Tough Love

[SalsaMTB]

Anyone ever done this spinerval video? Last night, we were scheduled for our outdoor road ride, but based on Sunday's ride, we changed it to an indoor training video because it was just too cold outside. We decided to do Tough Love, a 3 hour trainer video. I must say, it was the hardest video I've ever done. It definitely showed me one of my major weaknesses....spinning out of the saddle for any amount of time over 10 seconds. I SUCK at out of saddle spinning, especially in an easy gear. Here we are at about 2.5 hours in:

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/1248/dscn1469xi2.jpg

I must say, I honestly can't imagine doing that video alone. If you girls have done it alone, HUGE props to you. At about 1.5 hours in, I was ready to call it quits, but having the group definitely pushes you!

What are your favorite training videos to kick your butt? This one is probably at the top of my list, followed by the Carmichael Climbing video

[Veronica]

Last year when I was seriously training for a mountainous double century, did it twice by myself.

The only way I got through it was to have my own music mix.

V.

[SalsaMTB]

Last year when I was seriously training for a mountainous double century, did it twice by myself.
V.

Wow, that takes dedication. I understand having your own music mix, I thought the music was pretty bad in this video.

[Veronica]

Not twice in a row! :p

I got my husband to do it once. He began to understand why I kept turning the music up. That's when we instituted the rule that whoever is on the trainer has full music control and the other person has to suck it up.

V.

[emily_in_nc]

I haven't done that one, but I have the older "Have Mercy", which is also three hours. I haven't done it this winter -- just can't bring myself to. We take long hikes instead on winter weekends now. Much more fun! I have done "Have Mercy" about 4x total over the past two years, alone, and it is not fun at all.

I did the "Uphill Grind" a couple of nights ago. It's only 45 minutes but kicks my butt majorly. There is a LOT of out of the saddle. I had 19 minutes in zone 3 (heart rate), which is very high for me (I only have 4 zones programmed, and zone 4 is very close to my max HR). I hate Coach Troy!! :mad: :D

Emily

[SouthernBelle]

I did uphill grind myself last night. Strangely, when I go to the gym I can do the stairmaster for long periods without being so bored. But the trainer at home just turns me into mental roadkill.

[SalsaMTB]

I haven't done that one, but I have the older "Have Mercy", which is also three hours. I haven't done it this winter -- just can't bring myself to. We take long hikes instead on winter weekends now. Much more fun! I have done "Have Mercy" about 4x total over the past two years, alone, and it is not fun at all.

Emily

I saw on the spinerval website that Have Mercy is a 10/10 for toughness, whereas Tough Love is a 9.9/10. I can only imagine....

I definitely agree that hiking would be much more fun. Trainers are far from fun.

[chickwhorips]

It definitely showed me one of my major weaknesses....spinning out of the saddle for any amount of time over 10 seconds. I SUCK at out of saddle spinning, especially in an easy gear.

i haven't done any video longer than an hour, but have the same problem. i s*ck at getting out of the saddle on the trainer.
i am proud of you for doing the whole thing!

[Pedal Wench]

My local Performance has one left. I'll report back tomorrow. (Where's the smiley for 'scared'!)

[SJCzar]

Three hours of Coach Troy.....that just sounds sadistic. I might just have to pick one of those up. I currently have Suffer-O-Rama and No More Slackers. I guess I must be a bit odd because I really enjoy the out of the saddle part of the workouts.

This is the first winter I've actually spent time on the trainer and I'm also taking 3-4 spin classes a week. I'm excited to see if it makes a big difference once I get back out on the real road. I know that it has helped my general aerobic fitness. I went jogging on the track at the health club for the first time in probably a year or more and I had no problem doing 2 1/2 miles. Before all this cycling I would have been gasping for air long before that. I guess Coach Troy isn't such a bad guy after all.

[mtbdarby]

You suck! Sue, you can't run on a plush indoor track - you have to run outside like me:p You are so gonna kick my butt in the duathlon.....

[Pedal Wench]

OUCH!!!! I'm such a loser! I only managed two hours. By the time I bought the disc, got home, walked the dog (who insisted on the long route) and got set up, it was almost 7, and after two hours, I just wanted dinner.

I might have to try again tomorrow. Or skip and recover tomorrow and try again Friday. I don't know.

I love that you can turn off their music. My music is SO much better!

Edit: oh yeah, out of the saddle in an easy gear? Is that even possible?

[SalsaMTB]

OUCH!!!! I'm such a loser! I only managed two hours. By the time I bought the disc, got home, walked the dog (who insisted on the long route) and got set up, it was almost 7, and after two hours, I just wanted dinner.

I might have to try again tomorrow. Or skip and recover tomorrow and try again Friday. I don't know.

I love that you can turn off their music. My music is SO much better!

Edit: oh yeah, out of the saddle in an easy gear? Is that even possible?

Hey, two hours is NOT a loser. That's tough. Honestly, when I got to almost two hours, I wanted to stop, but with others there, it encouraged me to continue. If I were you, I would probably do a recovery today and try the video again later.

The out of saddle in easy gear....isn't really possible for me. OK, I can do about 3 seconds and that's it. I had to shift to a harder gear for that part. The guy next to me though, he could do it!

[Crankin]

I can barely get out of the saddle in my hardest gear on the trainer. I am trying the proper pedal stroke, but all i do is end up clunking down on the pedals and hurting just about everything. Easier gears are just about impossible. No, make that impossible. I rarely stand on climbs on the road, so I think this has something to do with it. In fact, it took me about a year or more to be able to stand on my bike. I can climb some pretty steep grades, but I'm always spinning. I spin a harder gear than I used to, but I'm still spinning. The only time I stand outside is on little rollers and I really feel it in my knees and quads the next day. I guess this means I'm some sort of uncoordinated freak, but I sort of modify those types of drills on my cyclo-core work outs.

[Pedal Wench]

Thanks, Salsa - you're right - two hours on a trainer isn't bad. I might have to try it tonight, because I've got two 50-mile rides this weekend, so I need to take Friday night off.

I've found that a few things that Coach Troy does are bad for my knees. I modify some of his moves to ones that don't require as much mashing, and that easy-gear standing just hurts my knees, so I either do high-speed spins or bigger gear standing in those sections.

Full report tomorrow...

:o

[snowtulip]

I dread doing Tough Love. DH and I rode the Colorado Trail from Denver to Salida (we're going to finish the rest soon) last year and this was one of my main training spinervals. I must say it helped! But I haven't used it since!!!;)

[SJCzar]

Yes Dar, you are so right. Running on the cushy indoor track is quite wussy of me. I was feeling a bit like a hampster exercising on a wheel.....round and round. I'm sure once I get brave enough to step outside and run I'll find I'm much more out of shape then I thought. Maybe next month I'll give it a try.

[ladyfish]

I have a question about spinning/riding out of the saddle. Seems some folks have a really hard time with this. For someone with much more experience than me, can you give us some insight?

My only experience was when I was testing bikes. I was down to two bikes and when I rode one of them, it was really HARD to get out of the saddle. I "think" it's really because the bike was too short for me (from saddle to handlebars). When I rode the other bike (the one I bought) it was really easy to get out of the saddle and ride. I bought the bike I could ride easily out of the saddle, since I figured I'd need this capability for hills.

So, anyone with insight on this problem? Does bike fit play a big part in riding out of the saddle?

[geekgirl]

Yes, bike fit can have something to do with being able to ride out of the saddle, but what most of the folks in this thread are talking about is peculiar to spinning class or riding your bike on the trainer -- standing up and riding while in a really easy gear is extremely difficult.

It's easy to stand up and ride on a spinning bike or on the trainer when you are in a "harder" gear because your weight has resistance -- standing up in an "easy" gear is tough on the legs because there's no resistance pushing back, and you need strong muscles and good spinning technique to be able to do it.

I don't think standing up on the bike while riding up a hill can really compare, because that circumstance is pretty similar to standing up in a harder gear while on the trainer.

[maillotpois]

Yeah, it can be a LOT harder to stand on the trainer - and standing on rollers (even with the fork mount) is really tough.

I think core plays a big part as well as pedlaing consistency and balance. You're almost working against yourself, and having to make good pedal strokes.

[Velobambina]

I've done the entire Tough Love a couple times (2-3). Always alone.

I did the first disk of the Hardcore 100 -- a simulated century that runs about 5 hours if you do all three disks. The first disk was about 1:40 minutes but the intensity wasn't too bad. It's supposed to get more difficult as the workout progresses. If we get the snow storm that's predicted for next Tuesday and they close down the gov't, I might try to do the entire thing.

Since riding outside has been unsafe due to lingering icy conditions and extreme cold, I've been back to my trainer. My new favorite thing is to do a strength video (one of the ultra conditioning Spinervals) after doing another Spinerval.

I can't wait until temperatures moderate and there's no more ice/snow. Doing Spinervals is much tougher, mentally & physically, than riding outside.

[ridebikeme]

WOW! definitely have to give credit to anyone that has done "Tough Love" or "Have Mercy"!! I have done them several times over the past few years, and there's no doubt that you get a great workout in!!

Keep pedaling everyone!