They can all be really easy if you are sandbagging on RPE, or even power if your FTP is set low. If you are using them with a power meter and have a fair estimate of your FTP from a test where you tried your hardest, then they are all rock hard!!

In particular, Hell Hath No Fury running at 100% with an accurate FTP is really really hard. Almost impossible!!

CLOSE THE GAP YOU GAP OPENER!

I hear this in my head everytime i see someone drop a wheel.

well if you dont have a powermeter and are doing it by rpe, and not cheating i think revolver is the hardest, but if going by power it would be hell hath no fury or islagiath. simply because 2 hours at almost ftp is like hell on wheels.
and if you just want to have the feeling of getting off the bike and lie down curling into a ball and crying "im a monster" then go to http://www.thesufferfest.com/...rlandrian-cocktails/ and find "the gatling gun" if done correctly you will be toast when completed :)

My vote for top 3 hardest in no particular order -
9 hammers, hell hath no fury, downward spiral

I have TrainerRoad and a Cycleops Fluid 2.

ISLAGIATT is the one video that actually became easier (or rather, possible at all) when I started working with power. I used to overcook myself on the opening climbs so hard I couldn't finish the next ones. But with power it actually averages out, if you follow it to the letter, to a reasonable effort, around 85% of FTP I think.

Hell Hath No Fury is absolute bloody murder though.

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ZONE3 - We Last Longer

its the test but Rubber glove will kick your ass every time. There Is No Try is also a favroite

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USAC, Health and Nutrition Coach
http://www.echelonhealthcoaching.com
use code SLOWTWITCH for %15 off

Hell Hath No Fury...

that sad moment when the cranks stop moving... :'(

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

+1 on this.

My hardest three would be Hell Hath No Fury, Revolver, and A Very Dark Place. They make me feel ill

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http://www.thedeludedcyclist.wordpress.com

HHNF, Revolver, and Fight Club. Honorable mention to Long Scream - which I would advise not doing two days after Rubber Glove / new FTP.

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

Holy crap. I hadn't seen that list before. Very funny.

I've already picked the one I'm doing next.

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king of the road says you move too slow
KING OF THE ROAD SAYS YOU MOVE TOO SLOW

As mentioned, Hell Hath No Fury done with a powermeter and hitting the targets is REALLY hard.

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

Another vote for Hell Hath No Fury as hardest. It's hard enough to hold your threshold for 2x20's, much less with all the above-threshold time plus attacks. I will say, however, that the 3:30 TTT at the end is my absolute favorite 3:30 in all of Sufferlandria. The visuals and soundtrack are amazing. I have literally cried afterwards, multiple times. Of course, that may have been because of the previous 2x20's ...

I find 9 Hammers and Revolver to be very manageable if you ride to accurate levels. Minimal number of RPE 10's in 9H, none in Revolver. Angels OTOH is sneaky-hard; by the time you get to the last 8 minute section you're ready to crack if you overshot by even a little early on. And agree that ISLAGIATT is brutal. Long, long, boring, and did I mention long?

Favorite: 9 Hammers. Incredibly perfect workout. Just when you think you're going to crack, it's time for a recovery. Very, very well-designed workout. Kudos to NealHe. Second favorite: The Blender. Same comments. Local Hero is pretty well-designed, too.

They are all hard. I don't think any one is "harder" than the other as they are all different kinds of workouts used for different reasons.

That said if you are doing this to drop weight you will want to mostly use the ones that have reasonably steady-state long intervals that are all just under/around LT (which also happen to be the ones best used for triathlon anyway).

The Rookie: 3x10:00
HHNF 2x20:00
ISLAGIATT: 15:00, 20:00, 20:00, 8:00, 7:30
The Hunted: 10:00, 20:00
Angels: 3x8:00 (This one starts crossing the line into SuperLT)
The Wretched: 35:00 of LT torment
Fight Club: intervals are 7:30, similar to Angels

Then there are the ones that bring you into SuperLT and VO2 for shorter intervals. Also very useful:
Nine Hammers: 9 VO2 and SuperLT intervals of mixed timing between 3 and 4:30
Local Hero: Pretty much the same as Nine Hammers, only there are 13 intervals
Revolver 16x1:00 (The fastest way I know to utterly destroy myself on a bike)
Blender: A mixed bag of everything - nothing longer than 10:00, but all going shorter

The sprinting videos (Violator and Half is Easy) are less useful for triathlon, and I don't think they really assist much in losing weight - but they are excellent training in general for cycling.

I haven't found much of a use for There Is No Try and The Downward Spiral in terms usefulness to triathlon - but I still like to do those on occasion to mix up the training. However like the sprinting workouts these have short-ish intervals that probably don't exactly assist in your goal.

I don't have them all, But I have 7 of them...

I do them with a powermeter and trainer road... trainer road being an impartial judge of power described by the video...

I always have the biggest issue with "A Downward Spiral"

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"4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels move the soul"

Another vote for HHNF, I find I get through the first half fine. But the "climb" in the second 20 minutes where you are at a sustained 115% of FTP for a few minutes absolutely destroys me and is tough to recover from. The time trial at the end is awesome and usually can hit the targets, but its at the end so maybe its an all or nothing mentality.

I think their 'newer' videos ie. Rookie and Nine Hammers much more manageable and really well done videos, they have come a long way.

I agree, they are all hard if you've set your FTP at the right level. That said, the 9th hammer, in nine hammers is always VERY difficult because there is no rest between the 8th and 9th hammer. The key is to mix it up, the more you get use to a particular video the easier it becomes.

Yep. Great workout, and great Ironman training, IMHO. Two hours at about 80% of FTP for me has me ready to order my coffin.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

REALLY becomes almost impossible on CT Erg mode...

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

When I ride ISALGIATT fairly close to specified profile I end up with a TSS around 150. My half-iron rides are usually in the 180 range. So yea... just about squeezing an entire HIM ride effort into 2 hours :)

The pyramids in Local Hero kick my ass. I really don't understand why they do either, as time trialing is my strong suit.

A Very Dark Place is the workout I dread the most and find the most painful. Probably the most important for the type of racing I do. Being 100% pinned - then having to jump from that already high level is a unique-to-bike-racing feeling. It's not really possible in running as you'd just load up and it's lights out after that. For some reason I've got a "hole" in my power profile between 1 min and 10 min, and this is some nasty (but effective) medicine to cure that hole. Based on my understanding of the Canova "funnel" approach to training, it wodl be a perfect early-season workout for 40K TTs or other FTP-centric events.

I thought about that the other day when on my KickR in erg mode. I don't think I could do HHNF in erg mode!

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

Same here... that video makes me want to unclip from the trainer and just fall to the side. It's always my go-to video when I feel like a slug and need to punish myself for lack of training.