Are Shorter Intervals More Effective Than Longer Ones for Cycling Performance?

Question

Ciclistas professional y amateur han llegado a saber que los periodos de entrenamiento pueden acortarse o extenderse en función de los resultados que se deseen. A esa idea se la conoce como “periodización” y se ha vuelto popular en los últimos años. Interval lengths are set based on the specific capabilities of the athlete. Y entiendo que se dan opiniones contradictorias en relación al tiempo que debe durar el intervalo, y su supremacía respecto al alternado. Are shorter intervals better than longer ones? What’s the best option for cyclists?

Answer 1

The effectiveness of the interval length exhibits variability, further indicating that there is no one best way to implement working sets. For example, one study suggested that a 30s interval improved the performance of a 20 minute power test more than the 5 minute intervals, while this was true because the mean power was higher in the short intervals with the 30s duration. But Contrarily, some studies indicated that the longest duration, 4x8 minute intervals provided the greatest performance gains. There is more to this than just the length of the interval; intensity and time of the intervals also matters. Both short and long intervals have some purpose in an athelete’s training program.