Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, prosperous 2010!

Just for fun, here is a holiday themed drill idea!

Using the song "Let It Snow", add 1/4 turn of resistance on your tension knob every time you hear the word "SNOW". And for those of you on a trainer (either road or mountain bike), add a gear every time you hear the word “SNOW”. As the song continues, the tension becomes a progressive hill. Stay seated for as long as possible; get out of the saddle once you max out in the seated position. You may reach your maximum during the song in which you then turn the resistance down and start over! The word "SNOW" occurs 18 times during the song.

Duration: Depends on what musical interpretation you choose.

The original artist, Vaughn Monroe, first sang the song in 1945. His version is 3:09 minutes but you may find the beat too slow to ride to.

Two versions that I particularly like and seem to work for a ride are:

Ella Fitzgerald (2:42 minutes) and the version from the fitness music company, Power Music CD “Tis the Season” (3:22 minutes).

Others song options include:

Michael Buble (2:24 minutes)

Frank Sinatra (2:40 minutes)

Bing Crosby (2:05 minutes)

Boyz II Men (4:12 minutes; “SNOW” is repeated 34 times!)

Diana Krall & The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra (4:00 minutes)

Cadence: 60-90 RPM (likely to decrease as the song progresses)

Resistance: Set tension at steady state, moderate pace (e.g., 3-4 out of 10) and add tension as the song dictates!

Note: Depending on your bike, 1/4 turn may be too much or too little resistance to add. Feel free to adjust your increments as necessary depending on the bike being used.

A gradual increase in sprint duration may be one way to get more sprinting into a workout. Using a pyramid format, starting with an increased duration to the peak and then decreasing duration, can be a progressive way to increase intensity to your workout.  I find varying the duration of your sprint in this way leads you to challenge yourself more. Let's take a look at what I mean...

Duration = 7.5 minutes

Cadence = 100+ rpm for sprints; 80-90 rpm for recovery 

Resistance = set tension slightly higher than your steady state, moderate pace (e.g., 4-5 out of 10); during recovery resistance can be turned down slightly to make it easier (for beginner or less fit cycle participants); to challenge more advanced cycle participants keep the resistance the same for sprint and recovery.
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The pyramid above may help visualize the drill. Now take yourself to the peak and back!