Interval Training for Beginners
sparkins1972
Posts: 252
Hi,
I am new to the forum and am looking for advice on getting started with interval training. I ride mainly for fitness purposes on a Ridgeback Genesis Day 02 hybrid that is several years old, but it works - it has upgraded carbon forks and I am looking to swap out the original Tiagra Chainset with a Hollowtech version before the end of the summer. I have been riding for a year or so following an appendicitis that went wrong. I ride mainly out the south of Nottingham into the Vale of Belvoir / Rutland and I seem to have reached a level where my performance around my 3 regular loops isn't getting any better
20 miles = 17mph
30 miles = 16.5 mph
45 miles = 15.8 mph
My goal is to improve my all round cycling, whether that be improved power up the climbs, increased speed and increased endurance on the longer rides. i currently do around 80 - 100 miles per week based on those loops.
I have heard of interval training but I am not really sure where to start with it. I get the concept of going flat out for a minute, rest for 2 mins, then flat out again. The main questions I have are
1) How much of a particular ride should be interval based? Take my 20 mile route whcih takes just over an hour should I be looking at 20 interval bursts for the whole of that ride?
2) My rides tend to have short sharp hills on a fairly regular basis - I try to attack the climbs always, so am I interval training already?
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am fed up of this plateau I seem to have reached...
I am new to the forum and am looking for advice on getting started with interval training. I ride mainly for fitness purposes on a Ridgeback Genesis Day 02 hybrid that is several years old, but it works - it has upgraded carbon forks and I am looking to swap out the original Tiagra Chainset with a Hollowtech version before the end of the summer. I have been riding for a year or so following an appendicitis that went wrong. I ride mainly out the south of Nottingham into the Vale of Belvoir / Rutland and I seem to have reached a level where my performance around my 3 regular loops isn't getting any better
20 miles = 17mph
30 miles = 16.5 mph
45 miles = 15.8 mph
My goal is to improve my all round cycling, whether that be improved power up the climbs, increased speed and increased endurance on the longer rides. i currently do around 80 - 100 miles per week based on those loops.
I have heard of interval training but I am not really sure where to start with it. I get the concept of going flat out for a minute, rest for 2 mins, then flat out again. The main questions I have are
1) How much of a particular ride should be interval based? Take my 20 mile route whcih takes just over an hour should I be looking at 20 interval bursts for the whole of that ride?
2) My rides tend to have short sharp hills on a fairly regular basis - I try to attack the climbs always, so am I interval training already?
Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am fed up of this plateau I seem to have reached...
0
Comments
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Your 2nd point is more what runners call a 'fartlek' (speedplay) type session as your sprints and recoveries will vary.
Point 1 seems fine to me, however, I do intervals on a measured route so that I am repeating the same speed and recovery. I feel my system prevents tail off in speed on the sprints and stretching of the recovery, as well as enabling me to see improvements as I progress.
One session that I am doing at the moment involves riding a route at high speed for 5 miles one week, then 6 miles the next, 7 the next etc - all at the same speed. The idea is to reach 9 miles the week before my next 10 mile TT. All the rides are at a pace that will get me a PB in the TT, weather etc permitting!
Good luck with your own training.0 -
Intervals are generally a bit longer than just pushing up a hill or sprinting every mile. You say your 20 mile loop takes you about an hour, so you could get some decent intervals done there.
After a few minutes' warm-up, try something like 3 x 10 minutes working fairly hard, about 80-90% HR, with 5 minutes light in between. Mix it up with 2 x 20 minutes, 20 minutes off. You're basically trying to push the boundaries of how hard you can work for a prolonged amount of time, so these sessions are REALLY not fun, but will have the biggest effects on your steady speed.FTT
Specialized Allez
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49364032@N03/4820302085/
Steel bike http://www.flickr.com/photos/49364032@N03/46563181470 -
On the hilly routes, take it a little steadier on the flat but really push on the hills.
Keep it simple at this stage...0 -
Excellent stuff - I will have a play around with it and see how I go
Thanks for the tips - who knows I may even buy a 'proper' road bike at some point.0 -
One final question on this - when you talk about going hard for 10 mins do you mean:
1) The fastest mph you can achieve
2) Pushing the hardest gear at a lower cadence that you can maintain
3) Pushing an easier gear at a higher cadence0 -
If you're not able to monitor power or heartrate, then 1) Whether you achieve this in a high gear with a low cadence or a low gear with a high cadence is a matter of preference. I prefer the latter.0
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I don't have either a power monitor or a HR monitor, so I guess I just have to go on gut feel - i.e. when my guts tell me they are about to spew, I slow down.
Out of interest how much does a decent HR monitor set you back these days?0 -
I got mine in Lloyds Chemists for £9.99. My only criticism is the HR figures are smaller than the main time display on the unit, but it does do current, max and average HR if you scroll through the displays.0
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Seriously? I thought we were talking three figures - i used to have a Polar one that got misplaced in one of my many house moves and it cost a fair bit.
Are they pretty accurate?0 -
sparkins1972 wrote:Seriously? I thought we were talking three figures - i used to have a Polar one that got misplaced in one of my many house moves and it cost a fair bit.
Are they pretty accurate?
They seem to be!0
