I have a ton of Spinnerval DVDs (got them free with a lot of races I have done), but I frankly don't bother using them when I'm actually in the OS. It's kinda like mixing apples and oranges to me.
I have a ton of Spinnerval DVDs (got them free with a lot of races I have done), but I frankly don't bother using them when I'm actually in the OS. It's kinda like mixing apples and oranges to me.
I really enjoyed the Lake Placid DVD. I advise listening to the audio for interest, but follow EN's training program for your actual workout. When I went to ride LP for my first training circuit, I felt like I knew the course!
I have 15 Spinerval tapes and use them all. I look at the EN work-out then select one that has a similar objective. If it's short and hard like OS, then get one that is 45-60 mins long with a high difficulty rating. Suffer-O-Rama is a great one to start with. Totally Time Trial has to be one of the hardest at a moderate length (90 mins). If you want to go hard and long, then get Tough Love.
which spinerval titles are best for EN type of training?
You don't need them. But I suppose you could modify if you love doing them. I like to get on, do the OS workout, get off. There's enough motivation and things to concentrate on in the workout for me. JMO. Is there anything in Spinervals that approximates 3x15, etc., that the OS workouts will get you to eventually? I can't remember.
I think RnP could have a new business venture here and do some EN Videos that go with the OS plan! I have found some of the Carmichael and Robbie Ventura DVD's more appropriate to watch during my OS workouts. I watch, but listen to the ipod!
In past winters, I've attended a group ride in front of a common TV at my LBS; I think we've looked at ~15 different DVDs, mostly Spinervals.
As others have alluded to, and implied in your note, you'd THINK there ought to be some Spinervals that would work with EN, but I haven't seen one that really matches the RnP workouts. This is not to say they are not good if you use them for what they are, but most of the intervals are much shorter than (say) 3 x 10 or 2 x 15 or whatever. You might be more successful if you were looking for videos to accompany the VO2 workouts that are 2.5 minute intervals
I do have a a CTS video called time trialing that has 3 x 5' very hard (They don't specifically call it VO2, but that's what the effort is.), followed by a 12 minute episode that you could easily do as the 85% portion. But that's the closest I've seen. http://www.amazon.com/Carmichael-Training-Systems-CycleOps-minutes/dp/B000GGU4KO
On a completely different note, Spinervals does have a few disks that give you previews of various IM courses. I have the one for the WI course. But to be fair, it's posed as a 3 hour indoor ride...which I don't exactly plan on doing any more! I rode the WI course after having looked at it, and it was better than nothing as far as course familiarization, but it's really not aimed at helping you out on race day the same way as (for example) RnP's preview, which is pretty good! (...but an entirely different product)
@Nemo - before I joined EN, I would have liked to have more Spinervals disks, and I NEVER saw them on any kind of significant discount! With all 80 bejillion of them out there, I could never understand why they didn't have bundles of several of them for a significant discount...now I know why...they were giving them to you! :-)
thesufferfest video Fight Club (TT efforts with attacks) would be good for FTP work and the title Revolver would be good for the V02max work (16 X 1 min )
I agree with Linda - stay with the sessions as described in your plan. There is plenty of work there to keep your legs and lungs doing what they should be doing, when they should be doing it. More importantly, the individual sessions are integrated with your larger EN week, which is integrated with your EN month, and so on.
fwiw, I'm on my fifth (or sixth?) year of EN-type sessions. And I ain't bored yet.
I have a large number of Spinervals DVDs and have used them in previous winters as much as six days a week. I always enjoyed them in that they provided no brainer bike training efforts - just ride and follow Coach Troy. Tough Love was usually one of my week end rides.
That said, last winter and now this winter I am in the OS and have not touched a Spinerval DVD. My reason is that the OS is cumulative over the OS to get me stronger and faster while doing the same Spinervals sessions over and over does not, for me a least, provide the up hill training road map and necessary motivation to continually increase my efforts. For me, Spinervals seemed to be about not loosing fitness over the winter, rather than gaining strength and speed.
I figure that I pay my bucks to RnP - I might as well follow their plans.
@ Linda - I need Coach Troy telling me it's time to suffer! The core of Totally Time Trial is 4x15 mins. It simulates a 40K time trial in 1 hr (total tape is 90 mins...you warm-up first with increasing intensity before kicking off 4x15 with 2mins soft pedalling in-between each). The first 15 min segment uses easier gearing and you think you will make it. The next three will kick your butt, but between the background music, the encouragement, and the DVD feedback (countdown timer, intensity bar graph, and gearing selection) I get through it. I've done EN workouts separately and I don't find them boring. But it's easier to get through hard work with Spinvervals IMHO.
BTW - Spinervals released the IMAZ preview ride a couple of weeks ago. I ordered that ASAP and have done it twice. It's a great 2 hr ABP ride and I feel very prepped for the course. I'm not getting my bike from TBT until Friday and I don't feel the need to go out and ride it now.
The one I have found somewhat helpful is the threshold testing video. It is only a 1x20, but I've found that coach troy knows where and when to start yelling at you so you snap back into focus. So I simply play it twice. With DVD I can easily rewind a chapter and pause during the 2min recovery and its ready to go.
I'll have that going plus my music while I crush myself. Otherwise, TimeTrialPalooza might be a good replacement for an RnP workout occassionally. It is 1x20 @ftp, 1x15 @ftp+5-10 watts. 1x10 @FTP+15-20watts. 1x5 all out.
Honestly...I wonder if RnP would be willing to look at certain Spinnervals videos and put them in as an alternate workout every few weeks or so. Certainly not all the time...but as a way to change things up a bit now and then. From what I've seen, TimeTrialPalooza done right is just as hard, if not harder than any of the advanced OS bike workouts. Being harder isn't necessarily good when you have workouts the next day...but its a fun one. :-)
Or, like WTC, will RnP corner the Video/DVD marketplace by making their own videos/DVDs and prohibiting sufferfest and/or spinerval playbacks?!?
Have Rich walk around a bunch of folks on trainers and yell at them, like a Drill Sergeant, for 60 minutes. Pointing out how they're pathetic for not hitting their FTP for 2x20. LOL
Paul and Eric- Thanks for the pointers! Glad to know there are some out there like that... Just wish they were cheaper! :-)
@Eric - If you like doing the workout in the Spinervals, and they aren't that different than what you're "assigned" anyway, why not just do them or adapt them?
@ Eric - you are a beast. I have Threshold Test/Sufferfest and haven't been able to replay the 1x20 on that DVD. I'm usually ready to fall of the trainer after 1 time
@ Scott - don't forget having Coach R threatening to kick you in the nuts if you don't hold your watts!
@william - this is my first EN OS. I figured I'm paying for it - I'm gonna do what RnP say. As things progress if I am feeling good I may ask RnP their thoughts on that video since I do really enjoy it. I used to do it as a benchmark before I used a PWM.
@paul - we do 1x20 - 2min recover - 1x20 as our FTP test in the haus. I only replay the video to help me get through it strong and keep me focused. I pace myself.
And as for RnP videos...they need to have an option for swearing. I think it would be fantastic to have RnP walking around telling people they were going to kick'em in the nutz if they don't hit the sets right. Or like the drill seargant from Full Metal Jacket. For some reason I would really find that funny/motivating.
I do the same as Eric for tests, just to take my mind out of the equation. I used to be a rower, so I find that I'm better off taking orders from somebody than thinking about it when it comes to pushing myself to the limit. This test is hard to 'overachieve' on, so I figure that every little bit helps!
During regular workouts, I've found it just too hard to watch a different workout from what I'm doing, so I watch old TdF stages from the Lance era. Nothing like the Alpe d'Huez TT to get you going!
A lot of people (you) have given a lot of money to a doode who basically filmed himself leading a spin workout...hmmmm....
I could possibly make a living out of yelling a people. I like that!
At IMFL, PnI brainstormed "something" that would involve powermeters, iPhones and other smart phones, an app, ANT+, and connecting the thousands of people spinning in their basements for months at a time. Then I think we had another 2for1 of Newcastle and thought about something else...
I have quite a few Spinervals from pre-EN and just bought a new one a few weeks ago. Since I live in HI and on the trainer much of the time I like the virtual reality. I had Autumn colors and Lake Placid, just got Wisconsin. I follow the EN workout but it's nice to have the scenery change. They suck for helping with home sickness though.
A lot of people (you) have given a lot of money to a doode who basically filmed himself leading a spin workout...hmmmm....
I could possibly make a living out of yelling a people. I like that!
At IMFL, PnI brainstormed "something" that would involve powermeters, iPhones and other smart phones, an app, ANT+, and connecting the thousands of people spinning in their basements for months at a time. Then I think we had another 2for1 of Newcastle and thought about something else...
Seems to me you are making a living doing that! You just aren't yelling in your podcasts. But there have been some e-beatdowns on this site.
Being a marine I'd think this would be right in your wheelhouse.
Speaking of Spinervals - did you see that Coach Troy Jacobson finished IM AZ with a time of 09:06:21? Not too shabby especially considering he had broken his collar bone at the 2010 Leadville 100 earlier this year.
I have way too many Spinervals DVDs from my pre-En days. Problem is that I probably went too hard and never knew where I was at. I was just riding a bike, sweating my arse off and listening to somebody yell at me over the tube.
I personally like the PT and the plan which gives me plenty of work and also lets me know exactly where I am at with the load of running and swimming along the way.
Do you think there is a high correlation between me getting faster and older while consistently using a PT and an EN plan vs. being younger before, slower and killing myself during a spinervals session?
Comments
You don't need them. But I suppose you could modify if you love doing them. I like to get on, do the OS workout, get off. There's enough motivation and things to concentrate on in the workout for me. JMO.
Is there anything in Spinervals that approximates 3x15, etc., that the OS workouts will get you to eventually? I can't remember.
As others have alluded to, and implied in your note, you'd THINK there ought to be some Spinervals that would work with EN, but I haven't seen one that really matches the RnP workouts. This is not to say they are not good if you use them for what they are, but most of the intervals are much shorter than (say) 3 x 10 or 2 x 15 or whatever. You might be more successful if you were looking for videos to accompany the VO2 workouts that are 2.5 minute intervals
I do have a a CTS video called time trialing that has 3 x 5' very hard (They don't specifically call it VO2, but that's what the effort is.), followed by a 12 minute episode that you could easily do as the 85% portion. But that's the closest I've seen. http://www.amazon.com/Carmichael-Training-Systems-CycleOps-minutes/dp/B000GGU4KO
On a completely different note, Spinervals does have a few disks that give you previews of various IM courses. I have the one for the WI course. But to be fair, it's posed as a 3 hour indoor ride...which I don't exactly plan on doing any more! I rode the WI course after having looked at it, and it was better than nothing as far as course familiarization, but it's really not aimed at helping you out on race day the same way as (for example) RnP's preview, which is pretty good! (...but an entirely different product)
@Nemo - before I joined EN, I would have liked to have more Spinervals disks, and I NEVER saw them on any kind of significant discount! With all 80 bejillion of them out there, I could never understand why they didn't have bundles of several of them for a significant discount...now I know why...they were giving them to you! :-)
thesufferfest video Fight Club (TT efforts with attacks) would be good for FTP work and the title Revolver would be good for the V02max work (16 X 1 min )
I agree with Linda - stay with the sessions as described in your plan. There is plenty of work there to keep your legs and lungs doing what they should be doing, when they should be doing it. More importantly, the individual sessions are integrated with your larger EN week, which is integrated with your EN month, and so on.
fwiw, I'm on my fifth (or sixth?) year of EN-type sessions. And I ain't bored yet.
That said, last winter and now this winter I am in the OS and have not touched a Spinerval DVD. My reason is that the OS is cumulative over the OS to get me stronger and faster while doing the same Spinervals sessions over and over does not, for me a least, provide the up hill training road map and necessary motivation to continually increase my efforts. For me, Spinervals seemed to be about not loosing fitness over the winter, rather than gaining strength and speed.
I figure that I pay my bucks to RnP - I might as well follow their plans.
BTW - Spinervals released the IMAZ preview ride a couple of weeks ago. I ordered that ASAP and have done it twice. It's a great 2 hr ABP ride and I feel very prepped for the course. I'm not getting my bike from TBT until Friday and I don't feel the need to go out and ride it now.
It is only a 1x20, but I've found that coach troy knows where and when to start yelling at you so you snap back into focus. So I simply play it twice. With DVD I can easily rewind a chapter and pause during the 2min recovery and its ready to go.
I'll have that going plus my music while I crush myself.
Otherwise, TimeTrialPalooza might be a good replacement for an RnP workout occassionally. It is 1x20 @ftp, 1x15 @ftp+5-10 watts. 1x10 @FTP+15-20watts. 1x5 all out.
Honestly...I wonder if RnP would be willing to look at certain Spinnervals videos and put them in as an alternate workout every few weeks or so. Certainly not all the time...but as a way to change things up a bit now and then. From what I've seen, TimeTrialPalooza done right is just as hard, if not harder than any of the advanced OS bike workouts. Being harder isn't necessarily good when you have workouts the next day...but its a fun one. :-)
Have Rich walk around a bunch of folks on trainers and yell at them, like a Drill Sergeant, for 60 minutes. Pointing out how they're pathetic for not hitting their FTP for 2x20. LOL
@Eric - If you like doing the workout in the Spinervals, and they aren't that different than what you're "assigned" anyway, why not just do them or adapt them?
@ Scott - don't forget having Coach R threatening to kick you in the nuts if you don't hold your watts!
@paul - we do 1x20 - 2min recover - 1x20 as our FTP test in the haus. I only replay the video to help me get through it strong and keep me focused. I pace myself.
And as for RnP videos...they need to have an option for swearing. I think it would be fantastic to have RnP walking around telling people they were going to kick'em in the nutz if they don't hit the sets right. Or like the drill seargant from Full Metal Jacket. For some reason I would really find that funny/motivating.
During regular workouts, I've found it just too hard to watch a different workout from what I'm doing, so I watch old TdF stages from the Lance era. Nothing like the Alpe d'Huez TT to get you going!
What I'm reading in this thread:
At IMFL, PnI brainstormed "something" that would involve powermeters, iPhones and other smart phones, an app, ANT+, and connecting the thousands of people spinning in their basements for months at a time. Then I think we had another 2for1 of Newcastle and thought about something else...
Seems to me you are making a living doing that! You just aren't yelling in your podcasts. But there have been some e-beatdowns on this site.
Being a marine I'd think this would be right in your wheelhouse.
I have way too many Spinervals DVDs from my pre-En days. Problem is that I probably went too hard and never knew where I was at. I was just riding a bike, sweating my arse off and listening to somebody yell at me over the tube.
I personally like the PT and the plan which gives me plenty of work and also lets me know exactly where I am at with the load of running and swimming along the way.
Do you think there is a high correlation between me getting faster and older while consistently using a PT and an EN plan vs. being younger before, slower and killing myself during a spinervals session?