Workout of the Week: Increasing Rest Sprintervals

This week’s Workout of the Week comes from Fast Talk Labs’ COO Rob Pickels and is a bike workout best suited to the trainer. Pickels said: “This workout is a terrific dose of intensity which is a great way to maintain fitness in the off-season or any time your training volume is reduced. It’s also deceptively difficult! The initial efforts, at high workloads, will quickly drive your oxygen consumption to its ceiling and the subsequent efforts after the short rest periods will keep your VO2 elevated for the duration of the set.”

Pickels said he favors this workout for the trainer because the quick transitions between intervals keep you deeply engaged and it’s also a lot safer than doing it on the road, allowing you to focus entirely on the work being done.

He said: “Keep in mind that the quick transitions make this virtually impossible for trainers to keep up in ERG mode, so make sure that you’re free-riding and able to control your workload through cadence and shifting.”

Get ready to give your all

Before starting this workout, remember that successfully completing it means giving maximal effort, so be sure to time it appropriately. Pickels said: “The shorter efforts lure you in, suggesting the workout gets easier as you progress, but instead you ought to be driving your power even higher! I describe the first half of this workout as ‘all-out’ efforts—get out of the saddle to accelerate and then settle into a 10/10 effort for the duration.

“In the second half, you should be sprinting out of the saddle for the duration of the effort. Make sure that you take a full recovery between sets. We want to ensure that you are achieving the highest workloads you can to keep your oxygen consumption as high as possible. If you’re looking for an easier introduction, plan on completing two sets or skip every other interval. Either way, you’re still going to get a great workout.”