What sufferfest video for power bursts?

Hey there…long time Sufferfest user. In the past I’ve done full training plans in the winter. But, as of late I’ve been popping on once or twice a week to suffer. Picking and choosing those ones I love to hate. Well, prior to the tour. I’ve avoided that blasted trainer since. Our mountain bike trails are opening back up and while I can feel I can motor up sustained climbs it’s the short little burst of power that I feel like I just don’t have these days. Any advice on which Sufferfest videos I should do to help that out?

Violator
Fight club
Half is easy

That’ll do for day 1

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As above and go ahead and add in Violator (I know that was in the list above but c’mon! I mean, it’s Violator, :joy:

  • Also, for super short and a nice mix Cash Register or Suf Idol,
  • for very short The Cure 20/10s and Rue the Day 40/20s,
  • The Chores 40/20s plus threshold
  • Revolver for 1 minute on/off,
  • 14 Vise Grips, for a range of MAP efforts from 30 secs to 2 minutes then back again, twice.
  • Blender and Blender mini for some variety.
  • The Model for its brilliance and sheer beauty.
  • Kitchen Sink, for asking for advice in Sufferlandria :smiling_imp:
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Ooh, I forgot

The shovel - for some deep efforts
The trick - short efforts followed by threshold effort

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Ugh…I did Revolver last night for the first time in a while, and just seeing the word made me cry a little bit. But it was wonderful in a sort of miserable way.

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I assume you’re meaning short power burst <1 minute. In which case NM and AC power need to be improved. Both of these are dependent on non-aerobic systems in our muscle cells. the key drivers are number of muscle cells and the % which you can get to fire at once.

Revolver and Half is Easy look like AC workouts but they’re really MAP focused because of the short recoveries. I’d recommend the following instead

No-Vid AC@ 2sets 5x30 has longer rest intervals which allow you to hit the intervals much harder

UCI centre 5:BMX

If the intervals feel too easy wind up the AC difficulty to %110 or more

If you don’t feel like puking or pissing yourself, you went to easy.

To improve the % of muscles fibres that fire, workouts with a NM focus like Violator are good as are any kind of drill workout, Cadence builds, holds. Sprints, standing starts.

To increase the number of muscle cells strength work off the bike, if you haven’t added strength workouts to your plan, do.

The ability to recover between bursts is purely down to aerobic fitness, so if you are struggling with repeated efforts, Z2 volume will help.

Specificity is important, if you know how long the punchy climbs are on your trails, how long the flat/downhill recovery is, pick a workout from the library that has similar intervals.
Tasmania:Cygnet coast is the closest workout in the library that I’ve done that feels like rolling MTB ride
UCI CENTRE 6 MTB Race looks good but I’ve not ridden it

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@arlen1 Lots of good ideas posted already. I would also add regular practice with cadence builds. Being able to spin quickly to get that power as that ability drops off without regular practice.

Then complement that cadence work with some of the NM and AC workouts already mentioned to assist you with the ability to recover quickly from those efforts.

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Such a GREAT session!!!

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