Dictionary of Intervals: Timetrial

Indoor Cycling Instructor Dictionary of Intervals: timetrial

Position or interval: The timetrial is an indoor cycling interval.
What it is: In a road race a timetrial is an individual or team race around a set route. The fastest individual or team wins. In the indoor cycling studio, you can replicate this high intensity interval by setting the time and asking riders to maintain their highest possible power for the duration. Really challenging - the shorter it is, the more power each rider will be able to push, but the longer it is, the more mentally taxing it is!
Cadence: Cadence can be as fast as 110rpm, but certainly no more. It's unlikely that cadence would be any slower than 80rpm.
Intensity: Timetrial is a maximal, high-intensity interval.
Length: Can be several minutes long depending on the purpose of the interval.
When to use: use at any point in the session, although often it's better, due to its intensity, to put it close to the end of the session.
What it does: Great for building anaerobic capacity, and muscular endurance.
Key teaching points:

• the timetrial interval is mentally challenging. Riders will expect to be riding at 100% of their functional threshold power or higher, depending on the length of the interval.
• heartrate will increase, and you'll see evidence of cardiac drift as riders maintain the same power output and cadence.
• we recommend that the timetrial is done in the seated flat/flat road position. It can also be done in the aero position, but be aware that in the studio this position is less efficient and therefore less effective. It is tempting for riders to disengage their core and have a sloppy riding technique when riding aero.
• core should be strong at all times
• attention should be paid to pedal technique; the rider should be pedalling chiefly by pushing across the top of the pedal stroke and pulling along the bottom, so that more power is exerted around more of the rotation.

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