The Echo Bike is a dreaded machine for many. Because of that, many of us avoid it. And when it does come up in a class workout, we suffer through, uncomfortable the entire time with no idea how to pace properly.
However, by spending a little extra time with this machine, we can not only improve our overall fitness but learn how to pace.
Pacing
Before discussing in detail how the Echo bike will aid our workouts, we need to define pacing.
Pacing is knowing what speed to hold for each workout. It is conserving energy at the correct times and knowing when to push hard at others.
While we will primarily discuss the bike, pacing is a part of every CrossFit workout.
Perhaps you are guilty of coming out way too hot on a workout. You feel great for the first round, but by the second, your split (or time per round) has nearly doubled already. You’ve dug yourself a hole; now it is merely survival for the remainder of the workout.
Compare that to the athlete who holds consistent splits across all rounds of a workout. This athlete may not ‘win’ the first round. However, while others peter out, the consistent athlete holds their pace, eventually taking the win. They struggle near the end, but the workout is nearly over by that time.
The athletes adept at pacing know how they should feel at the beginning of a twenty-minute workout. They know it is drastically different from how they will feel at the beginning of a five-minute workout.
Where does this awareness come from?
Well, certainly, it is gained by simple experience. However, a great way to learn to pace yourself is to use an Echo bike.
The echo bike
The Echo bike is a machine known to hurt, so people expect that from it. While I would never consider riding it a joyous experience, it shouldn’t always feel downright miserable.
Sure, a sprint of less than a minute will be painful, and there isn’t much strategy there. Go hard for as long as you can.
However, even at 2 minutes, there is some degree of pacing.
Pacing on the echo bike
When we pace correctly, we hold just below that ‘redline’ feeling. We hold a uncomfortable but manageable pace, and we won’t reach our limit until the very end of the workout (if done correctly).
For longer workouts, this may mean starting at a pace that feels ‘easy’ but will be anything but by the end.
But how do we know that feeling?
Step 1: Using the echo bike to build capacity
Before we learn to pace, we need to build the capacity to do so. If you can’t make it through a workout, it doesn’t matter how well you pace.
You can build capacity by doing long, steady-state pieces on the Echo bike. This can be anywhere from 15-30+ minutes of a steady ride. During this time, you should be able to hold a conversation. However, this is not an idle time for your mind.
At this time, you should focus on consistency. Keep the same RPM on the bike (or as close as possible) for the entirety of the ride. Once again, if you feel yourself starting to get too out of breath, bring the pace down and keep it there.
Constantly be aware of how your legs feel. You should feel as though your legs are flushing lactic acid rather than building it up. It takes time to feel this process, but the more you do it, the more you will be aware of how your body is feeling. You will increase your aerobic threshold and overall fitness capacity.
Repeated efforts at varying time domains
Once you feel as though you have an increased work capacity, start switching things up.
Add in some echo bike repeats, such as:
5 sets of 1-minute intervals + 1-2 minutes of easy biking between
10 sets of :30 work with 1-minute rest
3 Sets of 7-10 minutes bike with 3 minutes rest
…And any other variations you can think of!
What we are doing here is finding the pace we should maintain for these various time domains. It will be different for each.
Write your times down and try to be as consistent as possible.
If you do the five sets of 1 minute of work and in the first interval you have double the amount of calories as the last, you should have started the first slightly slower and maintained it across all sets.
This is not just mindless work; it is strategic. With each interval, you learn what you can do. You will become more adept at feeling what sort of speed you should hold for each time domain, and in a workout, you can more easily settle into that pace.
Switch it up
After you do time-domain intervals, set specific distance or calorie goals to hit. For example, 5 Sets of 50 calories with 3 minutes of rest between, 3 sets of 70 Calories, or 8 sets of 10.
Whatever it is, you want your times to be as close as possible for each interval. Once again, this will make you more aware of what pace you should be holding in a workout.
Using it in a workout
Getting comfortable on the Echo bike helps with all areas of CrossFit and fitness in general. True, in a CrossFit class, you will have to pay more attention to the varying movements and your proficiency in each. However, knowing how you should feel for a workout, given its intended stimulus, is incredibly beneficial.
Check back in later weeks, as we will discuss how to go from pacing on the bike to pacing a CrossFit workout!
