(upbeat music)
- Right, welcome to a GCN
realtime training session.
Today we'll be climbing the Passo Campolongo
going in the Alta Badia region of the Dolomites.
I'm joined with Chris Opie.
- Hello.
And we're aboard the Wahoo Kickr,
and we've also got the Wahoo Kickr Climb and a Headwind.
We've got a 3.9 kilometer climb at 7%
which is perfect for some torque
and high cadence intervals.
- Yeah.
- It's gonna hurt. - We've got five sets
of those two minute efforts,
with two minutes recovery in-between,
you'll be pleased to know.
We've got a very short warmup,
so start raising your heart rate.
Getting that blood pumping around the body.
Coming up to one minute to go before the first session.
- And the reason for doing these efforts
is they're great for muscle recruitment,
and then you've got the high speed efforts
to teach you how to pedal really quick,
and really help you pay attention to how you're pedaling.
Really good effort.
- Yeah it's good for your leg speed
isn't it Chris? - It is yeah.
But it's a nice short session
that you can cram in at almost any time in the day.
(energetic techno music)
- It's worth noting
we have linked our Wahoo elements to our Kickrs
so that we're climbing those at 7%.
And it feels like it as well, I have to say.
- Bit of a struggle.
Right, just 35 seconds to go now
before we
crank up the intensity to nine out of 10
on the perceived exertion scale,
and that will give us a cadence of,
well we want to target a cadence of 55 to 65,
so around 60, really.
- Yeah, around 60 would be perfect,
so think about your gear choices.
We wanna really get all those muscle groups working.
Alright, think about it now.
You've got 10 seconds to go.
- Maybe tying your shoes.
Change gear, maybe.
- Alright. Five seconds.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
- Go! - And go.
So really focus on 60 rpm,
and it's gonna be at a
perceived effort around 9.
So this should be quite hard.
Straight away,
you're gonna feel it on the first effort.
But as your legs get warmer, you will loosen off,
and it ought to feel better.
(breathes heavily)
- Try and relax your hands.
Keep a nice neutral position on the bars.
Really focus on driving through your legs.
Through your hips, glutes,
pedaling nice round circles.
That's kind of the beauty of this session
is that you can pay attention to the form.
- That is exactly right.
Alright, 10 seconds coming up.
10.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
- Now straight into 110 reps per minute
so you wanna shift down a few gears.
Really spin quickly.
Little bit over the top there.
So similar power numbers.
Again, right up over your threshold.
If you use the power meter,
nine or 10,
if you do know the feel.
- Yeah, really work hard
on keeping that high cadence.
If you can hit 110,
well done to you.
It's not as easy as it looks,
but get as close to 100 as you can.
- Just 20 seconds to go now,
then we got a nice two-minute recovery.
So really squeeze.
Really push on.
Keep that cadence up in that zone where it's meant to be.
(breathes heavily)
10 seconds.
- Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
And back off. - Nice.
You wanna bring your cadence down to around 80, 85 now.
Don't back off completely.
You'll want to keep at
kind of an endurance level
so the sort of pace that you might maintain
for a good couple of hours out on the road.
Where sentences are short.
- Yeah, enjoy this recovery though.
It's only short.
So you've got two minutes,
but make it worth it.
Make sure you've got a lot of liquid on board
to keep you nice and hydrated,
and take a look at that view.
Isn't that view lovely, Chris?
- Nice and sunny.
- Oh it's beautiful!
I have to say,
I did enjoy doing this climb
for all of you out there.
It's a great perk of the job, isn't it?
- So by now you'll be feeling pretty warm, I would imagine.
You'll probably be feeling your quads a bit.
But just enjoy that recovery.
80 to 85 cadence,
trying to hold it there.
Around level three on the perceived exertion scale,
so you've not eased up completely.
You're still pedaling a bit,
maintaining a bit of effort.
Don't forget it's only a short session,
so you don't need to ease off that much, do you?
- No, that's correct.
Now under a minute to go now,
so start thinking about selecting the right gear for you
to keep that 60 rpm cadence,
which is really important.
And before you know it,
recovery session will be gone
and we're straight into the next effort.
- That will be number two of five,
so we're ticking them off pretty quick.
- Yeah we are.
- Thirty seconds. - That's the beauty of a
nice short session, isn't it mate?
- Yeah.
Feel free to stand up and have a little stretch
that sort of thing
in-between these efforts.
You wanna be comfortable
so you can get the most out of them, of course.
And these efforts are great
for when you get back out on the road,
and you're on undulating terrain,
the group's going faster,
it's going slower,
or if you don't ride out on the road,
then it's just really great for
making sure all of your muscles are working together.
Four seconds.
Three.
- Change gears now. - Two.
One.
There we go.
Cadence is 60 again.
(moves into higher tempo music)
Really kind of wanna feel like
you're doing weights at the gym with this, don't you?
- You do indeed, yeah.
I'm hitting 60 rpm now.
So this is what it should look like.
(breathes heavily)
This does get you working hard,
but it's short enough to get your head round it,
and make it worthwhile.
I've got my Kickr Climb here,
working its magic,
keeping me at the percentage of the climb.
- Just another 24 seconds on this one, there.
20 seconds,
and we'll be into that high-cadence burst again.
That's where you'll really see your heart rate climb.
That's where you really kind of have to cling on
for this effort.
That's where the magic's done.
That's where your muscles get back up to real speed,
where they need to be working.
Five seconds now.
Two.
One.
And drop down.
You might find it easier to slide around on the saddle,
I always wanna go further forwards
for the fast cadence stuff.
- Yeah if that does help, feel free
to move around on the bike.
Raising that cadence.
Getting that leg speed up.
- Remember, try to keep your upper body nice and relaxed.
We're not fighting the bike.
you wanna be nice and comfortable.
Loose hands on the bars.
Make sure it's your legs that are doing the work.
- 30 seconds now.
If you do feel you're bouncing on the saddle,
drop it down a gear.
- 15 seconds.
- 10.
Come on now.
Drive it in.
Five seconds.
- Three.
Two.
One.
- And back into your recovery. - Back into recovery.
80 to 85 cadence.
Don't back off completely
it's alright to freewheel for that first couple of seconds,
but keep a little bit of load onto your legs.
This will actually help you recover.
If you ease off completely,
your legs will go to sleep almost.
It's better to keep the blood pumping,
keep them moving.
This is a great session for muscle activation as well.
Really focusing on that high-torque, low-cadence effort
will really help you be more aware of how you're pedaling.
- I can definitely feel the percentage
on the Kickr Climb.
Can you mate?
- It starts to bite a bit, doesn't it?
- It does. - Just like in real life.
- Right, you should be feeling good now
nice and warmed up after two efforts.
Remember, you've only got three more to go,
so really make these count.
- It's only a short warmup,
but by the time you've done two reps
you'll really be able to squeeze the best
out of yourself now for the last three.
- Another 50 seconds
and then we're back into the high-torque effort.
Low cadence, really churning that gear over,
paying attention to keep the pedals
going all the way around the circle.
Over the top you're pushing down and driving forward,
but your heel underneath,
you're flicking that back up,
and pulling it back up on the pedal stroke.
It's the beauty of the
high-torque, low-speed effort,
is you can really pay attention
and really nail that pedal stroke.
And put it to good use with that high speed afterwards.
- Alright coming up 20 seconds left of your recovery.
- 15 to go.
(breathes heavily)
10 seconds.
Get that gearing ready.
Get ready to press the lap button.
Get comfortable on the bike.
Three.
Two.
One.
Come on, push!
- And watch that cadence if you've got cadence sensor.
- If not, you can count it out pretty easily
every time your right leg hits the bottom,
should be once every second.
(breathes heavily)
- Drive it in now.
- Come on, we're nearly halfway through now.
It's easy after this.
- Ah yes. It is.
- 30 seconds to go.
- I'm really feeling it.
Are you mate?
- Yeah, starts to burn now down back.
- In just a short session you can really
get some hard work in.
- I have to start focusing on relaxing my hands on the bars.
- 10 seconds left of this high-torque
effort.
Then we're straight up to 110 reps.
If you can't quite get 110,
105 is also a great starting point.
There we go. - Right, jump it down now.
Rev it up.
Work on that leg speed.
- Keep it in a big gear.
You wanna keep the maximum effort up there.
So it's quite hard to push this gear around
at that speed.
It's not easing off yet,
that's for sure.
(breathes heavily)
- Alright.
30 seconds left.
- Come on.
Only two more to go after this.
We can push on through the pain right now.
- Just sitting on that 110 rpm.
- What these efforts are great for
is if you're racing
and you go over the top of a steep climb,
and then have to accelerate.
Really helps your body adapt to that.
Five seconds!
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
And recover.
Back down to 80, 85 cadence.
That muscle, like a three out of 10,
sort of feeling in your legs.
- That's exactly right.
- Breathe deep, get a drink.
- Right, only two minutes to go left in recovery now.
Enjoy it.
Take a drink,
and reset for the next effort.
- Just got two more left now.
Really gonna make these count, aren't we?
- Yeah we are indeed.
- You should be 100% warm by now.
- Look at those views, Chris.
Stunning.
That Alta Badia region in the Dolomites
is just incredible to ride your bike.
I think you actually did the Dolomite,
like the Maratona route, didn't you mate?
- Yeah that was painful, there.
(laughs weakly)
A few of these sessions would have helped.
- (chuckles) yeah
- You should be feeling completely
thoroughly warm by now,
after 12 minutes of quite intense exercise.
The beauty of this session
is you can fit it in at anytime in the week,
anytime in the day pretty much.
It's only 21 minutes.
- Exactly.
Everyone can fit in 21 minutes of work
as a session.
If you wanna use it as a warmup, you can
for another session.
- Yeah you could turn down the intensity a tiny bit,
couldn't you?
- That's correct.
- 40 seconds to go now.
(exhales)
I'm hot.
Need to stand up.
So another 30 seconds,
you're gonna start thinking about that gearing.
What gear you're gonna use,
how you're gonna sit on the bike.
Try to relax your upper body.
Try to really drive down and around through your legs.
Creating a really good solid pedal stroke
without any wasted energy.
- Alright 10 seconds now.
Think about that gear selection.
- Three seconds.
Two.
One.
And we're off.
60 reps.
Nine out of 10 effort.
Really driving.
I'll be honest, I'm starting to feel it, mate.
- Yeah I definitely feel the lactic starting to bite,
but not long to go now.
Really make it count.
- Try and relax your hands on the bars.
Don't start wrenching.
That's not the way to do it.
You wanna drive through your legs.
- Minute half left this effort.
You can do it.
Come on!
(breathes heavily)
- In 20 seconds time we'll be back to that high-cadence.
It's the penultimate one though,
and then you've got one more after this.
Can definitely get through that.
10 seconds.
So get ready to be gearing,
as soon as you see the minute complete hit 110 reps.
There we go.
Again, I find it easier to slide forward
and get the cadence that way.
- Go on, drive it home now!
Really try to get up that cadence.
- Oh I swear it burns.
- It's not easy,
but you'll reap the rewards
at the end of this session, trust me.
- Okay, heart rate 180 now.
- Really get that leg speed up.
20 seconds now.
Go on! Dig in.
- By now you'll be feeling it everywhere.
There's only one more to go.
10 seconds.
Five.
Three.
Two.
One.
Right that's that final recovery now.
80 to 85.
Keep a bit of pressure on the pedals.
We're not easing up completely yet.
We're not at the top.
- If you do wanna get off the saddle,
feel free to.
Stretch off the legs.
Can be quite uncomfortable doing high-cadence effort.
- Breathe deep.
Have a drink.
(water bottle gurgles)
and mine's almost all gone.
(breathes heavily)
That was the highest heart rate, then.
- Yeah.
- I can feel it in my quads right now.
- It's a feel good session, this though,
isn't it mate?
- Yeah it does.
- When you get off this,
you'll feel the endorphins,
and you really will feel
more awake
and better for it.
- Yeah, if you're traveling or you're pushed for time,
or you just wanna include it
later on in the day,
it's ideal for that.
It's a sort of thing
I find myself doing on travel days quite regularly.
- Yeah
- One more minute of recovery,
and we can really nail this last effort.
Try and squeeze out
a little bit more than we have done
if we can.
- Alright, 50 seconds left
of this bit of recovery.
If you do feel like you could get more out of the
effort on the drops, then feel free to.
I find it comfortable on the tops,
but do whatever feels right for you.
That's really important. - 30 seconds
Alright, last one.
We can really squeeze out a bit extra I reckon.
- Yeah I reckon we can, mate.
- Tie my shoes a bit more.
Shake my legs off a little bit.
Always helps.
- Alright we made it to 10 seconds
I'll let Chris--
- You gonna count us in?
- You're gonna count us in, mate.
- Alright.
I like the power.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Come on guys!
- And on the pedals.
- That's it, now.
The final one.
You squeeze out a bit more effort from this.
Really push.
- Make this one count.
- Imagine you're doing
kind of max squats in the gym,
that sort of feeling in your legs.
Engage all those muscle groups,
and make sure you pull back up as well.
Don't neglect the upstroke.
(breathes heavily)
- Really feeling the burn now!
- Yeah, I feel it in my calves.
30 seconds to go.
Try and relax those hands.
It's really tempting to wrench on the bars,
but that's not gonna help you.
It's a bad habit to get into.
15 seconds on this one.
Leading it at high cadence then.
Right, five more seconds.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
And straight into that high-cadence burst.
- Alright last minute.
- Same effort as before - Make this one count.
It's gonna hurt,
but you've only got 50 seconds left.
So come on.
Really dig in.
We're all with you.
We're all hurting.
No pain, no gain, as they say.
Alright 40 seconds.
- Come on!
Final 30 seconds!
We can really squeeze this out now.
This is where all the good work's done.
That final interval.
- Squeeze it out.
(breathes heavily)
- 15 seconds to go.
- And 10. - 10!
- Go on, Chris.
See us out.
- Come on guys.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
That's it!
That is it. - And well done.
That's a shorter session,
but it's a hard one.
(moves back to lower tempo music)
- There we go.
Heart rate's falling back down into place now.
- Stretch out the back of your knees if you need to.
- Legs are starting to feel a bit more like they're
still attached to my body as well.
- Yeah.
Right, there you have it!
We've finished our 21 minute session.
If you do wanna keep on
having a more of a warm down
then make sure you stay on the bike.
- Yeah, a good two to five minutes was the idea, wasn't it?
- Yeah, exactly.
And if you want to
get some more training programs,
then we've got loads here at GCN.
- Have a click down there.
- Click down there,
and scroll through the library,
and pick one that suits you.
Don't forget,
if you did enjoy this session specifically,
then make sure you give it a thumbs up,
and let us know how you get on
in the comment section below.
- That was hard.
I need a coffee, do you? - Yeah.