Been lent a turbo trainer – how do I make it less boring?

My enthusiasm for getting out in the dark and cold is waning as I get older 🙁
Other than a recent ride up the to pub and back I’ve hardly been out so it’s time to get some exercise. I’ve been lent a basic TT (Tacx Booster 2500) and I’ve got my old road bike which will be perfect for it.

So the big question is, how can I make 30-45 min sessions on the TT less boring?

The TT is going to be set up in my home office which is pretty big (ex double garage) so I have access to PC, internet and TV (but only for chromecast/hdmi feeds).

I’ve read a bit about zwift (but I’m defo no racer) and trainerroad. What would I need to make this basic trainer more compatible?

Would it be possible to get a speed/cadence sensor and link it all to my android phone and chromecast that to the TV?

If so which sensor should I be looking for?

I’m hoping to do 4 sessions a week.

Zwift Trainerroad and Sufferfest, Speed and Cadence sensor and a USB ANT+ to receive the signal.
If your planning 4 sessions a week then look at one of the structured training plans from one of them and set your goal (MTB/Road/Race/TT etc)

I’ve no doubt structured programs like TrainerRoad have the edge in terms of results but I’ve never been able to keep at them… way too boring… Zwift on the other hand has me hooked! Check out Weeksy’s mega-thread for all you need to know.

I always say it but the GCN videos on YouTube are really good. I don’t use any kind of sensor and just go in feel, and even with that limited setup they’re awesome

Or accept that it’s never going to be like real riding. Just a convenient training tool. Choose some banging music, focus on HIIT stuff. Bury yourself in the pain and intensity of it and you won’t get ‘bored’. Sufferfest vids do much the same, but the music is often awful.

Or you can got into the endless spiral of trying to make it more like real riding by spending on smart sensors, virtual races, global turbo parties etc. The former approach works for me, but I suspect it depends on how you’re wired.

Getting out and riding will be less boring, even if damp and cold. Once actually out you’ll enjoy it. It’s just the struggle this time of year getting out when it’s miserable.

Though, don’t know if you’re off or on road, but while a mud fest off road maybe, it’s more rewarding and less miserable in my opinion even if you end up covered in mud 😀

Any recommendations on S&C sensor that would hook up to my android phone?

At the very least I’d like to record how far I’ve ‘ridden’.

If you have a speed and cadence sensor and a tablet try FULGAZ. Its the closest to biking outdoors I’ve found in all the apps I’ve tried to date. In fact I bought a smart trainer on the back of using it as it’s so immersive.

As lunge said, GCN videos on YouTube. Until I found them, I had never manged more than 20 minutes on the turbo. Now I’m addicted to 1 hour endurance & power sessions. You don’t need any extra equipment like power meters, cadence etc just follow what you’re told on screen.

You don’t need to measure how far you’ve gone. Use it as a training tool, 20 – 60 minutes in the pain cave, distance or irrelevant.

Another for GCN on YouTube here.

Decathlon for a cheap Bluetooth cadence / speed sensor.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/bluetooth-speed-cadence-sensor-cycle-computer-accessory-id_8348589.html

I use a cheap ipad/tablet mount on the handle bars with youtube biking videos and a set of headphones. Mounts are about a tenner from Amazon.
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However, that said I will be trying the Zwift thing some time soon!

Use it to hang the ironing up…..

Also using GCN vids.
Use the HDMI out on my tablet to stick it on a TV.

For longer/easier sessions any video/movie/tv show that takes your fancy.

Just looked up the GCN videos, looks good. Thanks guys!
I may still get a S&C sensor.

The GCN vids are excellent. Way more motivating that just a video of someone else riding in first person view.
As an aside, I downloaded some Sufferfest videos. Am I the only one who thinks they are really dated and amateurish. Maybe they were the older ones, but I was expecting more considering they seem to be the name everybody mentions.

I used to watch episodes of 24, kept the pace up 🙂 longer sessions was the Rocky movies.

My turbo trainer sapped my will to live to the point that getting out in the cold/wet/dark was a hugely inviting prospect vs sitting in one place on the bike.

My turbo trainer sapped my will to live to the point that getting out in the cold/wet/dark was a hugely inviting prospect vs sitting in one place on the bike

I’d kind of agree. If you just go for a spin on a turbo then it’s horrible, really dull. If you introduce some structure and a specific session then you’ll have more luck. It’s not a substitute for a real ride but I find I get a bigger training benefit from it as I can be so strict.

As has been said already. HIIT is your friend here. 10 minute warm up 20 seconds all out 10 seconds recover x 8 should see you right…..

Another fan of the GCN videos here, I’m too busy breathing out of my backside to get bored!

I think the bit where people start thinking a turbo should, in some way, be like a real ride is a tad unrealistic ime. It’s a convenient training tool and no amount of virtual reality video or interconnected shared ‘racing’ is going to stop you knowing that you’re sat on a stationary bike in a garage making like a hamster in a cage.

It’s convenient. It’s repeatable. It’s utterly predictable, which makes it very effective in training terms, but it’s never going to be like feeling the wind on your face or listening to the hum of knobblies skimming over hardpack. Or chatting with your mates. A propos of which, buy a bloody big fan while you’re at it.

Makes more sense to me to view it as what it is and make the most of it with HIIT sessions and pain.

Anyway… on the Sufferfest front, the early ones are quite agricultural, the later ones are better. But not the awful one with Mike Cotty pottering through the Alps, which is a classic example of how pretending you’re out on a real ride up some lovely alpine passes simply doesn’t work: Mike, who seems like a nice chap, doesn’t ever shut up, never responds when you talk to him and probably sleeps in Mavic-branded pyjamas…

I guess if it effectively bores you enough to actually go for a real ride though, that’s a pretty good thing too 🙂

Just watching telly (iplayer) has worked well for us. But we’re only doing steady stuff, just some extra miles when the weather is poor…

I’m using the sufferfest app at the moment if only because it’s easier to gauge the effort it wants using power rather than the PRE numbers they use. Zwift I find a little unengaging at times, particularly as I have to dick around with config files to ride the course I want on any given day.

The BKool software is also quite good;think Zwift but a bit more real life. You can upload GPX/FIT files and ride real courses (particularly good if you have a smart trainer). Some even have videos so you’re riding the actual course. It’s not perfect but it’s quite nice if you don’t give a shit about the social aspect of Zwift for example.

Just commenting to bookmark the thread in my history.

What are you guys linking the sensors to? Computer? Tablet? Phone?

Does anyone have a link for how to get everything all set up?

I just link a cadence and HR to my garmin and do the GCN videos.
That way I can compare my HR between set routines in Strava to gauge any improvement in fitness.
The key to a training tool is structured routines focusing on an element like strength, power or endurance.
I couldn’t think of anything worse than cycling stationary for an hour with no purpose to it.

I use an ANT+ USB dongle (Mine is suunto but they’re all pretty much the same) and then connect everything to that. My turbo can connect over bluetooth as well but I keep everything on ANT+.

What are you guys linking the sensors to? Computer? Tablet? Phone?

My trainer and sensor are both Bluetooth enabled, linked to an iPad mini. Running the iOS TrainerRoad app.

How to link everything up is going to be dependent on the hardware (computer/sensors etc) and app that you want to use.

Another +1 for the GCN videos on YouTube

I need structure when on the turbo and use trainerroad in this regard. It’s really effective in maintaining and improving fitness during the winter months’ even just doing a couple of sessions a week in addition to a proper ride or two. That, and the radio or music, is enough to keep me sane for an hour. I think your aim of four sessions a week is a bit ambitious though.

30 minutes on the trainer can be dull as ****.

On the turbo at home I watch Monty Python or Red Dwarf.

I tried 30 minutes on the spinning bike in the gym this morning – first time using the bike there other than as a warm up.

No music just self inflicted pain. I tried to mentally visualise a really varied climb with flatter sections, short steep out of the saddle bits, draggy gentle bits and rode it at like I was on a mission (to get to the chippy) and used the gears to generate relevant resistance. That worked ok for me. Not exactly structured training but it’s nice to stretch the legs.

Just found this S&C sensor on Amazon ….. got to be worth a go!

My update is that I’ve had two quick sessions while watching iPlayer stuff just to get into the swing of things and will be ‘upgrading’ to the GCN workout videos later this week.

All good so far and I already feel better for just getting on a bike and doing something!

Cheers for the neads up on that sensor. Ordering! If it works with Zwift on the ipad then I’ll be happy.

Just tried out the new 40min GCN video posted yesterday (padded out with 20mins of warmup/cooldown).
Quite a brutal session, and definitely a good one for those with puny little leg muscles like me.

Well my S&C sensor arrived today and all working great – amazing value for £10 with Prime delivery!
To ‘celebrate’ I tucked into the GCN quick 20 min ‘fat burning’ interval video – very impressed with the video…. not my performance 😳

Kind of looking forwards to a few months of turbo sessions, I think.