Airdyne Workouts to Make You Cry
The airdyne bike is a wrestling memento. It is a mainstay in every quality wrestling room in the country. But how should you use the damn thing? Many simply hop on and give it a 15 minute spin.
If you’ve read this blog long enough, you know I am not one of those people. I do things with a purpose.
Airdyne style bikes are our main conditioning vehicles. The Rogue Echo Bike is our weapon of choice and I can give you 20 reasons why they are the best ones out there. I did an obnoxious amount of research before pulling the trigger. Bikes are amazing because there is next to nothing more miserable than a tough airdyne workout. Since Chad Beatty put me to tears on one by lying to me over and over again in college I basically refuse to get one. I kept falling for the “last one” trick.
Fast forward to now, I vindictively and probably masochistically love creating tough airdyne workouts.
Airdynes are not only miserable, they’re efficiently miserable. If you know how to craft a workout you can get a “fair” but wretched tough workout in under 20 minutes.
I’m here to share my latest creations:
7-4-2-1-1
7 x :10 sprint, :30 rest
4 x :20 sprint, 1:00 rest
2 x :30 sprint, 1:30 rest
1 x 1:00 sprint, 3:00 rest
1 x :20 sprint, done.
18:20 Total
This is an interval sprint workout I stole from Franky James at Campbellsville University when I worked for him. It is a smart and tough “default” bike workout. It allows for proper rest (3: Rest to Work ratio). It doesn’t require any particular metric of sprint because each sprint you’re properly recovered and ready to go all out. I like to shout out the amounts of calories each has burned at different points in the workout. This allows them to compare and be competitive throughout.
Cornell
5:00 @250 watts
4:00 @300 watts
3:00 @350 watts,
2:00 @400 watts
1:00 @450 watts
15:00 Total
This workout came from my alma mater Cornell College. I think our athletic trainer, the incredible Loren Nydegger, made it up. This isn’t exactly it but the jist is the same: No rest, incremental increase in intensity.
You start going slow for a while to wear down your legs then progressively get faster. The requirement to hold a certain output (whether watts, levels, or rpms) means that it is guaranteed to be miserable. Miserable enough that sometimes I add in rests if we’re dying and can’t hold the number stated.
Super Sprint
5x :10 sprint, 1:50 rest
10:00 total
This is a new one inspired by the new smart CAROL bike. I saw a review for this where it boasted the “most efficient workout.” Surprise surprise, I was interested. As much as it seemed like BS, admittedly, I liked it. I morphed it a bit for our program. The idea being our usual sprint isn’t 100%; it’s more like 85-90% of our maximum output. Giving 100% is extremely difficult. And if you do go that hard, you need a lot of rest. This workout is focused on that: incredibly short sprints aiming for max output. My guys watch their wattage trying to get the highest number possible to register. It’s like the punching bag arcade game for bikes. It’s fun to gamify and a surprisingly difficult workout.
This workout has taught us something significant. Athletes have fallen into one of two camps. Camp one is a huge first 2 max sprints then steep falloff. This athlete needs more muscular endurance. Camp two is a guy who has a lower but more consistent max wattage over 5 reps. This athlete needs more power. Good lessons to learn.
Lakeland Match
1st Period - 3min total - :30 sprint, :30 rest
:30 min Rest
2nd Period - 2min total- :30 sprint, :30 rest
:30 min Rest
3rd Period - 2min total- :30 sprint, :30 rest
:30 min Rest
SV 1 - 2min total- :30 sprint, :30 rest
:30 min Rest
TB - 2min total - :30 sprint, :30 sec Rest
13:00 total
This workout tries to emulate a real match with the goal of putting athletes in that headspace. I like to yell circumstances of a real match like “30 seconds need the rideout, “Drop down the the leg drive him down!” or “10 seconds left down by one in on that leg need the takedown.” It isn’t my favorite but it’s a good one to mix in.
First to 160 Calories
Variable total time
Lastly is the first to X calories workout. You pick an output that someone normally does in one 7-4-2-1-1 above. Then you allow them to find their own way of getting there. It is interesting to watch the strategies. Some keep a steady pace, some interval sprint, some do a mix of both. It’s a good opportunity to allow for autonomy.
Our program is designed around a hard conditioning push in January. Each of these creations work athletes in a different way. I choose them based on what I feel like they need at the moment.
7-4-2-1-1 - Giving space and rest to push yourself as much as you can
Cornell - Holding accountable to a certain work load, destroy legs
Super Sprint - Developing max power while laying off their legs
Lakeland Match - Emulating a wrestling match
First to 160 calories - Allowing autonomy
Each workout serves a purpose and is needed for different circumstances. All are efficient as they are a killer workout in minimal time.