Howdy folks,
First of all, apologies for not getting this up last night. I just got too darned backed up, and something had to go.
Blecch.
Sorry.
Up and running now, though!
As you’ve probably realized by now, it’s Tuesday.
You know what Tuesday means around here, right?
Yup.
Two-By-Twenty Tuesday!
If you’ve been rockin’ with us the last couple/few weeks…
you’re probably starting to get sick of get a handle on these by now.
So, how are they going?
At this point in the season, you should be seeing a steady rate of improvement on your performance when you do these.
If you aren’t getting better, it’s OK… we just don’t want to see you getting worse at this time of year.
That’s one of the things you want to look for.
When you start leveling off, eventually performing less well than your historic norms on a workout you do consistently?
Hit the brakes and figure out what’s going on.
Maybe you need a rest.
Take a few days off.
Maybe you need to push back the intensity until later in the week. Lots of folks can’t handle a hard workout on Tuesday when they race on Sunday.
If that’s you?
Don’t push it. Take it easy on Tuesday if you need to!
Make sense?
Cool.
Onwards…
Two options for you today, folks (well, 3 actually… if you’re feeling gassed today, reference the preceding paragraph 🙂 )
Option one?
The Classic 2×20 –
Pretty simply, the 2×20 looks like this:
– Warm up.
– Go as hard as you can for 20 minutes.
– Recover for 2 – 5 minutes.
– Go again for another 20 minutes.
That’s the basic version. Success on this is, however, all in the details.
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.
Option number two?
The 2×20 Get-Up Style –
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.
Sound familiar? Like you just read this a few seconds ago?
Yup.
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 successive interval.
Once again, 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.
Keep it steady.
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.
Have fun,
M
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