Turbo trainer help.

sniper68

I've just been given an old turbo trainer as due to childcare/shifts i can't get out on the bike as much as i'd like.What's the best way to train on these?I'm not the fittest/fastest rider out there but ideally don't want to bang any weight on over the winter.I'm 13.5st and ideally would like to be around 12ish.I'm not overly concerned about weight loss however,but would like to build up fitness/endurance.Any help/advice/training tips appreciated.

doyler78

Only just started myself on a turbo so I can't really advise however one thing I can say to you to do is get a big industrial fan otherwise the trainer sessions will be hell on earth and if you are looking to build endurance then you will want to spend more time on the trainer than a lot can tolerate.

My turbo session was done with a pretty big domestic fan and I died before I got to the end of what should have been a hardish but nowhere really hard session. I had on order fan and it arrived today so I jumped on this evening and done 90 mins and there was no sweat at all on the floor and I usually sweat like a pig and that was with the fan on its lowest setting so for those really hard sessions I can get a bit more cooling in too. It really is the difference between being able to do an effective session and not being able to do one.

This is the one that was recommended to me:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honeywell-HV-1800 ... 240%3A1318

Though I got my with a £13 discount because the box had a dent. Fan was absolutely untouched

sniper68

I'll look into that 8) Must admit i did a brisk 15 mins "getting to know how it works"session in the kitchen and i've never sweat so much in my life :oops:

MyCycling.com

Good call on the fan.

It's pretty normal that you can't produce the level of wattage on a wind trainer than you can achieve on the road. However, a lot of it relates to riding to your heart rate etc. If you're cooler you can probably do a better session.

Get some good music going is essential too. I used to put on headphones and some videos of some spring classics as inspiration.

scapaslow

A decent fan is an absolute necessity. I bought this pedestal one a while back which has been great so far

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=142766

There are a good selection on this site and service was excellent.

The remote control is good as you easily change the settings without getting off the bike if you get too hot/cool.

sniper68

Looks like a fan is the way to go.
What about routines?is it best just to get on and spin for 30 mins or vary resistance etc?

Maurice Thepity

Try this. I use it on the bikes in the gym changing the resistance when a gear change is called for. It's cut and pasted from an Excel spreadsheet so the columns have got squashed together but you get the gist.

Turbo Training Programme
Warm up for 5 minutes on a gear of 42x16 (this time is not part of your workout)

Minutes Gear Rev`s
1 16 105
2 16 105
3 16 105
4 16 105
5 15 105
6 15 105
7 15 105
8 15 105
9 15 105
10 16 90 active rest
11 16 90
12 16 95
13 15 105
14 14 105
15 15 90 active rest
16 15 90
17 15 95
18 14 105
19 14 105
20 16 90 active rest
21 16 90
22 16 105
23 15 105
24 14 110
25 16 90 active rest
26 16 90
27 16 105
28 15 105
28.5 14 110
29 13 Max rev`s Hold for I minute
30

Your workout is finished. Warm down for at least 5 minutes.

le_grimpeur

ibbo68 wrote:

I've just been given an old turbo trainer as due to childcare/shifts i can't get out on the bike as much as i'd like.What's the best way to train on these?I'm not the fittest/fastest rider out there but ideally don't want to bang any weight on over the winter.I'm 13.5st and ideally would like to be around 12ish.I'm not overly concerned about weight loss however,but would like to build up fitness/endurance.Any help/advice/training tips appreciated.

I'm new to this trainer mullarkey meself, and what I have found is that I can use the data from the machine to guage effort, for example a 45 min ride was more tiring than a 60 minute ride, and I could use the data gathered to find out what was the difference. So if you are able to gather any data from your sessions, you'd be able to design your own programs. i also use an ipod for cycling outdoors, and unsurprisingly have had to come up with a new playlist to suit my indoor sessions, eg, songs that match the effort I'm making, eg hill cllimbing or fast bursts on the flats, and I try to match my efforts at home with the real sensations from the road, so from that perspective i'd suggest finding songs that match the effort that you want to replicate. It does help pass the time.

From a fitness perspective, do you make a note of your data, if so, then use that as a base to measure your fitness increasing. If you don't have a lot of time, then I'd suggest increasing any resistance during the ride. For example, what I do, is to push it up and try to continue pedalling hard for 4 minutes, then back down to a comfortable pace, then hard again. I find that this is better than trying to going harder for longer.

Hope this is useful - even if you disregard it all

sniper68

All suggestions are helpful at this stage 8)

johnbirkby46213

Also lookout for these on itunes in the Podcast section:
Cadence Revolution
Indoor Cycling Podcast
The Sufferfest - even has video
TriHarder

also have a look on the Tacx website for sessions. (I personally found them manically busy!)

And whilst on the podcast thing, does anyone else listen to the "Two Johns Podcast"? (two chaps talking about cycling) I find them hilarious.

nmcgann

ibbo68 wrote:

Looks like a fan is the way to go.
What about routines?is it best just to get on and spin for 30 mins or vary resistance etc?

A lot depends on your boredom threshold. I don't need variety to train so this time of year I'm doing mostly continuous 1h sessions at tempo intensity (very boring) and 2x20min intervals at sweetspot and threshold intensity (again as part of a 1h session).

I don't adjust resistance in either of these sessions, just change gear for warm up/cool down and the rest between intervals.

The other essentials are a very big fan, a towel over the handlebars and music.

Neil