2×20 minutes is my staple workout. It’s a threshold test, a benchmark, and a default interval set when riding inside. I do it all the time, but don’t blame my level of mediocrity on 2×20, I stunk worse before I started doing this workout. If you start doing this type of drill full tilt all the time, you might be less slow as well.

I used to watch cycling races while doing 2×20 until every race I watched was full of dudes who had been kicked out of the sport. I owned the 2004 Vuelta and it is the worst one, if you have nothing else to do Wiki that race, it’s a who’s who of frauds, freaks and cheats. Then I started watching various acclaimed TV series, which is problematic because both my TV and ears function so poorly that I often miss half the dialogue. Then I switched to bad TV series, and that actually works. But after 18 episodes of “White Collar” and “Veronica Mars” the shame bleeds over from the trainer into regular life. I fell on that sword for you, please don’t make it in vain. So I quit the TV cold turkey and went with just music, and it is the only way. After tons of experimentation, I have developed the perfect playlist model for 2×20 workout. Obviously your taste in music will not coincide perfectly with mine, but pay assiduous attention to the template below, it is 100% gold. Just stick in your own picks.

Perhaps most important is to understand it’s a rookie move to start off with killer rock and roll. Save it, you don’t want to blow your wad 4 minutes in. The first few minutes of 2×20 is about finding your groove and not exploding yourself, so pick a number that has more roll than rock. I use “Green Onions” by Booker T and the MG’s, or” I’d Rather Be with You” by Bootsy Collins. Anything off “What’s Going On” will work. You do not need anything more. Resist and just daydream.

If you are 16 years old you can give in to natural impulses and play “Ace of Spades” or “Good Times, Bad Times” and be done with the whole thing injudiciously. Otherwise you still need to ease into the effort, as you need 20 minute staying power. I use “Prizefighter” by Eels, or maybe Ronnie Lane’s cover of “You Never Can Tell”. Discretion is the better part of valor for minutes 4-8.

At eight minutes into the interval you have to be careful, if you play “Kick Out the Jams” by the MC5, you have no chance of making it to 20 minutes as that song immediately boosts your wattage by 20% and you will be laying there beside your bike, prematurely useless, a feeling that might ring some bells. However it is time to start rocking, just not too much. “Electric Sweat” by The Mooney Suzuki or “Thirty Days in the Hole” by Humble Pie works for me. Mid-tempo rockers like “Web in Front” from Archers of Loaf or “Rocks Off” from Exile can carry me through if I am feeling good.

Again, if Miley Cyrus (Pea-Hen) or Norah Jones (Braden) gets your juices flowing, by all means indulge. The 2×20 playlist is about challenging yourself, but without judgment. It all about you. However if you have even thought about Nickleback at this point, stop reading, as there is a base level at which judgment is inevitable.

Minutes 12-16 are crucial and mentally the hardest to endure. It is here that your wattage can drop if you are not careful. It’s imperative that you select the proper tune. Don’t save the best for last, you need the power of Rock now. Play your ace with a poker face. The aforementioned “Ace of Spades” works, “Sonic Reducer” works. Personally, I have to admit to using some cheese here, “Dream Police” by Cheap Trick supplies the kick I need every time. I have caught Tim Mullins playing Taylor Swift here, but that works for him so don’t snicker.

Uh oh, you got 4 minutes to go, just kicked it out like a mutha, and now you got to go to level 11 to finish. What you need is some song that does not make you think, that evokes no memory of adolescence or possible introspection, one that you only use for emergency purposes, and is seriously heavy. Don’t put your favorite song here, no baggage allowed. Do the last song you last heard on a car radio which compelled you involuntarily crank it and feel good for a few minutes. You cannot listen to this song anytime but the last few minutes of a 20 minute interval when you think you could conceivably vomit and your HR is 180. It’s the real ace up your sleeve. Unless you are certain about this one, let me suggest “Immigrant Song”, “Paranoid”, “Search and Destroy”, “Teenage Lobotomy” or “New Rose”. If you are feeling lucky, you can switch genres for the swan song. It’s a big gamble but we all have a rap or country song we secretly dig. If you have not heard “Hey Ya”, “Bring the Noise”, or “Copperhead Road” or “I’m so Lonesome I could Cry” you can roll the dice and try it. Personally I think it’s a Judas move against the Gods of Rock who have got you this far, but that night be why it works.

Again, the names are fluid, you got to figure what functions for you, but the stencil is solid. There was al lot of failure on the highway to the brilliance above. Block off several hours with youtube-mp3-converter.org. Find a quiet place, tell any loved ones who ask what you are up to is “very important business” and to get lost for while because whatever they want is inconsequential compared to what you are presently undertaking, and start to crack your own 2×20 playlist.