Is easier then what one might think. During the first session is very important to be disciplined with intensity and not to push hard as possible. 90-91% HRmax in enough, Is more to think max iso effort over both sessions.
Day one I was well revcoverd, so no problem with that. Day 3 of course wars the hardest, But day 4 also not so easy, but here of course I could invest all resources sill remaining.
With more then one HIIT session a day i have some experience. Years ago i had an accident and must wear cervical collar. I must stay at home for 2 month and train only on the ergometer. Because is was a lite bit boring i did often multiple short sessions a day.
Thanks to @roflsocks on another thread, there’s an interesting study suggesting block periodisation (1 week of 5xHIT sessions followed by 3 weeks of 1xHIT and the rest LIT) was more effective than 4 weeks of traditional training (2xHIT sessions and the rest LIT every week)
“Importantly, the long- term effects of BP remains unknown. The effects of repeating the present 4-week period of BP over a longer period of time remains to be investigated.”
I would like to peak for a 4 stage series i, with two time trails,. a “long” race and crit. The idea would be to use both long intervals on the TT and 30/15 with the race bike.
Any experience or hints ?
I managed to make a six day block, with 8 sessions.
4 sessions 3x13x30/15
1 session 2x13x30/15
2 sessions 3x8 min
and one group ride.
I see a slightly increase in power and drop in HR. I always reached the 90% HRmax, but in at the end of the block very late. And even in the 30/15 I hit the 90% only in the last series with a peak of 92%,
Because the power output require a certain amount of V02, is speculate that the HR is not a good indicator of V02 when fatigued.
So I’m planning a block starting tomorrow, with vo2 sessions on Saturday + Sunday, Tuesday + Wednesday, and Friday.
I then go on holiday the day after for a week, and won’t be riding my bike at all. Is this a bad idea? Will I lose some of the adaptations if I’m not getting in some endurance riding the week after the block? Should I try going for a run or two while I’m away?
I think this made sense. For peaking wiht a HIIT block you need a steep taper anyway. After my block a made 5 very easys days, exactly like in the study. This worked for me, my race weekend was nice. But maybe one or two easy days more, would have been even better.
So making a week holiday, maybe unusual, but at least no totally wrong
If you run regularly, it may a good opportunity for some easy runs., But I don’t think is needed.
The main challenge was not the workouts, but the sometimes searingly hot weather which kept me off the turbo. As the longest hill or uninterrupted bit of road close to me is 3 minutes long, I had to choose between that or finding time to ride further afield. Anyway, it panned out like this:
Saturday: 9x3min intervals, first 3 on trainer with rising HR and falling power, then did the rest outside. Oh, and I cranked out 8.75w/kg for a minute on my club’s hill climb competition in the afternoon.
Sunday: 4x7min (had time to ride out and find a longer climb)
Monday: 6x3min vo2 hill reps (better power than Saturday, kept it around 120%)
Tuesday: A-sort-of-improvised-Bashful-slash-Baird workout around Regents Park inner circle, which takes about 100 seconds and includes a dip which makes a natural on-off interval.
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 4x8min Seiler intervals - done round Regents Pk inner circle, so the dip every lap meant they were more like “Seiler over-unders”. But they did the job and HR was bang on.
Friday: 1x3min all out effort, then 5x3min hill reps with what was left in the tank.
Anyway, I feel pretty good, and a lot better about taking a whole week off the bike this week. The sessions were challenging but I was pleased with the way my power kept up. The Seiler 4x8min session on Thursday was done 5 watts higher than the last time I did it on the turbo.
Overall I spent 56 minutes above 90% maxHR, and 1hr46mins in Z5 power or above (although my TrainingPeaks FTP is probably too low).
TBH although I’m hoping for some gains ahead of a possible TT in August and a hilly road race in September, this has mostly served as a useful experiment. It’s shown me that if I want to, I can do it - and sometime in March when it’s cool enough to use the turbo, I can do a more controlled, focused version of the plan as a pre-season booster.
Look very good. I don’t know how hot it has been in London,. here in Hamburg we had most of the time at and above 30 degrees.
Very good possible that you can benefit a lot at TT in August. There should be enough time to fully recover from the block an receive the fill benefit.
Currently i make a LIT block with once a week HIT and/or one group ride. But everything else with intensity factor between 0.65 and 0.7. I think I still increasingly benefit from the HIIT block and the race series at the first week of July. At least i saw some PB’s in climbs in terms of power as well as speed.
Is not clear to me, when the effect of HIIT block reaches it’s peak. But it seem possible to me that this could be several weeks. So please join you TT, the result would ne very interesting !
I had planed to make another HIIT block next week for peaking for TT on 11. August, but maybe i cancel it due to heat. On 18. August I may join a crit. After that I consider another HIIT block