I think Coach Troy is sloooooowly coming along though, his more recent DVDs use softer language, he doesn't mention "killing yourself" more than once or so !!! But seriously, I think he was "coached" on making his DVDs more appealing, esp as he started to incorporate women-specific training. Women don't seem to warm up to the typical "coach-in-your-face-screaming-routine"...we're more evolved than that...

So I take him with a grain of salt and follow the participants maybe more than I follow him. And I agree...follow the heart rate guidelines before you follow the gearing. He does emphasize this alot in his aerobic series to change gears if you can't stay below lactate threshold, etc.

It's a softer, kindler, gentler Troy....