sufferfest videos + cadence / HR

orangepip
orangepip Posts: 219
edited December 2013 in Training, fitness and health
I've been considering using the sufferfest videos as a means of making my turbo training sessions a little more interesting however at the moment I've been mostly just riding to my own intervals (set by track changes on my mp3) and not measuring HR / cadence. Do I need to start to measure these to use the Sufferfest videos properly or is it possible to just go by "feel" alone?

Comments

  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    You can go by feel alone - Its more RPE than anything else.
  • izza
    izza Posts: 1,561
    I used my 4iiii's equipment with Sufferfest to give a greater accuracy of 'feel'.

    Can then take it out on the road.
  • orangepip
    orangepip Posts: 219
    Imagine you're dealing with a total novice here, RPE?
  • orangepip
    orangepip Posts: 219
    forget that, I just saw the link above to the glossary of terms.
  • Andyjprice
    Andyjprice Posts: 7
    If you just want to make training more interesting (by which I mean having some cycling footage to watch and a good motivational sound track) then you don't need either cadence or hr monitoring to use Sufferfest. However, you will get a lot more out of their videos if you at least have a cadence reading, as the videos have an instructional / training element which uses cadence and perceived effort to give you a work out.

    I say "at least" because also adding a heart rate monitor will add some objectivity to your assessment of perceived effort e.g. not allowing you to ease off too early once the going starts to get tough and your fresh legs have worn off.

    If you are not interested in investing in either of those, you might want to first try, instead of Sufferfest, Youtube footage of the Tour / Giro etc coupled with some tunes from Spotify (I recommend Sky Team's Autumn Turbo Session 1 play list).
  • orangepip
    orangepip Posts: 219
    Thanks Andy. I guess over the next few months when opportunities to get out will be limited / extremely unappealing it's good to know that there are options for maintaining or improving my base fitness. I like the idea of the sufferfest videos as at least it will give me something to focus on.

    I guess if I want to get maximum benefit cadence and HR measurement are probably a good investment...
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    If you want to take it to the next level - look at trainerroad. If you have a compatible turbo and sensors - it will overlay your figures on the sufferfest videos. Very cool - but you get distracted matching efforts precisely and it does take away some of the fun.

    I'd definitely say try a sufferfest - they're under a tenner and great fun.

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