N.B. The following is intended as guidance only and should be treated as such. Any actions you take are entirely at your own risk.
Introduction
All racing cyclists know that when they do the first race of the season, its like a baptism of fire. The discomfort associated with early season racing is par for the course as you know in the weeks to come racing will still be hard but more manageable. Why is this? Well the body adapts to the demands of racing in a number of ways and this is the theory behind Intervals. Intervals are designed to tax the body's systems to bring about an adaptation which will benefit the rider in a race situation. Different intervals produce different effects. Lets take a look at some.
Endurance-based Intervals
These intervals are typically longer, between 3 and 15 minutes in duration. The effect places a high demand on the body's cardiovascular system by training at an effort which is anaerobic, ie Levels 3 &4 . The body will adapt, increasing the uptake of Oxygen in the blood, thus producing higher and longer sustainable power output.
Numbers of intervals performed will be lower the longer the effort you undertake. Perhaps 2 x 20 min efforts with 10 mins recovery in-between or 5 x 5 min on, with 5 mins off is a common scenario.
Short Term,Maximal Intervals
These intervals are shorter. Generally between 15 secs and 3 mins in duration. Coupled with shorter recovery times they will train the body to adapt to the fatigue and lactic acid build-up associated with full-on, maximal efforts. The effect is a higher tolerance to multiple high-end efforts and a higher tolerance of fatigue allowing you to perform at your highest level longer.
Maximal interval sessions are short and are performed at or near your maximum HR. A typical session may be 8 x 2 mins, flat out with 2 mins recovery in-between or 10 x 30 secs on, 30 secs off. Specific programs will be discussed later.
Damage limitation
We now know the demands intervals place on our bodies and we know that there are 2 types. What I call Core intervals and Target Intervals. I define Core intervals as those performed throughout the season to maintain power and speed during your training week. Target Intervals are those you undertake as part of a progressive build-up to an event you may be targeting and , in essence, are much harder and unsustainable all the way through the season.
The point of this part of the article is to make you understand that Intervals, in the short term, damage your muscles. In fact, you won't reap the rewards of your efforts until the muscle tissues have repaired (when the soreness goes). This is another difference between Core and Target Intervals. Core I would only do once a week OR do a club time trial, not both. Target intervals should be done twice a week but you must allow at least 48hrs recovery in-between sessions else you could tip into an overtraining cycle, which is not good.
Warm Up and Down - Do It!!
Everyone knows how important warm-ups are for readying the body for an effort its about to undertake and to prevent injury. Not so many perform warm-downs which are just as important when training or racing. Warm downs kick start the lactic acid removal process, helping ease soreness and stiffness of the legs when you come to ride next time out. If you can speed your recovery up with a warm down, your next training session will be more fruitful. After an interval session, warm down for 15 mins with a low-gear spin out.
Some Interval Programs
There are so many programs you can do, each with their own variation on a common theme and goal. My theory is just keep it simple. Here are a few of the programs I have used and I'll explain why with each. Warm ups and warm downs are assumed.
Muscle Strength. This session was introduced in my Introducing Power article. Its not particularly a cardio-vascular work out but a progressive program that builds muscle strength on the bike. High Gears, Low Cadence give the effect of weight training on the bike. HR is no higher than first 5 beats of Level 3. Start on the lowest of your Top 7 gears and change up every interval.
Week 1 - 7 x 1 min on, 1 min off
Week 2 - 7 x 2 min on, 2 min off
Week 3 - 7 x 3 min on, 3 min off
Week 4 - 7 x 4 min on, 4 min off
Week 5 - 7 x 4 min on, 3.5 min off
Week 6 - 7 x 4 min on, 3 min off
Week 7 - 7 x 4 min on, 2.5 min off
Week 8 - 7 x 4 min on, 2 min off
Week 9 - 7 x 4 min on, 1.5 min off
Week 10 - 7 x 4 min on, 1 min off
Week 11 - 7 x 4 min on, 30 secs off
Week 12 - 7 x 4 min on, no rest
Last year I specifically trained for the Morzine Cyclosportive in June and did the following each week for a few weeks prior to going. The benefit in the Mountains was noticeable. I climbed better than probably I have ever done before on the long Alpine climbs.
Mid/Upper Level 2 for 30 mins, for last 30 mins engage lowest of Top 6 gears and ride 5 mins in each gear changing down so I eventually was in top gear for the last 5 mins. HR remained in Level 2.
Power. These I do pre-season before racing after I have a good base in place. I find they really help power output in Time Trials. HR is Level 3/4. An interval is added each week for progression.
Week 1 - 4 x 5 min on, 5 min off
Week 2 - 5 x 5 min on, 5 min off
Week 3 - 6 x 5 min on, 5 min off
Week 4 - 7 x 5 min on, 5 min off
Maximal. These are hard, but the most beneficial I find. If Intervals are the icing on the cake, these are the cherry on top! My favourite is 1 min on, 1 min off. Utterly the most painful thing you can do! I do these when targetting an event. Good for Road Racing repeatability and climbing. HR may not get to max if the interval is too short but the effort should be 110%, flat out to exhaustion.
Week 1 - 8 x 1 min on, 1 min off
Week 2 - 9 x 1 min on, 1 min off
Week 3 - 10 x 1 min on, 1 min off
Week 4 - 11 x 1 min on, 1 min off
If you can get to Week 4, its a triumph. These are so hard you may puke or see stars!
Conclusion
So there you have it. What intervals can do for you, some sample programs I've used and how often you should do them. I can guarantee pain but benefits too. Look around for variations, there are plenty but they will all come back to achieving 2 goals. Increasing your Oxygen uptake (V02 max) to increase power output and raising your lactate threshold so you can perform at a higher level longer.
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