If I’m doing hard intervals on my bike, 3 - 5 minutes depending on the book, does it matter very much how long my rest is? The rule for the rest seems to be half to the same time as the effort. Around where I live they’ve placed the towns and dangerous intersections in all the wrong places. Invariably when it’s time to go hard I’m in a place where I really can’t or shouldn’t. If I have to extend my rest by a couple of minutes or shorten it, how much am I messing with the effectiveness of the workout?
Actually, the rule of thumb (at least for me) is that active recovery time will vary based on the duration and intensity of the hard effort. Longer less intense intervals would be followed by shorter active rest periods while short extremely intense efforts would be followed by a much longer active rest periods.
For example my hard 800m repeat track workouts would have a 400m recovery jog which could last as long as my hard 800 while a 1-2 mile repeat would only have 1 to 2 minute recovery.
a 3-5 minute interval on a bike is for me an extremely high intensity effort which would lends itself to a 3-5 minute recovery.
Re-reading your post, it’s obvious that I didn’t answer your question. Sorry. I’ll try again. Rest time is equally important in interval workouts as the hard effort. So, if your rest period should only be 3-5 minutes, and you’re resting 5-7 minutes, I’d say you’re greatly reducing the effectiveness of that workout.
Thanks for the help. If I think of it in terms of swimming, which I know a lot more about, that’s the answer I come up with too. Too bad.
Swimming, running, and cycling are all similar.
LT training - looooong intervals, short rest (at least 5:1 time ratio)
V02max training - typically 3-4 minute intervals, w/2-3 minute rest
power/neuromuscular training (speed) - short intervals (20-80 seconds), long rest (1:2 ratio)
For each activity the idea is to get your body to operate in a specific zone. Too much rest makes the workout too easy, not enough rest makes it difficult to get to the speeds you need. The above is just a small sample.
Yes, the amount of rest is important.
For optimum intervals, use your trainer. Indoor cycling can be a bitter pill especially if you have to do in the winter, too. Can you take an easy ride to get out to a place where you can do your intervals on the road? Is there a trail where you can do them on a mountain bike?
I’ve had very good results from riding up a hill at about 3:30-3:50 (~360W) and then riding back down it in rest mode. This typically means a ~5 minute rest between braking, turning around, riding down casually (~125W on a ~2% slope), turning around again and starting again. Anything less than that and my HR tends to be really high at the start of the next interval, and I can’t hold the output power up in the last 30 seconds. Part of that is that I would need to go 25-27mph down the hill to be less than 3 minute rest time, and that would take around 200W…which is hardly a “rest.”
For longer intervals I tend to take 3-5 mins on a 2x20 set. This is pretty much what Barry said, and seems to be just about enough time to do a quick stretch, eat a Gu, some water, get the HR back down to below 100, then head off again.
I drive out to my long ride and try to keep my shorter ones closer to home, I switch that up though. The trainer is a good idea but not fun at all.