Simulate windsprints on exercycle?

I do all mine at one resistance. In peak season I go one minute hard and
one minute recovery. In the off season I do 30 secs on and 30 seconds
recovery. I'm turning 70 rpm on the recovery and 105 rpm on the sprint.
Its a matter of finding the correct resistance. Set it so you can do 16
repetitions. If you can't do 16, back off a little. If 16 is too easy,
then up the resistance.

Phil H

"LurfysMa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I would like to buy an exercycle, preferably recumbent, for home use.
I would like to get one that can simulate windsprints. That is, short
bursts (20-40 seconds) of higher intensity to the point of getting
"winded" then returning to the baseline workout rate until recovery,
then repeating that.

I know I can do that myself by just increasing the rpms when I feel
that I can, but I'm naturally lazy and will not work as hard as I
could.

When I was on the track tean in high school, the coach used to have us
sprint down the straightaways of the track (about 100 yards), then
walk around the curves about 120 yards. That was a fixed pattern that
did not take into account anything about heart rate, etc.

I'd never used an exercycle until this week. I have access to a gym
for a week or so thay has several Life Fitness recumbent cycles. I
didn;t write down the model number, but it looks like the 9500RHR
pictured here:

http://www.globalfitness.com/detail_elliptical_training_machine.asp?id=207

I'll try to remember to write down the model number tomorrow.

It has a lot of settings including manual, so I guess I could program
it to do something like a windsprint. Today I tried the Interval Heart
Rate program under the Zone Trainer button, but the intervals are way
too long for wind sprints.

I tried the target heart rate setting, but it wouldn't let me really
push it. When I upped the rpms and my heart rate shot up, it backed
off the resistance so much that I was just spinning free.

Can anyone suggest how I can program this machine for wind sprints?

I htink the program would be something like this:

1. Warm up
2. Establish a constant heart rate at some resistance and rpm.
3. Increase the resistance by a big jump for 20-40 seconds.
4. Drop back down to the baseline rate until the heart rate returns.
5. Return to 3 until the time is up.

Does anyone know of a machine (either commercial or home use) that can
be so programmed?

Are there any that can be programmed from a PC?

Thanks

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On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:10:23 -0800, "Phil Holman"

piholmanc@yourservice said:

I do all mine at one resistance. In peak season I go one minute hard and
one minute recovery. In the off season I do 30 secs on and 30 seconds
recovery. I'm turning 70 rpm on the recovery and 105 rpm on the sprint.
Its a matter of finding the correct resistance. Set it so you can do 16
repetitions. If you can't do 16, back off a little. If 16 is too easy,
then up the resistance.

It sounds like I put it in manual mode and set a fixed resistance,
right?

The Life Fitness model has resistance from 1-25, I think. So say I set
it to 10 for starters. I don't think I can do 105 rpm at my age, but
maybe 80-90 then down to 50-60.

My experience with windsprints was the fast interval was about half to
one third the length of the slow. So maybe 30 seconds fast, then 60-90
slow, repeat.

16 intervals like that would be about the equivalent of 8 miles
running (except that I don't have to lug my fat [censored] for all that
distance). ;-)

Thanks for the tips. I'll try them out tomorrow.

--

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:10:23 -0800, "Phil Holman"

piholmanc@yourservice said:

I do all mine at one resistance. In peak season I go one minute hard and
one minute recovery. In the off season I do 30 secs on and 30 seconds
recovery. I'm turning 70 rpm on the recovery and 105 rpm on the sprint.
Its a matter of finding the correct resistance. Set it so you can do 16
repetitions. If you can't do 16, back off a little. If 16 is too easy,
then up the resistance.

I tried a variation of your method just now. Whew. What a workout.

I set the machine (LifeFitness 95Ri) resistance to 12 (on 1-25). My
plan was to do do 20 seconds hard and 40 recovery. That would allow me
to complete a cycle every minute. I set the time for 22 minutes to
allow a 2 minute warmup.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could do about 105 rpm
without killing myself. I backed off to about 65 for recovery. This is
a little easier than your workout, but it had me going.

Thanks for the suggestion.

--

"LurfysMa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:10:23 -0800, "Phil Holman"

piholmanc@yourservice said:

I do all mine at one resistance. In peak season I go one minute hard
and
one minute recovery. In the off season I do 30 secs on and 30 seconds
recovery. I'm turning 70 rpm on the recovery and 105 rpm on the
sprint.
Its a matter of finding the correct resistance. Set it so you can do
16
repetitions. If you can't do 16, back off a little. If 16 is too easy,
then up the resistance.

I tried a variation of your method just now. Whew. What a workout.

I set the machine (LifeFitness 95Ri) resistance to 12 (on 1-25). My
plan was to do do 20 seconds hard and 40 recovery. That would allow me
to complete a cycle every minute. I set the time for 22 minutes to
allow a 2 minute warmup.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could do about 105 rpm
without killing myself. I backed off to about 65 for recovery. This is
a little easier than your workout, but it had me going.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Good job. You should set the level for a moderately difficult workout
and as you get fitter (you will) you can either increase the time (25
sec hard and 35 recovery) or increase the resistance. Like I said, in
the off-season I do 30 sec on and 30 seconds off and in-season, 1 min on
1 min off but I transition over the course of a few weeks. Good luck.

Phil H