Why SIT Rides Should Be Your New Fitness Focus

Sprint Interval Training (SIT) delivers efficient and effective workouts for people of any fitness level. SIT focuses on your ability to harness explosive power from your fast twitch muscle fibers and understand how to “work to failure.” This article explores SIT and highlights amazing rides from Peloton’s Christine D’Ercole that will set you up for SIT success! 

Sprints vs. High Intensity vs. Endurance 

Before we get into the benefits of SIT, let’s clarify the basics. Many Peloton riders are familiar with the endurance style of riding (particularly in Power Zone) and with some of the higher intensity workouts, like Tabata and HIIT. Every style has important health benefits, and it’s a good idea for most people to incorporate a blend of each into their weekly routines. Let’s break down the differences:

• SIT (Sprint Interval Training) is all about short, explosive bursts of all-out effort—it’s intense. It involves maximum effort sprints followed by longer periods of rest. Picture yourself going all-out for 15-30 seconds, then catching your breath for more than a minute. 
• HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) gives you a bit more variety, mixing challenging intervals with active recovery periods for a killer cardio and strength combo, using a wider range of work to rest ratios.
• Tabata is a stricter structure that only refers to intervals that are 20 seconds of pure pedal-to-the-metal effort followed by 10 seconds of rest that are repeated. Sounds short? Trust us, it packs a punch! (Just try an Ally Love Tabata class and thank us later…)
• Endurance rides are your long-haul sessions. They focus on steady, moderate effort to build stamina and improve overall fitness.  

While endurance training burns calories and improves heart health over longer sessions, you can achieve similar (or even better) benefits with SIT in much less time.  It also provides an opportunity to flex your fast twitch muscle fibers instead of the slow twitch variation that endurance work relies upon.  

SIT has Benefits for Everyone, but Especially Women in Perimenopause and Menopause 

If you’re in perimenopause or menopause, you might notice that your body is changing in ways that feel unfamiliar—or downright frustrating. But here’s some good news—Sprint Interval Training can help you feel stronger, healthier, and more energized during this transition. Physical changes are common during this time, particularly the accumulation of visceral fat in the abdominal area. This is due to hormonal shifts, such as declining estrogen levels and fluctuating progesterone, which can lead to increased fat storage, especially around the midsection. These changes, coupled with a slower metabolism and reduced muscle mass, can make maintaining a healthy weight more challenging. SIT, with its short bursts of intense exercise followed by recovery periods, has been shown to effectively target and reduce visceral fat.

Here are eight ways SIT helps women in this phase of life (and hey, men also benefit from this muscle-focused work!). 

• SIT Boosts Energy Level Those sudden bouts of fatigue? SIT can give you an energy boost by improving your cardiovascular health and endurance. Short, high-intensity bursts challenge your heart and lungs, leaving you feeling invigorated and ready to take on the day.
• SIT Supports Weight Management Struggling with weight gain around your midsection? You’re not alone, but SIT might be your secret weapon. These workouts ramp up your metabolism, helping you burn fat more efficiently.
• SIT Improves Bone and Muscle Strength Want to feel strong, steady, and resilient? SIT helps you build muscle and maintain bone density, which is crucial during menopause when women often face an increased risk of osteoporosis.
• SIT Balances Hormones Hormonal changes can wreak havoc on your mood and energy, but SIT stimulates the release of feel-good endorphins. Translation? You’ll feel more balanced and upbeat after each session.
• SIT is Short and Sweet No time to spend an hour at the gym? SIT workouts are fast. We’re talking as little as 15 to 30 minutes. Perfect for fitting into a busy schedule while getting maximum benefits.
• SIT Supports Heart Health Menopause brings a higher risk of heart issues, but SIT works wonders for your cardiovascular health. It strengthens your heart, improves circulation, and lowers blood pressure.
• SIT Boosts Your Mental Clarity Feeling foggy or forgetful? SIT isn’t just great for the body—it’s fantastic for the brain, too. Sprinting stimulates blood flow and oxygen to the brain, helping you think more clearly and stay focused.
• SIT Works for All Fitness Levels One of the best things about SIT? It’s adaptable. Beginners can sprint at a pace that feels challenging but manageable, while fitness pros can crank the intensity up to 100%. This makes it a workout anyone can get started with, no matter where they are on their fitness journey.

Peloton’s CDE Takes Us Along on Her Sprint Training

Followers of longtime instructor and gold medalist Christine D’Ercole (CDE) have heard her talk more and more frequently lately about her own perimenopause journey and how she is using her role in the fitness world to acclimate (and help others do so too). In fact, we first reported on her fresh take menopause programming at Peloton back in June, 2024.

As a champion track racer, she trains outside of Peloton with her own coach, of course, and specific programming tailored to her needs to achieve her competition goals. Luckily for us, she often adapts this work for us by offering the sprint structure and “points race” programming that simulates the type of racing she does.

How Do You Find SIT Classes on Peloton?

Short answer: it’s not easy! 

Unfortunately, as of this writing, there is no place that all of Christine’s self-described SIT rides live in a findable way on the Peloton platform. Why? We don’t know. It would make sense to put them either as a standalone SIT Collection or even in the “Christine’s Greatest Hits” Collection, but alas, not yet. However, we can share a temporary fix!

Luckily, since the social communities within Peloton are great places to get information and support, a thoughtful member of the IAMICANIWILLIDO_Crew on Facebook, the official CDE fan group, responded to a recent member inquiry with an amazingly comprehensive summary of all of her SIT classes to date. The following annotated list is provided courtesy of #SeattleKristin! 

Date / Type / Minutes / Description

2/1/21 / Classic Rock / 20m / 5, 10, 15, 20s sprints / 1m recovery x 2 

6/9/21 / PZ Max / 30m / 40s sprints, 3.5m recovery x 4

2/15/22 / PZ Max / 45m / 30s sprints, 3.5m recovery x 5; 15s sprints / 3.5m recovery x3

2/1/23 / PZ Max / 30m / 15-30s sprints / 30-100s recovery x10

11/19/23 / PZ Max / 45m / 30s sprints, variable 3-6m recovery x 6

3/29/23 / PZ Max / 30m / 30s sprints, 3m recovery x 4

7/28/24 / PZ Max / 45m / 4 sets of 4 30/30s

9/8/24 / Intervals / 30m / 4 x 15s, 3 x 30s, 3 x 20s, 3 x 15s

11/19/24 / Intervals / 45m / 20-30s sprints / 3-4 min recovery / x9

Hopefully soon Peloton will respond to member demand and officially bundle all of these, but until then, we are grateful for fellow members who take the time to compile and share these resources! 

What I Learned Sampling CDE’s SIT Classes 

I took three of these classes at the end of December and will share my reflections from each. I chose the most recent 45 Minute Intervals class, a Power Zone Max class, and a pretty recent 30 Minute Intervals class. I chose these because I wanted to compare the Power Zone vs Intervals class structure, and then see how the shorter time felt for the same kind of work. I tend to do mostly 45-60 Minute Power Zone classes because I like to incorporate those long warmups, but in the spirit of SIT meant to be accessible for a shorter workout window, I wanted to see how that felt.

My overall takeaway was that while SIT is hard, the challenges was more mental than physical. The longer recoveries really do give you enough time to gather your strength (and your wits) to attack each interval (unlike Tabata and HIIT which can be more relentless). Conversely though, with the goal of each interval being failure (as opposed to just working hard and conserving energy for the next one) I felt a little in-too-deep in my thinking at times. I also made some interesting connections to other Peloton modalities that I hope will help me lean into this more in the future and get more comfortable with this style of training.

Review of Class #1 – 45 Minute Intervals – November 19, 2024

This is a 45 minute Intervals Ride featuring nine intervals of 20-30 seconds each, with recoveries between each interval ranging from 2:45 to 4:20, after the warmup. This class was intentionally paced where the music was matched perfectly to the intervals! I personally was grateful for the last 30 seconds of Foo Fighters’ “Best of You” to align with Interval #5! 

Although I mostly ride Power Zone, I try to sprinkle in some Tabata and HIIT rides into my schedule now and then, so I was familiar with the overview of this ride. However, I was surprised at first by the long recoveries! On paper they do seem too long, but once you are in the work and realize that you are meant to push “to failure” in each of the nine intervals, you learn quickly that the recovery time really is necessary. 

During the recovery periods, Christine gave a lot of useful background about the science of fast twitch vs slow twitch muscles, the importance of building our mitochondria (and no, it was not a 2 for 1 with Denis, haha), and shoutouts to both men and women (especially the #hotandcoldcrew) who need to be doing this work. She reiterated many of the overall health benefits listed above. 

She also spoke eloquently about people’s leaderboard names and the tags they chose, and the stories those tell about them. As always, she embraced the community of people who choose her rides, and encouraged us to “enter this (work) curiously” because it’s new for many but so important to try. In addition to mentally embracing the challenge of something new, what was most “curious” for me was to shift to the mindset that “hitting failure is the goal and that is success” (in this particular ride). 

What “Reaching Failure” Feels Like

While this was not the “hardest” ride I’ve ever done, I was actually feeling pretty nauseated by Interval #8, kind of in that FTP test kind of way (IYKYK). But once I recovered and thought about the class, I was struck by the mental difficulty here and how it translates into other classes on the Peloton platform. For example, Yoga enthusiasts know that most of the Peloton instructors have some version of a resilience mantra, recovering from falling down or embracing your wobbles. As CDE made “reaching failure” the goal of this ride, I acknowledged that this kind of mental gymnastics is hard for some people to buy into (but they should!). 

I was also struck by my own initial reaction to the long recoveries, thinking they’d be too much (i.e. dull), probably because the interval work I am more accustomed to is Tabata and HIIT. As I thought more about this class, it reminded me of Rebecca Kennedy’s Strength Split with the noticeably long recoveries. Member chatter was hotly divided on this when it dropped… some people were bored in these classes, saying there was too much waiting around, while veteran Strength aficionados remarked that this type of recovery was necessary in order to fully recover and prepare for the next lift… if your weights were heavy enough. And if people weren’t really needing that long recovery then they weren’t working hard enough. This “work to failure” approach in this ride felt like that to me. (Read more about why RK lifts heavier now than ever here.) 

Review of Class #2 – 45 Minute Power Zone Max – July 28, 2024

Next, I took another 45 Minute ride, a Power Zone Max from last summer. The structure differed slightly from the November ride, and I was definitely curious to try this one as I’m more comfortable in the PZ world. Here, the goal was not to work to failure with each interval, but rather to approach each interval differently and mindfully, although again with curiosity. There were four sets of 30 seconds on/30 seconds off intervals that alternated going to Zones 6, 7, 6, 7. Christine coaches you through every one with micro-level attention, even breaking them up into 10-second studies. 

I won’t spoil this ride by telling you all the ways she suggests attacking each set, but trust that she’s got you and don’t be afraid to try. There are a lot of nods to yoga in this one, from a lot of breathing cues to facing the fact that when you approach this work, you have to “drop your ego” and even commenting on the strength that we can find in stillness. CDE is the ultimate yogi! 

With the structure here being more familiar to Power Zone fans, one surprise was several opportunities to stand. Fans of CDE know she mostly rides in the saddle but these suggestions were part of her “playful” approach to this work. She also gave similar cues in the November 2024 ride, but I didn’t take them there. I did here, and I’m glad I followed her lead. We’re here to work, right? 

A Surprising Personal Revelation

As I listened to Christine’s guidance during this ride, there were definitely many similarities with the November, 2024 Intervals ride, but also some commentary that helped me make a new connection to my own multi-modality work. When she talked about how she was really intentional in programming this ride to allow us to understand exactly where she was taking us in each interval and how we should get there, she reminded us that going all out all the time was not the healthiest way to exercise. She says she wanted us to see what we are capable of by dipping a toe, and then a foot, into the waters… and I found something similar to be true when I did Andy’s Density 2 last summer.  

In Density 2, Andy led us through a progressive strength program designed to let us prove to ourselves how heavy we can lift. I personally found those classes incredibly useful because I did eventually use heavier weights than I ever had before, and learning that I could do the work without injuring myself, I am now able to use that information in other classes to make the most of my workouts. In this ride, in the way we pushed, Christine helps us see this too and it makes exercising for health even better. As she says in the ride, “let’s get active so we can stay active!” I couldn’t agree more! 

Review of Class #3 – 30 Minute Intervals – September 8, 2024

The structure for this class was a brief warm up followed by sets that were four 15 second intervals, three 30 second intervals, three 20 second intervals, and three 15 second intervals. Recoveries between each set were about 1-2 minutes long. As with the other rides I sampled, CDE was in fine form getting us to buy in. Although this ride was not at all synced to the songs, I did appreciate that Pink’s Trustfall was playing as she reviewed the class plan to get us psyched up!

I chose a shorter class for the third experiment ride because I normally need a long warmup (and prefer the 45 minute rides as the warmups are built in) but I wanted to try to do this as a “short” workout. I did do a 5-Minute Pre-Ride Stretch, Cool Down, and Post-Ride Stretch so I still spent 45 minutes in total. But I was curious how the work:rest ratio in a SIT class would feel without the longer warmup ride I am accustomed to. 

Shorter Rides = Less Recovery! 

Well, I got what I came for! Unlike the longer rides, the recoveries were shorter and I felt the difference. At first I was relieved to see the first set was the shorter times, and the cadences were meant to be high, which is easier for me to do not totally warmed up. However, the thing we were curious to find was how we were affected going to failure in a shorter amount of time. Mentally, knowing that the duration of work was shorter, it was “easier” to work harder, but physically, I went out a little harder than I normally do (although that was the point, of course).

The second and third sets came up fast, with 30- and then 20-second intervals. They were definitely tough for me. The 30 seconds felt like I hit a wall (though I know that was the point) while the 20 seconds were coached more approachably for me (similar to the 7/28/24 ride, she encouraged breaking them into 10 seconds of ramp up and 10 seconds of pushing). 

I was relieved, in a weird way, to get back to the 15s again for the final set, despite the fact that we were coached to use much higher resistance in this set vs the first set which was cadence-based. I am not that confident on higher resistances due to an old knee injury, and I generally stay within my limits. I did go to the top of my range here, knowing the duration was short, and while I was definitely exhausted, it was certainly doable. 

Because this ride was shorter than the others I sampled, it felt more like the Tabata classes I typically take. It was much harder to recover and I was really missing those luxurious 3-4 minutes from the 11/19/24 ride! I also felt more tired a few hours after the ride, which actually was not the case after sampling the 45 Minute Rides. 

Connecting to Ourselves and Each Other

Christine’s commentary in this ride was a bit more condensed, but she did mention bestselling book authors Dr Stacy Sims and Selene Yaeger of Next Level fame – referring to the popular guide for fitness in menopause (check out Crystal’s interview with Dr Sims here ). She also spoke about “why we watch sports” – “because we like to bear witness to other people hitting their wall and then breaking through it” which made sense, given we were all watching the Olympics this past summer, but then she added a personal thought about appreciating that we all allow her to bear witness to our breakthroughs. Awww! Just when you thought she couldn’t be any better, she is!

My Key Takeaways: Incorporating SIT into a Fitness Routine

Sprint Interval Training might become your new go-to workout. It’s powerful, time-efficient, and offers benefits for everyone, no matter your fitness level. From boosting cardiovascular health to torching fat and building strength, SIT workouts deliver incredible results without monopolizing your schedule. 

I am glad that I tried these three classes to close out 2024 because I do want to incorporate more of this kind of exercise moving forward. Is it going to be SIT for me, or will I stick with my Tabata and HIIT habit? Time will tell, but now that I have more tools in my perimenopause toolbox, I am definitely empowered to make good choices. And hopefully Peloton will make SIT easier for us to find in the future!

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