Basic Turbo training?

DannyJames

Just picked up a turbo trainer, Its sat in front of me with bike on but at moment i have no sensors not even a speedo so are there any basic guides i can follow for beginners or am i just going to have to pedal like mad for a bit

Should mention im pretty new to road bikes and main aim at moment is to shift a bit of weight and improve cardio. Seen posts about DVD's and heart rate, cadence etc but i need to start from the beginning

dnwhite88

I use sufferfest videos to keep me from going totally insane, but it's never as good as being out on the road-best left for when it's too snowy outside for a couple of months over winter

DannyJames

Yeh i seen the sufferfest vids but not sure if i would need any sensors ? Also might be out of my depth lol. I'm using the turbo because its difficult to get out sometimes looking after the little ones

ronnierocket

You dont have to use sensors but I think it help especially for the cadence. I use my Garmin 500 with it but you can get rear wheel cateye ones that give you speed and cadence as well. Although I like the Garmin for keeping a training record in Strava. I have 3 sufferfest videos which are all pretty good. I would start with Revolver which is the interval one, you have the least need for sensors for that one as it's 1 minute full on then 1 minute off. Angels is a climbing one and Blender is a mixture but 1hr 45 mins long but the time passes quickly with it as it's well structured.

I am in the same boat and likely to give the turbo a blast in the early mornings and the sufferfest videos keep you really focused and you get the most out of your time.

DannyJames

Cheers will grab the Revolver and give it a go

maryka

Have a search through the forum for TrainerRoad, if you've got a turbo with a known speed/power curve you can ride to "virtual" power and be a bit more structured in your training if you want.

DannyJames

Just done 17 minutes following a android app boy was that hard work definitely need a fan and some practice before sufferfest etc

sloppyschleckonds

DannyJames wrote:

Just picked up a turbo trainer, Its sat in front of me with bike on but at moment

Using a turbo in the summer? Chapeau sir.

I abandon mine until November. I leave it in the middle of the room as a reminder of those days when going out isn't an option.

DannyJames

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

DannyJames wrote:

Just picked up a turbo trainer, Its sat in front of me with bike on but at moment

Using a turbo in the summer? Chapeau sir.

It's not through choice but my mates can get out a lot more than me and i hate being last

diamonddog

Like you I have to use my turbo trainer year round. Just be aware that your rear road tyre will wear a lot quicker than usual if you are using it on the turbo.
If you want to have a look at the schedule I use just pm me, it is a bit long to put on here. It may or may not be useful for you or you can adapt it. I have found it beneficial to me year round.

spearmint_wino

Summer/winter shouldn't matter - I've been using a turbo over the last few months. Guess it all depends on your mindset! They allow you to prepare better for big alpine climbs by letting you simulate efforts that its hard to get close to on the roads here in the uk, and obviously come into their own during the 6 months of frozen winter like the last one we just had. A search in this forum/the Internet should turn up some turbo workouts using RPE - based on your own perceived exertion they don't need a cadence / heart rate monitor, although both of those are really good to have if you're at all serious about training IMO.

maryka

It's also good heat training if you're doing an event in hot temps but can't ride that here for whatever reason (though this summer was pretty good for warm weather riding -- still nothing like 35-40 degrees!) Even with a big fan you get pretty warm. OP don't forget to cover your stem and bolts and bike in general with a towel or one of those special terrycloth sweat guard things or you risk corroding and ruining it with all the sweat!

Wrath Rob

madasahattersley wrote:

Yep cadence is the only good measure for turbo training. Speed is irrelevant as its affected by resistance level/how warm the turbo is and power is always lower on the turbo so depresses you!

Seriously? Power is the best measure for turbo training. Second to that, as Maryka suggested you can approximate power if you have a speed sensor and you know the power curve of your turbo, e.g. an indicated 20mph = 300w. Trainerroad is great for this as it does the calculation live. Cadence is nice to have but unless you're trying to change your natural cadence or have a specific cadence related objective such as peak cadence for track riding then there's not much point to it.

maryka

madasahattersley wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

madasahattersley wrote:

Yep cadence is the only good measure for turbo training. Speed is irrelevant as its affected by resistance level/how warm the turbo is and power is always lower on the turbo so depresses you!

Seriously? Power is the best measure for turbo training. Second to that, as Maryka suggested you can approximate power if you have a speed sensor and you know the power curve of your turbo, e.g. an indicated 20mph = 300w. Trainerroad is great for this as it does the calculation live. Cadence is nice to have but unless you're trying to change your natural cadence or have a specific cadence related objective such as peak cadence for track riding then there's not much point to it.

2x 20 @ 340w on the road feels fine. Hard, but fine.

The same on the turbo feels like death. I very rarely finish a session like that, and definitely couldn't do it day after day.

Go by cadence and keep your head fresh.

Some people are more influenced by the inertia on the turbo than others and thus find it harder to pedal at the same power. Depends also on the turbo you have too. If that were me and I found it drastically different on road vs turbo, I'd find out my "turbo FTP" and use that for turbo workouts instead. If I had no access to a powermeter, I would use perceived effort before I'd use cadence as my primary measure for my workouts.

Wrath Rob

In addition to that, on the turbo you'll be able to hold your exact power for the whole 20 mins with very little variance. Out on the road your power is much more likely to fluctuate due to changing conditions, cars, traffic lights, hills etc etc. For that reason a FTP turbo workout is always both harder and more effective than a road based session. Unfortunately its also much more dull

DannyJames

Cheers for all the good advice

Been using the turbo on perceived effort and tried sufferfest :shock: not sure how good my perceived effort is but i thought i was going to be sick near the end :oops: .On a plus note the trainer is a budget Elite Volare mag and am very surprised how quiet it is compared to the horror stories i had heard with some trainers although its raping my rear tyre.

diamonddog

Told you it would I bought a cheap bike and just leave it on the turbo but even that has a proper turbo tyre on it.
You will sweat buckets.

phreak

Cycling is an endurance sport, so I can't imagine getting to such a state that you feel sick is likely to be in anyway beneficial to you.

Don't use Sufferfest just because they're entertaining. Try and figure out what it is that you want to achieve and do training accordingly. If you're getting to vomit like states then it suggests you're going very hard, which if you're not training to spring seems a waste of time.

It'll be hard without any kind of sensor, but 2x20 sessions are up there with the best kind of workout for improving your general cycling ability, especially if you do them at a level you can maintain every day of the week.

diamonddog

This is what I usually use now on various days.
Cheap non cadence computer on bike for speed/time etc, count cadence over 10 secs x 6
45 to 70 mins low mid tension spin on turbo at about 75/80% perceived max effort with 3 x 1min sprints included sometimes.
40 mins 50/50 split low mid to high tension spin/hill simulation.
30 to 40 mins high tension hill simulation.
Slow relaxed low mid tension spins 45 to 70mins.

Plugged in to ipod not boring at all when you get tuned in and it saves on the heating bills in winter.

ianbar

this winter i am going to use my heart rate monitor to train bit more focused that previous years. i will see how it goes but intending on hour long sessions with 2-3 hard intervals. this still might not be the best way but sounds like a basis....im actually hoping to stay on the road more.

Wrath Rob

phreak wrote:

Cycling is an endurance sport, so I can't imagine getting to such a state that you feel sick is likely to be in anyway beneficial to you.

Don't use Sufferfest just because they're entertaining. Try and figure out what it is that you want to achieve and do training accordingly. If you're getting to vomit like states then it suggests you're going very hard, which if you're not training to spring seems a waste of time.

It'll be hard without any kind of sensor, but 2x20 sessions are up there with the best kind of workout for improving your general cycling ability, especially if you do them at a level you can maintain every day of the week.

It depends what you're training for!