Cold weather doesn’t bother me. I prefer it to the warmer weather. However, snow is a problem for outdoor training – especially cycling, Unfortunately, the snow has been plentiful this winter–an anomaly for the Southern New Jersey coast. With all the snow, and limited city budgets for plowing said snow, John and I have had to ride the indoor trainer* quite a bit.
If you’ve never ridden a bike trainer, you have been spared what is sometimes mental agony, resulting from spinning in circles without going anywhere, which can be similar to running on a treadmill or swimming laps in a pool. If you have ridden the trainer, then you know that the prospect of a long indoor “ride” requires preparation. And, with the right preparation, it doesn’t have to be a bore or a sluggish chore. Rather, I’ve found that a few key elements can make this training time enjoyable, and more importantly, effective for making training gains.
A caveat: I’m not an experienced cyclist. But, I hope there’s something here of value for you. Any readers with additional tips: please post them in the comments! I’m always looking for new ideas :).
You may also find that some of these tips can be useful for those of you who are stuck on the treadmill–or engaged in any type of indoor training.
Create a training space.
If possible, make this space “semi-permanent” in the sense that you won’t have to put the bike and trainer (or other equipment) away after every workout, and then have to pull it out before every workout. This saves valuable time – and when you are already working out 2-3 hours a day, saving 20-30 minutes can be the difference between getting to work on time–or not. It can also leave you with valuable time for core work and stretching. In addition to the equipment, I recommend have a source to play music (beyond your MP3 player), a television, and a DVD/VHS player. You can even decorate your space with motivational posters, stickers, sayings and so on. We also find that a mirror helps us check our form on the bike, preventing us from getting sloppy when we are tired.
Have a plan or a goal for each training session.
I find that simply riding without aim will make any indoor session feel like it lasts too long. Furthermore, if you don’t have a clear sense of the goal for the session, it becomes that much easier to say, “Oh, I’ve had enough for today” when it starts to get a little monotonous. A plan might include a workout with intervals, tempo work, hills, endurance, force, or any other training goal you might be shooting for. For example, I’ve done a “hill” ride, which I was able to simulate by putting the front end of my bike up on bricks, and then shifting up and down through my gears to increase the difficulty. It was a great workout – and one that I couldn’t have replicated on the roads of South Jersey because we simply don’t have any hills.
Additionally, you don’t have to stop for cars or redlights or stop signs when you are on the trainer–another great value for training efficiency. You can just ride. So, if you want to ride a steady zone 2 endurance ride, you can without interruptions.
But, you need to decide what your plan is before you hop on the bike, and this plan should fit with your overall goals for training. Are you doing a race with hills? Do you need more power on the bike? Are you trying to increase your speed? The answers to these questions will let you know what types of rides to create for yourself. I find that having a clear plan of attack for each training session makes the time go by more quickly, and more importantly the time spent on the trainer is efficient in terms of working toward my overarching training goals.
USA Triathlon recently posted a helpful article in this regard, you can find here.
Have a BYOT party.
While triathlon is an individual sport, training doesn’t have to be. Find a few friends who are willing to share some indoor sweaty time with you. I like to call it a BYOT (bring your own trainer) party. If it’s a steady endurance ride, you can find some conversation time with your partners. If you are working through a grueling interval session, you can share and pull energy from those around you who are working through the same suffer session. Some bike shops even offer indoor cycling rides. It’s worth asking if you are looking to share some motivation for training.
Find what motivates you.
I’ve ridden the trainer while watching movies or television shows, and I find that this is adequate for a basic, steady endurance ride or recovery ride. However, in order to amp up the intensity, I find that I need a different type of stimulation, which includes rocking music with a fast beat and visuals that make it feel like I’m riding outside.
Recently, John and I rode to a Lake Placid simulation from Spinervals. The DVD features Troy Jacobsen riding through the Lake Placid bike loop (56 miles). As he rides, he describes on camera about the elevation changes, suggestions for gear changing, and so on. In this manner, John and I “rode” the Lake Placid course last weekend, while listening to some great music. It was a vast improvement from watching a television show, in terms of the intensity of the workout.
Of course, there are other DVD options available. I follow @thesufferfest on Twitter, who makes some really aggressive looking cycling videos. You can find more information here. I haven’t purchased one yet, but I have watched the trailers. Woo-hoo – looks great!
What works for me won’t necessarily work for you. So experiment with music, visuals, and so on.
Track your vitals
Cadence, speed, distance, heart rate. And, if you are lucky (or rich) enough to have a power meter, throw that in the mix too. These vital signs give you a snap shot of how well your workout is meeting the goals you’ve set for it. If you don’t have devices that offer you this information, don’t despair. You can manually count your cadence and heart rate. You might not be able to log speed or distance without the tools, but I think cadence and heart rate are more important anyway. Of course, if you have the cash, I do recommend getting the technology. The basics would include a bike computer with the capacity to track cadence, and a heart rate monitor. This technology has made my training better and I think it was worth the investment. (Note: I don’t have a power meter…yet).
While I would never opt to train indoors if I could go outdoors, indoor training is a necessary evil when the winter weather makes roads too dangerous. I hope these tips are useful – and I strongly urge you to leave more ideas. After all, we’ve got a few more weeks of winter left.
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*For those readers who may not know, an indoor trainer is a device you attach to the back wheel of your bike to create a temporary stationary bike. The picture illustrates what these look like.
