The Ham Sandwich features sweet spot over/unders, with 30/30s "sandwiched" in between. The over/under intervals are alternate between 2 minutes Z3 (88%) and 30 seconds Z5 (110%). The 30/30s up the ante a bit and alternate between 30 seconds Z6 (130%) and 30 seconds Z1 (50%). Yes, there are rest breaks, but they are purposely short to keep the heart rate and metabolic demands up, and I dislike rest (kidding!) Better eat your sandwich quick before the bread gets soggy...
Sustaining high levels of lactate requires specific training. This ability to tolerate lactate only comes with precise intervals in training. We can all produce a one off effort to build lactate, but with carefully planned intervals we can maintain this high level of lactate for an extended period. This is where the training effect happens!
The Spaded Sweetie starts off with a 15 minute warm up to prime the engines and ready the mind. Then, we move into a spade interval set starting off very hard, but short, and gradually reducing the intensity while upping the time... Only to go back up again! From there, we will move into a progressive over/under sweet spot interval featuring changes in cadence and intensity that culminates in a 1min FULL GAS effort! This is a tough workout, but feautures a lot of quality time at VO2 and threshold.
5 different interval "amalgams" for your fitness pleasure! We'll mix it up today with position changes, pedal stroke work, longer threshold intervals, and the dreaded 'Shark Teeth' efforts!
Uphill Battle starts off with 3 sets of 5 minutes right below Threshold (95% FTP) featuring a 30 second ramp-up to finish (from 100% FTP to 150% FTP). After these, we will be moving onto 2 sets of 30/30s (30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest). The first set is done at 130% FTP for the work interval and 70% FTP for the "rest." The second set ups the ante a bit to 140% FTP for the work interval and 60% FTP for the "rest". Do you have what it takes to finish it? I know you can!
This session aims to replicate the demands of a mountain bike ride / event.
Mountain biking generally involves far more variations in effort compared with road riding - so plenty of surges and time spent being over geared! We also spend a lot of time 'on and off' the power, so short spells going hard to get over an obstacle, followed by a freewheel or very low power on a descent or little dip.
We touch upon all of these aspects in todays session, as we start off alternating every 30 seconds between riding hard at a low cadence, and riding easy - as if we are riding through an undulating single track. Then we make a ramp in effort, which finishes with a 30 second near max effort up a steep, rocky banking!
In today's session we are focusing on 3min VO2 max efforts. However, we are going to escalate the intensity of each interval. Starting with 'hard' and finishing with 'hardest'!
5 different interval "amalgams" for your fitness pleasure! We'll mix it up today with position changes, pedal stroke work, longer threshold intervals, and the dreaded 'Shark Teeth' efforts!
Big session today! We open with 6 x 2min Anaerobic Capacity efforts, however the target power increases from 'hard' to 'very hard'! The workout concludes with a 6min VO2 effort featuring the same steady increase in target power.
A series of progressive intervals where each successive interval is a higher intensity than the last. The Escalation in intensity will challenge you to dig deeper as you get more fatigued.
Sustaining high levels of lactate requires specific training. This ability to tolerate lactate only comes with precise intervals in training. We can all produce a one off effort to build lactate, but with carefully planned intervals we can maintain this high level of lactate for an extended period. This is where the training effect happens!
All the Unicorn workouts are based off of the visual spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet (purple)) with the same order of easiest to hardest. So, Red Unicorn features the least training load, Orange Unicorn the second, etc.
The Spaded Sweetie starts off with a 15 minute warm up to prime the engines and ready the mind. Then, we move into a spade interval set starting off very hard, but short, and gradually reducing the intensity while upping the time... Only to go back up again! From there, we will move into a progressive over/under sweet spot interval featuring changes in cadence and intensity that culminates in a 1min FULL GAS effort! This is a tough workout, but feautures a lot of quality time at VO2 and threshold.
5 different interval "amalgams" for your fitness pleasure! We'll mix it up today with position changes, pedal stroke work, longer threshold intervals, and the dreaded 'Shark Teeth' efforts!
All the Unicorn workouts are based off of the visual spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet (purple)) with the same order of easiest to hardest. So, Red Unicorn features the least training load, Orange Unicorn the second, etc.
This session aims to replicate the demands of a mountain bike ride / event.
Mountain biking generally involves far more variations in effort compared with road riding - so plenty of surges and time spent being over geared! We also spend a lot of time 'on and off' the power, so short spells going hard to get over an obstacle, followed by a freewheel or very low power on a descent or little dip.
We touch upon all of these aspects in todays session, as we start off alternating every 30 seconds between riding hard at a low cadence, and riding easy - as if we are riding through an undulating single track. Then we make a ramp in effort, which finishes with a 30 second near max effort up a steep, rocky banking!
In today's session we are focusing on 3min VO2 max efforts. However, we are going to escalate the intensity of each interval. Starting with 'hard' and finishing with 'hardest'!
FAQ: What do the coloured areas overlapping the elevation profile mean?
Segments along the route are coloured along the height profile. Climbs are indicated with red, sprints with green and other segments (e.g. laps or timed segments) with blue.
FAQ: What do the climb categories , , , and mean?
Climbs are categorized based on how tough they are, which depends both on the climb's length and its average incline. The toughest climbs are rated (HC comes from Hors Catégorie, which is French for beyond categorization). Less tough climbs are rated as category , less tough climbs than those are rated as , and onwards with and . Any climb less tough than category four does not get a rating.
FAQ: How can I ride/run on an event only route?
By joining an event you can get into event only worlds and routes. Don't want to join an event or don't see an event with your desired world/route? Use the Zwift Companion app to create a meetup or (for even more choice of worlds and routes) create a club and then an event.