Basic turbo tarining instead of roads in snow, advice please
JamesB
Posts: 1,184
At this time of year I`d normally aim for 3 or 4 up to 2 hr (30 milies) rides a week, with a couple of 100m-200m / 5-10 min climbs, as a base for my summer (just general pottering around Sportives, bronze std levele 
, probable Pyrenees trip) riding, with maybe a longer 3 to 4 hr ride if weather agreeable .
Given our current iced / snowed up roads with another two weeks expected I`ve dragged the ancient Elite turbo out of the cellar,--- and I loathe turbo riding (hence its banishment to cellar
)
I`ve just had a 30 min bash on it at ~ 80% maxm HRM and feel raesonably refrehed and tired---so to speak. I don`t fancy a longer session than this at all though so----
Would this equate to a 2 hr slower ride in terms of maintianing a base level of leg strength and fitness? What do seasoned turbo users think?
, probable Pyrenees trip) riding, with maybe a longer 3 to 4 hr ride if weather agreeable .Given our current iced / snowed up roads with another two weeks expected I`ve dragged the ancient Elite turbo out of the cellar,--- and I loathe turbo riding (hence its banishment to cellar
)I`ve just had a 30 min bash on it at ~ 80% maxm HRM and feel raesonably refrehed and tired---so to speak. I don`t fancy a longer session than this at all though so----
Would this equate to a 2 hr slower ride in terms of maintianing a base level of leg strength and fitness? What do seasoned turbo users think?
0
Comments
-
I don't think 30 minutes on the turbo can equate to 2 hours of riding at 15 MPH average.
Unless you are doing 30 minutes at flat out TT pace. And even then....
Shoot for 45 mins to an hour. And find some way to get around the boredom.0 -
Drat. ...I`d hoped that the higher steady HRM may have offset the lack of duration--I`ll try visualising long continental climbs maybe
Thanks for thoughts though 0 -
Agree with Pokerface
have a look here for inspiration http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... dbba775e08
Also if long climbs are your target then the good olde 2x20 are a good turbo session, again do a search on here.0 -
30 minutes is still better than nothing, especially if it's just in the short term. There's a theory that a short, intense workout can be as beneficial as a longer, steady workout. But 30 minutes at 80% isn't really 'intense'.
if you can't handle long turbo workouts, start with 2x15 minute intervals. 10 min warm up, 5 minutes rest in between. But you have to go hard during the interval.
If you can do 2x20 - even better!0 -
I have a laptop with iPlayer on - there's plenty of TV conveniently an hour long, so I just set it up as my timer.
Most of my sessions are at lower steady intensities this winter, to build up a proper aerobic base (never really had that before - straight into anaerobic!), so it's quite painless to watch the power and watch downloaded episodes of Attenborough, or Spooks, or Dr Who....
Can't wait for the weather to get a bit better though!0 -
I've always gone on the assumption that 30 minutes on the turbo (or rollers, etc) is worth around an hour's real road riding - although I have no scientific basis for that claim whatsoever. But like Poker says - anything is better than sitting on the sofa.
Most of my roller sessions are for around 40 mins of riding - I don't have a set structure, but I do use an HRM and the timer on my speedo is quite useful for setting intervals. Not very scientific, but I quite like it that way. I will up the effort as the season gets closer, but probably not the length, as I hate riding rollers (or turbos) but unfortunately, they are pretty useful training tools....and right now, with the weather as it is there is literally no other alternative round here...0 -
softlad wrote:I've always gone on the assumption that 30 minutes on the turbo (or rollers, etc) is worth around an hour's real road riding - although I have no scientific basis for that claim whatsoever. But like Poker says - anything is better than sitting on the sofa.
Most of my roller sessions are for around 40 mins of riding - I don't have a set structure, but I do use an HRM and the timer on my speedo is quite useful for setting intervals. Not very scientific, but I quite like it that way. I will up the effort as the season gets closer, but probably not the length, as I hate riding rollers (or turbos) but unfortunately, they are pretty useful training tools....and right now, with the weather as it is there is literally no other alternative round here...
My 'Rate of perceived exertion' is far higher on the turbo.
This was confirmed when my power for any given heart rate is 10-20% lower on the Turbo than the road.
I definitely feel that an hours turbo is worth a lot more on the road...0 -
-
Thanks for all this info---however, I did submit to cabin fever today and went out on MTB with mud tyres around the country lanes (which are virtually traffic free), with care it was surprising how much grip there was on hard packed snow on the country lanes, although it wasn`t much of a `training session` teh scenery was great!
But I will have to try the 2 x 20 to avoid losing `condition` as troday was more of potter about and enjoy....0 -
Warm up for 5 mins then (for 30 minutes) sprint for 20 seconds every two minutes. Finish with a 5 mins cool down. Simple I suppose, but ok.0
