# Sufferfest - how does it work?



## DooDah (19 Jan 2013)

I have not as yet downloaded any of their videos, but I wondered how they work. The description of their website is pretty vague. I am just looking at some challenging turbo workouts to alleviate the boredom, and improve my motivation. I have a HR sensor, but no cadence or power meter.


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## Rob3rt (19 Jan 2013)

You watch the video and do as it says, it is not interactive.


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## DooDah (19 Jan 2013)

OK, but does it say keep to this cadence or wattage? If so, I can't read these things. HR I can.


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## Norry1 (19 Jan 2013)

It does give suggested cadence but most of it is about perceived effort


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## DooDah (19 Jan 2013)

OK, thanks, I might give one a go. DO you recommend them, or are there other videos worth looking at?


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (19 Jan 2013)

ridefit

epicrides


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## Norry1 (19 Jan 2013)

Personally I really enjoy them and they make me work really hard


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## Rob3rt (19 Jan 2013)

You can estimate cadence by counting over 15 seconds.

Personally, I do not use sufferfest videos, I prefer to just train using turbo sessions I have put together to serve a certain purpose, or to use classic sessions that many people use and recommend.


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## DooDah (19 Jan 2013)

> ridefit
> 
> epicrides


 
Don't these use cadence? Only looked quickly though.


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## Rob3rt (19 Jan 2013)

Count on 1 leg over 15 seconds and times the answer by 4. You cadence is unlikely to vary considerably without specific effort and you will soon gain an intuition for how fast you are spinning.

My cadence on the flat or turbo varies by 3-4 rpm each side when steady state, that is a +/- 3-4% variation on my 100 rpm base cadence i.e. 96-104 rpm. Hardly something to be worrying about.


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## Chris.IOW (20 Jan 2013)

As others have said the videos give you instructions and you suffer along to some great footage.

I've started using them along with Trainer road which makes them much more interactive as it gives you a power meter to cycle at, (Calculated on the power curve of your turbo trainer / Witchcraft). Trainer road needs a subscription, and an Ant+ USB stick and cadence/speed sensors, (but I have that for my Garmin anyway), but it does take the perceived suffer scale to another level. 

I'm finding the two together are really helping keep me motivated on the trainer during the dark winter evenings, looking forward to seeing the benefit in the spring I hope.


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (20 Jan 2013)

@Chris.IOW http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/any-trainer-road-users-within.109266/


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## Rob500 (20 Jan 2013)

I've got a few Sufferfest Vids and personally I really like them. I don't have a cadence sensor or such either but as Norry1 said it's about perceived effort.


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## endoman (20 Jan 2013)

If you are doing a sufferfest properly then you won't be able to count to guess your cadence. If I really try then I'm struggling even to see the screen! I have used them quite a lot over the last 12 months, but now do specific turbo sessions as dictated by a training plan. For starting out and general fitness then I think they are excellent. I still do one on an easy week as a change.


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## edindave (20 Jan 2013)

Is there any way to align the Sufferfest effort guides eg. 7/10 to HR zone?


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## T.M.H.N.E.T (20 Jan 2013)

Without looking would effort x20 work? ie:7x20=140bpm?


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## edindave (20 Jan 2013)

T.M.H.N.E.T said:


> Without looking would effort x20 work? ie:7x20=140bpm?


 
I know this is all very unscientific without proper measurement. The max HR I've recorded on my Garmin is 195 on a climb in real life. (Am 40 yo if that matters). 

140 bpm would never feel like 7/10 for me - when I did the Sufferfest Angels video the other day I sort of set 7/10 in my mind at about 160-170bpm, and 8/10 at 175, and 9/10 and beyond at 180+. I maxed at 185 on the spin bike that day. But to be honest, afterwards I didn't feel like I had really worked it as hard as it should have been.


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## Rob3rt (20 Jan 2013)

How about something like RHR+[RPEx((MHR-RHR)/10)] = HR Figure.

i.e. An RPE of zero yields RHR.
An RPE of one yields RHR plus one tenth of the difference between your MHR and your RHR.
....
An RPE of 10 yields your MHR

Probably a few quirks you might want to work out (i.e. you might want to add in an offset somewhere as an RPE of zero might not necessarily equate to doing absolutely nothing, like your RHR does), but maybe this should give you something to think about.

Or you could just ride on feel (RPE) and then look back at your data and cross check with your HR figures to see how they correlate.

Further, HR responds too slow for certain types of effort so you will have to go on RPE at times.


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## jdtate101 (20 Jan 2013)

Just go as hard as you can for 10/10 and then back it off a little bit from that perceived effort. If you're doing it properly you should be a sweaty mess by the end. As it's a perceived scale you can vary depending upon how you (your legs) are feeling that day, so don't have to flogg yourself too much to hit a power or HR target.

That saying, I did Downward Spiral last night and on the two initial sprints at 10/10 I was hitting 760w, which REALLY hurt.


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## endoman (21 Jan 2013)

google will find you a programme to relate the effort levels to your FTP, if you follow that then it really really hurts!


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## Rob3rt (21 Jan 2013)

endoman said:


> google will find you a programme to relate the effort levels to your FTP, if you follow that then it really really hurts!


 
Can you clarify how this is meant to work?


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## endoman (21 Jan 2013)

it tells you how many watts to put out for each suggested effort level. 

http://viewsoftheroad.com/powerfiles/Sufferfest_Erg_Files.xls


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## Rob3rt (21 Jan 2013)

And if you don't have a power meter (i.e. the OP) this is useful how?

Or are you stating for general interest rather than directly to the OP?


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## endoman (21 Jan 2013)

cos someone else in the thread mentioned their power output I thought it was a useful link to mention, 
I'd buy a cadence sensor, I find it pretty useful,


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## edindave (21 Jan 2013)

Rob3rt said:


> How about something like RHR+[RPEx((MHR-RHR)/10)] = HR Figure.
> 
> i.e. An RPE of zero yields RHR.
> An RPE of one yields RHR plus one tenth of the difference between your MHR and your RHR.
> ...


 
Thanks for that suggestion... I knocked up a table in Excel to see what numbers come out. 

Seems like a good starting point against which I can compare HR Zones from my Garmin, and tweak from there.

Cheers!


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## Tomba (21 Jan 2013)

Will this help converting RPE to HR?
http://www.cardiacathletes.org.uk/calc1.php


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## edindave (21 Jan 2013)

Tomba said:


> Will this help converting RPE to HR?
> http://www.cardiacathletes.org.uk/calc1.php


Thanks Tomba, that looks useful, have bookmarked that link.


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