Best thing for indoor training
chippie_chappie
Posts: 30
Hi, What is the best thing to do on my indoor trainer? I am currently concentrating on climbing:/elevation averaging 10 ti 12 thousand feet of climbing per week. Is this good to advance my fitness or would I be better concentrating on improving my power output? With things like a structured workout or HIIT sessions?
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It depends what you are trying to get better at. If you are trying to get better at climbing, then climbing is excellent training. If you are trying to get better at a 10 mile TT then focussing on power will give you a be better result.
If we were talking about running, then "the best" training for a marathon would be different to "the best" training to get fast at your local 5km Park Run.
But for a general training question, the general training answer would be to try to improve your threshold, aerobic power output.0 -
Depends upon your objectives.================
2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo0 -
Depends what your goals are.
My local hills are between 2 and 10mins, so I concentrate on my power zones between that, as you raise your 5min power, your 20min should also increase anyway.
As @N0bodyOfTheGoat has posted, I'm currently starting week 5 of the TT tune up plan and the workouts are transitioning from endurance to more power focussed now (only difference is I do 1 workout a week, as the remainder of my time is spent commuting 30-50km a day)
I've also found there isn't much corelation between hills on the trainer and hills IRL as you don't use the same muscles and position on a trainer as you do IRL0 -
@dannbodge , top tip, do not increase your FTP setting in Zwift during the TT Tune Up plan... I did after seeing gains in the first few weeks and boy did I regret it from around week 5 on!
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2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo1 -
This is true, but on the flip side, if you are trying to replicate an alpine climb, it's difficult to do a solid hour+ of effort (without rest) outside if you don't have an alp nearby.dannbodge said:
I've also found there isn't much corelation between hills on the trainer and hills IRL as you don't use the same muscles and position on a trainer as you do IRL
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Somehow I don't think I'll have to.N0bodyOfTheGoat said:@dannbodge , top tip, do not increase your FTP setting in Zwift during the TT Tune Up plan... I did after seeing gains in the first few weeks and boy did I regret it from around week 5 on!
My 1 min, 5min and FTP has been static for the last 3 years, regardless of how much/what training I do0 -
Given you said earlier you can only commit to one TT Tune Up workout a week because of your commute volume, plus presumeably you are on a Zwift sub anyway, have you tried joining the very popular sub 20min sprint races such as the Zwift Insider Tiny Races on Saturdays (four back to back sub 15min sprints, held at 1000 and 1600 BST)?dannbodge said:
Somehow I don't think I'll have to.
My 1 min, 5min and FTP has been static for the last 3 years, regardless of how much/what training I do
They are brilliant for a z4+ boost and improving your recovery from z4+ efforts!
IIRC you have ridden the same area as me around Old Winchester Hill and these short sprint races should get you up them quicker... I took ~45secs off my "Old Winchester Hill (to the top)" PB last year after ramping up the number of short races I did from Jan to Apr '22, 8min24secs, I was very surprised to find only ~31 riders went up that ~2.1 mile segment quicker than me last year given I was 48 and weighed ~82Kg at the time.
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2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo0 -
OP - if your goal, as you suggest, is to advance your fitness then improving aerobic endurance is the most beneficial way of doing this.
I noticed on the bike thread you started, that you say your FTP is around 3 w/kg, which sounds like a good starting point.
The best way to improve your endurance is lots of steady state work i.e. tempo rides at about 85-90% of FTP, anything up to 1 hr on a turbo.
You could also thrown in some threshold and sub-threshold interval sessions, something like 4 x 10mins or 2 x 20 at 95% of FTP or 4 x 8 mins at FTP.
The main thing is consistency, a couple of sessions a week focussed on aerobic endurance is good, 3 sessions if possible even better.
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I haven't no but could potentially think about doing that, I'd have to find something after 19:30/20:00 though.N0bodyOfTheGoat said:
Given you said earlier you can only commit to one TT Tune Up workout a week because of your commute volume, plus presumeably you are on a Zwift sub anyway, have you tried joining the very popular sub 20min sprint races such as the Zwift Insider Tiny Races on Saturdays (four back to back sub 15min sprints, held at 1000 and 1600 BST)?dannbodge said:
Somehow I don't think I'll have to.
My 1 min, 5min and FTP has been static for the last 3 years, regardless of how much/what training I do
They are brilliant for a z4+ boost and improving your recovery from z4+ efforts!
IIRC you have ridden the same area as me around Old Winchester Hill and these short sprint races should get you up them quicker... I took ~45secs off my "Old Winchester Hill (to the top)" PB last year after ramping up the number of short races I did from Jan to Apr '22, 8min24secs, I was very surprised to find only ~31 riders went up that ~2.1 mile segment quicker than me last year given I was 48 and weighed ~82Kg at the time.
I used to do the futureworks crit races which were always quite good.
Issue is with saturdays, I'm normally destroyed from whatever we've done during the day.
I'll see what is on and maybe look at doing one and seeing how I feel the week following etc.
Yeah I'm on the south coast and spend a lot of time out in the meon valley now.
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I want to improve my average speed so would I be be better doing what some people have already said rather than doing endless climbing?0
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Yes.
Endless climbing will make you a better climber but won't increase your all round capability.0 -
Average speed over what sort of distance and terrain?chippie_chappie said:I want to improve my average speed so would I be be better doing what some people have already said rather than doing endless climbing?
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I want to improve my average speed so would I be be better doing what some people have already said rather than doing endless climbing?
As above, yes.
As per my previous post, increasing your aerobic endurance will make you faster, increase power, and improve your ability to hold speed and power over longer distances.
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Get outdoors in this weather and hook up with a local chain gang. That will improve your average speed far more effectively than any indoor work..chippie_chappie said:I want to improve my average speed so would I be be better doing what some people have already said rather than doing endless climbing?
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