High intensity interval training.

[jellylegs]

Looking into hiit on the www and there are so many variations and it's all a bit confusing.

Would any fitness guru's out there be able to point me in the right direction re: hitt ?

Only been mountain biking for 10 weeks aprox 3 times a week 5-10km 1hr average, and I run out of puff on the slightest of hills still.

What would a suitable program to start off with to gain some more fittness quicker ?

 

[Minlak]

Looking into hiit on the www and there are so many variations and it's all a bit confusing.

Would any fitness guru's out there be able to point me in the right direction re: hitt ?

Only been mountain biking for 10 weeks aprox 3 times a week 5-10km 1hr average, and I run out of puff on the slightest of hills still.

What would a suitable program to start off with to gain some more fittness quicker ?

Shuttles?????
Switch to down hill??

When i have more time to not be a smart arse I will give a proper answer if some one else hasn't

 

[Zam]

Are you looking at doing HIIT on a bike, stationary bike, rower, running???

on and actual bike i find the hardest, treadmill, running, stationary bike i find the easiest, the biggest improvements in overall fitness came when doing with HIT on a treadmill, actual running HIT on an oval, hill sprints or on the rower.

 

[ajay]

5-10km rides wont really build up much fitness, try build up your distances - if you have the time. Also fuel your body adequately. Have you been relatively sedentry until you began riding?

There's so much literature on interval training, and science of it would dedpend on what you wanted to achieve - 24hr solo, or weekday dirt crits?

In a way, mountainbiking is its own form of interval training, its so inherently dynmaic that simply going to your trails, and banging out bigger loops - consistently - will build a huge amount of fitness in a very short time, and it will be fun.

 

[jellylegs]

Are you looking at doing HIIT on a bike, stationary bike, rower, running???

on and actual bike i find the hardest, treadmill, running, stationary bike i find the easiest, the biggest improvements in overall fitness came when doing with HIT on a treadmill, actual running HIT on an oval, hill sprints or on the rower.

I relay find it a challenge doing boring indoor stuff, but will if I have to. I have a mtb, kayak, and full on tec, gizmo, wiz bang exercise bike at my disposal, also a treadmill but my knees hate running. And technically I'm too fat at 111kg for the kayak, but that just means a wet ass.

 

[Thomas11]

Looking into hiit on the www and there are so many variations and it's all a bit confusing.

Would any fitness guru's out there be able to point me in the right direction re: hitt ?

Only been mountain biking for 10 weeks aprox 3 times a week 5-10km 1hr average, and I run out of puff on the slightest of hills still.

What would a suitable program to start off with to gain some more fittness quicker ?

Hey mate,

Honestly at this stage, Hiit isnt all that necessary. If your struggling on the smallest hills, you really just need more time on the bike.
I'd be looking at your diet (fuel source) also. The first step to getting fit is to eat well, consistent clean foods.

If you have time to do some running, HIIT running could be a good option to help your general fitness, find a park and do some 50m-100m sprints, walk back and repeat say 10 times.

If you want to do some HIIT training on the bike, find a hill, ride to the top as hard as you can, roll down, take a break till your ready to go again and repeat. Do this a few times and you will improve pretty quickly.

HIIT is a simple training Theory, but physically is quite hard and taxing if done correctly, and you will be sore after the first few sessions.
The good thing about HIIT is that if done properly you get fit quickly, and you can also get a solid session in in a short amount of time.

A 20min HIIT running session would easily equivellent to a 45min jog and better for your overall health.

 

[jellylegs]

5-10km rides wont really build up much fitness, try build up your distances - if you have the time. Also fuel your body adequately. Have you been relatively sedentry until you began riding?

There's so much literature on interval training, and science of it would dedpend on what you wanted to achieve - 24hr solo, or weekday dirt crits?

In a way, mountainbiking is its own form of interval training, its so inherently dynmaic that simply going to your trails, and banging out bigger loops - consistently - will build a huge amount of fitness in a very short time, and it will be fun.

I realy don't want to race at all, ever. I need to be able to keep up on the hills in group mtb rides, and not walk almost every one. I don't mind punching out 20km on the road, jumping gutters and a few small hills.

Was thinking the hiit may be the go to drop some weight and gain some fitness quicker. Just don't really know what sort of intervals or sets to do. All I know is it's flat out, rest, flat out, rest, flat out, rest. But how long for each and how many times ?

 

[jellylegs]

Hey mate,.

If you want to do some HIIT training on the bike, find a hill, ride to the top as hard as you can, roll down, take a break till your ready to go again and repeat. Do this a few times and you will improve pretty quickly.

.

This is something I could do...

 

[creaky]

I'd suggest getting your base fitness up with longer rides first before even thinking about HIIT.

 

[Flow-Rider]

It's only early days for you, the only way to get good at climbing hills is ride more hills. (more time in the saddle) It's not all about physical strength either, it's about technique also. You develop it as you become more experienced. One thing I will stress is making sure you recover well between rides, especially in the beginning, as you go along the recovery times should become shorter.

 

[jellylegs]

Good advice here.

I thinks i'll just punch out 20km rides 3 times a week for now, and increase the distance ect as I get fitter. Then I may introduce some hitt.

?

 

[The Reverend]

All good advice here, don't forget your mental fitness. Often you can tap out in your head before your body really has.
If you come at hills with positivity and determination you might find you're getting up them more quickly and easily.

Pick one hill that beats you (not some monster like Mt Ventoux) and just commit to getting up it - at your pace. Don't race anyone, just sit and spin up it.

More time in the saddle, diet, hydration, rest / sleep will all add up to better fitness and make you enjoy it more. :^)

 

[ajay]

I realy don't want to race at all, ever. I need to be able to keep up on the hills in group mtb rides, and not walk almost every one. I don't mind punching out 20km on the road, jumping gutters and a few small hills.

Was thinking the hiit may be the go to drop some weight and gain some fitness quicker. Just don't really know what sort of intervals or sets to do. All I know is it's flat out, rest, flat out, rest, flat out, rest. But how long for each and how many times ?

More time in the saddle... the hill climbing advice here is good. The general theme is just more, longer, and consistently.

If you want to drop weight, your diet should be the first place you look. Cut out as much sugar, alcohol and processed food as you can.

 

[Thomas11]

I realy don't want to race at all, ever. I need to be able to keep up on the hills in group mtb rides, and not walk almost every one. I don't mind punching out 20km on the road, jumping gutters and a few small hills.

Was thinking the hiit may be the go to drop some weight and gain some fitness quicker. Just don't really know what sort of intervals or sets to do. All I know is it's flat out, rest, flat out, rest, flat out, rest. But how long for each and how many times ?

If you want to drop some weight fast and still have decent energy to ride.
Do some research on intermittent fasting, I can give you a quick breakdown on it and how I do it, but there is a few varied versions so you can choose what suits best, just google it.

I have done the 16/8 and have found it a good way to drop weight fast, and keep decent muscle mass at the same time.
If you eat very well and train during fasted periods you can drop some serious weight fast.

 

[pharmaboy]

Good advice here.

I thinks i'll just punch out 20km rides 3 times a week for now, and increase the distance ect as I get fitter. Then I may introduce some hitt.

?

5 rides a week, 3 hills that make you feel sick and can't possibly ride anymore for 4 of those rides, 1hr minimum each. 5th ride can be without the near vomit climbs.

If you can ride everyday that's cool as well. If you are having a day off the bike, make it the day before the group ride.

Don't worry about HIIT yet.

Why? 2 to 3 rides a week keeps most people fit, 5 sessions per week, improves fitness, 1 to 2 rides a week, will see you lose fitness. The feeling like you want to vomit is to make sure you are working hard enough - the difference between fast riders and slow is sometimes genetics, but mostly how much discomfort they are prepared to endure.

Weight - going up hills, 10kgmakes a world of difference, so unless you are 6'8, you need to look into this - more riding fixes most went issues - it's nearly impossible to be overweight while riding 10hrs a week at a hard effort

 

[John U]

There was a Quantum program on the benefits of interval training just before Xmas. They had a lot of good things to say about it. I'd recommend watching it. I think I'll watch it again and will be putting some of it into practice.

 

[jellylegs]

Looks like I'll be using the lights more and punching out some big k's in 2016 then.

 

[PINT of Stella. mate!]

If you're looking for a quick efficient use of your exercise time (and your wiz-bang exercise bike) add in a couple/few 20 minute sessions a week where you ride at a normal pace for 12 seconds then pedal like the Wiley Coyote on a rocket-powered fixie for 8 seconds. chill for another 12 seconds, go mental for another 8, rinse, repeat.
That gives you 3 sets of chilling/spriniting per minute, x 20 so it all works out nicely in the end.

You don't need to set yourself a target cadence for the sprints, just go as fast as you can at the time. Your fitness will regulate your pace and it will increase fairly quickly...

 

[jellylegs]

If you're looking for a quick efficient use of your exercise time (and your wiz-bang exercise bike) add in a couple/few 20 minute sessions a week where you ride at a normal pace for 12 seconds then pedal like the Wiley Coyote on a rocket-powered fixie for 8 seconds. chill for another 12 seconds, go mental for another 8, rinse, repeat.
That gives you 3 sets of chilling/spriniting per minute, x 20 so it all works out nicely in the end.

You don't need to set yourself a target cadence for the sprints, just go as fast as you can at the time. Your fitness will regulate your pace and it will increase fairly quickly...

Thanks, this is the sort of info I was after.

I'll throw a warm up at the start and a cool down at the end too.

 

[Miguel75]

Start out with shorter periods and work your way up. My "least" favorite interval style workouts are;

Burpee challenge - 10 burpees as quick as you can in a 1 minute period (with good form and jumping at the end) resting for however long is left of the minute. Repeat 10 times for 100 burpees.

Skipping - 1 minute on 20 seconds off. Skip for as long as possible during that minute. Work up to 60 seconds of double unders or sprinting high steps. Repeat for 20 sets.

Snake bites - within a 1 minute period perform 5 pull ups, 10 push-ups and 20 crunches .Rest for remainder of the minute. Repeat as many times as you can. I'm aiming for 15 minutes..

Good thing about these ones are they help build strength and cardio together.