How does a long, extensive interval differ from a short, intensive one? How important is recovery? Find out yourself with this ride!
After a suitable warm-up, it's a series of intervals ranging from 8 minutes long down to just 1 minute, all with just a minute for recovery. Imagine that you want to get to the top of a short climb for each interval - the first couple of intervals are long enough that the effort levels off around 80-85% MHR; these are working at the level of endurance and strength. Then next two intervals are shorter, so require a little more intensity to get to the top of that same climb before time runs out, around 85-88% MHR; these start recruiting a higher level of strength and power. The 4- and 3-minute intervals require a much higher level of power to reach the summit, so that HR is around 88-92% MHR. The final two intervals are all-out efforts, 92%-max, as there's no time for building up the intensity. The only way to really fire up the power in the final interval is to add lots of resistance in the first 15secs and then accelerate and sprint the final 40secs to the finish.
You will find that minute's recovery is barely needed after the first two intervals; definitely needed for the next pair; just enough to catch one's breath in the third pair; and nowhere near enough for the final two. The lesson? The higher the intensity, the longer the recovery should be - below lactate threshold (approx 85% MHR) recovery is not really necessary; extensive intervals above threshold require around 2:1 ratio of effort/recovery; for intensive intervals the ratio is closer to 1:1 and for all-out efforts it's more like 1:2 or even 1:4.
Profile
Flat road - 9 mins
Interval - 8 mins / Recovery - 1 min
Interval - 7 mins / Recovery - 1 min
Interval - 6 mins / Recovery - 1 min
Interval - 5 mins / Recovery - 1 min
Interval - 4 mins / Recovery - 1 min
Interval - 3 mins / Recovery - 1 min
Interval - 2 mins / Recovery - 1 min
Interval - 1 mins
Cool down - 8 mins
You can download the hour-long mix here
Playlist
My friend - Groove Armada
Acacia house - River Gods
Insomnia - Faithless
Rio Grande - The Day After Tomorrow OST
Sun - Slusnik Luna
Groovin' with you - The Gentle People
Sunstroke - Chicane
Nothing more - Nitin Sawhney
Shine - Booty Luv
Maximus - Gladiator OST
It's a rainy day - Ice MC
Lullabye for Katherine - Marta Sebestyen
Hungarian - Bond
Remembering Rafe - Pearl Harbor OST
Song 2 - Blur
Figurines - Gladiator OST
The Bait - Mission Impossible 2 OST
5 comments:
Cool, I used to like this class Rob so it's now on the iPod and used at my gym. Get some funny looks when going full tilt at those last three intervals!
There'll be more for you (and others) to... "enjoy"!
As for the funny looks, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people in the gym don't know the meaning of hard work!
I did this profile twice this week with two different groups and got a lot of positive reactions on it even though it was very exhausting at the end (or maybe just because of that - who knows?!). Thank you very much for this profile, I like it if it is simple but effective!
what types of intervals are you doing? could you be more specific?
Thanks
what type of intervals are you using?
Could you be more specific?
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