interval training

RoseZella

Hey folks,

Just looking for some advice on some interval training. I'm not really to sure as to how to go about it...

At the moment I want to be able to ride faster and I think that interval training is the way to go.

Right now I'm competing in criterium racing and am having trouble breaking away from the group and staying away. I realise that staying away is based more on fitness level.

How long should I be doning my interval training for etc, is the advice that I'm after.

Thanks guys.

Bronzie

Hi Rosezella

Have a look in the Training forum - lots of useful advice in there.

Bit hard to give specific advice without knowing your current level of fitness etc (that's the realm of a coach anyway) but I'd recommend something like:
- two 2x20 sessions each week (warmup, 20 mins at 85-90% max heart rate, 5 min easy spin, 20 mins at 85-90% max heart rate, cool down - can be done on the road although doing on a turbo is more controllable but mentally harder) - these sessions will improve your power at threshold which will really help with staying away from the bunch
- one 6x5min intervals session per week (warmup, 6 x 5 min at 90-95% MHR with 1 min rest between ridden at a level where you can only just finish the last one)
- one session of sprints each week - say 10 x 40 second bursts at maximum effort with 1 min rest between - can be incorporated into a longer ride out on the road but do the sprints on a quiet section of road away from traffic if possible.

Will probably take a while experimenting to get the level of these sessions right as you don't want to start so hard that you can't finish them, or do them too easy either.

6-8 weeks of these should give you noticeable benefits. If you are racing as well, you could drop one 2x20 session in favour of a race to help fit it all in. You will probably also need to fit in "easy weeks" (say every 4th week) to allow your body to recover from the increased training.