Click to download this Profile PDF.
Ride Name: The Loud Ones
Work Set Length: 13:44 + 7:17 recovery [21 minutes]
The Sprint Shift on the new Stages SC3 bike is your interval training solution. Left position for easy, Center position for medium, Right position for hard. Make micro-adjustments with the resistance knob during the interval. Could it be any easier?
Now, I am a big believer in training with power, benchmarking your effort, and documenting your progress. All three are important for successful long-term cycling training but people sometimes misunderstand my position as "all science, timed intervals -- no fun." That's not the case at all!
For the 3 songs below, all I would track is total distance traveled. My riders would hit "The Loud Ones" maybe once every 10 rides and see if they went farther. You could also use average wattage or average speed - it is still a benchmark, just not a complicated one.
As for the science, these are aerobic and anaerobic power intervals - near maximum, brief efforts with short rests. This makes you strong during the frantic parts of road races, during time trials on hilly terrain, and when you want to inflict some pain on your group ride mates. The ride gradually slows in cadence as the resistance and length of efforts creep steadily upward.
But don't think too much about all of that. Do a quality warm-up with 2 or 3 very short sprint-type efforts, tell your participants they are in for some HARD WORK, then just turn it up, follow the music's energy, and have some rough, fast, sweaty fun!
[P.S.: You really just have to feel the music to get the transitions. Don't try to follow the time stamps to the letter. But the Sprint Shift makes that possible! Call each position (left, center, right) "gear 1, gear 2, gear 3" if you like. Slam the lever into gear and ride hard!]
[P.P.S.: After "Little Man," I like to throw in one long, steady effort, usually to "Animus Vox" by The Glitch Mob. You can take your pick of 'finisher.']
Download the PDF for The Loud Ones
Here's the Playlist in Spotify - you'll need to add your own warm up tracks to complete the 45/60 minutes.
His experience with the bike as a story told in simple parts, as a life-changing tool, and as a ticket to freedom took him away from engineering into fitness as an ACE Personal Trainer, boot camp instructor, kettlebell trainer, and indoor cycling instructor. He previously served as TTU's Group Fitness Coordinator, building instructor training systems that centered on sport science-driven programming and student-centered teaching techniques.
- The Loud Ones – Class Work Set Profile using the Stages Sprint Shift - February 9, 2018