Intervals for carfree cyclists--gain endurance and burn more fat

[Roody]

Interval training is a great way to double your endurance on the bike and also burn more fat, even when you're just putzing around town on your bike.

Since intervals don't require additional time, this is a great fitness method for busy utility cyclists. Here are some excerpts from a recent NY Times article that reconfirms the benefits of interval training:

"Weight watchers, prediabetics and those who simply want to increase their fitness all stand to gain.

This alternating fast-slow technique, called interval training, is hardly new. For decades, serious athletes have used it to improve performance.

But new evidence suggests that a workout with steep peaks and valleys can dramatically improve cardiovascular fitness and raise the body’s potential to burn fat.

Best of all, the benefits become evident in a matter of weeks."

. . . . . .

"A 2005 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that after just two weeks of interval training, six of the eight college-age men and women doubled their endurance, or the amount of time they could ride a bicycle at moderate intensity before exhaustion."

. . . . . .

After interval training, the amount of fat burned in an hour of continuous moderate cycling increased by 36 percent, said Jason L. Talanian, the lead author of the study and an exercise scientist at the University of Guelph in Ontario. Cardiovascular fitness — the ability of the heart and lungs to supply oxygen to working muscles — improved by 13 percent.

It didn’t matter how fit the subjects were before. Borderline sedentary subjects and the college athletes had similar increases in fitness and fat burning."

. . . . . .

"For anyone with heart disease or high blood pressure — or who has joint problems such as arthritis or is older than 60 — experts say to consult a doctor before starting interval training.

But some guidelines apply. The high-intensity phase should be long and strenuous enough that a person is out of breath — typically one to four minutes of exercise at 80 to 85 percent of their maximum heart rate. Recovery periods should not last long enough for their pulse to return to its resting rate."

. . . . . .

"By recruiting new muscle fibers and increasing the body’s ability to use fuel, interval training could potentially lower the risk of metabolic syndrome.

Interval training does amount to hard work, but the sessions can be short. Best of all, a workout that combines tortoise and hare leaves little time for boredom."







permalink (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/fashion/03Fitness.html?ex=1337572800&en=d6267ab862ad0b88&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink) to full text at NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/fashion/03Fitness.html?ex=1337572800&en=d6267ab862ad0b88&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

[vulpes]

Gee, I was doing interval training and didn't even know it. But I was calling it hills. :p

[gwd]

Interval training is a great way to double your endurance on the bike and also burn more fat, even when you're just putzing around town on your bike.

Since intervals don't require additional time, this is a great fitness method for busy utility cyclists. Here are some excerpts from a recent NY Times article that reconfirms the benefits of interval training:


OK Roody, you posted a description of the benefits but didn't define interval training. So how do you do it? What is it exactly? Is it just pushing a higher gear up hills? Are there risks like busted knee tendons?

[wrafl]

So my sprints would count as interval training too. I get my heart rate over 150 whenever I do the sprint alley. I'm debating if I should ride this afternoon since I'm only 70 miles to hit 300 for the month. 35 today and 35 plus tomorrow would get me to 300 or so.

[Roody]

Gee, I was doing interval training and didn't even know it. But I was calling it hills. :p
Yes, hills, if you take them fast. Also sprints to beat a light or to get in front of cars. Bikes are so versatile that you can easily do more than one thing at a time.

[Roody]

OK Roody, you posted a description of the benefits but didn't define interval training. So how do you do it? What is it exactly? Is it just pushing a higher gear up hills? Are there risks like busted knee tendons?
Basically, an interval is one to four minutes at your Maximum effort. You need to get very out of breath and very tired. Then you "rest" while riding at a slower speed until your heart rate or breathing get almost (but not quite) back to normal. Then you do another interval.

Obviously, start out slowly and gradually increase the intensity and duration of the intervals. I started with two 30 second intervals and will work up to four 120 second intervals. It is amazing how fast you see results. (I've done intervals in the past, am now resuming after being unable to ride at all for 5 months.)

The NYT article gives some guidelines for safe implementation of intervals. Lots of fitness books and websites give more detailed instruction. Yes, watch your knees (the reason I couldn't ride for 5 months--I hop I'm a little more sane this time!)

Intervals are simple but not easy. They WILL tire you out. I usually do them on my commute home, so I can rest all night before riding again. You probably should do them at most every other day. (Do normal riding on the off days.) With any type of intensive training, the rest is as important as the workout.

[gwd]

Basically, an interval is one to four minutes at your Maximum effort. You need to get very out of breath and very tired. Then you "rest" while riding at a slower speed until your heart rate or breathing get almost (but not quite) back to normal. Then you do another interval.

Oh. This is like what years ago my bike racing friends did but they did it on the biggest steepest nastiest hills they could find. The rest period was the downhill. They called it "doing hill repeats". Since I had come from Florida they recommended this to me to get me used to the hills.

[cerewa]

Basically, an interval is one to four minutes at your Maximum effort.

Is it just pushing a higher gear up hills? Are there risks like busted knee tendons?

I think the better way to do it would be to push a higher cadence rather than a higher gear. If you're trying to get a burst of speed on a multispeed bike, pedaling hard at a speed of about 2 to 2.5 revolutions per second (120-150 rpm)* should do the trick. It probably will also put very little strain on your knees.

*shift to a higher gear whenever you're close to your absolute maximum cadence

[tehdely]

So what you're saying is I should stop at stop signs? :D

[davidmcowan]

So what you're saying is I should stop at stop signs? :D

+1
That is exactly what I was thinking happens when I'm riding fixed.

[Roody]

I think the better way to do it would be to push a higher cadence rather than a higher gear. If you're trying to get a burst of speed on a multispeed bike, pedaling hard at a speed of about 2 to 2.5 revolutions per second (120-150 rpm)* should do the trick. It probably will also put very little strain on your knees.

*shift to a higher gear whenever you're close to your absolute maximum cadence
I think you're absolutely right for normal riding. But for intervals, you're probably going to have to push up both the cadence and the gearing in order to get your heart rate near its maximum.

The basic idea is to push your body to its absolute max, but to do this only for a short time. If you can sustain it for more than a couple minutes, you're probably not going hard enough for interval training.