Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
  • Best use of one hour a day on a spin bike.
  • righog
    Free Member

    Looking for a bit of advice/experience

    I can spend an hour a day on a spin bike at work.

    I also do a small weights/stretching session each day as well.

    My fitness goal is just that, to get a bit fitter for my rides at home, especially getting my average HR down on a typical 2 hr offroad ride. ATM my average HR is aroud 165 for a 2 hour ride ( asthma plays a part in this )

    In the past I have used this hour on the spin bike as a full on hardcore spin session but this is not that nice as it hot and there is very little air movement, so HR goes sky high and body is working hard losing the heat…this in the past could be fun as sometimes it was done with other people with a bit of a average wattage comp going on.

    ATM for way of change and as I have nobody to “race” I am doing the hour and keeping the heart rate at 100 or just below, its pretty boring ( but there is a TV ) will this be doing me any good ? ( other than general benifts of moving a bit )

    Any suggestions for better use of this hour, Ridng outside is not an option at work.

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    I’d be looking to replicate a spin class, there must be plenty of apps or videos that can help you do this. Even if it was just a 30 minute one, a proper one would be better than plodding away at a constant whirr. You could use the other 30 mins for warm up and warm down.

    chilled76
    Free Member

    Depending on your current fitness I’d do a warm up (15 minutes relatively easy spin) followed by some intervals for 30 minutes. Followed by a warm down (15 minutes relatively easy spin).

    For the intervals it really depends on your fitness

    Could try 2 mins hard with 30 secnds rest (brutal for 30 minutes)

    Or 1 min hard 1 min rest

    Or if really unfit 1 min hard 2 min rest

    The rest period is basically back to a light spin to let your heart rate come back down a bit.

    In theory getting your heart rate right up then back down again up and down for a period should have a big impact on your fitness, especially for the time you do it.

    If you can combine that with longer easy rides at the weekend then you are onto a half decent training plan.

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    theotherjonv
    Full Member

    I’d certainly add some variety. Is it a smart bike (could you hook it up to Zwift for example?) – if you can’t do that there are some decent structured workouts on Youtube / GCN that tell you when to work and when to ease off to gain different benefits (eg: working on power, working on cadence, working on FTP, Intervals, etc.)

    I’m currently on a dumb turbo (not exactly currently, I’m at work right now) using GCN but have ordered the gubbins to get it Zwifted up.

    In the past I have used this hour on the spin bike as a full on hardcore spin session but this is not that nice as it hot and there is very little air movement, so HR goes sky high and body is working hard losing the heat…this in the past could be fun as sometimes it was done with other people with a bit of a average wattage comp going on.

    Odd, I find the opposite. My max HR (steep hill, giving it beans, dying at the top) is 175-ish but on the turbo in the garage in the cold but sweating like a dog I can hardly get to 165 before I get bits of sick in my mouth. So much so that i work to a different set of HR zones when on the TT than on the real bike. I also find that changes in effort don’t show on the HR monitor anywhere near as fast as when outdoors. Why would that be?

    [edit – and don’t do an hour a day of full training sessions, even mixed up ones, that’ll be too much. Take some days off or do something else instead, or if you must ride every day then make some of those days very easy recovery rides]

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    Intervals as above, but at most 3 times a week. Loads of programmes online eg GCN on YouTube.

    righog
    Free Member

    Thanks some good suggestions

    Chilled…That actually seems very reasonable, the hard sessions I was doing were much more brutal than what you have suggested, so that would be a good half way house.. never thought of it due to my typical man, all or nothing mentality.

    CTM….Need to do something every day or I would go mental, again I could mix them up a bit more.

    TOJ..Yes I have noticed that my HR does not drop nearly as fast on the spin bike, but it does get just as high as outside, I put this down to the high temp and the body not being able to cool itself, but as you are in a cold garage maybe it is something else ?

    The-Swedish-Chef
    Free Member

    Mix it up, you don’t need to spend an hour on the bike to get a good workout. A hard interval session can be done half that time.

    Don’t ride everyday, three days a week, if structured a little would be more than enough to maximize fitness. You can use a HR monitor and a tool like TrainerRoad if you want to get serious/structured. However as suggested there are plenty of sites online that have films/sessions available for free.

    mikedabear
    Free Member

    but this is not that nice as it hot and there is very little air movement

    Get a fan, it makes a huge difference. If it is a work gym ask if they have one or politely suggest they invest in one.

    lunge
    Full Member

    [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxrEqrdSPgw[/video]This is a very good/horrible 40 minute GCN session. Properly nasty if done properly.

    [video]https://youtu.be/08f0qFwtuf0[/video]
    And this is an equally good/horrible interval session.

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    Righog by all means do something every day, just not intervals. You need time to recover from them for them to work and if you do more you don’t get more fit you get more fatigued.

    fifeandy
    Free Member

    lunge – Member
    This is a very good/horrible 40 minute GCN session. Properly nasty if done properly.

    Agreed, its a good session, although would disagree its nasty as sweetspot isn’t that hard over such a short duration.
    It should also be noted GCN have screwed up the effort scale in this years videos.
    Sweetspot is ~6.5/10 not 8.
    Also best to extend this session a bit with 10mins easy riding bolted on each end for warm up and cool down.

    lunge
    Full Member

    Agreed, its a good session, but it should be noted GCN have screwed up the effort scale in this years videos.
    Sweetspot is ~6.5/10 not 8.
    Also best to extend this session a bit with 10mins easy riding bolted on each end for warm up and cool down.

    Agree with every word of that, though I do think that perceived effort is always hard to gauge anyway. Either way, 40 mins at 7 or 8 out of 10 is tough.

    robcolliver
    Free Member

    I was talked into doing a bit of blogging regarding doing hour sessions on the turbo when I bumped into a guy in a chippy on my way to a race a few weeks ago.
    There are a couple of entries showing what I do when I’m “time crunched” in the Blog section of :_

    Home

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

The topic ‘Best use of one hour a day on a spin bike.’ is closed to new replies.