Snow Day

So I'm sitting here mulling over how I'm going to get my workout fix. I've started following a guy named Stephen Seiler on Twitter. He's an exercise physiology guy. He's started putting videos on YouTube as well. He's got two videos out now that may help inform us when we're cross training on the bike. He talks about something he calls Short Interval Blocks and stacking, which is linking several blocks with short rest intervals between each block. Judging from his second video these are common workouts among cyclists.

What I've gotten from his two videos in brief is that if you structure your exercise session in to short intervals, say 40 seconds on and 20 seconds recovery, you can spend more time at VO2 max without fatiguing to the point that you can no longer accomplish the goal. Also a exercise session of 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off keeps the exercise bout from ever getting to VO2 max, or it becomes more of an threshold workout! So three sets of 8 x 40s/20s, gives you 16 minutes of VO2 max (VO2 max is generally defined as 8 minute of all out running); and, three sets of 8 x 30s/30s gives you 12 minutes of tempo effort! Add more sets to increase the workload. The cadence should be 90-100 and the tension on the exercise bike should be high enough to make that possible but not easy! He has several more examples of how to structure that work/rest bouts on the video.

I'm just learning about this stuff so I'm sure there is more to know. However if you find yourself stuck on the bike or treadmill in the next day or so, try this and see what your heart monitor tells you about the effort! Remember V02 max should be in the 95% range and threshold/tempo should be in the 85% range. In the future if you're cross training and you want to add quality to your workout, something like this sounds like a useful way to get it. By the way these same ideas would work well within a fartlek session or long run. Check out his videos, particularly the second one just posted.

I think I'm heading out to run behind the sheltering dunes this afternoon. I hope the skiers get their time in before my footprints ruin their fun!