Air Bike Race Conditioning - Benchmark Protocol

The Benchmark Protocol

Air Bike Race Conditioning opens and closes on the same test. You run the 10-minute total-distance test on Week 1, Day 1, retest it in Week 8, and finish with a HYROX-style simulation. Same setup, same effort standard, so your results are directly comparable and your progress is measurable.

What the benchmark measures

Two things: how much total distance your engine produces in 10 minutes, and how well you pace it. A bigger number is the headline; holding an even pace across the ten minutes is the skill that gets you there.

Setup

You need the air bike and clear floor space, plus a kettlebell and wall ball for the simulation. Set your monitor to total distance and warm up with the program flow and a few build-up efforts. Have a way to record your distance and your split across the ten minutes.

The 10-minute test

Ride 10 minutes for maximum total distance at a controlled max: the hardest pace you can hold evenly to the finish. Note your total distance and how your output held across the ten minutes. This is your headline number.

The HYROX-style simulation

The closing test pairs race-pace bike work with the stations you have trained: kettlebell, wall ball, and bodyweight movements. Keep your bike output steady under station fatigue rather than sprinting the first effort and fading.

How to pace it

Do not sprint the first two minutes. Open at a pace you can hold, because the air bike punishes a hot start harder than almost any machine. Race pace lives around RPE 8. If your output falls off a cliff in the back half, your entry pace was too hot.

Recording your numbers

Write down your total distance, how your pace held across the ten minutes, and your effort on the simulation. These are the numbers Week 8 has to beat.

The Week 8 retest

Repeat the exact protocol at the same RPE. The taper in Phase 3 should have you arriving fresh. Compare your Week 8 distance to Week 1 at matched effort, and check whether your pace held more evenly.

How to read your progress

More total distance at the same RPE means a bigger engine. A more even pace across the ten minutes means you learned to hold your output. Either one is proof the block worked. Both together is the goal of Air Bike Race Conditioning.

Ready to start? Return to the program guide or read Phase 1.