So as much as I love my long days in the saddle with a good podcast, sometimes you're preparing for a specific event. What's your go-to work out for days when you have to get a ride in, it cant be that long and you need to hit some of those non-zone 2 systems? Does it change throughout the year? and what are you typically training for?
My go-to workout really depends on the season. During the winter months on the trainer/rollers it's always a 2x20-40 min workout, depending on fitness. I find doing this 2-3 times a week on top of some longer z2 days really keeps the legs doing spinning. 90 minutes for 2x20 and you're done.
This time of year (late crit season), its all about high intensity interval training (HIIT if ya nasty). Building those matchbooks nice and deep so I can follow those late race attacks. These workouts are hard, by design. I like a solid 30 second - 30 second work-recovery grouping, long enough to simulate an attack, short enough to not deplete all your energy. I do blocks of 10-15 minutes of these efforts. 2-4 sets of 10-15 minutes can really put you in the tank, mentally and physically. Love this time of year.
Last time of year for me is going to start in a few weeks as the crit season comes to a full close and it is what I like to call "CX prep". Days off the bike are minimal, always be on the bike working on something. When it's not Z2 rides just ticking off the miles, its rides like spiked tempo rides (2-3min tempo, 20 second sprint), hard starts (works on getting clipped in and getting the power town. Standing start to 30 second efforts, then into a solid 3 min threshold/high tempo, 5 minutes rest), and last but certainly not least skills days. These are typically low to mid effort days. Working on bunny hopping, and getting on and off the bike smoothly.
These are my "seasons". What do yours look like?
TLDR : I ride my bike too much and hard efforts are fun.
My go-to workout really depends on the season. During the winter months on the trainer/rollers it's always a 2x20-40 min workout, depending on fitness. I find doing this 2-3 times a week on top of some longer z2 days really keeps the legs doing spinning. 90 minutes for 2x20 and you're done.
This time of year (late crit season), its all about high intensity interval training (HIIT if ya nasty). Building those matchbooks nice and deep so I can follow those late race attacks. These workouts are hard, by design. I like a solid 30 second - 30 second work-recovery grouping, long enough to simulate an attack, short enough to not deplete all your energy. I do blocks of 10-15 minutes of these efforts. 2-4 sets of 10-15 minutes can really put you in the tank, mentally and physically. Love this time of year.
Last time of year for me is going to start in a few weeks as the crit season comes to a full close and it is what I like to call "CX prep". Days off the bike are minimal, always be on the bike working on something. When it's not Z2 rides just ticking off the miles, its rides like spiked tempo rides (2-3min tempo, 20 second sprint), hard starts (works on getting clipped in and getting the power town. Standing start to 30 second efforts, then into a solid 3 min threshold/high tempo, 5 minutes rest), and last but certainly not least skills days. These are typically low to mid effort days. Working on bunny hopping, and getting on and off the bike smoothly.
These are my "seasons". What do yours look like?
TLDR : I ride my bike too much and hard efforts are fun.