Tuesday, August 2
12:00 PM UTC
Train Like Chris Hoy Workout Series
Group Workout
EVENT DESCRIPTION
Have you been inspired to give track cycling a go? Have you ever wondered what it takes to win multiple world and Olympic titles? Are you the next Sir Chris Hoy?
11-time World Champion, and 6-time Olympic Champion Sir Chris Hoy has put together three of the key workouts that helped him achieve greatness which you can try from home!
Be warned, these will push you to your limit, but who said becoming a world class athlete was easy?!
About The Train Like Chris Hoy Series
These sessions will give you a taste of the type of training Sir Chris used to do on his turbo trainer as part of his preparations for major events on the velodrome. They tax the anaerobic energy systems, in particular the ability to tolerate high lactate levels, with repeated bursts of intense effort and relatively short recovery. These sessions will not only be effective at improving your anaerobic performance, but will also elevate your metabolism for up to 24 hours after the session and burn fat more efficiently than steady state training. You only need to add one of these sessions into your weekly training; they require maximum concentration and effort; the more you put in, the more you will get out!
Workout 1: The Quad Burner
This session is a fantastic way to make the most of your time. If you only have half an hour in your day to train, this one is for you. The aim is to do 8 efforts lasting 30 seconds, maintaining the same power throughout. As such the first 2 or 3 shouldn't feel too bad, with 2:30min recovery in between, but as you get further into the session the pain as well as your HR and lactate levels will keep rising. The final 3 efforts will need everything you've got, so dig deep and fight all the way to the end!
Workout 2: Kilo Pyramids
This workout will be stressing your ability to tolerate lactate using the classic 1:2 work rest ratio and will help to improve your anaerobic capacity. If done consistently and with sufficient intensity, this sort of session will really make a difference to your last lap and a half of a kilometre time trial. The target power levels will come down slightly as the duration increases, and vice versa.
About Sir Chris Hoy
Sir Chris Hoy is the most successful track cyclist of all time, with 6 Olympic titles, 11 World titles and 34 World Cup gold medals. He competed for Great Britain in the individual sprint, keirin, 1km time trial and team sprint, from 1996-2013. He still holds the World Record for the flying start 500metres (24.758sec)and the Olympic record for the standing start 1000m (1min00.711sec).
About FTP and Using +/- 25% Bias Adjustment
Intervals are scaled based on a percentage of your unique FTP, however when we're doing efforts above zone 6 the exact power numbers you can achieve may be significantly higher or lower. This is because maximal efforts use different physiological systems than the steady state efforts FTP is calculated from.
These sessions are designed to challenge you to the max, and the final efforts should be right on the limit. If you're finding them too easy or too hard you can use the Zwift Companion App to adjust your FTP calculation by +/- 25% midway through the session.
About ERG Mode and Cadence
Depending on what type of turbo trainer or smart bike you have, you should consider whether or not to use ERG mode. You can select this prior to starting the session from the settings, or you can use the Zwift Companion App to toggle ERG mode on or off during the workout.
If you're using a wheel-on trainer you may struggle to achieve peak power due to tire slip so a direct drive trainer is recommended where possible.
Depending on how your trainer creates resistance you may find that it takes longer to respond to changes in power when in ERG mode. For example, turbo trainers with a heavy flywheel need more inertia input, whereas electromagnetic resistance responds quicker.
To get the best results during the short, high intensity efforts you should start to raise your cadence several seconds before the interval begins.
When doing high intensity efforts you should aim for as high a cadence as you can, ideally up towards 120rpm.
11-time World Champion, and 6-time Olympic Champion Sir Chris Hoy has put together three of the key workouts that helped him achieve greatness which you can try from home!
Be warned, these will push you to your limit, but who said becoming a world class athlete was easy?!
About The Train Like Chris Hoy Series
These sessions will give you a taste of the type of training Sir Chris used to do on his turbo trainer as part of his preparations for major events on the velodrome. They tax the anaerobic energy systems, in particular the ability to tolerate high lactate levels, with repeated bursts of intense effort and relatively short recovery. These sessions will not only be effective at improving your anaerobic performance, but will also elevate your metabolism for up to 24 hours after the session and burn fat more efficiently than steady state training. You only need to add one of these sessions into your weekly training; they require maximum concentration and effort; the more you put in, the more you will get out!
Workout 1: The Quad Burner
This session is a fantastic way to make the most of your time. If you only have half an hour in your day to train, this one is for you. The aim is to do 8 efforts lasting 30 seconds, maintaining the same power throughout. As such the first 2 or 3 shouldn't feel too bad, with 2:30min recovery in between, but as you get further into the session the pain as well as your HR and lactate levels will keep rising. The final 3 efforts will need everything you've got, so dig deep and fight all the way to the end!
Workout 2: Kilo Pyramids
This workout will be stressing your ability to tolerate lactate using the classic 1:2 work rest ratio and will help to improve your anaerobic capacity. If done consistently and with sufficient intensity, this sort of session will really make a difference to your last lap and a half of a kilometre time trial. The target power levels will come down slightly as the duration increases, and vice versa.
About Sir Chris Hoy
Sir Chris Hoy is the most successful track cyclist of all time, with 6 Olympic titles, 11 World titles and 34 World Cup gold medals. He competed for Great Britain in the individual sprint, keirin, 1km time trial and team sprint, from 1996-2013. He still holds the World Record for the flying start 500metres (24.758sec)and the Olympic record for the standing start 1000m (1min00.711sec).
About FTP and Using +/- 25% Bias Adjustment
Intervals are scaled based on a percentage of your unique FTP, however when we're doing efforts above zone 6 the exact power numbers you can achieve may be significantly higher or lower. This is because maximal efforts use different physiological systems than the steady state efforts FTP is calculated from.
These sessions are designed to challenge you to the max, and the final efforts should be right on the limit. If you're finding them too easy or too hard you can use the Zwift Companion App to adjust your FTP calculation by +/- 25% midway through the session.
About ERG Mode and Cadence
Depending on what type of turbo trainer or smart bike you have, you should consider whether or not to use ERG mode. You can select this prior to starting the session from the settings, or you can use the Zwift Companion App to toggle ERG mode on or off during the workout.
If you're using a wheel-on trainer you may struggle to achieve peak power due to tire slip so a direct drive trainer is recommended where possible.
Depending on how your trainer creates resistance you may find that it takes longer to respond to changes in power when in ERG mode. For example, turbo trainers with a heavy flywheel need more inertia input, whereas electromagnetic resistance responds quicker.
To get the best results during the short, high intensity efforts you should start to raise your cadence several seconds before the interval begins.
When doing high intensity efforts you should aim for as high a cadence as you can, ideally up towards 120rpm.
Quad Burner
Flat Route Reverse1
5
28Min
Kilo Pyramid
Greatest London Flat1
5
40Min