anybody do intervals for cardio fitness?

[dj181]

i'm doing the norweign 4 by 4 and i am much fitter

tried doing it every 48 hrs but i crushed me

went to 96 hrs and improved

and on the last one i went to 144 hrs and still improved

[oldtimer1]

I do but I don't think you want to hear from me, lol.

[dj181]

i dont have you on ignore user yet

but if you insult i'll put you there

but if you keep it respectful then have at it

[oldtimer1]

I do stuff like 8 x one lap on a treadmill (quarter mile or 440 yards) The rest interval is fast walking for a lap. So it's 8 x quarter miles.
Another variation is 6 x half miles with quarter mile fast walk for the rest interval.

 Another thing I do when I want a relatively serene cardio day is to walk fast and I mean fast for 5 miles. I will throw in a little fartlek. Meaning I will pick out arbitrary land marks like a big tree and sprint to it then resume the walk. Normally these strides, I shouldn't call them sprints vary in distance from about 400 meters down to as short as 40 meters. When I have access to a track which is rare I use to love 8 x 200 meters. I actually got a measuring wheel to make a track distance anywhere every I want.

See I'm being respectful. I didn't call you a fuck face or anything.

[dj181]

6 half mlies is rough

so is the rest interval the same length as the work interval?

norweighn 4 by 4 is one minute VERY HARD 3 minutes VERY EASY

i'm already fitter

and i improved after waiting 6 days with no hard work in between

ima gonna try 8 days and if i still improve fucking perfect and then i'll go to 10 days

cant imagine improving after 10 days but i will soon find out

this i improved level of fitness will allow me to fuck harder longer without gassing

FUCKING PERFECT

by the way issac fucking hayes wrote this tune, impressive love tune by that brother

[Mayday]

For cycling I didn’t use specific timing intervals but I would do efforts.

I used 30s at specific power levels. This built up my sprinting and anything up to 3min efforts.

I’d do maybe 20 or so each ride over a 2hr block.

Depends what you want to improve though. For downhill MTB for my last trip I did 2x week stupid easy 40min sessions basically 110bpm (my max is 181) and 1x short efforts. This was my best prep yet for MTB.

Cross country skiers are some of the fittest on the planet. 95% of training is done at walk-in pace pretty much. Then when it’s hard efforts it’s HARD efforts.

[dj181]

For cycling I didn’t use specific timing intervals but I would do efforts.

I used 30s at specific power levels. This built up my sprinting and anything up to 3min efforts.

I’d do maybe 20 or so each ride over a 2hr block.

Depends what you want to improve though. For downhill MTB for my last trip I did 2x week stupid easy 40min sessions basically 110bpm (my max is 181) and 1x short efforts. This was my best prep yet for MTB.

Cross country skiers are some of the fittest on the planet. 95% of training is done at walk-in pace pretty much. Then when it’s hard efforts it’s HARD efforts.

XS skiers have the highest VO2 of everyone

Elite cardio athletes train polarised training 80% easy-peasy 15% hard hard and bout 5% moderate

[Mayday]

XS skiers have the highest VO2 of everyone

Elite cardio athletes train polarised training 80% easy-peasy 15% hard hard and bout 5% moderate

Switch it around and you’d be right. 80% easy, 15% moderate, 5% hard hard.

Hard hard is at 95% MHR and you can’t do much volume in that area as fatigue builds up crazy fast. It’s pretty fixed so whether you train 2hrs-5hrs-10hrs-15hrs-20hrs you’d still be only doing 30mins or whatever of hard hard. To get fitter you add the 60% HR hours over the top to bring the base and recovery up.

Once you tap out on hard stuff you can’t add more hard stuff. That’s where Crossfitters get really sick because they think more hard is the answer whereas pro endurance athletes have known for decades to go fast you train slow.

[dj181]

Switch it around and you’d be right. 80% easy, 15% moderate, 5% hard hard.

Hard hard is at 95% MHR and you can’t do much volume in that area as fatigue builds up crazy fast. It’s pretty fixed so whether you train 2hrs-5hrs-10hrs-15hrs-20hrs you’d still be only doing 30mins or whatever of hard hard. To get fitter you add the 60% HR hours over the top to bring the base and recovery up.

Once you tap out on hard stuff you can’t add more hard stuff. That’s where Crossfitters get really sick because they think more hard is the answer whereas pro endurance athletes have known for decades to go fast you train slow.

So it's only 5% very hard and 15% moderate right?

Moderate is at lactate threshold right?

We called them tempo runs in running

[Mayday]

So it's only 5% very hard and 15% moderate right?

Moderate is at lactate threshold right?

We called them tempo runs in running

I used a power meter on the bikes so my stuff was driven by watts but that pretty much equates to HR.

I paid a world champ coach to train me for an event and my focus was endurance building:

I would have 2hr rides at 60% MHr for the entire ride
I’d do 10-15min intervals at 75% MHR and rests of 5min between would be at 50% MHR
I’d do 4x 10min climb repeats no higher than 85% MHR at 65-75 cadence rests at 60%
I did around 11hrs/wk, 3 week blocks then 1 rest week. Loads of time at 60%.

That was basically a tempo plan as I had to ride 130km solo.

The first 6-8 weeks was where all the fitness came from. My general pace was significantly higher and I could zoom around everywhere casually. But with no power work anything sun 3min I sucked.

When I did my own training for power the 30s efforts were watt focused because HR lags so much so you can’t really use it. They would be been around 92%-95%. Sprinting was tough because I’d get an adrenaline rush every time before I started lol.

what makes it tough is Riding at 430am in Winter, pitch black and raining for 2hrs before work 3 days a week then 2 x 2hr rides on the weekend super early.

[dj181]

I used a power meter on the bikes so my stuff was driven by watts but that pretty much equates to HR.

I paid a world champ coach to train me for an event and my focus was endurance building:

I would have 2hr rides at 60% MHr for the entire ride
I’d do 10-15min intervals at 75% MHR and rests of 5min between would be at 50% MHR
I’d do 4x 10min climb repeats no higher than 85% MHR at 65-75 cadence rests at 60%
I did around 11hrs/wk, 3 week blocks then 1 rest week. Loads of time at 60%.

That was basically a tempo plan as I had to ride 130km solo.

The first 6-8 weeks was where all the fitness came from. My general pace was significantly higher and I could zoom around everywhere casually. But with no power work anything sun 3min I sucked.

When I did my own training for power the 30s efforts were watt focused because HR lags so much so you can’t really use it. They would be been around 92%-95%. Sprinting was tough because I’d get an adrenaline rush every time before I started lol.

what makes it tough is Riding at 430am in Winter, pitch black and raining for 2hrs before work 3 days a week then 2 x 2hr rides on the weekend super early.

how many sessions do you have per week and do you have any completely off days?

[Humble Narcissist]

No.

[Mayday]

how many sessions do you have per week and do you have any completely off days?

I’d have to find my old logs.

It would vary according to free time. But I’d do minimum 2 x 2hr rides weekdays and 2hr on Sat and Sun. So that’s 3 days rest. I’d often add 30min or an hour additional to bring up hours to 10-11/wk rather than add another training day. The extra time was always at 60% MHR.

[Gym Rat]

Its Winter, so I go for a walk in intervals (every other day). 
On occasion I do the interval training with assault-bike, farmers walk, sled push, etc...

[Marvin Martian]

I’d have to find my old logs.

It would vary according to free time. But I’d do minimum 2 x 2hr rides weekdays and 2hr on Sat and Sun. So that’s 3 days rest. I’d often add 30min or an hour additional to bring up hours to 10-11/wk rather than add another training day. The extra time was always at 60% MHR.

Man - I got a new CYBEX bike and have been using sprint intervals for my cardio. I’ve gained an inch on my quads! It HAS to be the reason as I have changed nothing else.

[Cook]

I do 30 minutes steady state on my airdyne and then finish with 8 twenty second sprints with 10 second rests. I do this Mon-We’d-Fri and then will add 1 more usually Sat night

[IroNat]

I've done intervals on an Airdyne in the past.

Usually 10 second sprints and then 30 second easy pedaling.

Maybe ten intervals or so.

You only need to do them a couple times a week.

A good quad builder too with little stress on joints.

[IroNat]

i dont have you on ignore user yet

but if you insult i'll put you there

but if you keep it respectful then have at it

That is quite a threat.

I think you scared him, dj.

[Krankenstein]

Switch it around and you’d be right. 80% easy, 15% moderate, 5% hard hard.

Hard hard is at 95% MHR and you can’t do much volume in that area as fatigue builds up crazy fast. It’s pretty fixed so whether you train 2hrs-5hrs-10hrs-15hrs-20hrs you’d still be only doing 30mins or whatever of hard hard. To get fitter you add the 60% HR hours over the top to bring the base and recovery up.

Once you tap out on hard stuff you can’t add more hard stuff. That’s where Crossfitters get really sick because they think more hard is the answer whereas pro endurance athletes have known for decades to go fast you train slow.

Just the dumb ones.

[dj181]

That is quite a threat.

I think you scared him, dj.

hahahahahaha

i'm gonna see if i can do the 4 by 4 evry 8-10 days and improve if yes perfect

i improved after 6 days

i got like 15 shitstains here on ignore already

i'm lovin' it

[SweetDaddySiki]

When I was trying to get back to working out after hernia surgery a few years back, I did interval training with dumbbells since I couldn't lift heavy weights. I think they're technically called metabolic training (work for 40 seconds, rest for 20 or whatever) since I used weights. Did those videos you see on YouTube. I got ripped and my mobility improved. Felt better too. I'm thinking about dropping standard weight lifting and going back to that but I like barbells and lifting heavy too much.

[dj181]

look up arthur jones west point study

[MajorDomo]

i'm doing the norweign 4 by 4 and i am much fitter

tried doing it every 48 hrs but i crushed me

went to 96 hrs and improved

and on the last one i went to 144 hrs and still improved

Use the 80/20 rule for cardio - only 20% (time wise)  of your weekly efforts should be at or above your lactate threshold (the burn). Any more than that and you will get weaker. I have been a competitive cyclist for 30 years- more intensity is not better. Most of my training is at what is commonly called "zone 2"- 60-70% of my max heart rate which is currently 192, so I work out at 120-130 bpm. My resting pulse is 52+/- so that level of effort isn't hard but it has great benefit.

[Thin Lizzy]

You get an aerobic base from volume not intensity. Lifters have a hard time understanding this and think it’s stupid to run slow for an extended period.

What you’re doing with slow running is not getting faster but delaying the onset of cumulative fatigue. That’s why boxers do roadwork. So, they don’t get tired in the later rounds.

To use a car analogy, you’re trying to get your second gear to run at the lowest possible temperature so you don’t overheat as fast when you kick it into higher gears.

That said, to be complete, you want to do an interval session about once a week. So you get adapted to faster running.

I like the old school Australian style “Fartlek” runs: 1 min on 1 off x 10 , 2.5 on 1.5 off. x 5.

[dj181]

Use the 80/20 rule for cardio - only 20% (time wise)  of your weekly efforts should be at or above your lactate threshold (the burn). Any more than that and you will get weaker. I have been a competitive cyclist for 30 years- more intensity is not better. Most of my training is at what is commonly called "zone 2"- 60-70% of my max heart rate which is currently 192, so I work out at 120-130 bpm. My resting pulse is 52+/- so that level of effort isn't hard but it has great benefit.

thank you brother

what do you think bout the fact that my performance on the 4 by 4's still improved after 6 days of ZERO HARD AEROBIC TRAINING?

and do you think i will be able to put 10 days btw them and still improve?

i do a good amount of easy cardio everyday as i walk to and from the gym to my flat two times a day so that is like 90 miniutes of cardio