You've got to hand it to the folks at Spinervals: they believe in "truth in advertising." Spinervals Competition 9.0, part of the Spinervals series of indoor workouts for cyclists, is titled Have Mercy, with the spine-chilling subheading "120 minutes of suffering." Who in his right mind would go for an exercise program like this? Well, someone who was serious about getting fit and getting faster and stronger on the bike, that's who! Spinervals 9.0 is certainly tough stuff, but for motivated riders it may be exactly what's needed.

Have Mercy is actually a compilation program, with the various workout sets taken from earlier installments in the Spinervals Competition series. These selections have been made with the idea in mind to create a truly tough and challenging workout, and Have Mercy tops the Spinervals intensity scale at a full 10 out of 10. This is not the workout to choose if you're not already in good shape, or if you haven't been on the bike much lately. However, if you're looking for a tough program to get in some high-quality training on a day when rain or snow has put the kibosh on your plans to go hammer up some hills with your racing buddies, then Have Mercy offers two hours of intense but also varied exercises on the bike.

Over the course of the program, Coach Troy Jacobson leads the Spinervals participants through a range of different workouts, such as "ladders" of tempo efforts, high-cadence super spins, off-the-bike isometric squats, hill simulations, acceleration sets, and sprints. With only a minute's worth of rest between each set, and with all of the sets being at very high intensity, Have Mercy doesn't take long to tax both your cardiovascular system and your legs.

Here's the program in full:

As always, Coach Troy provides excellent encouragement and motivation throughout the program, and both he and the other Spinervals participants in the program are always cheerful and enjoying themselves. Exhausted, yes, but in a good way. And so will you be if you make it through Have Mercy. Just don't forget to have plenty of water and a towel handy, because you'll need both of them.

The DVD

Video

The image quality of Have Mercy is quite satisfactory. It's not extremely sharp, but it's as clear as it needs to be, considering that this is an exercise video, and the image is clean and offers bright, natural-looking colors. Several on-screen graphics provide useful information for viewers: a perceived effort bar, an indication of the suggested gear ratio, and a countdown to the end of the workout. All are distinct and easy to read. The program is presented in its correct aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Audio

The sound quality is very good overall, with Coach Troy always being easy to hear, and the music generally keeping a correct balance with his voice. The beginning of the workout is taken from Spinervals Competition 1.0, which was recorded outdoors, and sounds a bit more muffled than the later parts of the program, which are taken from later Spinervals programs that were recorded indoors and had better sound.

Extras

While there are no special features on this DVD, it does offer a useful (though annoyingly sluggish) menu that allows you to select specific sets, or skip forward or back in the program while you're working out.

Final thoughts

With an intensity rating of 10 out of 10, Spinervals 9.0: Have Mercy is clearly not intended for everyone. For the right person, though, it's a solid program that will have a worthwhile place in the indoor training library. This compilation of particularly tough exercise sets from the whole Spinervals series isn't one that you'll be firing up all that often, but it definitely offers a good indoor substitute for a hard "hammer session" on the road. Considering that most of the other Spinervals programs are 45-60 minutes long, it will be a valuable addition to the program for serious competitive cyclists.