30 second intervals - Page 3

This has been a good read. Keep up the good work guys !

I'm in need of working in 30's , 60's , 90's intervals into my routine.
Initally , how many times per week would you start someone out w/intervals .... and how many seconds/reps /sets per day would you begin with ? I have excellent base milage under my belt , just looking to increase my VO2 max a bit.

Thanks.

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*The energy efficiency of a bicycle is second only to a bird in flight ;-)
*Its NOT a mechine, its a tool. A human using a bicycle as a tool-as intended .. now thats one wicked Mechine (ex. legs = pistons, mouth/airway = air intake)
*"Good people try to help others with their knowledge rather than beating them on the head because they are ignorant." -Insight Driver

I think most of this is answered in a previous post of mine in this topic. These intervals can burn you up if not used with come caution. I do them once every 7-10 days for now.

Thanks.
Yeah, at the most I'd incorperate this workout once per-week. Typically, I just get into a good rythum, and ride away. If approaching a small 1/4 mile hill - I'll accellerate for 30s-45s to keep the momentum up , so I can assend fairly fast over the hill. Do my best to keep tucked on down-hill decents(no brakes), apexing properly, etc.

The 30-60 second interval thing , once per week, I believe would drastically improve my VO2 max , as I'm reading Friels book ........ I'm sure I'll be incorperating this method more, and more so as spring/summer approaches.

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*The energy efficiency of a bicycle is second only to a bird in flight ;-)
*Its NOT a mechine, its a tool. A human using a bicycle as a tool-as intended .. now thats one wicked Mechine (ex. legs = pistons, mouth/airway = air intake)
*"Good people try to help others with their knowledge rather than beating them on the head because they are ignorant." -Insight Driver

Listen to what WarrenG said. This sort of interval training [or any high intensity interval training] should only be done for a short period. Once a week max if it is included with regular LT type training, and only for a 2-4 month period leading into competition. and then taper right before comp. If you are doing only intervals, then very short training sessions, three times a week will do wonders for a 8-12 week period, then back into LT training [you will need to reassess your LT after this period as it will likely have increased].

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B. Exercise Science.

Intervals this short are not ideal for hitting VO2max. You might see some minor increase in VO2, but there are much better routines.

The rational for this statement has been very well worked out and described in detail in the running literature during the mid 1990's. Daniels had a very nice review.

We discussed this previously and looked at a fairly recent study too. 30" on/off for 5+ minutes at an intensity around 110% of VO2max was effective in the study. The 30/30 and 40/20 protocol may allow for more total effective work for those who are more inclined towards sprinting. Personally, I start out with these near VO2max power and over months build the intensity to about 140-150% of power at VO2max.

People well-suited for aerobic endurance may get better results with intervals in the range of 3-5'.

About three or four years ago I read from Carl Cantrell(www.coachcarl.com) about good routine for performing 30 second intervals. It is performed in the following way:

warmup

ride hard for 30 seconds
low gear and spin for 30 seconds
ride hard for 30 seconds
spin for 30 seconds
ride hard for 30 seconds

spin for 5 MINUTES

ride hard for 30 seconds
spin for 30 seconds
ride hard for 30 seconds
spin for 30 seconds
ride hard for 30 seconds

spin for 5 MINUTES

ride hard for 30 seconds
spin for 30 seconds
ride hard for 30 seconds
spin for 30 seconds
ride hard for 30 seconds

warmdown

that's all. It's hard but it does not burn you out fast. I tried it sometimes for short periods of time, 6-8 weeks, doing it once a week along with other training (longer intervals, race simulations). I don't do it on regular basis just because I'm not an "interval person". If I sticked to a specific training program I would do it weekly. I think doing 30 sec on/30 sec off for 15 minutes is too hard and it really could burn someone out.

The 30/30's should probably be repeated more than 3 times. More like 5-9 times. If you were to do them for 15 times without a break your intensity will end up much lower than around your VO2max.

Without wanting to sound like WarrenG's lap dog, i gotta agree with him again. My uni professor (that is actually an professor of physiology, not just lecturer] loved high intensity training, and made us read a couple of one inch thick note books chock full of articles for and against interval training, and overwhelmingly it was in favour of interval training improving VO2max. As i stated in a previous post though, this is no guarantee of improved endurance performance. It must be done as part of a portfolio of training that will realise long term benefits for endurance performance, in the long term. There is no quick way, but this method will optimise your training. It should be noted though, that amateurs and those new to training derive the most benefit, most rapidly. Also, like Waren said, I would be doing more like 4-6 reps, 3 sets of high intensity bursts per session. You want to be able to maintain your target power level through all reps, there is no advantage to fatiguing early, especially within the first set. Thats why the session is so short. Lets face it, doing 30/30's it works out to only 4-6 minutes of actual work, and will give the same benefits as up to 4 hours of LT training. I would not recommend any interval shorter than this though. Some studies that i have read tested between varying intervals, and any intervals less than 30s of exertion showed no significant improvement in VO2max, it just doesnt stress the biochemical systems enough to elicit a cellular response, particularly in relation to gene expression [long term cellular changes].

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B. Exercise Science.

4-6 minutes of 30sec intervals provides the same benefits as 4 hours of LT training? Wow! Tell me more! (with a reference, too, of course)

I would be surprised myself. It would mean that any track sprinter, who generally clock up 4-6 mins of total efforts would make great road riders.

That being said we used to have a lot of sprinters who if given the chance and a flat enough course could stay with the roadies and win road races. Top track sprinter Fiona Carswell has won the NZ Road Title as U17, U19 and Senior and our Women's road riders are no slugs.

Hamish Ferguson
Cycling Coach

It's really surprising that this information I'm providing seems new to you guys. It's not a new concept. I will however try to find the articles that relate to this issue, I'm working through my stash now. Went through this during the exercise prescription subjects in my undergrad degree which was a couple of years ago, so bear with me. I may have lost my copy and need to find and reprint it. Keep in mind, like i said in a previous post, that the greatest benefit is for amateurs. There are no huge gains to be made at elite level, but this is just another effective another technique to add to the training arsenal.

And frenchyge, i'm pretty sure you posted a similar stir in another post, which makes me think you have something to share that might back me up, which would be helpful.

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B. Exercise Science.

The claim seems new. I haven't seen any 'information' yet.

Not sure what a stur is, but the link I posted in post #3 of this thread showed that 30sec intervals were *less* effective than even a typical HIT program. Of course, that doesn't even begin to touch your claim that 4-6 minutes of 30sec interval work is of equal benefit to 4 hours of LT training, which shocked me somewhat. A finding that dramatic might be enough to change the face of cycling training.

Couple more questions to clear this up

1. How are you defining LT training? Training at LT?

2. How are you defining benefits? Increase in v02max? If that were the case, I wouldn't be surprised.

Just found one article related to this issue [Skeletal muscle buffering capacity and endurance performance after high-intensity training by well trained cyclists; Adele R. et al - Eur J Appl Physiol 1997 75; 7 - 13]. I was mistaken in that the training was not found to improve VO2max, but improved proton buffering capacity [lactate etc], and other physiological attributes to improve overall performance, measured by 40k TT, time-to-fatigue and incremental exercise test. This was conducted on cyclists, six sessions over 28 day period, 6-8 repetitions of 5-minute durations were performed at 80% PPO, with 1-min recovery at 100W. During this training equalled 14km per week. "Four weeks of HIT significantly improved performance in all three of the laboratory tests."

"The results indicate that a high-intensity, but sub-maximal, interval training intervention of just 6 days over 1 month was sufficient to significantly improve buffering capacity, PPO, TF150, TT40 from the baseline control period."

This article/experiment was to determine if HIT that was succesful for running endurance athletes, would be succesful for cyclists, and what physiological adaptations occurred that resulted in improved performance. While the bout durations are higher than for running, the principle was the same. The session durations that I quoted were for running sprints not for cycling, as i have stated previously.

PS. LT is training at Lactate Threshold. benefits can be improved VO2max, improved TT40, PPO, incremental exercise test. Most of what i am reading now suggests improved TT40 and endurance performance, rather than VO2max.

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B. Exercise Science.