Jan 5, 2011
By Tim Crowley, Published in Tri Digest, January 2011
If you live in cold climate during the winter, you have probably logged many indoor trainer miles already. Unless you are preparing for an early spring long course event, indoor rides should rarely exceed 75 to 90 minutes. Low intensity, long duration indoor rides are of little value, and increase the likelihood of mental fatigue and trainer burnout. Below are some tips to get more from your indoor bike sessions.
Data- if you spend significant bike time indoors due to weather, time restraints and or lack of daylight for outdoor riding, then it would be good to invest in a trainer that has power output and down load capabilities, or a power meter that can be used indoors or out. This will allow you to train progressively, and train based on intensity rather than volume.
Pedal Stroke efficiency- If you have access to a Computrainer, then riding on spin scan can help you develop a smoother and more efficient pedal stroke. This will make you a better cyclist and improve your running off the bike. Fast pedal drills (1-4 min intervals at low wattage and cadence above 95 rpm) will also help you develop a better pedal stroke.
ILT (isolated leg training) better known as 1 leg pedal drills. These help to smooth out your pedal stroke and balance the strength between the right and left legs. You can begin with 4 reps of 30 seconds each leg and slowly develop to 5x 2 minutes with each leg by winters end. If you can monitor power during these drills, it’s a bonus.
Cycling Specific Strength- Big gear/ low cadence work ( 60-70 rpm) can be a great use of time on the trainer. You can dictate the “steepness” of the hill by manipulating the resistance of the trainer and/ or the gearing on the bike. Raising the front wheel 3 inches above parallel will help you activate the hamstrings and glutes more. 3 to 4x 7 min hill reps with 3 min spin recoveries are very time efficient.
Rollers- Rollers allow you to work on your peal stroke and balance on the bike. They take a bit of skill and learning, but when combined with a trainer, can make the winter months extremely useful. Rollers vary from very little resistance to variable resistance. Great winter roller skills to master are 1 leg pedal drills and riding no hands ( I don’t recommend both together, but you can find it on Youtube)
Short and sweet- Keep your rides focused and goal oriented. An example of a solid 60 min. session might look like this.
10 min easy warm up
3x 1 min fast pedal drill/ 1 min easy spin
4x ( 1 min rt leg/ 1 min lf leg/ 1 min spin)
3x ( 7 min in a big gear alternating 65/ 75 rpm each minute; 3 min spin @ 90 rpm easy gear)
5 min cd
Save the high volume rides for the spring when you will be much stronger and more efficient. This will allow you to develop a solid swim and run base.
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