Interval Training

dave milne

Hi,

I'm harbouring wild dreams of increasing my power over the winter using a turbo trainer with the base aim of dramatically increasing my average speed currently between 16.5 to 18 mph.

Does anyone have any experience of doing interval training to this effect or any links etc. which could point me in the right direction

Cheers

Infamous

There's not much too it, warm up for a bit, then ride hard for 5 mins, then recover for 5 mins, repeat for as long as you want.

You can change the duration to suit your needs, have a search for 2x20.

Some general rules, don't do more than 2 a week, don't do them on consecutive days and if your legs are heavy/tired don't do them.

dave milne

That doesn't sound too complicated. Two times per week doesn't sound like very much though, I'd have thought trying to do 5 or 6 times a week would be better.

I'll search that other topic though

cheers for the info

alex16zx

If done properly it will absolutely destroy you (in the best possible way!) and there's no way 5-6 times a week would be viable. Maybe 3 if you're feeling fit.

dave milne

destroy me? now that's a challenge

BeaconRuth

Bear in mind that it's not just gruelling intervals that will help you to improve your general riding speed. Riding for extended periods (say, 30mins-1hour) at a brisk but sustainable pace will help a great deal too. If you've got a heart rate monitor you'd be looking for something around 75%-85% of your maximum HR. I would spend a lot more time training at this level than doing intervals, at least during the winter anyway.

Ruth

sloxam

lose some weight too, i put half a stone on over my holidays and since i got back i haven't managed to shift it yet and my av speed has dropped by 1/2 mph.