I did a quick search here but couldn't find a thread, so forgive me if this has been done to death.
I discovered Tabata intervals while googling and it would seem they are a Proceed to Go, Collect $200 type of work-out.
If you don't know, some Japanese researcher, a Prof Tabata, found that if you flog yourself for 20 seconds, spin easy for 10, then go again, for a total 10 repeats, you improve aerobic, anaerobic and VO2 max power and reduce national debt levels with a minimum of time invested.
Now I'm not for a moment suggesting that if I do this I'll be harassing Cadel up Alpe d'Huez, and I know all fans of big CTL numbers will throw arms up in disgust, but I've decided to have a go at these.
My main motivation is that here in Australia the Tour de France starts at 10pm and goes through til about 1am live. I normally do my turbo after work, which finishes at 10.30pm.
Last year I just stopped riding so I could watch the Tour, but this year I want to keep going. Tabata intervals seem a good way to get top dollar training for little time investment. Hell, even if I just maintain fitness I'll be happy!
I've seen figures which say after 6 weeks the test subjects improved aerobic capacity by 14 per cent. That'd get me past the magic 300W barrier and set me at 4.69W/kg, a tidy figure.
Has anybody tried these intervals and subsequently gained Olympic selection? I'm cynical of the improvement suggested, but given my 3-week trek round France in my garage I figured I've got little to lose.
What I want to know is how many sets I might do and at what percentage of FTP. The work session itself is a mere 5 minutes (20sec on, 10sec off, repeat 10 times and collapse). I did 2 sets last night (with 5mins easy in beteen sets) for a total of a whopping 40 minutes on the bike. I reckon I could do this for the suggested 5 times a week, but it sounds suspiciously like tapering and a path to burn-out.
The article I saw suggests 150 per cent of FTP for your 20 seconds of enjoyment. Others I have seen suggest all-out.
It all sounds too good to be true!
However, I'll give them a go, but would welcome any observations and suggestions.
Please don't flame me and tell me I'm mad - I'm giving these things a go to see what happens. What I'm after is feedback, the benefit of people's experience or a link to a site saying that Tabata's test subjects were all injecting EPO, caffeine and testosterone, thus proving the intervals are full of false promise.
I discovered Tabata intervals while googling and it would seem they are a Proceed to Go, Collect $200 type of work-out.
If you don't know, some Japanese researcher, a Prof Tabata, found that if you flog yourself for 20 seconds, spin easy for 10, then go again, for a total 10 repeats, you improve aerobic, anaerobic and VO2 max power and reduce national debt levels with a minimum of time invested.
Now I'm not for a moment suggesting that if I do this I'll be harassing Cadel up Alpe d'Huez, and I know all fans of big CTL numbers will throw arms up in disgust, but I've decided to have a go at these.
My main motivation is that here in Australia the Tour de France starts at 10pm and goes through til about 1am live. I normally do my turbo after work, which finishes at 10.30pm.
Last year I just stopped riding so I could watch the Tour, but this year I want to keep going. Tabata intervals seem a good way to get top dollar training for little time investment. Hell, even if I just maintain fitness I'll be happy!
I've seen figures which say after 6 weeks the test subjects improved aerobic capacity by 14 per cent. That'd get me past the magic 300W barrier and set me at 4.69W/kg, a tidy figure.
Has anybody tried these intervals and subsequently gained Olympic selection? I'm cynical of the improvement suggested, but given my 3-week trek round France in my garage I figured I've got little to lose.
What I want to know is how many sets I might do and at what percentage of FTP. The work session itself is a mere 5 minutes (20sec on, 10sec off, repeat 10 times and collapse). I did 2 sets last night (with 5mins easy in beteen sets) for a total of a whopping 40 minutes on the bike. I reckon I could do this for the suggested 5 times a week, but it sounds suspiciously like tapering and a path to burn-out.
The article I saw suggests 150 per cent of FTP for your 20 seconds of enjoyment. Others I have seen suggest all-out.
It all sounds too good to be true!
However, I'll give them a go, but would welcome any observations and suggestions.
Please don't flame me and tell me I'm mad - I'm giving these things a go to see what happens. What I'm after is feedback, the benefit of people's experience or a link to a site saying that Tabata's test subjects were all injecting EPO, caffeine and testosterone, thus proving the intervals are full of false promise.