Where to carry out interval training?
- Thread starter Gbola
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Commuting is good. Stop start.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
I was serious, as its really hard doing it, unless you put in hill loops.
dan_bo
How much does it cost to Oldham?
I agree with foss. Batter it from the lights every time on your commute and you'll know about it and improve.
potsy
Rambler
- Location
- My Armchair
You do it in all the places you mention. You have hit the nail on the head in relation to one of the biggest problems - the need for quiet roads. Remember that you have to warm up before launching into intervals so riding out to a quiet flat road or hill can cover that aspect. If you want to do 20min intervals that may require starting 3 or 4 miles from a roundabout so that you can turn at the mid point of the interval without stopping.
If you don't have suitable roads nearby (I cycle 12 miles to get to one of my interval routes), or the weather is bad, you should use a turbo - many people do as the intervals are consistent and safer - albeit sweatier!!
Good call. I use such a tactic, although only one a week as the circuit I have available is very hilly and, therefore, demanding.
Variety is a key issue as intervals are tough enough without introducing the inevitable boredom that will come from using the same route all the time. That said, using intervals correctly will bring dramatic improvements in speed.
Arsen Gere
Über Member
- Location
- North East, UK
To get 20 mins of continous effort I use an old railway line converted to a cycle track. It rises at more or less a fixed rate so it can be made in to 5 miles of pain or 5 miles of spinning.
It depends what you are looking for, but for muscular or neurological endurance a constant load works well.
For shorter flatter intervals I use a bus lane on a dual carriage way with relative safety and something to chase on the right.
Blue is right with the turbo though. You can recreate the same conditions and begin to assess how well you are progressing. On the road you get good and bad days due to wind, temperature etc. Write down what you do and you have a good reference and the basis for scientific approach to training. If you can't quantify what you are doing you don't know if you are improving or wasting time.
I use the turbo session to assess how my training is going without the pain and boredom of the turbo on a regular basis. The turbo is used with a sense of purpose and you build a history of knowing what works for you.
It depends what you are looking for, but for muscular or neurological endurance a constant load works well.
For shorter flatter intervals I use a bus lane on a dual carriage way with relative safety and something to chase on the right.
Blue is right with the turbo though. You can recreate the same conditions and begin to assess how well you are progressing. On the road you get good and bad days due to wind, temperature etc. Write down what you do and you have a good reference and the basis for scientific approach to training. If you can't quantify what you are doing you don't know if you are improving or wasting time.
I use the turbo session to assess how my training is going without the pain and boredom of the turbo on a regular basis. The turbo is used with a sense of purpose and you build a history of knowing what works for you.
Turbo trainer
A-road with no lights and few junctions.
Loop around the lanes, left turns preferred but my best one has several rights.
Loop including a big hill
Not any particular one, mix them up a bit- training is boring otherwise. Plus your body somehow figures out you are trying to train it and it starts playing up.
If you have a 'cross bike try doing your intervals on a grass circuit in the park or something.
If you can't face another interval session do a hilly ride instead. Or a regular ride, but throw in some hard efforts wherever the terrain best allows you to.
Intersperse anything that you call training with easy rides.
A-road with no lights and few junctions.
Loop around the lanes, left turns preferred but my best one has several rights.
Loop including a big hill
Not any particular one, mix them up a bit- training is boring otherwise. Plus your body somehow figures out you are trying to train it and it starts playing up.
If you have a 'cross bike try doing your intervals on a grass circuit in the park or something.
If you can't face another interval session do a hilly ride instead. Or a regular ride, but throw in some hard efforts wherever the terrain best allows you to.
Intersperse anything that you call training with easy rides.
Your post reminded me of a couple of points about interval training that made me smirk when reading a couple of cycling books.
The first was along the lines of 'if you don't hate interval training, try harder until you do'.
The second was along the lines of 'if tempted to go faster on your easy days, don't. Go harder on your training days instead'.
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
I came to the conclusion a long time back that most of my rides are like interval training. I tackle hills ranging from long drags to short, steep monsters and everything in between. If I make a decent effort then the uphills are hard to gut-wrenching, whereas the downhills are generally pretty easy because I often spin out and freewheel.
I have the opposite problem really - where can I get into a good rhythm if I want a steady ride? The only local choice is busy valley A-roads. They are not so bad on summer evenings but I don't like them in daytime traffic.
Indoor cycling is probably the answer for both of us. I have a gym bike with a heavy flywheel and can use that if I want to do a particularly controlled session without having to consider the weather, traffic or terrain. I'm okay up to about 75 minutes on that but I can't bring myself to ride for hours at a time on it. Sometimes I just gently ramp the effort up and down and sometimes I alternate between extremely hard and recovery.
I got myself pretty fit through one winter of turbo-trainer or gym bike sessions but I didn't really enjoy them. I certainly appreciated the results of the hard work the following season though!
I have the opposite problem really - where can I get into a good rhythm if I want a steady ride? The only local choice is busy valley A-roads. They are not so bad on summer evenings but I don't like them in daytime traffic.
Indoor cycling is probably the answer for both of us. I have a gym bike with a heavy flywheel and can use that if I want to do a particularly controlled session without having to consider the weather, traffic or terrain. I'm okay up to about 75 minutes on that but I can't bring myself to ride for hours at a time on it. Sometimes I just gently ramp the effort up and down and sometimes I alternate between extremely hard and recovery.
I got myself pretty fit through one winter of turbo-trainer or gym bike sessions but I didn't really enjoy them. I certainly appreciated the results of the hard work the following season though!
