Why do we do intervals?

‘Intervals’ – May seem like a common word for anyone in the cycling world and is often used without the understanding of why we do them.

We actually complete intervals for a number of reasons to promote adaptations and responses to increase performance. You may not expect such a simple process to have so many underlying reasons compelling most cyclists to use the method for their training.

Whilst there is a huge list of impacts intervals have on you, here are some of the key reasons we do intervals:

Physiological

What do we mean when we talk about ‘intervals’ and how hard will they be? Well, there can be many different types of ‘intervals’ which all work with a different energy system and elicit different responses and adaptations from the body. So, the intensity of the intervals depends on what sort of response you would be looking for.

Intervals which are done at zone 3 (Tempo) would aim to increase muscle glycogen stores and mitochondrial enzymes whereas intervals that are done at zone 5 aim to increase VO2 max, maximal cardiac output and plasma volume.

When looking for an overall increase in performance, fitness and health then its crucial to do intervals at a variety of intensities which challenges each of the energy systems.

Muscular

It’s important to challenge the muscles of the body to become efficient at the demands placed on it, pedalling the bike. Intervals that are done at the right intensity will help the muscle fibres (type IIx) which are more fast twitch (weight lifting or high-power efforts such as sprinting) to become more adapted to endurance activity. The intervals will also promote the shift towards a change in muscle characteristics which would allow the tissues to be more efficient at dealing with the stresses of changes in pace and effort.

Nervous system

We actually see some of the biggest responses come from the nervous system as it adapts depending on the speed or intensity and output you are asking for.

The speed in which we use our muscles in these intervals will elicit different responses from the muscles and the rate of fibre recruitment. When we talk about the rate of this recruitment, we are actually talking about the nervous system.

The nervous system can be very much overlooked by cyclists when looking to improve their performance and fitness as it is not fully understood how much of an impact that it plays. Improving your rate of fibre recruitment and identifying the cadence threshold that is best for you to be able to maximise your efficiency and in turn, your power output will have a huge return on your fitness!

Psychologically

Most people would not even consider any psychological benefits when talking about interval training but it can actually become one of the key areas of focus for a lot of people! It is often underestimated the importance of the mental skills that are needed for success.

When we perform intervals, the body will have a chance to establish it’s abilities and know where our fitness lies. The body will also learn and improve it’s willingness and ability to suffer which will have a huge impact when you are put in a competitive situation. It is commonly accepted that psychological ability has a huge impact on performance so training this is just as important as training your physiological ability!

Having a coach can help you really utilise interval training to increase performance. Why not get in touch to take yourself to the next level!

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