The Hockey Bike Workout

Well, true to form, Ma' Nature has kindly screwed over another weekend in Calgary with -25C windchill and a light film of ice and snow to ensure that no cyclist could make it outside on their day off.

Mike and I sufferin' to the Flames season opener!

But the good news... the NHL is back!
With it, comes the patented Hockey Bike Workout (ok, there's no actual patent at the moment, so feel free to rip it off.)

A few people have asked, so I decided to post it here for reference.

What is it:
It's a bike workout you can do while watching a hockey game, d-uh.

When should I do it:
Whenever you want a solid workout that has a bit of everything, predominantly zone 2 (endurance), but want to watch your favorite hockey team get their asses handed to them.

2/13 Flames vs. Stars, 7-4 !

Duration: 2.5-3 hours

Format:

• Try to warmup during the pre-game show or the national anthem.
• During Game Play (the hockey show is on): Endurance zone (50-80% FTP)
• During commercials (not in-game advertisement overlays) - usually these last about 90 seconds: Threshold (100% FTP)
• Whenever anybody scores: Max effort sprint for 20 seconds (if on rollers, do lower watts, max 1 min effort). 
• During the intermissions: Sub-threshold for 15 minutes (90%)

During the final 2 minutes of the 3rd period, you no longer need to sprint for goals, UNLESS a goal ties the game up. Then you must sprint for 30 seconds!

Over-time and shoot-out during regular season are cool-down pace. During playoff treat overtime as regulation time (good luck!)

Pro-tip:  If it's early season or Prep phase, feel free to replace the Threshold intervals with Speed intervals, keeping your watts low but bringing your cadence to 115 or so. Remember if you start bouncing, lower the RPMs a bit.

Disclaimer: If you happen to live in a prolific market like Pennsylvania, don't sue me for having to do 12-15 sprints in a given night!