Tabata power levels

Finesilver24

I have searched for an answer but couldn't find one...

What's a good power level (%FTP) for a Tabata interval session, let's say 4 mins of 20s on and 10s off?

imposter2.0

Percentages are irrelevant. Flat out for 20 seconds - that's all that matters.

Finesilver24

Imposter wrote:

Percentages are irrelevant. Flat out for 20 seconds - that's all that matters.

Jeez, that sounds hard.

Thanks

mackang

Finesilver24 wrote:

I have searched for an answer but couldn't find one...

What's a good power level (%FTP) for a Tabata interval session, let's say 4 mins of 20s on and 10s off?

http://cfile23.uf.tistory.com/attach/23 ... 8B83227F32

AK_jnr

If you are consciously pacing yourself or riding to power you aren't doing it properly. It's 100% every interval and you will know it by the end. Good session.

JayKosta

Extremely intense intervals such as mentioned above should be done AFTER you have established a good base of strength and endurance.

For example, first do endurance riding so that you feel comfortable doing a non-stop 30-50 mile flat route. Adding in some long duration strenuous climbs (say 10-20 minutes of continuous climbing) will further increase base strength and endurance.

Intervals can be great for increasing strength and endurance. They don't have to be overly structured - do a 'hard period' that is above your comfort zone, then do a 'rest period' to recover. Repeat a few times, but make certain that you can get home!

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

bahzob

JayKosta wrote:

Extremely intense intervals such as mentioned above should be done AFTER you have established a good base of strength and endurance.

For example, first do endurance riding so that you feel comfortable doing a non-stop 30-50 mile flat route. Adding in some long duration strenuous climbs (say 10-20 minutes of continuous climbing) will further increase base strength and endurance.

Intervals can be great for increasing strength and endurance. They don't have to be overly structured - do a 'hard period' that is above your comfort zone, then do a 'rest period' to recover. Repeat a few times, but make certain that you can get home!

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

Sorry but this is an opinion not a fact. There is considerable evidence to indicate that doing high intensity work from the outset can produce significant fitness gains. It may not work for all as there seems to be some genetic basis that differentiates "fast responders" who benefit from this type of training from those that don't. (It will be pretty obvious quite quickly which group you are in)

It is a fact however that doing 30 minutes 3-4 times a week is better in all respects in terms of improving your fitness than doing one long ride once per week.

If people are motivated to try to improve their fitness then I'd encourage them to do whatever they like especially if busy with real life, not be told they first have to do something that may not be especially efficient in terms of time spent vs fitness benefits.

JayKosta

bahzob wrote:

...
It is a fact however that doing 30 minutes 3-4 times a week is better in all respects in terms of improving your fitness than doing one long ride once per week.

If people are motivated to try to improve their fitness then I'd encourage them to do whatever they like especially if busy with real life, not be told they first have to do something that may not be especially efficient in terms of time spent vs fitness benefits.

===========================
Agreed. If time constraints do not allow for 'longish' duration endurance rides, then high intensity short sessions are a reasonable choice.
My concern is finding a useful balance of training, and daily living activities. And also a training program that will develop a well rounded rider.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

Finesilver24

Thanks for the replies. I've got a good level of base fitness so I just needed to know that it's an all-out effort (repeated until I vomit by the sounds of it!).

JayKosta

Sure, try all-out and see how it goes !
I do suggest doing less repeats for at least the first several sessions - just so you can ease into the amount of soreness and need for recovery that might follow. You need to learn how your body will respond.

The goal should be improvements without injury or major lifestyle interruptions.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

diy

Technically the Izuma Tabata Protocol is resistance at 170% of Vo2Max* but as others have said you are meant to go all out each time. No time to look at the data. Its good fun and I agree with Bahzob - it can work for anyone - in fact the original study showed greater Vo2max increases for those less fit.

xavierdisley

I used a modified protocol when running group turbo sessions for fairly novice riders. No heart rate monitors, cadence sensors or speed sensors but aiming for well over ~130rpm in the first one and just clinging on for grim death, no changing gear throughout the set. Has a few benefits - reinforcement of the neuromuscular pathway at high cadence, anaerobic contribution for the first 20sec, aerobic system after that, plus they're jolly hard so make you feel good when you've done them.

We used 6x(20/10), 10min rest and then another set of 6x(20/10) for the novices and 4-5 for the more experienced riders. Done in this manner it was incredibly important that they were all totally unpaced, so you attack the first 3sec of the first 20sec of the first set as if you're going for a max power/cadence PB, and the same for all the rest too, even when you're crawling towards the end. Difficult to do that way on your own as you need someone to say Start/Stop otherwise you self pace and wind down in the last 5sec of each interval.