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Benefits of Indoor Trainer Workouts

January 7, 2020 by Dyani Herrera

One of the many joys of cycling is the youthful sense that you’re “playing” outdoors, as you ride and take yourself through the environment. However, at times life obligations or the environment can hinder your training plan forcing you to adapt your workouts. Bike trainers are a great way to fit in an effective workout, and there are several advantages of using a trainer that will enhance your skills as a cyclist.

Benefits of Indoor Trainer Workouts

Mental Endurance

Riding in place for over an hour or more can become incredibly monotonous; however, it obliges you to focus on the task at hand. In contrast to riding on the road, where you’re worrying about safety, taking in the scenery, or casually talking to your riding buddy throughout your workout. Spinning on a trainer compels you to think of your pedal stroke, breathing patterns, and pain. There are no distractions; hence you really need to rely on your sport psychology techniques to get you through your workouts. Additionally, you can listen to your breathing patterns and control them in order to reduce early fatigue. This can definitely come in handy during a race where extreme focus and endurance are required for an optimal performance.

Here a few ways to beat indoor trainer boredom with a few different games on the trainer.

Improved Bike Fitness

When riding on the road there are interruptions such as stop lights, making a U-turn, decelerating to avoid contact with the rear wheel of a fellow cyclist, or fighting a headwind just to name a few. Conversely, when riding on a trainer there are no gaps in your workout and you’re riding at a consistent effort throughout unless, you’re doing intervals.

If your workout contains intervals, then use a bike computer with a cadence monitor to alert you of your RPMs. By using this monitor you can do high cadence work intervals with low cadence rest intervals. Another benefit of a trainer is the ability to adjust the resistance felt while riding. After a few consecutive sessions on the trainer your legs will feel stronger when riding on the road, and you’ll notice an increase in speed.

Practicality

Probably the best aspect of using a trainer is how practical it is to use for one’s lifestyle. You can still fit in a great cycling workout despite snowy or rainy conditions. If environmental conditions are unsafe, then you can set up the trainer indoors at any time and cycle. Some people become creative with their workout space and place their trainers in the garage with no air conditioning and a big fan for added resistance to simulate road conditions. Additionally, if life commitments become more time consuming than usual you can still schedule a session in before dawn or late at night. It’s also an efficient tool to maintain the balance between family and training.

Getting to Grips with Indoor Cycling Training

January 11, 2016 by Lee Agur

When you are training for a big event, finding the time to fit in some quality riding can be frustrating, especially in the winter. Late sunrises, early sunsets, and terrible weather conditions all work to take away cycling opportunities (as well as motivation!), making the desire to train impossibly low. But there is a solution to the winter cycling blues – indoor cycling training! It may seem like a crazy concept, but many coaches actually implement indoor cycling routines into off-season cycling workouts (as well as during the season) as indoor cycling equipment can open up a new world of training when you just can’t get outside. Indoor cycling training equipment works to focus specific exercises, techniques and disciplines and they can help to accurately control workload too, so the benefits are virtually endless. Getting to grips with indoor cycling training doesn’t have to be complicated, so let’s take a look!

Rollers

Rollers are an age-old solution to cycling indoors, allowing your bike to ride continuously without actually moving forward. Rollers consist of three round cylinders that are mounted on bearings, and these are fixed onto a frame. A belt then connects one of the rear cylinders to the front cylinder, to allow the front wheel of the bike to spin at the same speed as the back wheel. You simply place your bike onto the rollers and ride.

Rollers are a great indoor cycling tool if you are looking to sharpen your bike-handling abilities because your bike is not actually affixed to the machine! This means that you must rely not just on perfect balance, but on skillful steering too. Some cyclists opt to add a fan or magnetic unit to rollers to create resistance, as there isn’t a lot of resistance generated by the rollers alone.

Types of Trainers

Wind (or turbo) style trainers typically have two fans with slotted blades. These slots work to churn the air, effectively mimicking the natural resistance that you experience when riding a traditional bike. Many cyclists feel that keeping indoor cycling training as close to the real thing is better for synchronicity and motivation, but almost as many cyclists are turning to magnetic trainers for the ability to adjust resistance.

Magnetic (or mag) trainers use powerful magnets and a non-conductive disk to produce resistance when you cycle indoors. Performance magnetic trainers typically have six resistance settings, from low to high, and are controlled by a handle bar-mounted lever that you can adjust. Many magnetic training units have incorporated small, precisely weighted flywheels in order to create a slight coasting sensation for cyclists who prefer a more realistic road feel.

The great thing about magnetic trainers is that the resistance generated when you ride increases in direct proportion to the speed in which you ride. This may be less realistic than riding a real bike, but strong resistance will both elevate your heart rate and exert your body, which will help to raise your overall endurance and fitness levels. When fitted with a flywheel, they can also help you to determine, and work through, the dead spots in your pedal stroke.

Fluid trainers are another option to increase the resistance on the rear wheel while cycling indoors. Fluid trainers use, exactly that, fluid, inside a drum that has fan blades that turn through it. The advantage with fluid is that it can offer a higher resistance and a smoother feel especially under high loads.

Using the Right Bike

As enormous pressures will be generated by each of these types of trainers, it is best to use an older bike to train indoors if possible. The bike you use is likely to rust, the headset will get grooved and many more problems can occur, so be sure to set up your bike in the same way as the one you ride for the best results.

Indoor Cycling Training Workouts

As with any form of exercise, always spend a few minutes warming up and cooling down when you use your indoor trainer. Before you get to grips with indoor training:

· Use a fan (or ride in the coolest part of your house) to avoid overheating

· Always fill your water bottle before you start your workout

· Don’t spend more than two hours at a time on your trainer

For general conditioning:

After you have warmed up, raise your riding cadence to 85 to 100 rpm. Work to maintain your heart rate at no more than 85 percent of your maximum.

For climbing strength:

Put your bike into a low gear or increase the resistance on your trainer (for mags only), to a level that will force you to drop your riding cadence to around 60 to 70rpm. Maintain this cadence for a few minutes before going back to your normal cycling rate. Repeat this throughout your training session.

For speed work:

To boost your anaerobic capacity, work on your trainer in intervals. You can work to structure interval programs, similar to those that you may use during an outdoor cycle exercise routine, to really increase your capacity for speed.

One of the most common excuses for not riding indoors is boredom. Yes, indoor cycling training can be boring but there are a few ways to better pass the time. One is simply to ride with other people so you have someone to talk to while you both get a good workout in. Whether riding with someone or on your own, incorporating intervals will break up the time and make it go faster. Entertainment wise, choose upbeat music to keep you motivated or an engaging podcast that keeps you entertained. Bike racing films or old races can also be fun to watch and added motivation. Keep it consistent and you’ll arrive outside in better shape than you thought was possible with a long, cold winter.

Peloton Cycle: An Interesting Twist to the Traditional Stationary Bike

October 16, 2015 by Lee Agur

When people talk about a new gadget, it usually has something to do with wearables that have a pedometer or a new smartphone that can track a person’s heart rate. This new fitness machine, however, shows that gym equipment isn’t necessarily an archaic piece of technology, as there’s an instrument now that elevates workouts through interactive cycling classes.

The Peloton Cycle is a top-of-the-line exercise machine for those who want take advantage of technology while exercising. As the title suggests, it has an interesting twist to the traditional bike, and its training regimen can be quite addicting and encouraging to fitness workouts. The Peloton Cycle allows people to stream live or play in-demand cycling classes straight through the machine’s 21.5-inch Android waterproof touchscreen. This means that if your trainer catches you slacking off, he or she can spew words of encouragement to keep your legs moving, wherever you are in the world.

Apart from the interactive classes, the Peloton Cycle monitors a user’s burned calories, distance traveled, and pedaling rate. There’s also a leaderboard in order to motivate users to get themselves into the top 10, or beat an exercise buddy who’s also using a Peloton Cycle.

While the Peloton Bike is an interesting piece of kit, this piece of high-tech machinery comes with a hefty price tag. The bike and monitor cost $1,995, and a $39 per month subscription is needed to stream the cycling classes.

Perhaps people would consider this product more if its Android monitor offered games. Right now, the screen has no use apart from watching classes, which is a shame because some stationary bikes use casual games such as poker, slot machines, or black jack to help people pass the time while exercising. Gaming Realms, a software giant based in the UK that hosts a number of games through its proprietary website, says that online game sales are expected to hit over $40 billion this year. Perhaps the makers of the Peloton Bike should’ve considered tapping into the popularity of video and online games for their product to reach a wider audience.

If you can afford it, however, there’s no harm in trying out this equipment. Peloton Cycles looks top-of-the-line, and their online cycling instructors seem to know their stuff.