Summer to Autumn turbo power drop off?

tonysj

Hi All,
Not sure if this is the right place for this but Ive started to use the indoor Turbo trainer again after the summer period, due to the poor weather.
Little bit about me first. I'm 56 yrs, male, 76 kg, 178 cm and been cycling on roads for about 3 years. Fitness is good but I don't race or train for anything but like to push myself. My FTP in early September was 291 Watts after improving over the summer with rides in the Peaks near where I live.
Due to the weather turning and getting out on the roads is now hit and miss I've gone back on the turbo to keep my fitness up over winter. Now I would think I'm somewhere near peaking at this time of the year with my the turbo over 2 months Jan/Feb and then onto the roads over summer and I've covered over 3200 miles on the roads. My average speed has improved and plenty of PRs on Strava.
Last week went on the turbo for the first time and JUST managed to do a 3 x 10 minute at 91% of FTP with 3 minute rest periods between intervals.
Second session was 3 x 12 minutes at 91% of FTP which I couldn't complete the second 12 minute interval...
A bit shocked that I couldn't complete the session and I'm wondering is this fairly normal for fitness on the Turbo drops off after summer?
Or as I'm hoping I just had a bad day..
Regards.
Tony.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

It could simply be the shock to your body of trying to do intervals around your threshold on the turbo, where heat loss rate will be much less than riding outdoors in summer kit. Your heartrate at a given power will be higher on the turbo than your outdoor rides have been, for anything harder than approx z3.

Adaption to z3+ turbo sessions typically takes approx three weeks, providing you are able to do 3+ 30min+ indoor turbo sessions per week. You should then find indoors and outdoors match pretty closely.

Adaption loss typically takes approx two weeks of little to no indoor training.

chaymck

Was your ftp measured/ tested on the same turbo?

topcattim

I find my power drops by about 5 to 10% and my Rate of Perceived Exertion goes up the same amount for the same power when I move into winter mode on the turbo.
I think this is for a few reasons:

* It's a lot more boring on the turbo than on the road, so I have fewer things to distract me

* It's a lot hotter on the turbo than on the road, even in the summer. I have a massive fan right in front of my turbo to keep me cool, but I still get much sweatier and hotter on the turbo than I do on the road. This will make my core body temperature go up and increase my RPE. If you haven't already got one, I recommend you get yourself a dirty great fan.

* Turbo riding is much steadier, no little breaks when you go round a bend, no slight pauses when you come up against traffic. (You can see this if you compare your NP against your average power; on the road I find anything up to a 20 watts difference often; on the turbo it is usually within a few watts over a steady interval. That all adds up to make a turbo interval much harder.

* It takes me a while to get my "turbo head" back from the previous winter. I really notice the extra effort of the turbo at the start of the winter season, but have got habituated to it by the end

simon_e

I was thinking about this on the commute today. I'm definitely feeling less perky in the mornings and I'm pretty sure that it's the change of season. I'm not unwell or sleep-deprived but getting up in near-darkness / half-light isn't anywhere near as easy or enjoyable as it was 6 weeks ago when the sun was streaming through the bedroom curtains. Pedalling is a bit of a chore but I find I usually have more zip on the way home. I'm in my 50s and have noticed that fitness seems drops more quickly (and takes more effort to regain) than 5 years ago.

I'd not worry too much about it. Turbo isn't the same as being out on the road anyway, as topcattim has described. Maybe drop your target FTP figure for now and make sure you can complete the sessions comfortably. Make sure you're not fatigued - if it's not happening then change tack and either do an easier session or get off and save it for tomorrow. After all, you aren't trying to peak for Christmas.

dannbodge

Firstly are you using the same source for your power figures?

I also struggle with the first few rides on the turbo in winter, mainly because it is so different to riding outdoors both mentally and physically. For me it's mainly because most of my riding (certainly this year) has been shorter distances and "intervals (stopping at lights etc)" so my body isn't used to long steady state efforts like you get indoors.

I find that temperature indoors has a big effect, even with a fan on I still struggle sometimes.

tonysj

NitrousOxide wrote:

It could simply be the shock to your body of trying to do intervals around your threshold on the turbo, where heat loss rate will be much less than riding outdoors in summer kit. Your heartrate at a given power will be higher on the turbo than your outdoor rides have been, for anything harder than approx z3.

Adaption to z3+ turbo sessions typically takes approx three weeks, providing you are able to do 3+ 30min+ indoor turbo sessions per week. You should then find indoors and outdoors match pretty closely.

Adaption loss typically takes approx two weeks of little to no indoor training.

Yes I've noticed my HR is higher for the effort at 91% compared to Jan/Feb this year when I was doing a 6 week sessions build up for Summer.
I've just done another turbo session at 91% and again seems a lot harder than before so I will have to continue with the sessions until I adapt to the turbo and indoor training.
Thanks Guys for the replies.
Regards.
Tony.

tonysj

topcattim wrote:

I find my power drops by about 5 to 10% and my Rate of Perceived Exertion goes up the same amount for the same power when I move into winter mode on the turbo.
I think this is for a few reasons:

* It's a lot more boring on the turbo than on the road, so I have fewer things to distract me

* It's a lot hotter on the turbo than on the road, even in the summer. I have a massive fan right in front of my turbo to keep me cool, but I still get much sweatier and hotter on the turbo than I do on the road. This will make my core body temperature go up and increase my RPE. If you haven't already got one, I recommend you get yourself a dirty great fan.

* Turbo riding is much steadier, no little breaks when you go round a bend, no slight pauses when you come up against traffic. (You can see this if you compare your NP against your average power; on the road I find anything up to a 20 watts difference often; on the turbo it is usually within a few watts over a steady interval. That all adds up to make a turbo interval much harder.

* It takes me a while to get my "turbo head" back from the previous winter. I really notice the extra effort of the turbo at the start of the winter season, but have got habituated to it by the end

Thanks topcat it makes a lot more sense now from what you said above.
Im trying to distract myself by watching the first series of The Walking Dead while doing turbo sessions lol.
Regards.
Tony.