- Right, welcome to a GCN

realtime training session.

Today we'll be climbing the Passo Campolongo

going in the Alta Badia region of the Dolomites.

I'm joined with Chris Opie.

- Hello.

And we're aboard the Wahoo Kickr,

and we've also got the Wahoo Kickr Climb and a Headwind.

We've got a 3.9 kilometer climb at 7%

which is perfect for some torque

and high cadence intervals.

- Yeah.

- It's gonna hurt. - We've got five sets

of those two minute efforts,

with two minutes recovery in-between,

you'll be pleased to know.

We've got a very short warmup,

so start raising your heart rate.

Getting that blood pumping around the body.

Coming up to one minute to go before the first session.

- And the reason for doing these efforts

is they're great for muscle recruitment,

and then you've got the high speed efforts

to teach you how to pedal really quick,

and really help you pay attention to how you're pedaling.

Really good effort.

- Yeah it's good for your leg speed

isn't it Chris? - It is yeah.

But it's a nice short session

that you can cram in at almost any time in the day.

(energetic techno music)

- It's worth noting

we have linked our Wahoo elements to our Kickrs

so that we're climbing those at 7%.

And it feels like it as well, I have to say.

- Bit of a struggle.

Right, just 35 seconds to go now

before we

crank up the intensity to nine out of 10

on the perceived exertion scale,

and that will give us a cadence of,

well we want to target a cadence of 55 to 65,

so around 60, really.

- Yeah, around 60 would be perfect,

so think about your gear choices.

We wanna really get all those muscle groups working.

Alright, think about it now.

You've got 10 seconds to go.

- Maybe tying your shoes.

Change gear, maybe.

- Alright. Five seconds.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

- Go! - And go.

So really focus on 60 rpm,

and it's gonna be at a

perceived effort around 9.

So this should be quite hard.

Straight away,

you're gonna feel it on the first effort.

But as your legs get warmer, you will loosen off,

and it ought to feel better.

(breathes heavily)

- Try and relax your hands.

Keep a nice neutral position on the bars.

Really focus on driving through your legs.

Through your hips, glutes,

pedaling nice round circles.

That's kind of the beauty of this session

is that you can pay attention to the form.

- That is exactly right.

Alright, 10 seconds coming up.

10.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

- Now straight into 110 reps per minute

so you wanna shift down a few gears.

Really spin quickly.

Little bit over the top there.

So similar power numbers.

Again, right up over your threshold.

If you use the power meter,

nine or 10,

if you do know the feel.

- Yeah, really work hard

on keeping that high cadence.

If you can hit 110,

well done to you.

It's not as easy as it looks,

but get as close to 100 as you can.

- Just 20 seconds to go now,

then we got a nice two-minute recovery.

So really squeeze.

Really push on.

Keep that cadence up in that zone where it's meant to be.

(breathes heavily)

10 seconds.

- Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

And back off. - Nice.

You wanna bring your cadence down to around 80, 85 now.

Don't back off completely.

You'll want to keep at

kind of an endurance level

so the sort of pace that you might maintain

for a good couple of hours out on the road.

Where sentences are short.

- Yeah, enjoy this recovery though.

It's only short.

So you've got two minutes,

but make it worth it.

Make sure you've got a lot of liquid on board

to keep you nice and hydrated,

and take a look at that view.

Isn't that view lovely, Chris?

- Nice and sunny.

- Oh it's beautiful!

I have to say,

I did enjoy doing this climb

for all of you out there.

It's a great perk of the job, isn't it?

- So by now you'll be feeling pretty warm, I would imagine.

You'll probably be feeling your quads a bit.

But just enjoy that recovery.

80 to 85 cadence,

trying to hold it there.

Around level three on the perceived exertion scale,

so you've not eased up completely.

You're still pedaling a bit,

maintaining a bit of effort.

Don't forget it's only a short session,

so you don't need to ease off that much, do you?

- No, that's correct.

Now under a minute to go now,

so start thinking about selecting the right gear for you

to keep that 60 rpm cadence,

which is really important.

And before you know it,

recovery session will be gone

and we're straight into the next effort.

- That will be number two of five,

so we're ticking them off pretty quick.

- Yeah we are.

- Thirty seconds. - That's the beauty of a

nice short session, isn't it mate?

- Yeah.

Feel free to stand up and have a little stretch

that sort of thing

in-between these efforts.

You wanna be comfortable

so you can get the most out of them, of course.

And these efforts are great

for when you get back out on the road,

and you're on undulating terrain,

the group's going faster,

it's going slower,

or if you don't ride out on the road,

then it's just really great for

making sure all of your muscles are working together.

Four seconds.

Three.

- Change gears now. - Two.

One.

There we go.

Cadence is 60 again.

(moves into higher tempo music)

Really kind of wanna feel like

you're doing weights at the gym with this, don't you?

- You do indeed, yeah.

I'm hitting 60 rpm now.

So this is what it should look like.

(breathes heavily)

This does get you working hard,

but it's short enough to get your head round it,

and make it worthwhile.

I've got my Kickr Climb here,

working its magic,

keeping me at the percentage of the climb.

- Just another 24 seconds on this one, there.

20 seconds,

and we'll be into that high-cadence burst again.

That's where you'll really see your heart rate climb.

That's where you really kind of have to cling on

for this effort.

That's where the magic's done.

That's where your muscles get back up to real speed,

where they need to be working.

Five seconds now.

Two.

One.

And drop down.

You might find it easier to slide around on the saddle,

I always wanna go further forwards

for the fast cadence stuff.

- Yeah if that does help, feel free

to move around on the bike.

Raising that cadence.

Getting that leg speed up.

- Remember, try to keep your upper body nice and relaxed.

We're not fighting the bike.

you wanna be nice and comfortable.

Loose hands on the bars.

Make sure it's your legs that are doing the work.

- 30 seconds now.

If you do feel you're bouncing on the saddle,

drop it down a gear.

- 15 seconds.

- 10.

Come on now.

Drive it in.

Five seconds.

- Three.

Two.

One.

- And back into your recovery. - Back into recovery.

80 to 85 cadence.

Don't back off completely

it's alright to freewheel for that first couple of seconds,

but keep a little bit of load onto your legs.

This will actually help you recover.

If you ease off completely,

your legs will go to sleep almost.

It's better to keep the blood pumping,

keep them moving.

This is a great session for muscle activation as well.

Really focusing on that high-torque, low-cadence effort

will really help you be more aware of how you're pedaling.

- I can definitely feel the percentage

on the Kickr Climb.

Can you mate?

- It starts to bite a bit, doesn't it?

- It does. - Just like in real life.

- Right, you should be feeling good now

nice and warmed up after two efforts.

Remember, you've only got three more to go,

so really make these count.

- It's only a short warmup,

but by the time you've done two reps

you'll really be able to squeeze the best

out of yourself now for the last three.

- Another 50 seconds

and then we're back into the high-torque effort.

Low cadence, really churning that gear over,

paying attention to keep the pedals

going all the way around the circle.

Over the top you're pushing down and driving forward,

but your heel underneath,

you're flicking that back up,

and pulling it back up on the pedal stroke.

It's the beauty of the

high-torque, low-speed effort,

is you can really pay attention

and really nail that pedal stroke.

And put it to good use with that high speed afterwards.

- Alright coming up 20 seconds left of your recovery.

- 15 to go.

(breathes heavily)

10 seconds.

Get that gearing ready.

Get ready to press the lap button.

Get comfortable on the bike.

Three.

Two.

One.