’re going for a…
Recovery Spin…
Just like it sounds…
– Get on your bike. Roll out into the street – or into your living room if you’re on the turbo watching the vid – and just spin around for an hour. Or more. Or less. Whatever it takes.
– 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.
– Just get out on the road and spin easily and aimlessly. At a certain point, your legs will start to loosen up.
– When that happens, turn around and go home.
– If you’re doing these on the trainer, same deal. Just spin. No hard efforts, just make the legs go around in circles in a small gear.
– Follow up with as much relaxation as you can. Eat, stretch, and put your legs up. Get a massage if possible.
Minimum blather today, and apologies for getting it up so late. Still not quite in the posting-every-day groove yet!
It’s Saturday. You’re probably racing tomorrow. That means that today you’re doing…
Can Openers –
Here’s the drill:
– Warm up for 1/2 hour or so, spinning easy with a couple of short bursts thrown in.
– Follow with several short attacking efforts, IE 30 seconds at 80% of your max, or pretty damn hard. 2 – 3 of ’em.
– Back off and spin for 5 minutes.
– Follow with 10-15 minute effort at right about your 2×20 output level, or “I could talk to you if I had to, but I don’t want to” level.
– Spin for several minutes.
– Follow with 5-6 hard 10 second efforts, ideally on CX type variable terrain, level or slightly uphill.
– Finish with 5-6 start efforts on a straight section of paved road, level or slightly uphill. You want to begin these from a dead stop, with one foot unclipped. Do not stop until you get at least 3 perfect starts in a row, and I mean perfect. This is the cross equivalent of practicing free throws. Make ‘em count!
– spin out the legs, go home, and get ready for the race.
Friday workouts are always a bit tough, given how different people’s race schedules are. Having said that, we’re going to assume that you’re racing on Sunday this week, which means that today you’re doing…
Not A Damn Thing.
Day off the bike today. Take it easy. Relax. Really recover from the weeks efforts as you head into (yet another) race weekend.
Maybe get a massage, if you do that (and you should do that, if you can.)
Stretch for a while if that’s something that you do.
Here’s a big one; try to get to sleep early tonight.
Most people can get away with bad sleep the night before an event far more than they can get away with bad sleep two days before. It’s one of those little things that you might not think about, but winds up being important…
Later,
M
Thanks for following my blog!
If you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this thing, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.
How do you do that?
Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.
(Hey, apologies for the formatting issues on this post. I don’t know what the heck is going on, and I just flat ran out of time trying to fix it. If you click on the post header, it will open in a new window and it will read at least a little bit better. Sigh.)
Howdy folks,
We’re going to do some speed work today. We’re going to do some…
Ten Second Max Sprints –
This is a pretty simple workout in concept, but harder to actually do than it appears at first blush. Short version…
– Warm up
20 minutes or so, making sure to include some short, hard efforts.
– Full-gas, all out sprint for ten seconds.
– Recover for 12 minutes.
– Full-gas, all out sprint for ten seconds.
– Recover for 12 minutes.
– Full-gas, all out sprint for ten seconds.
– Recover for 12 minutes.
– Full-gas, all out sprint for ten seconds.
– Recover for 12 minutes.
– Full-gas, all out sprint for ten seconds.
– Spin out your legs, recover for another 10 minutes or so, then go home. You’re done.
Wait… that’s it?
Yup.
Five ten-second sprints.
That’s it.
Here’s the thing, though; these are legit, 100%, all you can do sprints.
Think “If I don’t win this sprint, someone I love is going to die” type sprints.
If this doesn’t sound hard to you, that just means you’ve never actually gone that hard before.
It isn’t something that most people – even bike racers – have actually done. They may think they have, but… nope.
Just fwiw, here’s what it looks like when you’ve really, truly given a 100% effort in a sprint…
I didn’t think so.
Good luck…
M
Thanks for following my blog!
If you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this thing, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.
How do you do that?
Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.
Pay special attention to all the muscles used in those movements you make hopping on and off the bike that are different from what you usually do.
3 – Dismount/remount skills for 5 minutes , because you probably stink at this, even if you’re pretty fast. Or, even if you’re actually pretty good you could be better. Or maybe you’re actually great at this, but you want to stay that way. Whichever, just do it. It’s good for you.
– Start at literally a walking pace, and slowly increase speed until you can mount and dismount the bike smoothly and perfectly at full speed. Do not jump on and off the bike, you are looking to smoothly slide yourself on and off.
Just like the beginning of a race. One foot on the ground, dead standstill, get-up-and-go.
Begin with a few medium effort starts, working on all the things we talked about above.
Remember…
– Start with your pedals at 3&9 o’clock, not 12 and six.
– Butt on saddle, not off. Unless you typically start with your butt off the saddle (which I don’t think you should, but that’s a discussion for another day.)
– Hands on hoods.
Do these until you hit five perfect starts at slow speed.
Then…
– Bang! Six full-gas starts.
– short effort, just go long enough that you are up to full speed, then back down, turn around, go again.
Spin easy for a couple of minutes, then…
– Bang! ~pause~ Bang!
– Six full-gas starts, but each start effort will look like this…
– Full effort start from a dead-stop, foot on ground.
– As soon as you get up to full speed, sit back in saddle, take one deep breath, go again, HARD!
– Ouch.
5 – Recover for a few minutes, then finish the night with a series of short efforts on relatively easy terrain.
– “Easy” as in a loop on grass with some tight-ish turns on it, or some pretty buffed double-track.
– Go hard, and work on accelerations out of the turns.
– Every time you slow down entering a turn, get on the gas on the way out of it, ass out of the saddle, working hard.
– 5 minutes full gas, rest for 2 minutes, then go again for another
– Start each effort with, well… with a start. Like you were working on a couple of minutes ago.
– Go until you start to see a wattage drop on your hard efforts (if you’re using a power meter) or until just before you really start to feel tired (if you aren’t.) Yeah, I know that’s a hard-as-hell metric to quantify. Power meter FTW, amirite?
Warm down, go home, relax.
Enjoy!
M
Thanks for following my blog!
If you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this thing, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.
How do you do that?
Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.
Well hell. I guess we’re doing this again. People have been asking, the views have been cranking slowly upward… I guess it’s time.
So, what better place to start than…
2×20 Tuesday!
Get-up style today, because I just like them better that way.
Here’s how this goes…
– 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 (and if you’re new to all this, it’s probably the version you should do. In fact, you should do this workout today, instead of what you’re currently reading.) This here is the get-up version, though, so…
Start the first interval out of the saddle, and stand for the first 30 seconds.
Don’t surge, don’t go harder when you get out of the saddle.
After those 30 seconds are up, sit down. Keep the effort going, and keep your level of output consistent.
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 successive interval.
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 power meter, 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, as your output level gets closer and closer to the absolute max you’re capable of doing for an interval of this duration.
Add in the constant standing and sitting component, and you’re going to know you did some work when you’re through.
I know I’m repeating myself, but do try to avoid the temptation to up the output level when you get out of the saddle, OK?
That’s an entirely different workout, and we’ll get there soon enough, I promise.
This is a 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.
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 exercise – instant home made ergometer.
– Most of you probably shouldn’t be doing these today. If you raced on Sunday, you damn well better be completely recovered if you’re going to go this hard on a Tuesday. If there’s any doubt, then there isn’t any doubt; you aren’t recovered enough.
If that’s the case, just take the day off, or ride easy. I know most of you won’t, but I had to try!
Have fun,
M
Thanks for following my blog!
If you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this thing, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.
How do you do that?
Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.
Well, it’s Thursday, but it’s not just Thursday, it’s Thursday of the week before X-Mas.
If you live in the US, odds are you aren’t racing this weekend. I’d say that odds are also pretty good that you’re actually done for the season, but If you’re still reading this stuff, you’re probably racing Nationals. So, hey… Nationals bound? No racing this weekend?
Good chance to double up on the interval work.
Literally doubling up. As in a verbatim repost of Tuesday’s workout. Yay!
So, without further ado, all through the house nothing is stirring except…
…the poor souls cranking out the…
VO(to the)max 12/50
Warm up
Warm Up: 20 min @ 40 % of FTP throw a couple of efforts at or > ftp in during warm up to make sure you’re ready
Repeat 12 times
Hard
Work: 50 sec @ 110 % of FTP
Easy
Recovery: 10 sec @ 75 % of FTP
Recovery
Recovery: 15 min @ 40 % of FTP
Repeat 12 times
Hard
Work: 50 sec @ 110 % of FTP
Easy
Recovery: 10 sec @ 75 % of FTP
Recovery
Recovery: 15 min @ 40 % of FTP
Repeat 12 times
Hard
Work: 50 sec @ 110 % of FTP
Easy
Recovery: 10 sec @ 75 % of FTP
Cool Down
Cool Down: 10 min @ 40 % of FTP
Ouch.
Still not clear on all this wattage based stuff, or just don’t have the requisite gear to make use of it?
No sweat. For you, today is…
2×20 Tuesday! (on Thursday!)
Pretty simply, the 2×20 looks like this:
– Warm up.
– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.
– Recover for 5 minutes.
– Go again for another 20 minutes.
That’s the basic version. Success on this is, however, all in the details.
First of all, warm up.
No, seriously. Don’t just hop on the bike and blast one out.
Warming up makes a difference, especially if you’re doing this as a test session.
You don’t need to do anything super hard or super involved, just make sure the legs are up and running before you kick off the workout proper.
Spin for a bit, blast a couple of 30 second to 2 minute efforts off pretty hard, spin a bit more, then go for it.
When you do go for it, really go for it.
But in a controlled sort of way.
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 to 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. How constant?
Can you keep it in a 10 watt range?
Probably not.
15 watts?
More likely
20 watts?
Try.
Keep it steady.
These take practice to do well, and the better you get, the harder they get (you’re welcome.) This is a workout that’s a natural for the turbo trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em.
This 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 blurry vision thing. You should aspire to seeing-spots level of output on these.
If you can learn to push through your limits, really push, you will get better and you will get better fast.
It’ll be painful, though.
I promise.
Have fun!
M
Thanks for following my blog!
I’m not trying to get rich off this thing… or really even make any money from it at all.
It’d just make my life a fair bit easier if I didn’t lose money doing this.
Heck, allow me to rephrase that; I can’t keep doing this if I lose money on it.
So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.
How do you do that?
Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.
It’s Wednesday, so this will be at least a wee bit skillsish!
Today we’re doing the… well, crap. I don’t have a great name for these…
The some kind of start, sprint, run, start, sprint interval-type thing –
Start with, well… a start. Just like a race.
Get up to speed, then sit down, pedal easy for 1-2 pedal strokes, then out of the saddle, go again.
Up to speed, then hit the brakes.
Dismount, turn around.
Run up to speed, mount bike, clip in, then immediately out of the saddle.
Full-gas sprint for ten seconds.
Recover riding easy for one minute, then…
Repeat.
6 reps per set, 2-5 minutes between sets.
5 sets.
Enjoy!
M
Hi there…
Thanks for following my blog!
This thing started off as a lark, and over the years that I’ve been doing it, has become a little bit of a monster.
It takes a fair bit of time – and a wee bit of money – to keep this thing rolling, and it’s the time of the season where I’ve got to pay the bills to keep this thing going.
I’m not trying to get rich off this thing… or really even make any money from it at all.
It’d just make my life a fair bit easier if I didn’t lose money doing this!
So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.
How do you do that?
Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.
It’s the week before X-Mas and all through the house, nothing is stirring except…
…the poor souls cranking out the…
VO(to the)max 12/50
Warm up
Warm Up: 20 min @ 40 % of FTP throw a couple of efforts at or > ftp in during warm up to make sure you’re ready
Repeat 12 times
Hard
Work: 50 sec @ 110 % of FTP
Easy
Recovery: 10 sec @ 75 % of FTP
Recovery
Recovery: 15 min @ 40 % of FTP
Repeat 12 times
Hard
Work: 50 sec @ 110 % of FTP
Easy
Recovery: 10 sec @ 75 % of FTP
Recovery
Recovery: 15 min @ 40 % of FTP
Repeat 12 times
Hard
Work: 50 sec @ 110 % of FTP
Easy
Recovery: 10 sec @ 75 % of FTP
Cool Down
Cool Down: 10 min @ 40 % of FTP
Ouch.
Still not clear on all this wattage based stuff, or just don’t have the requisite gear to make use of it?
No sweat. For you, today is…
2×20 Tuesday!
Pretty simply, the 2×20 looks like this:
– Warm up.
– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.
– Recover for 5 minutes.
– Go again for another 20 minutes.
That’s the basic version. Success on this is, however, all in the details.
First of all, warm up.
No, seriously. Don’t just hop on the bike and blast one out.
Warming up makes a difference, especially if you’re doing this as a test session.
You don’t need to do anything super hard or super involved, just make sure the legs are up and running before you kick off the workout proper.
Spin for a bit, blast a couple of 30 second to 2 minute efforts off pretty hard, spin a bit more, then go for it.
When you do go for it, really go for it.
But in a controlled sort of way.
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 to 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. How constant?
Can you keep it in a 10 watt range?
Probably not.
15 watts?
More likely
20 watts?
Try.
Keep it steady.
These take practice to do well, and the better you get, the harder they get (you’re welcome.) This is a workout that’s a natural for the turbo trainer, and that’s how I do ‘em.
This 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 blurry vision thing. You should aspire to seeing-spots level of output on these.
If you can learn to push through your limits, really push, you will get better and you will get better fast.
It’ll be painful, though.
I promise.
Have fun!
M
Thanks for following my blog!
I’m not trying to get rich off this thing… or really even make any money from it at all.
It’d just make my life a fair bit easier if I didn’t lose money doing this.
Heck, allow me to rephrase that; I can’t keep doing this if I lose money on it.
So, hey… if you feel like you’ve gotten anything of value out of this blog, and you’d like to see it continue, please do me a favor – and yes, it’s a favor, and I will be truly thankful for it – and send a buck or two (or five, or whatever…) my way.
How do you do that?
Simply click on the graphic below, and PayPal will be glad to make it happen.
You betcha. I do the personal coaching/trainer thing. Clients have included multiple National and even World Champions, and 2/3 of My Cyclocross athletes made the podium at Nationals in 2009, with one taking home the Stars and Stripes. Interested? Drop me a line at: crosssports@gmail.com
Yeah, that's right... if you have completely lost control of all sense of fiscal responsibility, you can now purchase silly articles of clothing with my blog address on them.
How cool is that?
Just go to - http://crosssports.spreadshirt.com/
and think "conspicuous consumption... mmm... feels so good..."
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