Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail. 
I hope you know what to do when the workout gets the better of you.
You’ll crush it next time, Calvin. 
Are you doing the All-Purpose Road plan? I remember you were thinking about it.
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I’ve been meaning to ask a similar question since my second hammers attempt lat week. My first introduction to the workout wasn’t too bad, in the first half of the All-Purpose road plan, and I made it though fine, if a little beaten up.
This second one was pretty ugly, though, coming after a Half Monty mid-way through the plan, which increased y MAP by nearly 10%. I’m guessing that had something to do with how much harder Nine Hammers was this second time around.
I had to grind a bit at the end of 6, 7 (threshold) was fine, but on both 8 and 9 I just couldn’t keep the power up and had to pause for a few seconds so I could complete the remainder of the hammer.
I did have a bit of a confidence issue going into it, questioning whether I’d be able to complete, which maybe contributed, but even so I think I’d have to be in something very close to a perfect moment to get through both of the last two hammers with my profile as it is now.
I guess I’m happier knowing I’m not the only one who finds it hard
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yes. all purpose road + strength.
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@ChrisMTB raises an interesting question I can shed some (n=1) light on @David.McQuillen.KoS
I am a new customer and a newish cyclist albeit coming from 30+years of daily CV and strength training. Cruised through Defender, Hell Hath and thought ‘oh that 9 Hammers looks fun’. Straight in at my Half Monty 100% figures. 10 mins at over 95% max heart rate and another 12 at over 90% then I hit that last hammer.
My legs caved - but I’d been sitting on max heart rate for what seemed like forever - so whilst I hated ‘DNF’ing - I felt I’d delivered training effect and “I’ll be back”!
I like the idea of this as almost a ‘pass out’ session - in terms that if you complete it’s probably time to move on but agree a ‘heads up’ about the likelihood of failure could be nice - but then would that deny other newbies the ‘fun’ of finding themselves in that ridiculous last ‘recovery’ and having ‘the chat’ with themselves about whether they have the bottle to try the last hammer. You don’t start something called Sufferfest without an idea of what’s coming - if you do it’s probably natural selection! Right … Blender or Local Hero next?
Really loving the product - it’s genius.
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I did it last Saturday, week 7 of my program and 3rd week of hard training. Next Friday I will have Half Monty.
It was doable, which means I had good legs besides tired and therefore expect to see new numbers this Friday.
That last minute, in any way can be considered easy, even with good legs. I was a kind of struggling during the second minute, but them I managed to set a cadence of 100-105 rpm and hold it until the end of the last one.
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So here I m again today, with Jelly legs after NH. I should say that I had scheduled yesterday 60 mins outside zone 2, which I should really have done on the trainer to keep in the zones, but seeing as forecast was rain for the rest of the week I was desperate to get outside! We all know how hard it is to zone 2 outside, so yes I ended up chasing some strava segments. Well I thought, I’m 6 weeks into plan I must be getting fitter and stronger…Wake up and smell the coffee! 3 mins into warm up, alarm bells were ringing, missed 1 min of interval 3 and contemplated lowering intensity by 10%, but no I relaxed my upper body and concentrated on form. All of a sudden I’m at the end of interval 7. Happy ending right? Well almost! I missed the middle minute of last hammer so I could smash the last minute. Still a success I think and better than lowering intensity for 2 thirds of the workout. Very tired now, Who Dares tomorrow but that’s my sort of workout so should be fine. Off for a long soak in the bath
Onwards and Upwards.
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Same type as you a Rouleur and I also struggle with highV02 max workouts like nine hammers. Love the FTP workouts like Team Scream HHNF and the FTP progression series. BUT as soon as I go too much in the red that’s it for me unless there I have enough recovery!
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I think we should add a 10th hammer.
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Then you’d have to rename the tavern. Think of the costs, man! 
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All I know after Stage 8 of the 2016 ToS Nine Hammers with A Very Dark Place as a warm up before…I’ll be saying “Medic”
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Just finished Stage 8, KoS 2016. The Medic was Abi Carver and the Wife with Pagne:clinking_glasses:
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After successfully completing AVDP and then FC on consecutive days (last week), at 100%, I felt I was ready for nine hammers. Great to see it on my training plan for last night, even if it is the penultimate workout of a 3 week block…
I CAN DO THIS, I’M ON A ROLL
I can confirm however that the ninth hammer is too much. As are the eighth, sixth, fifth, third, and second 
. The Sufferfest bites back, I was annihilated by this workout. Even dropping to 95% for the second block, and 90% for the third block… And then you give me the wretched straight afterwards just to rub it in…
Ah well, there’s always the next lockdown to aim for…
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Coming up in my plan tomorrow, should I be doing it in ERG or level??
ERG, see here:
This may also be of interest:
Good luck!
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The best mode for it is…not to read this thread, just get on and get it done and breathe a massive sigh of relief. Hee hee only joking, ERG is best.
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Nine Hammers builds mental resilience: As a newbie, it’s a relief to see this topic and realize I’m in good company: yesterday I was 1 minute shy of finishing the 9thH and my legs gave out (spiral of death in erg mode). I think it should stay as is, perhaps with a warning before H8 that the last two are a huge challenge…perhaps an early message about how to approach it? But despite the near miss I had; I’m quite proud of pushing into the 9th because my mind and legs were screaming “Nooooooo!” and that shows me I can do more even when body and mind are protesting. I think the mental toughness benefit of a solid attempt is valuable.
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I did Nine Hammers for the first time yesterday. It was a bit of a perfect storm, it seems like. Had completed my intermediary Half Monty a few days before, so numbers were up and I was feeling a bit under the weather. After 3 hammers I needed to dial down 5%, which I did again before hammer 5 (still above my numbers before HM though). The 5th hammer I cracked halfway through and quit. I was completely finished.
The coach’s notes said: “If you can comfortably complete the ninth hammer, you can bump your FTP and MAP number by 2-5% in the coming workouts”
I will not be doing that 
Will however be repeating Nine Hammers in a few weeks, when I’m used to the new numbers and feeling 100%.
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i think it’s one of the best videos, I always need a breather on8th hammer or if I’m on a good day the 9th, last time I rode it (5 days ago) I thought I’d make it but on the last 45s of 9th hammer my legs really couldn’t push anymore I recovered a bit and pushed through to the end. It’s the first time I did so well. Guess the core workouts at the gym are working!
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Yesterday I did Nine Hammers as my second video in my KOS attempt. It was very difficult even on 80% while I was still relatively fresh.
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I’m only 3 weeks into a general road plan so reading this with interest. Obviously not ridden it yet but if it hurts as much as it sounds a very small and naive part of me is looking forward to it. I think it’s important to have something that can hurt you and make you give up, as a couple of folks have said it’ll keep you humble.
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