Hi,
There are plenty of drills that include a Tabata format - 20/10s, 40/20s, 2-min on/1-min off, etc. Invariably, the written prompt in System says to go all out, hold nothing back, bust a lung - yet, there are power and cadence targets. The verbiage is almost the same no matter the interval duration.
What is the best or correct way to attack these? Should you really go all out and then try to hang on or is more to use a pace that allows you to barely finish the set?
Keith
I’ve always taken text prompts like those you describe as just figurative encouragement rather than specific coaching, and go for the programmed targets. As long as you have a relatively recent FF or HM test, those targets should be right for the workout to accomplish the goal it was designed to accomplish. In fact, just today I rode “Rue the Day” which is three sets of eight 40/20s, with the 40s between 90 and 95% of MAP. Pain!
I think those kinds of workouts are usually MAP at X sec on, 1/2X sec off. “All out” is pretty non-specific. If you’ve tested, SYSTM will assign you MAP values for those yellow bars and make you work to specific power levels given where you are. For me, it’s usually pretty OK at first, but starts to hurt 2/3rds through the first set, midway through a second set and maybe a quarter of the way into a 3rd set - YMMV of course. I like these kinds of interval workouts.
@104smurf That is what I do.
I agree with the above comments as long as your metric’s are up to date ie FF or HM then the targets would be achievable or at least will be uncomfortable towards the end.
However, if your rider type would suggest that the MAP workouts are a weakness then they will feel tough until you begin to develop in these workouts. I would also say if your endurance is low they will also feel tough, if you only do indoor workouts for about an hour and the workout is in the region of 0.88 IF and above for an hour these will also feel tough as you haven’t built the endurance to cope with the higher intensity over a longer period of time.