Spinervals Fitness 2.0: Sweating Buckets is the second in the Fitness series, and is squarely aimed at recreational cyclists (whether road bikers, mountain bikers, or triathletes) who are looking to get into better shape. Sweating Buckets is longer and slightly more challenging than Fitness 1.0, with a difficulty rating of 7.5 out of 10; it doesn't supersede the first workout, but rather complements it. The lower-intensity workouts of the Fitness series are also ideal for more competitive athletes who want a structured, but less intense, workout in between tougher programs.

The overall program content is similar to that of Fitness 1.0: after a warm-up, we get a series of short tempo efforts (30 seconds on, 30 seconds off), several "super spin" intervals, and more tempo work including a pyramid set. These different types of effort are interwoven so that the workout as a whole feels varied and interesting. Where Sweating Buckets differs from Fitness 1.0 is in the intensity of the efforts. The length of each interval is increased and the rest periods within the interval are reduced (though the rest periods between intervals remains at 2 minutes). So, for instance, the "super spins" are 20 seconds fast/40 seconds rest, whereas in Fitness 1.0 the formula was 15 seconds fast/45 seconds rest, and Sweating Buckets includes a set of 6 30-second tempo efforts, while Fitness 1.0 only had 3 at a time.

The workout runs as follows:

Sweating Buckets is a great cardiovascular workout. Even though the individual intervals will get your heart rate up high, there's abundant recovery time built into the program, making the workout focus squarely on aerobic fitness. The running time of the workout is 52 minutes, though it's a bit longer if you start pedaling to warm up while the first introductory segment plays. Don't forget to have a bottle of water handy: it's important to stay hydrated, and Coach Troy provides frequent reminders to drink.

In Sweating Buckets, as in Fitness 1.0, Coach Troy offers support and encouragement to all the riders throughout the program; during the more intense efforts he will try to get you to put your best effort, but he constantly emphasizes that you should not overdo it, and there are plenty of rest periods of "soft-pedaling" to recover. Several useful graphics are presented on-screen to help you keep up the right effort. A "perceived effort" bar at the top of the screen indicates how hard you should be working, a countdown to the end of the workout appears in one corner of the screen, and an indication of what gear you should be in appears in the other corner. Coach Troy explains very clearly what gear you should be in for each part of the workout, and in addition to referring to the cogs by number ("big ring, 21" for instance) he'll also reference them by size ("one down from the largest"), and a small window will briefly appear in the lower-right-hand corner with an image of the correct gear, in case you've forgotten which one is 21. All in all, it's a structure that will allow even novice cyclists to handle the workout with confidence.

This Spinervals session has a small group of participants, but even so there's quite a bit of variation in age and fitness level, so viewers should feel right at home in the group whether they're just starting their exercise program or are already fairly fit. The session was filmed in a room in a private house, with wide glass windows filling the room with sun and offering a nice view to the green hills outside; it's a pleasant setting for a DVD that will see much of its use in cold, dark winter days.

Once you try out a Competition series workout, it's easy to see that the Fitness workouts are of a lower intensity: they have shorter interval efforts and longer rest periods throughout the workout, and the suggested gearing ratios are easier. The emphasis here is on providing an aerobic workout, and the program presented here is very well suited for that. The "sweating buckets" title is right on target!

The DVD

Video

Sweating Buckets is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The image is bright and natural-looking, if not particularly sharp. It looks perfectly fine for what it is: an exercise program. The graphical indicators of time, effort, and suggested gear ratio are clearly presented and easy to read.

Audio

It's important to be able to hear Coach Troy's instructions even when you're not looking directly at the screen, and the soundtrack handles this quite well. The sound is clean and clear, and Coach Troy is always understandable when he addresses the viewer. The music, which is an essential part of the workout since it helps set the correct tempo for each effort, is well balanced with Troy's instruction.

Extras

There are no special features on the DVD, but it does have chapter stops (a useful feature for an exercise DVD) and a detailed menu of all the different exercises used in the program, making it easy to tailor the workout to your own preferences on the fly.

Final thoughts

For those cold or rainy days when you want an aerobic workout with some structure, Spinervals Fitness 2.0: Sweating Buckets fits the bill nicely. Coach Troy does a great job of keeping up the motivation, and the variation between different types of exercises makes for an interesting workout. Slightly longer and more challenging than Fitness 1.0, Fitness 2.0 is an ideal workout program for recreational cyclists working on improving their overall fitness, as well as a great choice for an easier workout for competitive athletes. Highly recommended.