20 minutes threshold or intervals on indoor equipment.

Anybody else into the short blast on the indoor kit? I've just finished my Sunday interval session on the bike (confirming that I am no Bradley Wiggins). I reckon 20 minutes has some advantages....

i) To train for aerobic endurance 20 minutes is about the shortest time you need for a level 3 threshold effort, sort of 90%.

ii) Trainers can be boring so longer efforts are better done outdoors.

iii) I can really mess myself up over 20 minutes - it's not too long to suffer horribly

and iv) (the daft reason ), the machines have 20 little columns of lights across the screen, so when you do interval sessions it really lends itself...you get a bar for each minute, so as you see the pattern get built up on the screen it's a lot easier to to complete each subsequent effort, even if you are in bits. If the default settting is 30 minutes you have to reset it instantly to 20 when you start or it buggers up the columns.

I know people think indoor kit is G.A.Y., but when you've found where your limits are you can achieve quite a lot in next to no time.

Am I alone?.........(It wouldn't be the first time )

 

Where I live its flat. Yet in the gym I can go uphill, only good use for me really!

 

Nope, indoors stuff is a last resort for me. Being outside is much more fun.

 

Yeah but you're only twelve and yet to discover pubs!!!

 

If you really want to cause maximum hurt (and benefit) in minimum time, try some Tabata Sprints.

This is ideal for exercise bikes and outdoor sprint sessions.

10 mins warm up.
Then 20 secs 100% effort (put the resistance on max and give it as much welly as possible).
Then 10 secs rest (drop the resistance to almost nothing and let legs idle)

Repeat for total of 8 reps (4 mins) or as much as you can take if 8 hurts too much.

If at the end of 8 reps you aren't swearing/puking/passing out then you aren't going hard enough.

Scientific studies have shown this to be the best method for increasing Aerobic AND Anaerobic fitness.

Do it maximum 2-3 times a week.

For those that are dubious about a "magic" 4 minute workout, just give it a go and then you'll see how painful it is.

Added benefit is that it makes the body burn fat for hours afterwards which makes it better for fat loss than long slow distance cardio.

 

..they showed that people who alredy had high VO2 max could retain it with four minutes of interval lunacy a couple of times a week, but you have to really go nuts.

 

Yes, it really is painful and not something I look forward to. I'm not what you would call very fit but I'm definitely seeing quick gains from it.

Rather than strict intervals over a longer period, I use the exercise bike's Random setting for a bit of Fartlek type training. It's definitely a good workout and much more interesting than 45 mins of steady state stuff. This is in addition to Tabata.