Do you spin every day?

[roguedog]

Question is triggered by someone saying that lots people rotate a high intensity workout with low intensity workout...

Is it bad to spin more often? Is there such a thing as a low intensity spin session?

[Veronica]

When I'm seriously training (which I am again thanks to Jo) I plan on only one day off the bike per week.

My training schedule goes something like this:

Sat. - short - 2 hour ride, HR kept between 160 - 175 (178 is my lactate threshold) with burst above LT.
Sun. - long ride - 5+ hours, HR kept below 175, except for climbing
Mon. - recovery ride
Tues. - like Sat.
Wed. - recovery ride
Thurs - like Sat
Fri. - off

I prefer to do my recovery rides outside, rather than with Coach Troy. Even his recovery tapes tend to push my HR too high.

It's a rare week that I actually keep to this schedule in its entirety. Life tends to get in the way.

But adapting something like that to spin class could be easily done. It could be weird though if you're doing a recovery ride and the rest of the class is doing intervals.

V

[Blueberry]

I could use some advice on this one. There isn't a ride outside that is "easy" for me. But I'm sick of the trainer.

What are you doing when you do a recovery ride? Riding in a flat area and spinning easy? For how long?

Sorry for the *very* basic questions, but I've not been able to puzzle my way through

Thanks for the sample schedule, V. It's very helpful!

[Veronica]

My recovery ride depends on how I'm feeling. Sometimes I just ride and don't even look at my HR monitor. And it's just about enjoying the ride

Sometimes I'll set my HR monitor to beep at me if I go above 160. Keep in mind that when I quote HR numbers, it's based on my testing, and your numbers are going to be different.

Oh, I have no really flat areas, so I try to spin really easy up the hills. Today, I'll probably use Fluffy for my ride because he has a triple, thus lower gearing. Of course he also has a higher top end than my Legolas too!

V.

[equus123]

Question is triggered by someone saying that lots people rotate a high intensity workout with low intensity workout...

Is it bad to spin more often? Is there such a thing as a low intensity spin session?

Not exactly sure what your question is asking but I'll try and offer some advice. Do you mean training hard/intense mixed with lighter/recovery rides? (Not sure what you mean by "spin")

Here my $0.02 on the subject of training and periodicity........in order to increase performance you need to stress the body to the point where muscular, neurological, and physiological adaptations take place. When this occurs, in essence you "get better". These adaptations can usually only be caused from high intensity training. This could be short but hard intervals or longer intervals at or near threshold. (please note that even those these two types both promote adaptations, they induce different kinds of adaptations).

When you do interval training like this that forces the body to recover and rebuild itself then there needs to be ~48 hrs of recovery time between these kinds of training loads. In other words, it's okay to do every other day.

So what does that leave? Those kinds of workouts promote a better functional threshold (the limit at which you're maxing out your aerobic system; slightly under anaerobic). Other ways to become a better cyclist include leg speed training (e.g. sprinting), muscular endurance training (e.g. climbing), and overall endurance.

If you're doing threshold training every other day then that leaves the days in between to do other things like work on your endurance because "endurance rides" are generally zones 1-3 which means it's a pretty easy ride. They're also the longer rides in your training week. They can also act as a form of active recovery from your threshold training. Active recovery is important in that you're letting your body recover from the hard intensity intervals because you're keeping your endurance ride at a very low intensity while also working on accumulating your endurance (as I like to put it) or riding with high cadence to promote leg speed skills.

I think that's enough for now. Don't want to overload. Hopefully that helps answer your questions or confusion?

[roguedog]

V - Thanks for the insight to your training plan. Very interesting. Man you are a dedicated cyclist.

Equus
Thanks for explanation. Things to chew on...

Here's my sitch:

V, I don't know how you can get in all those hours. If I don't workout in the morning I prob won't workout at all. I get into work around 9ish and leave around 7-8ish or later.

So the best I can do is to go to spin class. So far I've been pretty much doing every other day. However, if I want to go more often am I harming my "training" or worse harming myself by not letting my body recover?

V - I get what you're saying about it being weird to do a recovery ride in spin class. Knowing me I'd just go for it anyway.. and thus it isn't really a recovery ride at all.

Also, is spinning an all body workout or really just lower body?

Anyway, so these are my thoughts and queries.

[Veronica]

I leave work promptly at 3 PM unless I have meeting and then I b!tch. I do all my extra work, lesson plans, grading etc. either early in the morning after I ride in the evening.

It is hard to do that every day. Like I said, that's the plan. It doesn't mean I always follow it. Yesterday's recovery ride was mowing my lawn. I have a push reel mower and a hill to mow so it's not as bad as it sounds. And I've been a real slacker since December. But I only have two weeks to get ready for a 300 K... so I'm a little more dedicated right now. But I couldn't stick with that year round. It became not fun, hence the slacking.

I haven't done spin class in a gym for a few years. I found I could do the spin classes every day. Some days I just didn't always do what the instructor wanted. Some days I'd be more intense, sometimes less and I was always off to the side, not in front so I could do my own thing without being a distraction. The instructors were pretty cool about it. But we were a pretty tight knit group and it was always the same ladies in the class.

V.

[Starfish]

There isn't a ride outside that is "easy" for me.

I have to put the bike on the car and drive at least 20 minutes to find flat roads long enough for a decent ride, so I don't find it convenient to do outdoor recovery rides very often. Sometimes I just go to the gym and spin really easy on a recumbent for recovery.

But, increasingly, I am finding that swimming is turning out to be a great recovery workout for me. It is easier for me to keep my pulse down where it should be for recovery. And, I find that I can concentrate on my arms and back and keep the legs just active enough for a little recovery, rather than stress. I also find the warm and cocoon-like indoor pool environment to be relaxing if I have been buffetted by wind or rain outside the day before.