Turbo training

DV1

Recently read some where,( think it was cycling weekly) that an hour on a turbo trainer is worth 2 hours road riding , is this true ?? if so why.

funckchicken

i don't know about that. it depends what you do on the turbo and how you do it.

however there is no freewheeling on the turbo. in addition generally sessions on the turbo are shorter and to make up for that intensity is usually increased.

kingstongraham

an hour on a turbo is worth approximately one hour on the turbo.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Physiologically, no. But that presumes you don't slack off when riding on the road.
Mentally, maybe.

Mettan

DV1 wrote:

Recently read some where,( think it was cycling weekly) that an hour on a turbo trainer is worth 2 hours road riding , is this true ?? if so why.

Depends on what you do on the Turbo, and what you do on the Road - a 20 mph avg for 1 hour on a Turbo is "easy" - a 20 mph avg for 1 hour on the track is "easy" - a 20 mph avg for 1 hour on the Road (Loop, 850-950 ft climbing, 8-12 mph Winds, typical UK conditions) is considerably harder than both. Riding on the Road can be very hard due to Wind, Hills, constant Surface changes, Poor surfaces, pot holes, rythmn disruptions etc etc........ - random "gentle" example - on the Road you can "frequently" encounter 2-3 % avg incline for 1 - 2 k - add in a 8-12 mph near headwind and regular surface changes which bump/bang you out of rythmn (regularly), Road riding can be challenging (and that's on the "easier" stuff) - (example - typical modest UK conditions/terrain).

(None of the above of course implies that psychologically its fun spending long sessions on the Turbo or Track - Turbo's are an excellent compliment to on-Road riding).

Barkiesnake

Could be,
if you set the resistance high enough and follow the Sufferfest podcasts you end up working VERY hard.
Did it recently and by the end of the 55 minute session i felt like i had cycled for about 3 hours all uphill.
or maybe that's more an indication of my fitness :oops: