I have fight club, downward spiral and revolver. I am currently thinking of trying The Hunted...... But anyway. I think Fight club is my favorite. The attacks, if done right as they say 100% effort and +15 cadence, will wreck you if you can keep up with the regular workout. It usually spikes my heartrate from 170+ to almost 190 at every attack! Revolver is my second favorite as a shorter workout. Again if done right, the 1 minute 100% efforts will hurt a lot!

One thing i hate about them is the weird music. So i just listen to my ipod if i'm not in the mood for their weird electronica music.

Anyway, hope this helps!

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I also have fight club, downward spiral and revolver. My favorite is probably fight club because I like contantly having to chase people down in the video, I feel like i've been hit by a truck after I complete those efforts. Revolver is really good for a condensed interval workout in the morning too.

To be honest I like all of them, go on the site and check out the descriptions, choose whichever you think will suit you best. You can't go wrong with any of them, revolver is the shortest one at 45 mins (if I remember correctly). He is currently working on a new release due out in February.

They're only 11 bucks, you'll endup collecting them like I did, I too am considering Hunted as my next one.


I personally really like the music, but it's certainly not for everybody.

I can't input to tell you my favorite one, since I haven't seen any of them. I can put in to tell you that I'm also in the market for them. I emailed David (the creator) and he suggested The Hunted, Angels and Fight Club, in that order, for triathletes. I agree that you probably can't go wrong with any of them, but the two former seem to be prolonged intense efforts and the latter is all about the mental toughness necessary to constantly accelerate. I think the other videos feature shorter, more intense intervals in greater number, which are more applicable to roadies, cyclocross, MTB, etc.

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2014: 40k TT focus

Race reports at http://tripikapp.blogspot.com

I have fight club and the hunted. favorite is fight club...i totally dig the music and the pace is just right. The hunted is good to mix things up....so I do FC on Tuesdays and Hunted on Thursdays.

I like Sufferfest better than spinervals and for the price....they rock!

I am thinking about getting another too....besides FC and the Hunted, what are peoples favs?

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My other car is a Felt. DFL>DNF>DNS.

"There will come a day you won't be able to do this, today is not that day."

I rotate through fight club, downward and now the hunted. like them all.

What about revolver? Better than the 3 I mentioned or just as good/but different?

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Such a Bad Runner

I was just at their site a couple of days ago. Could you help out the old computer illterate (me)? Will the download to the avg laptop, will I be able to burn a disc that would play in a reg dvd player on my t.v. ? Thanks,

I have them all. I like fight club the best followed by the hunted then angels. They're all great but those are the best.

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I think "condensed" is the right word. It's good in the mornings when I don't have much time. Think of it as a structured interval session, good for building your cardio.

These sound really cool. Race footage with instruction.

Are you playing it through your computer or burned to DVD? I'm also wondering about quality on a larger screen TV.
KC

Just wondering, why does there seem to be no love for downward spiral?

Downward spiral was the first one I downloaded and I love it! I haven't regretted any of my downloads. If I was to rate the three I have in 10 being the best, it would go:
Fight Club 10, Revolver 9.5, Downward Spiral 9.5. So all in all, all of these I've downloaded so far have been great! I'm downloading "The Hunted" now :)
Everytime I make it halfway through downward spiral, I feel I'm ready to quit XD! It's a great video.

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I've not tried burning them. I have a mac and they play fine on my comp. I did put them on my iphone but for no reason. I just set up my comp next to my bike on a snack tray table w/headpohones. Or without headphones and let my newborn listen to the tunes and watch me whilst in her swing. She kicks her legs and it's a lot of fun to watch!

I know they sell a "class" or "Group" license so that is probably an easier format to burn. Though handbrake should do the job...not that i'd ever do that cause it's illegal.

Happy Festivus!

J

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My other car is a Felt. DFL>DNF>DNS.

"There will come a day you won't be able to do this, today is not that day."

Based upon this thread (and the wine I've had tonight...and the 18 lego sets I've built, the 2 race tracks I've assembled, the 22 games I've played twice each, the 9 midnight and 2 am feedings i've done, and the cooking/dishes over the past 3 days) I'm gonna treat myself to "revolver" right now.

Ski-dooosh (sound made while doing the "wooshy finger hold"...all other parents of small children will understand.

Happy SUFFERING!!!!

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My other car is a Felt. DFL>DNF>DNS.

"There will come a day you won't be able to do this, today is not that day."

+1

A sure sign you're doing it right :) Giggling during a recovery period is also acceptable once you realize how badly you're beating yoursef up.

i got them all for my birthday a few weeks ago. a friend downloaded them then burned them to a dvd for me so i don't have to watch my laptop. i've done angels, the hunted, and revolver so far. i've been using them as a 2nd hard workout for the week. i loved angels and the hunted. my vizsla would run upstairs to check on me whenever the dogs barked on the video. it was funny. revolver was rough. if you do it right, your legs will hate you. and i texted my brother after the 15th interval that the "a$$hole video is making me do another one" when they gave me the 16th of 15 to do. he just laughed at me.

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Fruit snacks are for winners

an option is to convert the mp4s to avi ( i use pazerra because its free) and then make a dvd but the quality suffers. if you have a mac or friend with a mac you can get hd quality dvds made.
any indoor training dvd where you are watching cx is one worth using
i really recommend them to people who are more confortable with gear selection and rpe otherwise you might not get the most out of them

I watch them through my apple tv. It streams them wirelessly from my computer.

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Sounds like you and I lead identical lives... :)
Going to download one of the videos tonight to try, but won't be until 9 or 10PM, when the kids are finally asleep...

Curious how you watch them through Apple TV? Do you download into itunes then stream from there? Really want to try these videos, burned out on spinervals. Thanks for input!

It defaults to QuickTime as a player but you just have to find the video in your download file then click "open with" and select iTunes from then on it's in your movies section of iTunes. On apple tv you go to the computers section and it will have all your videos listed.

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____________________________________________________
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I have a video of my wedding day -- does that qualify?

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Have Fun ** Tri Hard ** Be Kind
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I used the free version of Any Video Converter to convert to a DVD format. After that I used the software that came with windows 7 to burn it to a DVD. I can give you exact instructions if you need them when I get home. It took a few hours to covert it though.

Quality seems OK, it was a big download since I got both versions (single and multiple), think it took something like 4 hours at 450kps.

I also converted it to run on my mp3 player, think it compressed down to 90mb. I listen to it over the headphones and watch it on the little screen so I can put anything else in the TV-DVD player.

jaretj

i have fight club....love it!!!!

I like revolver, it uses track footage and CX footage. I'm been on the verge of puking a couple of times and I've quit in the middle a few times. Really Really hard. It has a nice little suprise at the end.

I've never understood the tweets/posts about doing them Back-to-back-to-back. I can't see how that is possible unless you sand bag.

It is possible. I've done 4 in a row in my Kona prep. You don't sandbag it just gets harder. Imwas hitting my target heart rate in every video. There are only a few all out sessions on the videos other than revolver and downward spiral and they relatively short bursts. Its like being on the verge of throwing up for 3 1/2 hours.

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____________________________________________________
Check out my blog
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Thanks. My wife is much more versed in computers. With your info combined with another post, she will have the info needed.
THANK YOU MUCH...............................Kenney

Just started downloading Fight Club. Wish they had more bandwidth. It's downloading at around 170kb/s, gonna take about 3+ hours... :(

I like angels and downward spiral. Intervals are longer and more TT like efforts. Fight club and the others have some faster attacks and are good for crit or cross style of racing.

Just downloaded and completed fight club and was very impressed. I think it is a complete package and can be replayed multiple times without loosing its wow factor. Fight Club was a good mix of 3-5 min intervals with attacks, tt efforts, and climbing. Great all around workout. Time went very fast for a trainer session. This tops the vision quest series (raceway and power) which i think are still very good, sufferfest simply sets a new standard.

Some argue that these are not good for triathletes, but i would disagree. My early season races include two duathlons, two sprints, and one olympic race. The power gained in these workouts is very beneficial for these types of races. Also, this workout replicates very well a group training ride with pace, incline, and cadence changes. Thus, this helps prepare one for the spring group rides.

Hunted is great. It was my first go at a sufferfest and I think I loved it. This winter focus will be easy.

Just bought Hell Hath No Fury, the 2 x 20 workout... love/hate the 2 x 20! I like the 3 x 8' hill climbs in Angels, the 3 x 6' pyramids in Local Hero and I still haven't finished Downward Spiral... ouch! I just started mixing a few videos together to keep it more interesting and using my own tunes. For example I'll start with HHNF and ride until the 2 x 20's are finished then click over to Local Hero, already set up at the beginning of the 3 x 6' pyramid section. These videos keep me motivated through the winter... getting on the trainer doesn't seem so bad when the Sufferfest is rockin' in the pain cave! Sounds like I need to purchase a few more.

I've backed up my videos to CD but can't play them on my DVD player (only computer). Can someone explain how to burn them to a DVD (on a MAC) for a DVD player? Thanks in advance if so!

It seems like the video production is getting better with each video. Much love to the Sufferfest... as weird as that is.

For all you people who started using it and are 'loving' it, you're gonna be like me.

I LOVED Sufferfest - for the first 3 weeks, possibly even 2, where I used them at least 3x/week.

Then I started to dread them. So friggin' hard and painful. Every dang time. So much Suffering.

It's awesome. I literally started getting nervous before putting in that 1 min on 1 min off (?Revolver) video, as it hurts so bad.

Chime in again when your love turns to hate (and you get faster in the process.)

The trepidation increases when you combine an computrainer with "revolver" 16x1min is brutal, when you cant slow down at all, just hammer away at the power you set. Just did revolver this morning with 16x1min at 5x400w, 5x410w, 5x420w, and ended with the last one at 500w....legs where/are shredded. The hardest part about this workout is that after 5 you think you cant go on, but somehow you keep doing it.

Yup - I do revolver with a Cycleops2 and use speed as a surrogate for power. I feel like quitting after the 3rd one, and somehow, I just hang my head, and hang in there for 15 more without any dropoff in speed.

SPOILER ALERT - The first time I did it, I was so proud of myself after holding the pace for all 15. And then #16 showed up and I nearly threw up on my aerobars.

I have three videos. In order of preference

Angels > Fight Club > Local Hero

Angels is a great work out. I find that it does a great job of building your heart rate up progressively using the track warm up followed by some Over / Unders. The climbs are challenging and it's easy to overestimate your abilities and burn out before the end of the video (at least, it has happened to me ...and I know what my FTP is). The other thing that I appreciate is that there is no repetition of video footage during the workouts (unlike fight club) and I like the audio tracks.

I have to say that the sufferfest videos are a welcome relief from the Spinerval DVDs.

i bring a webcam to work; best sufferfest video ever

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Have Fun ** Tri Hard ** Be Kind
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Havent done Revolver/HHNF/Very Dark Place yet...though coming up.

Three hardest i thought so far were in order 1. Angels, 2. FightClub, 3.Local Hero. Run on a CT in ergmode on Golden Cheetah, so there is no let up.

The last interval of Angels based on my FTP was a killer, 8min @ FTP*1.15 to 1.30 was by far the hardsest of any set so far.

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2016:
IMFL #12
http://www.bestbikesplit.com

I just got the three new ones, very dark place, extra shot, and the 2x20 one (hhnf i think), anyways here are my thoughts.

Very dark place: I like the workout structure of 4' intervals and the video is good, but i do not like the music as much. Overall a b+ in my book, buy it.

Extra Shot: I love this as it is 20' of very hard work, decent to good music, and is a great addition to any workout. I like to put it at the end of a long endurance session as it replicates road racing quite well, buy it.

HHNF: Nice workout structure, but i have zero interest watching women's cycling when doing a very hard workout, that just ruined it for me. The music is good, workout great, but i really am not a fan of this one, would not suggest over others. I would rather just pull up you tube and watch stage 19 of the 2011 TDF for a 2x20.

One thing i have been doing to replicate crit racing/road racing is integrating several aspects of their videos into one. Here is what it looks like:

Angels over unders x 2 (20').....Races start hard

Fight Club Two laps + Recovery (20').......tempo with jumps

The Hunter 20' climb at sub-threshold (20').......race calms down

Local Hero 3 x 3' laps towards the end + recovery (15').......Race picks up with jumps

The Downward Spiral Second set (20')....The race begins


Recovery time is the amount of time it takes to find each video/interval. The key is careful pacing but i find the power file will decently duplicate many road races i have done, slightly more evenly paced but a solid training session. I might add or subtract a few sections depending on fatigue/race prep etc.

My most used ones are: Local Hero, Downward Spiral, A Very Dark Place, and Hell Hath No Fury (I have no ego problem with getting chicked :-) in that order. I also have Angels, but haven't used it of late. However that ranking may change as I start using them with the TrainerRoad integration (which Local Hero doesn't work with yet). It's easy to cheat the perceived effort scales in the videos, but add the power reading and targets for each interval, and WHOA! You are at a wholenew level of intensity. . First time I did "A Very Dark Place", it turned into a VERY Dark Place!!

fight club for sure, just busts ass. I use the 4min tt at TH power or higher, then the 2:30 climb after at vo2....

then a very dark place. again, TH power for tt's and standing and drilling when told to!

downward spiral is my "off day" vid, just doesn't hurt as much

Angels

hell hath no fury....2X20 is not fun for me this time of year, and 6' recovery is too long and I'm too lazy to get off the rollers and back on

local hero I haven't tried yet, want to used for a long workout, but nothing higher than threshold power a couple times if that, and the rest always pushing at tempo power. just haven't had the time yet. An hours works well right now.

the videos are great, I'd never train in the winter without them. sometimes I rather do them than go on the road, I like structure!!

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
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If Downward Spiral doesn't hurt, you aren't going hard enough ;-) TrainerRoad translated those to 130% FTP.

well....maybe.... you're right!!! I certainly don't 130% but I need a video for easier days and I just like that one for them...if I do them at TH power, it feels like a workout, and the next day I'm not toast!!! Of course you're right!!! if you come away thinking any of them are easy, you are not suffering the way you should be!!!

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
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My favorite video for pure work is Angels. Everything about that video just gets me up and going. Recently I started punching out numbers I didn't even think I had in me. If I do Angels, I just watch Angels and that is it - by the end it hurts just to hold 100w.

My second favorite is probobly Fight Club. The video seems to blend well with the music and the attacks make it interesting. I usually try to pair it with another video to simulate a race situation. I'm not a fan of Local Hero. I have all the videos but havent play AVDP, Revolver, Downward Spiral and those short interval ones yet - those are being saved for late feb/march.



If I want to really push myself:
30 mins zone 2 WU
Fight Club
30 mins zone 2
The Hunted
10 mins CD

The last 5 min interval of the Hunted is GREAT for simulating the end of a hard road race.

I like Local Hero when I'm doing endurance as well
30 mins zone 2 WU
Local Hero, but for every interval sit at about 95% FTP, then sit at upper zone 2 between rests.
15 min CD

alright...I just put in an honest effort for downward spiral and my kJ don't even come close to fight club or the hunted or a very dark place.....not that it was easy, just think the structure of the other videos are different and more difficult....I put in an IF of .91....I was working....

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
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hehe, are they a little too high? I haven't done them yet, too busy coding. Hell Hath No Fury is the toughest. We didn't want to make them too easy though because then they wouldn't be a true "SufferFest".

I recommend turning down the intensity unless you bring a bucket to your workout.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

[quote Nate Pearson

hehe, are they a little too high? I haven't done them yet, too busy coding. Hell Hath No Fury is the toughest. We didn't want to make them too easy though because then they wouldn't be a true "SufferFest".

I recommend turning down the intensity unless you bring a bucket to your workout.[/quote]
These are the only hour workouts I need to load up TWO waterbottles for :-)
Hmm...will have to give HHNF a go this evening (if my wife doesn't have other plans).

The first 2 min interval in Downward Spiral was the killer...I immediately tried to get to target and hold it, but could not hold it for longer than about 1:30. So the second set, I gradually built up to the target in the 2:00 and 1:45 intervals. I was almost relieved once the intervals got down to 1:00 and less (though that meant I had to do them harder :-) !!

wow!! what kind of ftp do you have ?

I have them all and have been using them for the last two years.

In terms of a favorite Revolver just gets the job done but I really like the last two; HHNF and AVDP, "storyline" is much improved as is the overall quality of the editing and footage, soundtracks are very different but that is just personal taste

Recently started using TrainerRoad and that adds another element of interest although it's taking some time to dial it in.

Also you can't knock the pricing $12. I picked up a new Trainer during the summer and it came with a Spinervals DVD #27 which I used for the first time two weeks ago and it was all I could do to not beat my brains out on the stem it was so boring, had I paid $30 for it I would have royally po'd!

265-275 (no formal test lately but that is what i averaged at a 50min crit race recently), but i do a lot of crit racing/road racing so my power numbers above FTP are pretty high. That was also a true max effort on those, could not even do one more at the end.

For the CompuTrainer users, I have a spreadsheet that will generate ERG files for each of the Sufferfest videos. http://viewsoftheroad.com/...erfest_Erg_Files.xls You'll need to enter your FTP, recovery percentage and max percentage.

Ted, just curious that since in your spreadsheet you can adjust the Max Power, what RPE should equate to your FTP. If I enter my FTP and leave the default 140%, that makes RPE 7 around my FTP which seems real high when doing the video, ie...most of The Hunted is RPE 8, and Revolver is either 10 or 3.
Thanks

I'm not a coach, so I can only give you my personal experience. 140%, for me, is about as high as I go, but only on days when I'm feeling really good. 125-130% is more reasonable for some of the videos. I made that a variable so that people could tweak it as necessary. Matt McNamara wrote an article for PezCyclingNews about using Sufferfest with power where he talks about the TSS and IF scores at various max levels. http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/...ullstory&id=9844

all I can say is THANKS! This is an awesomely useful spreadsheet file! I don't even have a computrainer lol

I don't have a computrainer either, but I do have a power tap and just shot for the watts on the spreadsheet. It's a lot easier than trying to figure out if I'm at RPE 5 or 5.5.

I've got Fight Club, Local Hero, Downward Spiral, Revolver, and Angels. Fight Club is my favorite. I like the TT efforts with the pushes through threshold. I just finished a round of it with the spreadsheet as a guide. I adjusted the FTP to mine, and moved the level 10 (max) down to 130% FTP (from 140) printed and did FC. I now realize I'd been slacking on the workouts ! LOL I could not have done another round and held my numbers.

 
Hate to go OT, but I just don't understand your comment. What is the problem with women's cycling? Tremendous athletes, great races. I've never understood why women pros make such terrible money. Maybe your reply will illuminate this for me.

Simply because professional men are faster, bigger, stronger, more muscular, and flat out beasts....that is what i want to look at while suffering. Why could the sufferfest not of had fabian's Paris-Roubaix 2010 breakaway be the scenery for their 2 x 20? Why more motivatiing, just pure power. I think i just like to watch the best, and in many cases mens professionals are better, so it is more appealing to me. Same goes for basketball, marathon, triathlon, swimming, and the list goes on. Feel free to call me sexist, but even my wife prefers to watch mens sports.

I just got Hell Hath No Fury and Local Hero. Have only done half of HHNF so far, though I warmed up for 20 minutes before starting the video, which I recommend, as the HHFN has a very short warm-up. Whew. I think I will do that one often, might as well look at very nice very fit women riding while killing myself.

I did the CycleOps Speed video last week, solid workout and cool that you can view the presenters Power, HR and Speed.

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Cervelo R3 and Cannondale Synapse, Argon18 Electron Track Bike

I did "The Hunted" today. Wow, the last 5 minutes go very deep. I'm thinking of doing 1 per week. I'll just buy a new one because I liked not knowing what's coming next. Felt just like a road race.

Thanks for the link. I don't have a computrainer but found the page that sets up my power numbers per the sufferscale is very helpful. I was basically guessing every workout!

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
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I'm fairly new to Ct but manually dial in my power settings. Is there a way to use the excel file so it automatically adjusts to these power #'s?

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"No matter how hard you train, Somebody will train harder. No matter how hard you run, Somebody will run harder. No matter how hard you want it, Somebody will want it more, I am Somebody"~ST Post

I think in Ted's aritcle http://viewsoftheroad.com/...t-on-a-computrainer/ he explains how to do it. Also, on the "instructions" tab of the spreadsheet, there's this:

"On the tab for each video, select the yellow box for ERG files or the blue box for MRC files and copy & paste the contents into a text file. Save the file (with a .erg or .mrc extension) and load it into the CompuTrainer Coaching, Golden Cheetah or MultiRider Software."

I have all but the newest. I rotate through them. Downward spiral hurts. Local here is great. Fight Club seems 'easy.'

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-- Aaron Davidson

Local Hero + Extra Shot = glory.

Lately it has been the following t.v. shows:

Archer (without a doubt the funniest show on t.v., but not for the easily offended)
Community
Blue Mountain State (also not for those that don't like sophomoric humor)
The Big Bang Theory
Family Guy
American Dad

I think I thanked you yesterday for posting the link below....well, I take it back!!!!!!!!! I am dying right now!!!! I guess I should have HTFU a long time ago with these videos....I just did Angels, hurt a bit more than the last time I did it! Anyway, I'm pumped I have some solid numbers to refer to with their suffer scale....so thanks, but I hate you now!!!!

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
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Ha ha ha, classic.

Zev, The CompuTrainer software is not exactly intuitive, but the original purpose of the spreadsheet was to use the CompuTrainer Coaching Software to automatically adjust the resistance to correspond with the RPE changes in the videos. If you're having trouble getting it to work, drop me a note on my site ( http://viewsoftheroad.com/contact/) and I'll see what I can do to help.

x2. My exact recipe if I truly don't like myself for some reason ...

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

Oh, this is a "Computrainer" thing. Sorry, don't use it, thought you were asking what we watch when we are suffering the boredom of the trainer.

Extra shot is legit?

Sure - adds in another 30-40 mins after your legs are shredded from the ending sprints in Local Hero esp

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

Stratman05 has a site http://www.73summits.com/ergdb/index.php
that has a bunch of erg files including a bunch of sufferfest ones that were submitted by train the road. All you do is enter your FTP anf what power you consider 10 and 3. It makes your erg file and the times are dead perfect.
Until I did it with an erg file I thought Alp d'Huez was the easiest climb on Angels, not any more.

Just got a computrainer and bought The Hunted along with the xls file. I really enjoyed the workout, although it was quite challenging.

Looking forward to buying a few more!

Last night was the first time I attempted to use the watts as a guide for a sufferfest video. I chose Angels as my test video, as it's the one I'm most familiar with. I found it quite challenging, but not killer- well until I hit the last set! I was very humbled and actually could not complete the workout after 2 min. of the 8 min. set.

This made me question if I've set my FTP a little too high for this time of year, or is the last set a little unrealisitic, as it has you doing 8min. of work between 110 - 130% of your FTP without a rest?

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The Borne Trilogy

I have been setting my max down to 130% and recalculating the .erg file. It could depend on how reliable your FTP value is and what kind of fatigue you have. I lowered the nbr before i did Revolver a bit after coming off a stomach flu and i wasnt able to do more than 50% of the workout. Make sure you are calibrating before the ride also, no way i can finish at the default of 2.0.

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2016:
IMFL #12
http://www.bestbikesplit.com

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I already reduced the max to 130%, but even at that rate the whole 8min. set is between 110 to 130%. I don't know about you, but in season I wouldn't do an interval at that length coupled with that intensity. Ha, maybe I need to HTFU!

I'll try a 2x20 session at 95% this week to get a better sense if my FTP is in the ballpark of what I think it is.

cheers.

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Mike, thanks for this. I will likely purchase the sufferfest videos now as an alternative to what the base CT offers. Don't know how I missed this posting earlier.

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BC Don
Pain is temporary, not giving it your all lasts all Winter.

Another vote for Fight Club, love it.
Also have A Dark Place, and Extra Shot.
Gonna download a new one tonight. Maybe Hunted...

I just completed the full video on my CT and all I can say is, wow... that third set HURT. It was all I could do to just turn the pedals over. I used 140% as per what the files ship with.

So far I like The Angels a lot better than The Hunted.

I like Revolver for it's simplicity.

Close second is Downward Spiral.

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

After doing "The Hunted" 5 times I've decided I need a new drug. "Angles" download just began. Sufferfest- T-Minus 2 hours...

I hear you there....I just upped my ftp this week, been humbled so far on fight club, angels, then just got my ass kicked by local hero yesterday...my legs need today off. I'm too scared to do the hunted right now as 20 minutes straight then being punished the last 10 minutes don't appeal to me or my legs today! Also, hell hath no fury really scares me right now. Intensity is okay to "bad enough" for the 20's but its the accelerations that destroy me. Anyway, the power sufferscale is perfect!!!

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
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I always seem to push WAY to hard on the 20 minute effort in that video. I almost always am battling keeping ANY respectable wattage for the last 2 5-minute intervals.

For sure!!! I also have a real big problem with the final sprints in local hero too, I stand for about 5 seconds and my legs are toast...just holding on!!

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
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The Hunted. Hands down my favorite.

Just downloaded and road to Fight Club....

Love it

Well I changed my mind:

1. I love sufferfest when I'm not doing it
2. I love sufferfest for the first 20 mins
3. I like sufferfest for the next 20 mins
4. I f'ing hate sufferfest for the last 20 mins
5. I f'ing love sufferfest again the second I'm done

That is pretty much spot on....

The brand new TT video is awesome. I just did it with a 30 minute warmup and a 30 minute cool-down. Just did it on the rollers with minimal resistance and it still kicked my butt!

FYI I got these to load into GC and hooked up the CT no problem! First video with real time erg mode on the computer will be tomorrow morning...

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"No matter how hard you train, Somebody will train harder. No matter how hard you run, Somebody will run harder. No matter how hard you want it, Somebody will want it more, I am Somebody"~ST Post

techno-idiot question of the day

So if I get a sufferfest video, I then have access to it on any computer I'm near w/ password? Or do I download to my hard drive?

Thanks

Nancy

Download to your hard drive

Local hero as it has it all and is the longest

So well put! I was swearing at the video yesterday when I was watching HHNF and I swear someone was laughing at me! Just the increases time and time again...I think it was one part where it dropped down to a manageable tempo, but it was for 5 seconds and boom, back at it...I was so pissed. But man am I so happy I did it when I'm done. Love them...

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
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I bought a MacBook Air yesterday, installed the Trainerroad software on it this morning and downloaded the entire Sufferfest library this evening. I am scared.

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What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

You should be....but you'll love it!

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
Follow the Rat Snake on Twitter

So my first answer to this was Local Hero + Extra Shot. That is easily my go workout. However, I missed most of a hilly training ride recently due to a shredded rear tire (Lesson: ALWAYS carry an extra in the car!).

Therefore, when enough anger is stimulated, I recommend Angels + The Hunted + Extra Shot. This combo can be summed up as: race pace hill repeats + a 20 minute uphill TT + salt in your wounds. You will climb, you will suffer.

Downloaded Fight Club last night and riding it tonight.

Very nice Excel spreadsheet tool for creating the ERG files. If you're using the default times built into the spreadsheet, what is it doing when it's going through the instructions. I quickly scanned through the video last night and after the 5:00 warmup there are a bunch of instructions and looking at the ERG file there is no break at that point. Are you supposed to pause during those or continue riding?

You keep riding; typically the instructions happen during the "recovery" period, so you will stay at that wattage until the begining of the interval. I always ride through it as I need the recovery time! Have fun.

I won Angels and The Hunted; I can't imagine doing them back to back at this time of the year! I'm usually pretty toast after the 3rd hill repeat in Angels.

I did my first outdoor ride in a long time this past weekend and I was shocked how good I felt after doing only the trainer and some of these video workouts.

I like "touching the void"for a sufferfest vid.....but I don't do trainer workouts, so I only ever watch it from the couch. :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Agreed! That 3rd climb is killer. I did angels a couple of days ago and ended up with an IF of 1.09! I guess I need to bump the FTP up a little. My goal on the last 8min. climb is to hold my wattage at 115% of FTP.

I can't imagine doing another video after this.

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I cheat... I use the Computrainer in erg mode, so I just have to keep the pedals going over fast enough to keep the speed at which the computrainer will work. I normally just put my head down and pray I don't get a heart attack!

thanks so much for this spreadsheet! just using this as a ref. in erg mode is awesome.

Glad it was helpful. I waver back and forth between helpful and evil.

You are insane! That is all I have to say. That is a crazy workout.
Now, for the videos that in the hour realm, I used to think fight club was my goto one as far as difficulty, but now, after "the spreadsheet," the hunted and angels just simply produce more kJ for me in that hour time slot. I just found the punishment in fight club more fun, but now I guess thats because its easier. Angels tonight and I'm not looking forward to it. But I love how my ftp has jumped this winter.

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The Rat Snake:
A Tribute Race at Gilbert Lake State Park, Laurens, NY May 16 2015
Follow the Rat Snake on Twitter

I'll be honest, in my 2 years of cycling, I've not been that good at doing bike workouts. Even when following the Spinnerval DVDs, I usually don't think that I really ever dug deep and maximized the effort.


Well, Today, I did my first Sufferfest video. I did Angels coupled with the Trainer Road App. The combination of the Sufferfest video and the onscreen metrics from the trainer road app definitely brought my cycling to another level.

I did my best to follow the cadence recommendation from the video and the personalized power target from the app. The combination of the two are the missing link for me.

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What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

Just started doing Sufferfest videos the last couple of weeks and had a similar experience.
I got Fight Club, Local Hero and Hell Hath no Fury. My second time trying Fight Club I
ended up with an IF of 1.1. Oops, guess the ole FTP was wrong. I'm amazed at how good
these videos are at motivating me to go harder than I used to go on the trainer.

I'm thinking of getting Angels or The Hunted next. Seems likely I'll eventually end up with both ;)

I have all the videos, and I seem to keep going back to Angels - the 3rd climb (the last one) is a killer!

Are you using the excel file (linked earlier in the thread) for power levels? If so, the whole last climb is way over FTP - I can't actually complete it at the power "suggested". I merely try to do the 8min. climb at as close to 110% of FTP as possible.

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I haven't been using the spreadsheet. I've toyed with using GoldenCheetah in "Train" mode, but don't
have everything setup yet with the videos and downloaded ergdb files on the same box. So far I play
my sufferfest stuff on a tv hooked up to an xbox, not through a laptop or computer. I've just been using
an approximate 7/10 = 100% ftp, 8/10=110%. Anything harder is whatever I can manage ;)

Downloaded Angels and tried it out with the GoldenCheetah integration.
Pretty cool, although there were a few downsides (one of which was a
small laptop screen). I think I need to play with the layout to be able
to see the video and more of the little widgets showing things like the
graph of your power, etc. GC seems to have some sort of slider that
scales the power levels independent of your FTP (or CP) and I think I
may have slid that by accident, so I thought the suggested target power
levels were a bit low, but the sync of target power changes with the
video was perfect and a nice addition (I could look at the screen the
whole time instead of at my head unit). I ended up with an IF of .93
and managed the last climb at at average power of 113% FTP. I'm
thinking that suggests I'm still sandbagging my FTP a little.

I find that when doing Fight Club in TrainerRoad, the syncronization between the 2 seems to be about 4 seconds off....the Sufferfest video is about 4 seconds ahead of the TrainerRoad profile. Both start as soon as I start pedaling, so any idea how to fix this?

Sorry, can't help on that front. I haven't tried TrainerRoad yet. It looks really cool,
but since I had already been using GoldenCheetah for the last year for tracking
my training I thought I would try it first before trying out TrainerRoad. I suspect
if you ask on a TrainerRoad thread here you'll get an answer pretty quick, I think
one of the guys who developed it hangs out here and seems pretty responsive.

I can imagine that lack of sync would be really annoying!

Post your concerns on the trainerroad thread. Nate will respond.

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What I do: http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699

I think you did post this in the other thread, but I think we have our file messed up. Reid's going to go through that video and tweak it. I also have to do some code work so it stays in sync if you "jump ahead" in the workout. So if you click in the workout and want to start the video some where in the middle.

It has to do with key frames and our workout ticks...kinda complicated.

The good news is that if we fix our workout times it should be good if you start the workout from the beginning.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

thanks, on the bright side, I did the Hunted earlier today and it was synced up perfectly.

Awesome. This tells me it's just a workout issue and not a code issue. We'll get it fixed.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

fyi....Downward Spiral has be remastered and 20% off for 48 hours

http://www.thesufferfest.com/...20-off-for-48-hours/

well worth the price.

Anyone have experience "stacking" these videos for IM training? I'm confined to the trainer for most of the year.

I have all the videos except extra shot: the long scream... I'm thinking hell hath no fury + angels might be a great "long ride". I'll find out tomorrow.

In order from awesome to more awesome - Charlie Brown's Christmas, Lady and the Tramp, Puff the Magic Dragon. My indoor workouts will never be boring again.

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Formally known on ST as: Pork_Weener, Rooster_Nutz, and Pants_FarmStrong

Warm up on track with the warm up from angels then VO2 work from revolver ( not 10/10 - 4/10 effort but 100 % VO2 max power for a minute then 1 min " rest" at 70 % VO2 max power ) - try for 10 or until you blow - quick warm down with the 4 min fast DH off the hunted then 2 * 20 off HHNF or do the 20 min climb from " The Hunted " twice.

ouch

BC

That sounds... brilliant. In a very sick kind of way.

The top part of the 20 minute climb in The Hunted is amazing - the music is just right and bridging from Schleck to Gesink .. in my dreams. The second 20 min effort in HHNF is also great - Vos towing everyone is amazing then the HTC attack. I dont know who that HTC girl is but that is the face of racing.

BC

Price goes up as of next Tuesday, so if you want to save a couple of bucks hit it up before then like me.

Ted,
After trying a whole bunch of RPE videos, I was pretty jaded with the idea of trying another. It was only after I saw your spreadsheet that I decided to try a Sufferfest video. I downloaded the whole bundle and did my first one (Angels) last night. Hoollleee Crap! Suffice it to say I now have my favorite trainer workout ... by far. Its like an erg video, but much cheaper and better. Thanks for not only putting in the effort to create the spreadsheet, but also for offering up your talents to the masses and creating an opportunity for all of us CT users to really dial in the pain. Fantastic. Well Done.

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- Pete

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Luckily my over eating disorder is offset by my over exercising disorder

You guys are missing the best one ... Hell Hath No Fury ... All Girls ... All the Time ...
AND they can effn HAMMER
How hot is that ???? :-0

And it's a pretty solid workout too !!!!

Last year I got serious and went overboard. I bought ever video online I could find. All the Spinerval and Sufferfest among others from Europe. I have over 82 Gigs of video for my trainer time. I have yet to go through them all. If I watch a normal video and decide not to do an actual cycling video (many are so boring and are dated). I had several programs for my computer that would suggest various sprints, runs, intervals depending on what we programmed the event to be. Kind of fun as it randomly did sprints so it was fun with others on the trainer.

Did it last night. 20 x 2 plus a 4 minute super threshold shot at the end. Brutal. loved it.

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- Pete

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Luckily my over eating disorder is offset by my over exercising disorder

i bought the full pack last year.....put together a playlist on the ipod that i listen to while training.....

and you just reminded me that they were lost when my pc crashed.....UGH

i like angels, btw....

the new sufferfest video "There is No Try" was released today. "onlydo" coupon code gets you a 10% discount. Haven't done it yet, since it's still downloading.

Just did "there is no try" and I gotta say it's really good. It takes the intervals of the downward spiral and turns it to a pyramid type program that is in sets of 4 of 15 sec, 30, 45, 1 min and 2 min.

Then it goes backwards at 4x1min and down. I don't put up that impressive numbers but I love the hd footage of tour de france, the music and the video game type feel they put in this video.

I have been getting their videos since downward spiral and the quality of the video just gets better and better. Definitely gonna be used a lot with my favorite "local hero".

downloading now. I love it with trainerroad

I listened to the music while at work today. I wasn't too impressed. I'll have to try the workout, but I'm usually someone that loves the mixes that they do.


Also I heard that they were planning on releasing 2-3 over the winter. Any idea when the next one is scheduled?

"Kiss kiss, bang bang . . . "

Did I miss it or did no one mention that LA gets dropped in The Hunted?

"There's a song in my head, and it's driving me crazy . . . "

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What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

I have done "a very dark place" and one other in the past 5 days. I can say I am legit impressed. The films work motivation wise and I have never swear more on a trainer.

It simple and easy. Also easy to work your tail off with the way they instruct you. I say go buy them all. The best part is that the movies call you a "Sufferlandrian". I think it's hilarious so that alone makes me want to do these workouts every Monday and Wednesday nights.

Cheers

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the suffer, the pain, the reward

R Wolansky

Local Hero. But I plan to change some road race scenes to bike leg from Ironman races of that dude named Sebastian K.

Just downloaded the full 11 films, they have a deal on right now if you buy them all. Saves you $30 I did my first one today "fight club" and they are named correctly.

I ordered a Garmin cadence and speed sensor and a ANT + usb stick and can't wait for them to arrive so I can check out TrainerRoad.

anyone else find that the Local Hero video doesn't quite sync right to trainerroad? towards the end i usually end up about 90 seconds off (video vs trainerroad resistance), which is really kinda screwy as those last intervals are about that long so i end up being opposite.

is it my computer? or does this happen to others? i really only notice it on the Local Hero video. Other sufferfests seem to sync up fine.

What percent of FTP do you guys come out with at the end of the 20' intervals on HHNF? Is there a particular percentage you should be shooting for?

yeah I have this problem on HHNF and Local Hero. Kind of annoying

I've followed this spreadsheet: http://viewsoftheroad.com/...t-on-a-computrainer/ "ERG File Spreadsheet."

Enter your FTP and min/max percentages. I usually do max 120%, but if you are feeling really tough and hate yourself, give the 130-140% a shot. I'll just take the RPE 1-10 and corresponding wattages and put them on a sheet a paper to keep in view during the ride. Even if I don't hit the numbers perfectly, my legs tell me I'm trying.

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Alex Arman

Strava

Great thanks. I actually had the 140% set up. Now I'm glad I know better. Do you use a computrainer? I'm just curious as I just have a power meter and therefore can't hit he numbers perfectly the entire time. So, after my first 20' interval, my avg watts were about 97% of FTP. Definitely pretty tough. But I guess I wasn't sure if that was normal or if I hadn't hit the watts correctly. I did adjust down a bit pretty early into the interval because using 140% would have easily put me over my FTP for sure.

Just a regular trainer here. I don't necessarily live and die by those numbers, but it gives me a good reference to start and also the mindset to "increase 10 watts" or whatever when the sufferscale goes up or there's an "attack".

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Alex Arman

Strava

HHNF is the first one that I have had serious issues with being able to stay with. My predicted FTP based on power during workouts definitely went up the one time I did make it, so it does seem like it's asking too much using a typical max %FTP. I might have to back off my usual 150% for that one--I must not try hard enough at RPE of 7-8 because my RPE of 10 is literally 150% of what I think my FTP is.

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Shut up legs.

I've only got the wretched but
I think i'll buy another tonight.

Great video!

I have all 12 and some are great for road racing, some are great for TT but all are great for lots of hurting. I wish more had less intervals and more constant efforts though. I guess that's what Netflix is for.

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Shut up legs.

I have all 12 also, and from a Triathlete's perspective, I find HHNF (classic 2x20), There is No Try, and Local Hero to be the most "useful." I tend to add Extra Shot- The long scream to all but HHNF. There are days when I'm just not up (literally lol, forced to ride at 4 am sometimes) for the sustained efforts and in on those days I do better with the short intervals found in most of the other vids. Oh, and I always run the videos in Trainer Road... the combination has literally saved racing for me. I used to hate the trainer... sheer boredom, but I had a less demanding job (32-40 hr week). I regularly work 100+ now so outdoor rides are precious so I rely almost totally on the mean green KK road machine, SF+ TR!

Just bought the 12 pack. Excited and anxious to begin suffering, the previews looked really good. Definitely look more exciting than Spinervals, which do hurt, but aren't very engaging.

BTW, coupon code THETOUR gets you an additional 10% off.

I like the Local Hero with the Extra Shot at the end.

Angels, The Hunted and HHNF are my favorites. Angels is 3x8minutes of fairly constant effort, little surges with a high total effort very similar to a climb during a road race. The Hunted has 1 5 minute effort, 1 20 minute effort. HHNF is 2x20's which I would like more if 2x20's on the trainer weren't the worst things ever (I can't find a way to not overheat even with every window open when it is 5 F outside.)

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Jordan Oroshiba --- Roadie invading Triathlete space for knowledge access

My favorite is Fight Club, but I am beginning to enjoy The Wretched as well.

Why not ride the Tour de Sufferlandria starting tomorrow and experience all 12 over 9 days

Hunted is still my favorite, though I have watched it so many times it is getting a little old. I am a little surprised by how many people like Hell Hath No Fury as I found the video quality rather poor (especially on the first 20 minute TT section where the video is stretched), and the race action rather boring as well. I also like Angels and Local Hero.

I downloaded the starter pack with Angels, The Downward Spiral and the Long Scream.

Did Angels the other night and it was fun! Anything which makes trainer workouts fun has to be good. Was also brutally hard! Am going to try the Downward Spiral tonight.

One of my favorites is There IS No Try. It is from the 2012 Tour de France with Bradly Wiggins.

After that I like Hell Hath No Fury, Fight Club, and Local Hero and the Hunted. For short high intensity workouts I ama big fan of Revolver and Downward Spiral.

I am going to get their latest offering, Blender and save it for when I have along ride and I am stuck inside due to weather.

Blender. Makes an 1:40 fly by.

Sorry to bring this thread up, but do people have trouble hitting their target watts during sufferfest vids at times? I did a FTP 20 min test and ended up with 253 however couldn't complete many of the back half on the intervals on there is no try. I have had a cold lately and tried to push through but no go. I'm having a light week thos week and dropped my FTP to 250 and will try again next week, but just wondering if others sometimes bomb with these vids at times?

I've got Hell Hath No Fury, Angels and was recently thinking of buying There Is No Try or perhaps the entire set. I find both the ones I own to be pretty tough. Difficulty of course will vary depending how you choose to peform it. I do not use RPE here but instead watts and recently assessed FTP. The power profile I use is via TrainerRoad.

Coupled with TrainerRoad, a fluid trainer and my Quarq, I find these videos great. The intensity is pretty high, so perhaps not the best for the base period.

HHNF is too hard to do at 100% with a recently tested FTP, I reckon. I might have managed it once. The 2x20min sections are at FTP with a few over/unders, except they are nearly all overs and in fact I'm sure the only unders are a couple of moments of moderate respite in the 2nd 20. I can complete HHNF scaled to 95% without dying on my arse completely, but usually do it at 92% I think. Perhaps I'm soft..

In fact looking through past workouts I've gone over 100 TSS and it's only an hour and 12 minutes with reasonable warmp up and cool down periods. It almost seems to ask you to do FTP for an hour which is, obviously and by definition, really really hard!!!

I struggled with There Is No Try, i couldnt imagine doing HHNF just yet.
see here: http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/344608

If I am not feeling 100% my power clearly suffers on these. If I have a cold, or I am just beat up from other training or whatever, I drop the % intensity in TrainerRoad. I cant sustain the suggested power levels unless my body is feeling strong that day.

There was one time I attempted to do HHNF at 100% on TR when I had a cold. By the end of the first interval I had to stop the workout - it was too much. Felt like I was about to die. Laid on my bed for 20 minutes just trying to get oxygen...

Yep same experience here, had a great week, new bike fit, felt good and did a new FTP test. Went from 224W the last time I tested to 258W. What followed was a month of PAIN trying to keep up with the Sufferfest on 100%. I made it but it was HARD!
Today I just did The Downward Spiral and I hit every interval just right and finished with a 100 TSS. Good times!

The Hunted is my favourite, hands down. I find Local Hero incredibly hard and have yet to finish it - although I suspect my RPE is somewhat suspect. I like The Hunted for the music, the 20 minute climb with the jumps, and the ending. I recently bought ISLAGIATT but haven't tried it yet. Keen on trying it with watts when I eventually get power, although I hear Trainer Road is pretty good. Anyone tried it with a Cyclops Fluid Pro 2?

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I haven't done them all but I like The Hunted, Blender, and A Very Dark Place

Perhaps I was tired but last time I tried revolver I got off the bike hallway through and poured myself a stiff scotch.

I'll need to redo that one.

I fucking HATE revolver and I always remember how much I hate it.

revolver is on the docket for 9 hours from now for ToS . . .

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What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

I have the original Revolver. I still don't think I have ever seen much of the cyclocross race...

My '"go to" Sufferfest video is still Downward Spiral. Love the cobbles footage

For combination of enjoyment and most useful intervals I like The Hunted best, as its good threshold work without being boring.

The ones I enjoy most are The Wretched, There is no try, and A Very Dark Place. If there is a new version of downward spiral I'd suggest that, but I have the original still where the video quality is a bit weak.

That said, I really have liked them all, and find they all have a useful place in my training. I try to do the longer / threshold focused ones in the winter when I am stuck inside, then use the shorter intensity ones to get good bang-for-your-buck training on rainy days the warm months, or if I don't have time to get kitted up for a full ride.

I like Local Hero, Isla Giatt, and Blender. I like them b/c they're longer workouts, yet don't slack off...Man, Blender's a bey0tch.

ETA: If you do Rubber Glove on TrainerRoad, will TR update your FTP based off that test, or do you have to ogle it and manually input? Thx!

TR will give you the option of updating your FTP and LTHR upon completion of rubber glove. There are a bunch of riders this week wishing that they have sandbagged a little more on rubber glove for sure. The ToS is tearing my legs off at the moment.

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Putting ISLAGIATT right after Rubber Glove is just the kind of evil I expect from the ToS. For various reasons I had to get up at 0500 yesterday morning and get ISALGIATT done. I am still feeling good for Revolver tonight, but I am dreading HHNF tomorrow.

I set a new FTP via Rubber Glove, and I am *attempting* to ride everything at 100% in TR. Whether or not I make all the intervals remains to be seen (unlikely) but I dont know if I see the benefit of dropping the power in TR. HHNF at 100% is simply unholy, nor do I think its possible to actually hit the second interval unless your FTP is set too low.

Good luck with revolver at 100%. I can crush the longer threshold type vids but that gun is mean. I bleed out before 8 bullets have entered me. I will finish that Mother $%%&&^% someday, but it wasn't yesterday.

I am looking at adding a couple of these videos to my TrainerRoad subscription, will be doing IM Texas and IM Syracuse in late spring/early summer so I guess something geared toward triathlon training would be best. I am thinking about get 2-3 and just wanted a little input to what people liked and found most useful.

ISLAGIATT is unholy torture (I've never been able to complete it at 100% on erg mode), but the longest workout they offer. Probably a good one to pick up.

Hell Hath No Fury is, similarly, good race simulation type stuff for longer(ish) stuff. I find the end TTT is just super good motivation and manage to get good breakthroughs there.

I also like Chrysalis because it has a triathlon in it. It's nothing like a triathlon - but at least that's what's on the screen in front of you.

Have fun!

Their newest video "The Rookie" is extremely well done. It's a brutal workout as well. 3x10' never hurt so much.

Just purchased 4 Sufferfest video's (BLENDER, ISLAGIATT,LOCAL HERO, and CHRYSALIS) for the Kickr/trainerroad. I will be using them for the Outseason. I plan on using a combination of the EN outseason plan and trainerroad Half Ironman plan (I have tailored my past season's this way). I was looking to spice things up with the video aspect of Sufferfest. I was wondering how many of you use your Sufferfest videos. Do you use them as your sole training plan or thrown in once or twice a week?

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HoneyMaxx Ambassador
HoneyMaxx.com

I just bought The Rookie yesterday as well though won't have a chance to use it until next week. I'm expecting big things!!

I know this is a super old thread... but for me it's The Blender... it's built into the PerfPro db of workouts and is pretty tough! Of the few I've done, I'm barely hanging on for the last couple of sets.

I'd love to figure out how to get the vids to go along with the workouts but it looks like they've gone app based now and don't sell vids.

The worst of any kind of workout is the kind you are not not prepared for. Mentally, form, or nutritionally.

I've done all manner of different rookie/amateur workouts in the last 2 years. 30/30, 1min/1min, 3x3min sets, under/overs, hour of upper zone SS, 20 min test.

A few times I've tried workouts at a duration or a % after not doing the "homework" of the right workouts in weeks leading up to them. You subsequently fail the last reps or set or kill yourself trying.

You can't jump into 3x3min of 130% or so sets without first having done some homework before hand of your 3x8' @100% and 3x10' and maybe even some under/overs. Then be fresh.

You, like me, are probably awash in the $10/mo subscription fees that are the affliction of our digital age. But a Sufferfest subscription is well worth it. I had a library of their videos before they went app-based, and after holding out for a while, finally caved in and subscribed. No regrets.

But my favorite is still the first one I ever downloaded: A Very Dark Place. It's a great workout. I also have some nostalgia for it. I had just gotten a bike and a trainer, and downloaded the video on a friends recommendation. Oh, how I suffered. It was glorious. And it still is.

Exactly... I want another monthly fee like I want a hole in my head... but I may sign up since I do like the workouts to see if the videos are of any value or not.

Among many things I like about PerfPro is that it is a one time fee.

Another +1 for A Very Dark Place. My first ever Suf video and favourite go to session for glorious suffering.

I finally gave in and did the 4DP test the other week. I suffered, really hard. Bring it on.

I have the App and even have done 2 of the ‘tour of sufferlandria’ and a ‘knighthood challenge”. I’ve done the videos a lot. To be honest, unless it is a really easy video, I only watch the first few minutes. After that I don’t notice. Ditto the music. No idea. The Pavlovian effect of a gunshot is about it (increases in power are signalled with a gunshot). Oh, the count down timer too.

For me the selling point is the plans and test. You could easily do them yourself and design intervals using free software, but I would just do it haphazardly. It also encourages other things, like yoga & mental training, which I would not include in a plan myself.

I've been suffering long enough to have a half dozen videos on DVD (still a subscriber). My first was 'Fight Club'. It required many tries to get through it completely when I started out. Still kicks my butt to this day, but I love it. Unlike some others, the video, music and storyline are motivating for me. As far as a current favorite? I pretty much hate them all equally. :) Actually, I prefer the structured intervals over the race simulations. My favorite is probably the Omnium - just so many different ways to suffer! And I do think that the yoga and mindfulness stuff adds real value. I've started doing a little of it and hope to build to more over the summer. And yes, the 4DP is quite good, I think.

Overall, I think that the Sufferfest is continuously evolving in ways that some of the competition is not, generating some uniqueness. Hard to imagine all of the $10/mo-ish training services surviving. Maybe a game - who buys who first? Zwift has the deepest pockets, I'd guess. Xert is clever and (relatively) small - a perfect takeover opportunity. But so ... many ... others in the middle - hard to know how this will all shake out.

I use a combination of Zwift for easy cruising Zone 2 miles and occasional races on the weekend, Sufferfest for the hard ass-kicking intensity stuff, and TrainerRoad for the overall structure and training plans.

It seems to work.

+1 for Fight Club.

The Shovel is a beating as well - but well worth it!