Tough Love

[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...

[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.

[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!