Yet another turbo question

dag_on_a_bike

I am at the present rather restricting my riding to turbo sessions, having come off a short while back & broken my collarbone. Consultant is yet to give me the all clear.

I have no race aspirations and speed is not my ultimate goal. I do however 'enjoy' hills and want to get out and do some longer 200km+) sportives.

Most turbo sessions here seem to be aimed at building performance with racing in mind. Can anyone suggest routines to improve general fitness and endurance to give me a bit of a jump start when I can get back out on the road?

Thanks.

cookiemonster

Theoretically what you want to be doing (and I guess this goes for most of us using turbos over winter) to increase base endurance and aerobic capacity is sit there for 3 hours spinning in the 90's rpm range and heart rate around 60 -70% max for base, 70-80% for aerobic. The theory breaks down due to the immense boredom of the turbo - so everyone starts doing intervals and the like to liven things up.

Given that you're stuck on the turbo for a bit, then perhaps look at the spynergy "base endurance" dvds or the equivalent CTS set. In reality they dont do much more than give you something to look at and do (change hand positions, vary cadence, etc) while keeping a reasonably steady heart rate. Otherwise just got down the route of finding whatever works for you - music and magazines, dvd's, whatever.

The Taxc website has some suggested programs, again varying resistance and cadence to spice things (these dont work for me, but i know others like them)

If you do 2-3 hours on the thing everyday in the base endurance zone then you'll be in great physical shape when you get back on the bike - may have some mental issues to deal with though

jon