MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
I've decided to actually make use of the crappy, noisy as sin, fixed resistance Turbo trainer that's sat in my garage for many years, So it's now got a "working" frankenbike sat on top...
The idea is that I'll be making use of it as frequently as possible throughout winter to offset the pies.
But I'm pretty clueless when it comes to Turbo trainers really and how to make effective use of one. can I (should I) sit on it for hours cranking out a steady work rate, should I try to bollox myself inside of half an hour, or maybe a mixture of the two?
I can monitor my HR and Cadence, between those two metrics I hope I've enough information to structure some sort of workout(s)...
So does anyone have any ideas on how to structure my Turbo sessions?
Oh and before someone suggests it, no I will not be Zwifting, I've none of the fancy turbo, computers or kit necessary or the budget to invest in it and I'd rather use the time I'm shut up in the garage sweating to watch netflix, listen to music and maybe read a bit...
What do you want to achieve? What are the weaknesses you need to work on? What kind of riding do you do?
GCN videos are pretty good, and enough of them to give some variety.
Wouldn't worry too much about structure and/or a master plan if the main goal is to offset pie intake.
Decent rule of thumb is two proper hard sessions a week with everything else made up of fairly easy riding (which on a turbo is as boring as it gets).
2nd the GCN sessions, you just need access to YouTube and you're sorted. Try and few and you'll find some you like and some you don't. The 20 minute fat burner, 20 minute threshold and 40 minute sweet spot sessions all work for me.
anything is better then nothing.
what do you want to achieve?
Turbo is not the place for steady efforts some hard, moderate and mixed intervals will help the time go by.
read these stripped down articles. will help you with a starting point.
You could try the Sufferfest vids but you have to pay. They can be done using perceived effort on a scale of 1 to 10.
Sufferfest is good, I always like downward spiral. Music got a bit trying though, it would be good to have different audio options for the videos.
You will work much harder following a video like Sufferfest than you would if you just sit their and spin.
i use trainerroad. i also quite like steady efforts on the turbo, i just watch movies on prime. nice to get away from the kids!
What do you want to achieve?
Primarily just Stave off Winter spread, and maintain some stamina ready for longer rides when spring/summer rolls round.
I'm [I]"time poor"[/I] at present, I don't have lots of time for riding during the week other than commuting a couple of times, and that can soon be cancelled when family and/or work start making demands on my time. I did use winter night riding in the past for this purpose but being honest it's just not going to work this year, sorting kit, charging lights before you know it the evening has gone...
What are the weaknesses you need to work on?
I'm a reasonable spinner, I can keep my legs turning over but I am perhaps a little lacking on Strength sometimes for short sharp sprints and blipping up sharp climbs...
Plus I maybe lack the ability to endure much beyond ~75 miles on the road/40 miles offroad. Sustained efforts just do me in, I Started Spring 2017 in a bit of a state, utterly ruined by a relatively innocuous 55 mile road ride, but I did finish the summer in a better state, able to Crank out longer rides and recover wihtin a day or so, I don't want to go back to the state I was in March, but I've been riding less and eating more in the last month or two.
What kind of riding do you do?
A bit of everything, I consider myself an MTBer but I probably ride my road bike more these days, plus I've decided to mothball my MTB over winter (binning 26" and building a 29er). So I will be out on my Road and CX bikes over winter, the goal is to have fitness for MTBing next spring/summer, I don't really do competition any longer, I might give Enduro a go next year and I may do another local CX round or two this winter but Primarily I want to be able to drag myself up and down welsh hills all day when the weather is nice next June/July...
fifeandy - MemberGCN videos are pretty good, and enough of them to give some variety.
Wouldn't worry too much about structure and/or a master plan if the main goal is to offset pie intake.Decent rule of thumb is two proper hard sessions a week with everything else made up of fairly easy riding (which on a turbo is as boring as it gets).
I shall take a look, I assume they're a bit like a video spin class? I've done and enjoyed spin classes in the past but one hour is probably about the limit.
I can see it working, 'er-indoors can put a Rom-Com/Reality tosh on and I generally go hide in the Garage anyway, so an hour of Garage spin isn't really a problem.
Cheers all...
There are some spin class type ones, but they are the worst ones.
The better ones are more like a guided ride up iconic climbs with structured intervals in.