My favorite drill in cycling class....

rides4sanity

We call it "breaking the gear", you may do something like this already, but thought I'd share my spin on it.

Here is how they work...Set your initial tension at the low end of heavy, enough tension to slow your cadence. You could not start a sprint here seated.

Back the tension down exactly one turn. Now everybody is at the same relative place. We have older bikes so this is important.

Each interval is 1 minute.

Every 10s you increase the tension 1/4 turn, I call "Quarter UP!". Your legs should start to slow a bit by the third increase.

On the 4th add, you are back to the pre-established heavy starting point, stand it up take 5 seconds to build momentum then sit and sprint for 10-15 seconds. Take exactly one turn off and recover for the remainder of the minute. I call "Quarter up, Take it up and get your momentum....SIT and SPRINT for 10, 9, ...1. Take exactly one turn off and spin easy". I count less as time goes on, because I can't breath, but I do manage 10...5...1 between gasp.

If you could sprint more than 10-15, add a quarter turn to your starting tension. If you can go at least 8-12 you are just right push through it, and if you stall out at < 8 seconds take a bit off of your starting tension.

The goal is to max out your HR on these, then bring it down a bit and go again. Depending on the class dynamic I may do a 30-60 sec break in the middle of the song to bring things down a bit before continuing. Done properly these rock, if you cheat them, you cheat yourself, but it's your workout. Enjoy!

I've been teaching indoor cycling classes for about 7 years and seriously riding for about 4 years.

trijoe

I don't spin, but I do spend a lot of the winter months on my bike trainer. I LOVE intervals. Is there a relative description of this spin drill that would translate to a bike trainer?

Mmm... Intervals...

rides4sanity

I don't spin, but I do spend a lot of the winter months on my bike trainer. I LOVE intervals. Is there a relative description of this spin drill that would translate to a bike trainer?

Mmm... Intervals...

Just gear up to an unpleasant place then back off 4 cogs and do the adds one cog every 10 sec x 4 stand, get it going and then sit and sprint. Back it down to start and go again.

BrianSharpe

In the fall we have a "Tour de France" program with my tri club.............one of the stages finished with a 7 minute standing climb. Definitely not my favourite.......I prefer sprints & attacks.

skinnybitchbarbie27

My instructor calls it "going to the playground" when we have to raise the intensity. It's a love/hate relationship with spinning.

Cyclink

In the fall we have a "Tour de France" program with my tri club.............one of the stages finished with a 7 minute standing climb. Definitely not my favourite.......I prefer sprints & attacks.

There are a lot of things that people do to kill boredom that they would never do on a real bike and don't really make them better riders. This is a great example.

If your goal is better cycling performance, climbing or otherwise, a 7 minute standing climb won't do it (unless you plan to practice your saddle breaking off or something).
.
If your goal is to burn calories or to not be bored, then it will do just fine.

If your goal is both, then you may want to find something that does both. There are almost endless workouts out there and many of them can serve both goals well.

The shorter 1-minute bursts that Ms NotFortyYet describes are much more realistic, imitating a road that is getting steeper as you climb it, and are probably more fun for an attacking-type rider. They are probably also easier to do with gear levers than with a tension knob :-)

TheBigYin

All sorts of things to do on a Turbo to fight the drabs.

My favourite (if that's quite the right word) is the russian pyramids - Do a good warmup first, then follow this drill...

5" fast - 55" easy,
10" fast - 50" easy,
15" fast - 45" easy
…all the way up to 60" fast (110rpm).

Take 2' recovery,
then 4' TT effort at 98rpm,

and then come back down sprint pyramid in reverse order.

10 minutes of sensible warmdown and a easy-ish recovery ride the following day, because if you've done it properly you'll be incapable of anything else :laugh:

rides4sanity

All sorts of things to do on a Turbo to fight the drabs.

My favourite (if that's quite the right word) is the russian pyramids - Do a good warmup first, then follow this drill...

5" fast - 55" easy,
10" fast - 50" easy,
15" fast - 45" easy
…all the way up to 60" fast (110rpm).

Take 2' recovery,
then 4' TT effort at 98rpm,

and then come back down sprint pyramid in reverse order.

10 minutes of sensible warmdown and a easy-ish recovery ride the following day, because if you've done it properly you'll be incapable of anything else :laugh:

I did a hill pyramid workout before class yesterday. Glad there were no new folks in class or they might have been frightened by the glazed look in my eyes when they entered, as I was coming back down my final set.