VO2 Max

VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can consume, VO2 max is measured in milliliters of oxygen consumed in a minute, per kilogram of body weight. VO2 max is crucial to both performance and health. It is an excellent predictor of things like running and cycling performance (though there are other very important factors) and also of cardiovascular health.

Performing high intensity interval training is one of the best ways possible to increase your VO2 max, making assault bike HIIT intervals one of the best uses of your time when trying to develop your cardiovascular fitness. I have written an extensive article on HIIT and its benefits that you can refer to for further detail. VO2 max made up of many factors such as stroke volume, mitochondrial density and efficiency, gas exchange efficiency etc. Performing high intensity interval training on the assault bike will improve all of these attributes in unison resulting in a higher VO2 max therefore better health and performance.

Fatigue Tolerence

When we perform high intensity intervals we accumulate a large amount of fatigue, this fatigue then needs to be cleared as quickly as possible and the heart rate brought back down. As we get more and more adapted to performing high intensity intervals on the assault bike our bodies become very efficient at getting rid of this accumulated fatigue. This ability to both clear fatigue and deal with fatigue is crucial for high levels of cardiovascular performance.

Cardiovascular Health

The heart and cardiovascular system are crucial for physical health and longevity. As we age, and if we become more sedentary our VO2 max decreases, meaning we can start to find day to day tasks challenging for our cardiovascular system. This could mean walking up a flight of stairs or going on hike becomes challenging when it used to be an easy task. Maintaining our physical health through performing HIIT is one of the best ways to stay in great shape as we age. Performing HIIT on the assault bike is an amazing way to maintain peak health of the cardiovascular system.

CrossFit Performance

In the sport of CrossFit, athletes are often asked to perform the assault bike in workouts during competitions. If the assault bike is a limiting factor in your competition performance you may want to use assault bike intervals to specifically improve your assault bike performance. A good way to ensure progression here is performing the 10 minute assault bike test to get a gauge for your current assault bike fitness levels. From here you will be able to write a training programme of intervals with the assault bike to try and improve this test. For individuals looking to successfully compete in Crossfit competitions performing assault bike intervals can be highly beneficial.

Mental Resilience

Very challenging physical training is a brilliant way to build mental resilience. In life it is normal to face a range of difficulties throughout your day. Preparing for these difficulties through challenging physical training can help inoculate against negative responses to challenges. In his book, The Guide to The Good Life , William Irvine discusses how we can treat these sorts of physical challenges as stoic tests and how this can benefit our day to day lives. If your not sure what I am talking about, try a 1 minute on 1 minute off max assault bike session for five rounds and you’ll understand why these sorts of training sessions are so effective at building resilience.

The assault bike is probably the toughest erg available for high intensity interval training. The bike erg is only lower body and cardiovascular focused, while the rower is full body it requires technique maintenance that prevents all out intervals. Whereas the assault bike allows us to perform full body intervals where no technique is required and we can put our thoughts to one side and put our bodies into a dark place. This sort of intensity leads to a great deal of adaptation, making it an extremely effective piece of training equipment.

Reminder - Earn Your Intensity

Remember, you need to earn your right to perform extremely intense workouts. Assault bike intervals are not for everyone and are certainly not for those who have been sedentary for a long time. They are a shock to the system even to those who are in excellent shape. So make sure your in good enough physical condition to perform these kinds of efforts, this can be done by consulting with a doctor or exercise professional. If your not in good enough shape, work hard to get there in order to reap the benefits of this style of training.

If you are able to perform this style of training (HIIT with an assault bike) then make sure you are applying the correct dose. Once per week will be easily enough for this style of HIIT workout. Other forms of cardiovascular training should also be performed during your week of training, but the extremely high intensity work should be kept to one or two sessions per week.