Workout Wednesday #11
A sprint interval session on the bike
Welcome to Workout Wednesday, a series where I share exercise programming that I’ve designed for my weekly group fitness classes. The goal of this series is to help take the guess work out of exercise programming by offering simple, functional routines that you can do with minimal equipment.
Disclaimer: Participating in any type of exercise is done at your own risk. It is recommended you consult with your physician before starting any exercise/fitness routine. If you complete any exercise programming listed on my website, you’re doing so voluntarily and thus assume all risk of injury or adverse health-related outcomes.
Workout
Focus: Sprint Interval Training (click for a previous article that’s all about SIT/HIIT)
I love the bike for top end, sprint interval training (which is different than sub-maximal interval training). You don’t have to worry about running form - plus, you’re not pounding pavement. The mechanics of cranking a bike are easy, so you can really focus on the all out, red line push that this training calls for. What’s difficult is really finding that true, Zone 5, maximal effort on the bike.
Dr. Kelly Starrett calls this the “pain cave” and it is 100% true. If you’re truly giving a max effort, you can likely only sustain this for 15-20 seconds. Each interval is followed by a long (and necessary) rest. If you feel like you don’t need the entire recovery interval, then you may have had more ceiling left to push in the sprint.
Since the goal of this is intensity, you’re going to push heavy resistance as hard as possible to maximize your heart rate. Starting with a hip mobility session is an ideal pre-workout primer.
Mobility:
Hip CARS
Leg swings (Sagittal plane- front to back)
Leg swings (Frontal plane - side to side)
Low Body Spin-up (Click here for video - credit to Dr. Kelly Starrett)
Workout:
Warm-up 10-15 minutes (Z2 - Z3, RPE 5-6)
Sprint Interval: 20 seconds (Z5, RPE 10 - max effort)
Recovery: 3 minutes
Repeat the sprint + recovery combo 6x
Cool-down:
10 minutes (Z2, RPE 4-5)
STRETCH!
Remember: if you’re new to this intensity of training or toeing the line of your max effort, it can be scary. You can use each interval to increase the intensity as you become more confident exercising at that level. High intensity / SIT training should be done 2x a week at most to give your body enough time to recover for all the other awesome things you’re doing.
Workout Wednesday is a series from Simply Fit - a free newsletter with practical, science-informed, fitness advice for everyday life. If you’d like more free workouts delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe below. If you gave this one a try, comment below to let me know your thoughts. Happy Exercising!