Endurance, Efficiency

Today's class I did a profile that I think I had read somewhere before.

Warm up-getting HR up on a flat road.

I then advised them that I would let them choose what their positions/cadence/resistance would be for the sets, but what I wanted them to focus on was their output and HR. Notice how hard they are working, with very few transitions.

8min-working at 75% max output(threshold) and HR. Can still breath but legs are working. (Once again they can choose what body positions and resistance. I just stressed to maintain at a steady pace.)
2 min recovery
6 min-80% of max threshold and HR that they can maintain for duration of time.
2 min recovery
4 min-85% of Max threshold and HR that they can maintain for duration.
2 min recovery
2min-90% max threshold and HR they can maintain for duration.
2min recovery
2min-max threshold one last time
recover and cool down.

I used the 6min segment on a hill and had them slow the legs down a bit and on others I would speed things up. Music is key...make it flowing and a good beat to keep them focused.
I love classes like this because they really get more familiar with what their body is doing and what they can maintain over a period of time.
I used a couple of different play lists for the day, I will see if I can remember what I used and post it later.

Great comment...

Today at the beginning of my class I was chatting with some of peeps and one of them began talking about "hover-pulls". He said that they never "feel right". I explained that if you are doing them you should NEVER let your back side exit the back of the saddle and to try to keep your knee over the axle of the peddle so you are not hyper-extending the knee. I also told him to keep it fluid and work on transitions rather than trying to keep up.

I should note here that I do not do hovers, pulls, floats or a few of the other positions I see in other classes. Not that I'm telling you not to, I just don't see the benefit of the movement. I think that risk of injury outweighs the benefit. And to be honest, as an outdoor cyclist I'm a bit of a purest. I like to keep things streamlined, effective, and as close to outdoor riding as possible.

So, I'm curious...What do you see as the benefit? Is it merely the position change for variety? I would think you could get the same strength building on a steep climb in pos 3 with some serious resistance, or even doing jumps on a hill.

His final comment was funny...he said "just tell the others that the bikes aren't hover crafts"! He has a great sense of humor and I love having him in my class. I just thought it would be a good discussion topic.