CheGiantForLife

A typical HIIT session should last anywhere between 4 minutes (like Tabata) and 15 minutes. Overuse injuries can arise if workouts are too long; cap HIIT workouts at 30 minutes.

https://www.mensjournal.com/health-f...-hiit-workout/

livedarklions

Tabata is going to give you little to no benefit if that's all you're doing. I already posted a link to an article about this. Also, Tabata is highly structured, not just go up a hill, go down a hill, go up a hill, go down a hill. You're seriously doing multiple 20 second on, 10 seconds off on hills? Neat trick, explain it.

Just because you get winded doesn't mean you're doing HIIT, and you definitely aren't doing Tabata unless you've found a magically perfectly timed set of 8 20 second hills with 10 second descents. Again, I'm no expert on HIIT, but my understanding is it's generally done on flat courses so the rider can control the effort intensity. I suspect very strongly you're doing the fallacy of thinking "my workout is like HIIT" without actually being anything like the highly structured and monitored HIIT routine.

The article I linked to before explained that Tabata never made the claim that this should be the only thing you're doing, which if done correctly is still only riding 12 minutes a week. Faddish marketing seized on the short overall time and ignored the inconvenient parts of what Tabata was prescribing.


Did you bother to read the rest of the paragraph I wrote that you're quoting?

livedarklions

No way you're doing a Tabata routine on that.

CheGiantForLife

You're right, 20 seconds max effort / 10 seconds rest has been proven to increase VO2Max,
but 19 or 21 seconds will be totally ineffective with zero benefit. LOL, ok.

WhyFi

So has your arduous round trip gotten any easier in response to your training regimen?

Milton Keynes

I actually have a route which is uphill both ways... taking the paved back road from my town to the next town over there's a couple of hills to climb, and then heading back home I climb the same hills again. Luckily it's also downhill both ways, too.

rsbob 

Now if you had pedaled barefoot and in the snow, it would be worthy of a new saying.

livedarklions

Again that's a neat trick on a short steeply u shaped course as getting to vo2max on the downhill 50% is likely impossible for you or most of us mere mortals. How are you measuring your vo2max btw?

WhyFi

Let's not forget that he's already declared that it's impossible to work as hard on flat ground as you can going uphill, so he obviously can't do HIIT there, either. "Simple," was how he described the logic, IIRC. Anyway, he's quickly running out of room to workout on his circuit.

CheGiantForLife

In fact, I did the 3.5 mile loop yesterday, and I noticed I was stronger. I bet my time has dropped.
At one point, there is a 14% hill, and now I do not switch back, and am able to power through.

GhostRider62

It is easy, don't read OP's post instead of polluting the thread with 20+ stupid posts. There is also the Ignore List

As for steep hills, my approach when riding the recumbent is to avoid them or walk them. I know my limits. So this means some routes that I love on my upright bike simply are off limits on the bent. On the upright, I avoid extended climbs over 12% or short ones over 20%. My knees thank me. Personally, I see no training or enjoyment benefit from a hill over 10% and simply choose my routes accordingly.

Maelochs

How dare you suggest that recumbents are not as effective as DF bikes for climbing hills!? I invoke the Spirit of @rydabent to curse you with a long thread full of highly biased and factually unsupported comments.

WhyFi

You've gotten so much stronger that it shortened the length of your route by almost a third?! Kudos!

wolfchild

The intensity of Tabata is higher than other forms of HIIT...Just because you're doing 20 seconds effort and 10 seconds rest doesn't necessarily mean it's Tabata....My personal opinion is that building an aerobic base is more important and should be done first before even attempting any form of HIIT especially Tabata...If don't have some basic aerobic fitness and endurance to ride at least 50 miles comfortably, then you have no business dong HIIT.

big john

Until we get old. Then we suck on hills, unless we are a skinny mountain goat.

big john

This is the way. Build a base, maybe get a road bike, too.

GhostRider62

Tabata intervals will make you hate life.

They are the last thing to add to a training program, they aren't even icing on the cake, more like sprinkles on the icing.

Bake the cake first.

3alarmer 

.
...I do intervals on a relatively flat course here, at distances varying between 15 and 20 miles. I ride standard 70's and 80's lugged steel road bikes, and I usually stop and stretch/recover at the turnaround. It takes me much longer than 30 minutes. I do this 2 or 3 times weekly. I have done it for years. Obviously, I'm not doing intervals for the whole 20 miles. What does not kill me, makes me stronger.

...I think it's because you took my advice, and got rid of the battery. You're welcome.

livedarklions

And the hills got 2% steeper!

rumrunn6

yeah I guess you are right

big john

I still try.

terrymorse 

Hear hear. So, age has made us slower climbers than we used to be. But we can still work to get faster. Maybe.

I'm not giving in without a fight.

big john

I don't know about faster, but I'd like to be able to do some of the rides I used to do without struggling. I suppose I can be happy doing 60-65 mile rides with 3K feet of climbing but it would be nice to bust out 8K feet once in a while.

terrymorse 

What us old guys lack in speed, we make up in endurance. It’s one of our only remaining super powers.

I bet you’d have no problem with 8k of climbing, if you worked up to it. I’ve been doing some 5k days and haven’t suffered. Remember to take a recovery day, though. We recover more slowly (I write having not taken a day off in weeks).

big john

One of my favorite 100 feet per mile rides was Angeles Crest highway. We used to do out and back rides up there but it got discovered by car racers. I should go up there on a weekday when it cools off.