Spinervals Competition 4.0 - Muscle Breakdown

This is one of my favorite Spinervals. It has the most motivating group of riders, including Judy Molnar. Another guy is always making faces at the camera which makes me laugh when I need it most!

I also use a spin bike for the video and it's already been broken down.

The iso squats in this are 1 minute long and you do them three times. It took me a few times to work up to the full minute, but once you do it's addicting! I love iso squats now. This is the first video where I understood how it feels to laugh because your working so hard and your legs are burning!

This is one of my favorite Spinerval videos, and like I've said about Spinervals, you either love 'em or hate 'em. Spinervals are high intensity cycling videos that were made for cyclists who want to train indoors. The participants are using their "regular" bikes with a trainer. I use my spinning bike and have no trouble adapting.

Muscle Breakdown is HARD. I really have to psyche myself up to do this one.....it truly does test your muscle strength! The setting is in an old brewery; brick walls, etc. One of the participants is in his 70's!

Warm up; 15 seconds hard, 15 seconds easy...three times

First set; Fast spinning, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. I think this set is 2 minutes.

"Acceleration Set". This is so hard. Four seconds hard, followed by 4 seconds off. Five minutes. It's literally like starting a race every 4 seconds. Owie.

I think you get a whole 2 minutes rest after the acceleration set. THANK YOU COACH TROY!

Ladder Set: Five two-minute drills, different intensity with each drill....30 seconds rest inbetween. Trust me, by this time, your legs are fried.

Iso Squats! You get off the bike and hold a squat for 1 minute...three times. If you can still *feel* your legs when you are done with the squats, good for you. Hehe.

Back to the acceleration set. Noooooo! This time "only" four minutes.

The last set is intervals. I think it's 20 seconds hard, with 40 seconds recovery.

Cool down. Hobble off bike.

This intense work out is designed to break down the muscle so it can become stronger. As I've mentioned in the other Spinervals reviews, these are actual triathlete's using their outdoor bike on an indoor bike trainer but I found that I can easily adapt my Schwinn Spinner to these videos and get a very intense workout from them. All the spinerval videos are intended for the serious athlete. This is a 50 minute workout. Here is the breakdown for 4.0:

Warm up for 5 minutes soft peddling

First warm up drill - 3 minutes long - 30 seconds hard peddle with 30 seconds soft peddle for recovery

Recover 1 minute

Next is a Super Spin with high cadence spinning - 20 seconds high cadence at 125 rpm or more followed by 10 seconds soft peddle for recovery. This is done a total of 6x each.

Recover 1 minute

Next is a 5 minute Acceleration Set - You stay in one gear the whole 5 minutes switching from a 4 second all out effort followed by a 4 second soft peddle, switching between all out and soft peddle every 4 seconds for the full 5 minutes

Recover 2 minutes

Next is a 10 minute Tempo Effort - You start out at an easier gear and switch every 2 minutes with a 30 second recovery inbetween. Meaning you are in a steady state tempo effort for 2 minutes, recover 30 seconds, go down one gear to the next hardest level for the next 2 minutes, recover 30 seconds, go down one more gear for 2 minutes, recover 30 seconds, next is a super spin at a high cadence for 2 minutes, 30 seconds recovery and last you are in the hardest gear possible for 2 minutes.

Recover for 1 minute

Next is one of my favorite segments. You get off your bike and do isometric squats - 3 times - holding for a full 1 minute each time with a short recovery inbetween squats. VERY tough.

Next you get back on your bike and soft peddle for 2 minutes to recover

Next is another Acceleration Set - 4 seconds on and 4 seconds off - staying in the same gear - Total of 3 minutes long.

Recover for 1 minute

Last is Sprint Work - 20 seconds in a hard gear going all out - followed by 40 seconds recovery - This drill is done 3x each.

Cooldown is 4 minutes long.