Viking Muscle
Better Biking… Indoors?
I have entered into a bike race to raise money for the National MS Society the MS150, all proceeds will go towards finding a cure and providing aid to patients. This race will be a 150 mile 2 day event and will be a “at your leisure ride”. However, I am vested in this quite a bit (buy a new bike, training, etc.). So I plan on riding as hard as I can and pushing myself over the 2 day span.
Regardless, the weather in Colorado is very hit and miss and I don’t always have the time to get outside and hit the road on my bike. So here are several interval programs you can do inside on a stationary bike and still push your aerobic cardio. Try sampling these into your regular program to give you a step on on your next bike ride.
Aerobic power 1 (50 minutes)
15 minutes – Warm up (increasing intensity)
5 x (4min high intensity + 2min low intensity)
5 minutes cool down
This program is designed to increase your maximum oxygen consumption. It gives you 20 minutes at a very high oxygen consumption, but it is not designed to be ridden to complete exhaustion.
Your VO2 max will gain improvements even at a more comfortable pace. It is, however, still important to push yourself very hard during the intervals. In the resting periods you should maintain an intensity at about 60% of VO2 max.
Aerobic power 2 (49 minutes)
15 minutes – warm up (increasing intensity)
5 x (40 sec. very high intensity – 20 sec. low intensity)
3 minutes recovery
5 x (40 sec. very high intensity – 20 sec. low intensity)
3 minutes recovery
5 x (40 sec. very high intensity – 20 sec. low intensity)
3 minutes recovery
5 x (40 sec. very high intensity – 20 sec. low intensity)
5 minutes cool down
This program is also designed to increase your maximum oxygen consumption. You work with a slightly higher intensity during the intervals than in the previous ‘Aerobic Power 1′ program. You will also gain increments in your anaerobic capacity.
You can expect results after only a couple of training sessions. This program really rocks.
Anaerobic power 1 (50 minutes)
15 minutes – warm up (increasing intensity)
5 x (60sec. maximum intensity + 6 min. recovery)
This program is designed to increase your anaerobic capacity. During the intervals the body is exposed to enormous amounts of anaerobic metabolism. After only a few of these sessions your body will be better to work at an anaerobic environment. This skill is primarily used in competitions, where jumps and sprints demand anaerobic efforts.
(source)
Biking for the Brutal!
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