This session is designed to enhance your ability to deliver power on the hills and develop your VO2 max. Although this session was inspired by a specific session preparing for a tough triathlon, any cyclist competing in an event that includes hills will benefit, such as a marathon mountain biking event or a road cyclist.
Each Wednesday I’ll post a Windtrainer Workout that you can do in about 60 minutes to enhance your cycling. See a previous post about training intensity (Levels) to know how hard to work. If you are working directly with Coach Ray he will in most cases prescribe either a Power Zone or Heart Rate Zone to work within if you are training with these tools.
This week’s workout was inspired by a workout by Ben Kanute prior to winning Alcatraz in 2018. I wrote about the full workout at the time. This week’s variation is modified so it is suitable for athletes with less time availability or maybe who don’t have the fitness level of a pro athlete.
Half Ben Kanute’s Pre-Alcatraz Hill Reps
- 10min WU Level II;
- 8x 2min Level V, ~2min Level II RI;
- 10min Level II RI;
- 10min CD Level I-II;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a ten-minute Warm-Up (WU) riding at Level II. Keep your cadence above 90Rpm for the warm-up.
The main set involves completing a set of eight reps two minutes long climbing at Level V, with about two minutes of Rest Interval (RI). If you are doing this on the wind trainer make sure you keep pedalling at Level II. If you are doing it on the road descend down the hill back to the start point (this might take a little longer or a little less time – just turn and head back up the hill).
Conclude the intervals with ten minutes of riding at Level II for your Cool Down (CD).
Finish with ten minutes of stretching to assist with your recovery.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729. Make sure you sign up for my informative newsletter.
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Download the Garmin (.FIT) and Zwift (.ZWO) files for this workout for FREE
If you enjoyed this workout, here is a similar session I published previously.
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