2 x 20s - what are they?

paulgw
paulgw Posts: 135
edited November 2009 in Training, fitness and health
Please forgive me for posting what might be a very dim question. I have invested in a turbo trainer and am looking to follow a more structured winter training regime than I have done previously. to this end I have been reading through various sources of information and I find many references to "2 x 20's" being some mystical panacea for building cycling fitness. However, I confess to being in total ignorance of what these are. I assume that the term refers to some sort of interval training, but other than that I am in the dark. :oops:

Can any of you learned folk enlighten me? Are these the sort of things I should be doing on the turbo? How should I structure them?

Thanks in anticipation.

Comments

  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    2 x 20 = Twenty minutes at a hard pace. Done twice. 4 to 10 minutes of rest in between each interval. So twenty minutes hard followed by 10 minutes at a recovery pace followed by another 20 minutes of hard.


    Make sense?
  • johncp
    johncp Posts: 302
    The 20 minute efforts are top end zone 3/bottom end zone 4 HR. If you search this site for 2x20 there was a huge thread a while ago which covered it in some detail
    If you haven't got a headwind you're not trying hard enough
  • paulgw
    paulgw Posts: 135
    Thanks, guys. That makes sense. I'll search for 2 x 20 on the forum as well.
  • doyler78
    doyler78 Posts: 1,951
    Don't forget to warmup properly first also (15-20 mins of that) and cool down.
  • GavH
    GavH Posts: 933
    What are they? Sore! I did my first one last night so still on the trial and error phase trying to establish where the sweetspot lies. Struggled like hell today on the long steady ride, with my quads cramping up 10 miles from the end. :oops:

    If you do search, don't put any spaces between 2x20 to find one of the better (IMO) threads. LOTS of good reading out there if you search 2x20 or 2 x 20 or intervals.
  • ridelikeapro
    ridelikeapro Posts: 139
    My understanding of 2x20:
    ride for 20 minutes at an effort level that you can just sustain for 40 minutes - take a 3 to 5 minute recovery after the first 20 minutes by spinning on a lower gear - then complete the second twenty minutes. If you're doing it correctly then you will be able to finish the session buy you'll be struggling in the last five minutes. If you have to curtail the session then you set the bar too high for yourself!.

    Try and increase the effort slightly each session... do this by keeping on the same gear but increasing your pedal revs... or increasing the gear... or increasing your hear rate. It can be easier to do this session on a turbo trainer.

    If you're lucky enough to have a power meter on your bike or turbo trainer then just work on increasing your power slightly whenever you do the session. Best effect is one or two times each week.
    Good luck!
    www.gregarios.co.uk
  • Alex_Simmons/RST
    Alex_Simmons/RST Posts: 4,161
    http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2007/01/ ... wenty.html

    http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/2009/11/yowser.html
    RST Sport : Coaching - Training Plans - Powermeters -- My blog -- AeroCoach Australia
  • paulgw
    paulgw Posts: 135
    Phew! just finished my first 2 x 20. I used a Real Life Video of one of the routes up Mont Ventoux to relieve the tedium and went on HR, keeping to high zone 3/low zone 4 for the intervals (I had a stent fitted in April so prefer to use HR as a measure of effort at the moment).

    Hard work for sure but I feel pretty good for having done it and it was very satisfying seeing my HR drop quickly in the rest period between intervals.

    Thanks to all for your responses and advice. :D

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