kill.cactus

I only had 30 minutes to go riding today, so instead of doing mileage, I tried interval sprints.

I don't read Bicycling or other magazines and so I didn't really know what I should be doing for intervals,
and so I just went and did some "hill" (I live in Michigan) climb sprints followed by recovery.

Overall, I probably hill-sprinted around a mile. Pretty good for a thirty minute ride.

Wow, intervals are intense!

What do you do for interval training?

C_Heath

yo kill, browse Ebay. I found a FOUR year yes, thats 4 years of Bicycling Magazine for $4.95 with no shipping. Whats that, 6 cents per issue?

Later

Gerrylightning

Standing start sprints.
Telephone pole sprints, sprint to a pole recover to a set pole then repeat
Other ones as well but there the basics and im getting ready to start some plyometrics again.

intence

Ebay is crazy cheap for magazine subscriptions. Someone told me about it last year, lots of subs for a few dollars/year.

merlinextraligh

Depends on what you're trying to work on, but you could do a lot of different interval workouts in 30 minutes. True sprint workout would be 10-15 second efforts, with full recovery (i.e. 5 minutes or more). So a little tough to get enough in in 30 minutes, with a warm up and cool down.

You could do 1 minute intervals, again with 5 minutes rest. Done right, 5 of these will be more of a work out than you might think.

Or you could 2 10 minute intervals at LT Threshold.

You can come up with all sorts of progams, again depending on what aspect you're trying to work on.

However you structure it, the basic point is short workouts need to be intense to get maximum benefit.

littledjahn

I do pyramids Tuesday nights - 4x15sec, 3x30, 2x60, 1x90, 2x60, 3x30, 4x15. The 15 second intervals are all out sprints while during the rest I try to maintain as high an intensity as possible throughout the entire interval. Recovery is as long as it takes me to ride back to my starting line. I usually struggle to ride the mile home afterwards.

I don't really know how effective this particular workout is, but I am getting a little faster.

kukusz

Probably a good indication of a proper workout.

I do one type that seems to help/kill me really bad. I ride easy for 1/2 mile, then sprint for 15 seconds all out then TT for about 1/2 mile with another 15 second all out sprint finish at the end. I do this on the MUP during lunch some days, you can do it with a computer. A 15 mile lunch ride can be brutal like this.

[edit] Sorry, you said 30 minute workout, so make it 9-10 miles like this.

ImprezaDrvr

20 seconds just under LT, 10 seconds recovery, repeat for 3 minutes and work your way up to 5 or 6 minutes. With a 15 minute warm up and warm down, you're done in about a half hour.

countdowntolife

I like doing sprints like this. Pick a goal with your eyes and sprint till you get there. I can ride out of the sadle for much longer now.

ri_us

I think that Bicycling Magazine sucks rocks for training information. Their headline writer is great. Too bad they can't deliver. "5 Ways to Climb Like a God!" then you flip to the article and it says to do hill repeats. This is like saying that a good way to improve your skills at badminton is to play it a lot.

Did you include your warm up and warm down in your 30 minutes? Don't shortcut that or you will have big problems.

kukusz

Can you be more specific about what kind of problems inadequate warm up and especially cool down will do? Injury related?

merlinextraligh

I don't get this at all. Sure it isn't supposed to be 20 seconds a little above LT?

Otherwise, you could just do 5-6 minutes (or more) at LT, and accomplish more in terms of raising your power at LT.

UTmtnbiker

This may sound basic, but I've never really been introduced to intervals....what does it mean when somebody says 4x15 or 1x90? I'm assuming that means you do 4 intervals for 15 seconds...one 15 second interval of exertion, one 15 second interval of rest and repeat that 4 times. Is that the correct way to interpret it?

kudude

i think the poster here intended that he rode hard for 15 seconds, turned around and when he got back to his starting spot, did it again until he got to 4 times.

then he did 1 of these for 90 seconds, turned around and started the next step. this gives you about 2x as long for recovery (which may be short) than you do in the all out efforts.

mrsims

The theory is that skipping a warmup can cause problems (all exercise). Not alot of data (can't get a control group) but the strongest evidence of going hard too soon is inflammation which may lead to soreness and other more chronic conditions (arthritis, etc). Symptons that mimic overuse injuries essentially.

San Rensho 

I hate to admit I actually purchased an issue of Bicycling, but I did, and this months article has training program by Chris Carmichael for those who are time challenged that supposedly will enable you to race by training anly a couple of times a week.

merlinextraligh

that's essentially it. But the rest between intervals can vary, and isn't necessarilly the same length as the interval.

So 4x15 seconds would nean 4 15 second efforts. But the workout should also specify the rest between intervals.

Tri-FatBoy

30 minutes.

I'll do pyramids as was already described, and it screws me up something awful.