I did in the basement essentially what your paid Drill Sergeant does when leading a spinning class at the gym.
I chose as hard a gear as I could comfortably spin while maintaining a high cadence. At my current level of fitness, that's still a very easy gear ratio.
I spun the pedals maintaining 100 - 120 rpm cadence. That's high for me.
Continue spinning at that rate for five to ten minutes until I'm fully warmed up, sweating, and breathing somewhat hard. Then I shift the gears up two or three notches and maintain the same cadence for a count of about thirty seconds. This takes focused attention and results in very deep breathing and working hard with my leg muscles. I'm still seated though, so I can maintain a high cadence. After about 30 seconds at higher resistance, I'll back down the gears. Continue spinning at high cadence, low resistance for five minutes or so until my breathing has settled out again.
Repeat a few times. Then lower cadence for a minute of cool-down.
At this point in the season, intervals are "hard" but not "full throttle" efforts.
Not everyone agrees, but I believe that interval workouts have an important benefit all year. The intensity varies through the season. As you build up over months towards an important event, the intervals will build in intensity and duration and the recovery periods between intervals may get shorter.
What this exercise does is train your body to work hard when you ask for it, and then rest as much as possible when you are not asking for it. You are building muscle and aerobic capacity. You've broken down muscle just a little bit with this routine. It will build back up just a little stronger than it was before over the next few days of active recovery.
You will enjoy the payoff from this type of work when you hit the hills!
Ride well. Eat well.
Be well.
No comments:
Post a Comment