Back in 2007, I conducted a windtrainer class. I had a fleet of Minoura Mag-800’s and I hired a hall & had a great group of athletes that would join me once a week for a tough session (similar to Spinervals by Coach Troy Jacobson except I also rode with my athletes and sweated up a storm alongside them). I’ve recently been tidying up some old boxes in the garage and found my old lesson plans and the music to go alongside them. Although primarily designed for triathletes this session is great for anyone wanting to boost their FTP (yes, I was training with power back then with the old Polar WIND power meter temperamental as it was) and it involves riding a large portion of the workout at Threshold.
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.
QK WT Class IV
- 6min WU Level II;
- 10x 50sec SLD, 10RI;
- 7x 2min Level IV (alt Climbing Cad <80rpm, High Cadence 100+rpm);
- 2:45min Level II RI;
- 2x 5min Level IV Cad 100+rpm, 5min Level II BG, TT position RI;
- 10min mini Ab circuit;
- 4min Level II CD;
- 10min Stretching
Start the workout with a six-minute Warm Up (WU) riding at Level II. Keep your cadence between 90 & 100Rpm for the warm-up.
To continue the warm-up there is a set of ten, 50-second Single Leg Drills (SLD). A Single Leg Drill (SLD) is where you unclip one leg and pedal with a single leg. Focus on pedalling complete circles. Alternate legs, use one leg for the even-numbered reps and the other leg for the odd-numbered reps. Pedal for ten seconds with both legs for your Rest Interval (RI).
There are a number of main sets the first one is made up of fourteen minutes of riding at Level IV. Alternate every two minutes from climbing with a cadence less than 80 Rpm, with High Cadence work with the cadence above 100 Rpm. At the conclusion of the fourteen minutes ride at Level II for a Rest Interval (RI) for 2:45min.
Next up are two, five-minute reps riding at Level IV maintaining a cadence above 100 Rpm. Between reps cruise at Level II in a Big Gear in your Time Trial position for a further five minutes.
You will now get off the bike and straight into a mini-Abdominal circuit. You will do three sets of:
- 45 seconds of holding the Plank (or what is also known as Prone Bridge) position,
- 45 seconds of Partial Curls and
- 45 seconds of Bicycles.
Take 15 seconds to rest and get set up for the next exercise and then take a 30-second Rest Interval (RI) between sets.
Conclude the workout with four and a half 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
Here is the playlist that I put together for the class. The intervals line up with changes in songs with slower, more gentle songs for the Warm Up and Cool Down, with more up-tempo songs for the higher intensity portions. For the class I had a CD of music, these are the closest in duration I could find on YouTube in 2021, and if you have ads play this will push things out a bit as well and it won’t perfectly line up.
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