Spinervals Fitness 4.0 - Lean & Mean (with 5 VFers)

Troy Jacobson
Year Released: 2004

Categories: Indoor Cycling



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Length: 56 minutes

Difficulty Rating: 8.2

The format of the workout:
~ Extra warm up (3 minutes)
~ Warm up set (3x30 on/off intervals)
~ 5 minutes of Super Spins (15 sec on/15 sec off) Cadence 120 or higher
~ 2 minutes easy
~ Hill Climbers (Hard gear, 1 minutes on - 20 seconds standing/40 seconds seated, 1 minute easy) 5 times
~ 2 minutes easy
~ Pyramid (15/30/45/60/45/30/15) with 15 second rests
~ 1 minute easy
~ Pyramid (repeat)
~ 2 minutes easy
~ Squats and Isometric Squats
~ 1 minute easy
~ Build Set (45 seconds - increasing intensity every 15 seconds, 45 seconds rest) 3 times
~ Cool Down (5 minutes)

There is a Music Off option which allows you to play your own music (something I do a lot, since the Spinervals music leaves a bit to be desired!)

I am repeating my comments from previous Fitness series reviews. I find the Fitness series to be a lot of fun because there is a good variety in the sets. These workouts are not as focused on building a specific skill, but improving all over fitness, so Troy includes a little bit of everything in this workout which makes the time go by quickly.

This workout is no exception, and is even more fun for me, since I know several of the participants in the workout. Sometimes I skip the squats because I want to keep my heart rate up and don’t want to include any strength in my workout. They are easy to skip because of the chaptering in the workout, or it is also easy to just stay on your bike and keep spinning.

Overall, this is a great workout and I think most people of all levels can enjoy this one.

Instructor Comments:

Lisa C

10/12/2006

Lean and Mean is part of the spinervals fitness series, meaning it is not designed to be as intense as the competition series. That being said, I still felt it was an excellent workout, and I really enjoyed myself.

The workout is about 50 minutes long, and features five of our VF'ers, who also can be seen in, "Enter the Red Zone." I think just knowing that some of those I was watching are vidiots really helped with my motivation. I wanted to keep up with them!

This workout is a little less intense than, "Enter the Red Zone," but still gets your heart rate up. The pyramid sets are amazing, and difficult, but they go by quickly. The music in this spinerval wasn't my favorite, it was definately heavy metal inspired in my opinion, but it did have a great beat. The set is in a museum, the same as in Enter the Red Zone, and Aero Base Builder 1. All in all, I thought this was another great spinerval on those days when I want to work hard, have less time, and don't want to push myself to the max, but still want to work hard.

Instructor Comments:
I just find Coach Troy to be so motivating! I am jealous of the other VF'ers who are actually there!

Hilarie Dansie

04/20/2005

Lean & Mean is about 50 minutes of fun! Five Vfers (DaphneM, BrendaF, MellyF, NancyC, and SuzanneM) are participants in this workout. A tension guide is included for those using spin bikes.

It starts with the usual Spinerval warm up of 3x30 seconds in Big Ring 15. The rest breaks down as:

5 min. superspin
5x1 min. hill climbs
A pyramid that is done twice
Squats and iso squats
3x45 sec. builds

The first part of the workout may lead you to believe that this workout may not be too hard. Once you get into the pyramids it gets harder though.

The builds at the end are done in a fixed gear and the effort goes up every 15 seconds. I love ending a workout with these.

The participants are all laughing once the workout is over making even the cooldown fun to watch!

Instructor Comments:

Andrea Lynn

12/30/2004