Product Review: Sufferfest Indoor Cycling Videos

By now hopefully you'll know that Delme and I both love endurance sports, especially running and triathlon (swim/bike/run). And as both of us are time-crunched due to family, work, sports and social commitments, we need to find methods of fitness training that are effective and that we can actually fit into everyday life. Well, as far as our cycling training is concerned, this is it!

The Sufferfest group of training videos are intended for cyclists, triathletes and fitness enthusiasts who want to get seriously fit, but are limited for time. However, I warn you now - they are not easy! In fact they are designed to seriously kick your butt; they are evil! But they work!

So what are they exactly? They are downloadable videos for you to use on your indoor bike trainer (known as a turbo trainer in the cycling and triathlon world), spelling out the exact intensity and time interval required for that section of the training session, all set against the backdrop of some amazing pro cycling race footage and some great music tracks.

So in essence each Sufferfest video is based on a specific workout (like flat out sprints, short intervals, climbs, time trials efforts, even 20 minute race simulations), and tells you how hard to go and for how long, and during that interval the footage shows you what you should be doing (so if you should be sprinting, you'll see some amazing sprint footage). How simple is that? Even I can follow it!

The 2 videos I bought are "Revolver" and "Downward Spiral", each being 45 minutes and 60 minutes respectively. Revolver is billed as simple, brutal, uncomplicated and it doesn't disappoint. The main set is 1 minute intervals, with 1 minute recovery, it is tough, tough, tough, as you have very little time to recover before hitting the next interval. This is a great training session when you are very short on time and just want to get your ass kicked! Downward Spiral is 60 minutes of maximum intensity intervals, which gradually decrease in duration, with decreasing recovery intervals. This intense session even has you chasing Tom Boonen during his solo breakaway in Paris-Roubaix! Another great training session.

For me these training videos are a very welcome change to staring at a concrete wall in your garage, listening to music or watching a movie and have been a stable part of my triathlon training for a long time, in fact they were integral for me in qualifying for Team GB last year for the European Triathlon Long Distance Triathlon Championships. The combination of the intervals, the awesome cycling footage and the pounding, motivating soundtrack just makes it so much easier to train harder!

The Sufferfest videos are incredibly cheap too, I bought mine last year for less than £10 each ($12.99) and I'm really surprised they haven't increased in price yet. For your $12.99 you get a downloadable video that will see you through many a tough training winter, or even when you just need a kick up the butt to reinvigorate your training! You can check out the full range of training videos at the Sufferfest website, I would definitely recommend trying out one of their videos, but only if you're ready to work hard!!! Did I mention they are evil? Enjoy!