DO-IT-YOURSELF SPINNING PROFILE #1: FATBURNER EXTRAORDINAIRE

Procrastinating studying for my biochemistry exam, and thought I'd write up the profile of a training session I personally did fairly frequently last month in training for my first bike race. What distinguishes this ride is that, here, we are training ourselves to stay at 80% MHR for pretty much the entire session. Our recoveries are brief, and they are not that substantial a drop below 80%. Why is that important? We are teaching ourselves to recover while still working very hard (a VERY adaptive skill!), and we are training our bodies to use pure fat as fuel in order to sustain extended endurance levels.

Had I written this up when I first designed this, I couldn't have included this tidbit: BECAUSE of this profile (and others like it, which I will post eventually), I was able to do a 15 mile race at 80% MHR. I've continued to do the bulk of my training specifically at 80% (sustaining it for 45-55 minutes), and it's fascinating how much adaptation is occurring. Science is VERY cool like that...

So here goes, the FATBURNER EXTRAORDINAIRE. This is a loop ride -- meaning, we're doing the same thing repeatedly. When we do that, we build "muscle memory" which makes an effort easier to do the next time around. What that means is that with each repetition, we make slight adjustments to maintain (or increase) the intensity level to overcome that muscle memory.

Purpose: To work at a high-level fat-burning zone while maintaining awareness of form and breathing.
HR Parameters: Maintain 80% MHR for the bulk of the session. Recoveries at 75%; dipping no lower than 75%... HR *not* reaching 85%.

WARM-UP (6 mins) - Give the muscles time to gradually activate and prepare for the work ahead. Goal for this segment: Become aware of your breathing; that's what will get you through this ride.
3 min: 50-65% (discipline yourself not to cross 65% yet... focus on breathing. Feel your abdomen expand every time you take in air; contract, force the air out of the lungs. Shoulderblades retracted, shoulders down - back should feel like it is expanding and moving with every breath). READ HERE FOR MORE BREATHING TIPS.
3 min: 65-70% (continue breathing techniques...)

BLOCK 1 (15 mins)
* 2 mins 70-75% (keep tinkering with the resistance to gradually bring the heart rate up - deep breaths continuous)
3 mins 75% - every minute, add resistance and breathe the heart rate down. Maintain 75%

* 2 mins: 75-80% (same as above)
3 mins 80% - every minute, add resistance and breathe the HR down. Maintain 80%

* 2 mins 80% -- transition to standing run. Relax the upper body, engage core muscles, breathe the HR down. Try to stay at 80% even now while standing. As the HR comes down, add resistance if you start to dip below 80%.
3 mins - 3x slight accelerations (use the choruses of your song) -- as you accelerate, breathe the HR down. Do not cross 80%.

BLOCK 2 (15 mins)
* 2 mins: Recover seated... as SOON as you hit 75%, gradually load resistance to maintain 75%. Try your darnedest not to dip below 75%
3 mins: 75-80% -- keep gradually loading resistance ("increase and breathe"), focusing on the breath and building up to a heavy but fluid seated climb at 80%
4 mins: MAINTAIN 80% by whatever means necessary. Every 30 seconds or so, check in with your HR... if you drop, keep adding. Hold it seated if you can, focus on your pedal stroke, movement of your knees, movement of your back. It's just 4 minutes of the most important endurance work you can be doing right now. You are burning SO much fat right now...

* Jump Set
2 minutes of jumps / stay up and run for 2 minutes / 2 more minutes of jumps
>> maintain 80% the entire time! Use your breathing, use the resistance. Be aware of your breathing technique, your hip/knee alignment, the engagement of your core muscles... the SMOOTHNESS of your transition from seated to standing and back. Use those core muscles to lower your body weight back down elegantly.

(note: this is 6 minutes of work that will FLY by. Think how you can use this in future training sessions. If you repeated it 3x, that's almost 20 minutes -- half of a training session! Use your prep time in advance to find music that works for you.)

BLOCK 3 (15 mins)
* 2 mins: Recover seated... as SOON as you hit 75%, gradually load resistance to maintain 75%. Try your darnedest not to dip below 75%
3 mins: 75-80% -- keep gradually loading resistance ("increase and breathe"), focusing on the breath and building up to a heavy but fluid seated climb at 80%
5 mins: MAINTAIN 80% by whatever means necessary. You've built muscle memory now -- you're going to need more resistance to sustain that effort. Think about how powerful and sculpted your legs are getting as you drop your heels and smooth out your upstrongs.I

5 mins: Active recovery to 75%. Maintain 75%. The worst is over; this just feels good...

COOL-DOWN: 3-4 minutes.
Gradually decrease the resistance, breath the HR back down. Do not stop moving until you hit 50% MHR again, where you started.

After your cool-down, streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch for as long as you can. Don't forget your psoas stretch!

Ride on! Let me know how it goes...