those of you who use a turbo trainer

What do you do on it?

I do a very basic interval routine, and think I need to vary what I do a bit.

I never do more than 1 hour at a time. For some reason get really sore “down there” on turbo trainers!

10 mins warm up. Pyramid intervals. 10 mins cool down. Once a week.

Stopped doing it so much since I started going to spin classes, a lot less boring.

I do two sessions a week on a turbo, as part of a training program I am on, all based around heart rate zones.

The first is an hour session of intervals, start at zone 2 with periods of zone 4 (like 5 mins zone 4, with 3 min recovery, 5 times), although started to do this on the road now.

Second is a low intensity (zone 1) with very high cadence (+100 rpm).

As a rule can’t stand turbos. Sore ass and boredom, but they’re good when you need to meet certain levels.

got a laptop or access to a dvd infront of your turbo ?

http://www.sufferfest.com

good routines !

Some stuff on turbotraining.co.uk. [/url]

In fact, now I’m feeling better, I really must get my turbo out and do something useful on it.

All sorts. from 20 min spins to 4 hour endurance workouts, numerous different interval sessions. Helps being a coach I guess.

http://www.thesufferfest.com/

sorry ignore the last post … its the above address !

Spinning classes sound much better and you have more than just your own will power to get it done. Which If I had any would be spent out riding for real.

Hill Intervals;

10 min warm up

1 min seated in a gear which you can push at a cadence of 70rpm
1 min rest

Repeat ten times, on the tenth rest have a 10 min cool down spin (90rpm or above)

then;

1 min standing out of the saddle in a gear you can push at a cadence of 60rpm
1 min rest

Repeat ten times, on the tenth rest have a 10 min cool down spin (90rpm or above)

Threshold

10 min warm up

30 mins at 75 – 80% heart rate max do not let your cadence drop below 90rpm, you will benefit from using an electric fan to cool you which will keep your heart rate stable.

10 min cool down spin.

And for that extra pre-race push or any time you want to punish yourself, Google the ‘Tabata protocol’, a session which after 14 mins will make you curl up on the floor and cry or vomit or both.

Mrs Mugsy got me a great training DVD for my Bday. We have a dvd projector so it works really well. I was suprised at how motivating it is to ride wih the others on the screen who talk you through the intervals etc.

Allows you to use it with a power meter, cadence etc, as all the figures from the riders on the DVD are presented and you should try and match a %age of these. As I don’t have a power meter or even cadence sensors I was sceptical whether I’d get anyhting from it, but it also is designed to work on a percieved effrot scale, i.e you feeling that you are giving 4/10 during rests, 9/10 during the intervals, 10/10 for the balls out sections etc. I do use a HRM as well, and no my lactate threshold HR etc 8 different levels allowing you to porgress and vary the sesssions etc.

err let me go and see what it is…
right. I’m back. It’s Vision Quest Coaching, real ries presents POWER with Robbie Ventura (related to pet detective maybe?). Think it came from Wiggle.

trail_rat it’s in the garage. i do have my ipod, which is good, but I don’t really find it that boring.

I’ll have a look at the various links & suggestions, thanks.

I usually do sessions 2-3 times a week, 40-60mins max. Used with a HRM it’s really good for maintaining effort.

My favourite session at the minute is a 15min warm up to a heart rate of about 150, then I up the resistance on the turbo a level from level 3 every 5 mins for 30 mins and try to maintain a cadence of around 80rpm.

The last 15 mins I alternate with 1min out of the saddle in a high gear with a slow steady cadence, and 1 min seated to recover.

I also have the front wheel elevated so it feels more like a climb, then 10mins no effort to warm down.

But this weather in the garage it’s very, very hot.

Used to use three or four of the Spin Doctor workouts in rotation a couple of times a week but the arrival of kids has put a stop to that (just ride my bike now) 🙂

I get numb plums when I’m on my turbo trainer for too long, then I get off and get pins and needles in said area, have to say not an all together unpleasant experience…

Thanks for the videos. I have a DVD from a UK trainer which I borrowed which contains a 10 min warmup, 20 min ride, 20 min hillclimb and some interval work. You can mix and match the rides as you please to form a workout but they get a little boring after a while. Nice to see some home made (and free!) vids out there. I’d been thinking of making similar.

I use mine as a work stand when indexing gears etc… 😆

If you want to go to town for interactive stuff, get a Computrainer. I use this once a week round at my coaches house. V hard work chasing the ghost rider when you’ve accidentally set his average wattage too high…. 😉

Try rollers, they help to give you a nice smooth pedalling action.

Its going nowhere this thread is it…

I’d love to use mine but its too bloody noisy, the mag unit itself is silent but the vibrations from drivetrain go right through the house – anyone know if there are any silencing mats to work on?

go on the timetrialing forum, lots of information and help

essentially a program that has a high cadence session and a couple of 2x20min at 75%-85% depending on condition % based on a flat out 20min session (after a good warm up)a week gets good gains

remember to take a easy week every 4 or so weeks

I do stuff that I’ve learnt in my spin class and I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff written down, picked up from things like cycling weekly and online. So I do a 10-15min warm up. I do one leg reps at a set cadence. In spinning we do standing for the count of 8, sit for 8 and so on. Then for 4, and then 2. This really makes the thighs burn! I try to work on my cadence as well – so a few minutes at 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 in various gears. By the time you add in some recovery sessions and intervals, the time has flown by.

I think the Joe Beer training website is where I picked up the online training stuff from.

Are you finding the turbo is still helping your riding? I’ve not been on mine for ages – opted for spinning which I find more enjoyable or road riding, but seem to have lost all my climbing strength in the last few weeks and I’m now really worried about doing the Fred Whitton, but don’t suppose anything I do now will help. 🙁

Are you finding the turbo is still helping your riding?

not as much, which is why I was asking really. I think I’ve got so much fitter than I was that I need some variety or a change on it to get that boost back.

I’m fine if a ride is flat, but I need some power in my legs really, as soon as there’s a hill I just lose the rest of the group.

is most of the riding you do with blokes? i’m asking because i found the same last year – i was riding with cat 3 blokes, and in a bunch, i dropped off the back on the climbs as i had to change down a gear and they didn’t. i always thought this was down to the blokes being stronger than me, even though i was a good climber and if they weren’t in a bunch, i could keep up with them. i’ve been doing weights two or three times a week, and have been paying attention to my training and diet which seems to have helped a lot and high five 4:1 seems to help too.

maybe hills reps/climbs would be good for you if that’s where you struggle to keep up? it would certainly help with the power. the up for 8, 4, and 2 during spin classes really helped strengthen my legs when i started it but a bit like you, i’m not seeing any difference in leg power now.

Get the £5 lance armstrong performance program – its awesome

is most of the riding you do with blokes?

yup. I can keep up fine on the flat, and it works great as long as we chose our road rides carefully, but it means we can only really go east from our house, towards york & selby etc and then get hit with a headwind all the way home 😐

Thats a book btw.

I need some power in my legs really

I see a guy who’s nbow 81 and still coaching. His basic premise is the old school way of overload training. What this means is that, each time you do a training session, you overload your body. Then you rest to allow the recovery, and you get stronger.

In essence, your power is lower than the people you ride with (I’d say power to weight, but you’re a girl and I could find myself in a world of trouble… :wink:). Specifically, it’s the amount of power you can sustain while climbing.

So, you need to train your body by working hard to create more power on each pedal stroke, and gradually this will equate to improved sustainabke power. An easy way to do this is to ride slightly harder gears before you feel that you have to shift down. Don’t go riding round in 53×11 everywhere, but drop your cadence and up the resistance a bit. At first, this will be hard, then over time you develop greater strength and with it an increased power output. If you combine this with sessions where you do this for a sustained period, you’ll get stronger on the climbs.

Before long, you’ll be dishing it out everytime the trail/road goes upwards..!

EDIT: I ought to add that I’m doing this right now. I used always to spin my legs at a high-sih cadence (100 is comfortable for me) in order to save my legs for when the going got harder. Now, however, I’m pushing bigger gears – try to stay in the big ring for much of my riding, until it really starts to go uphill – and am reaping the benefits.

I ought to add also, that it does depend on physiology, too: I’m built like a sprinter, all stocky with big thighs. I can put out plenty of power in short bursts, but can’t sustain it. It’s the latter I’m working on.

PS Not saying you’re built like me – quite the opposite, as I recall..!

headwind on the way home doesn’t sound like fun! you could also maybe try squats at home to help with the power – depends on how serious you want to take getting fitter. i seem to have to do a lot more training than the chaps i ride with, just to be as fit as them – and think its just down to them being naturally strong than women.

tom, I do try staying in the same gear already and it has definitely been working – up until last year I was physically incapable of riding out of the saddle, I can do it now! My climbing has definitely improved up shorter hills, just the next size up hills need work now. I don’t know what I’m built like, a wimp probably 😆

DGOAB, to make matters worse on the headwind, it’s uphill home which ever way. You get to pick from a long drag, or a hideous short sharp one I can only just make it up without stopping. lovely.

squats is a good suggestion.

GF seems to need to to no riding at all to maintain his fitness, it#’s sickening.

if hills are the problem it could also be a power-weight issue

drop the alcohol, eat more fruit etc

the coaches on the timetrial forums seem to get very good results with 6-8 hours training a week, it just very focused and not very nice when doing it

Problem I find with my TT and my MTB is I cant use it to simulate hills – it spins out in 46/12 and gets too easy within about 5 pedal strokes which is frustrating, but looking at the TTs required to simulate hills they’re 500+.

drop the alcohol

I’m not THAT desperate 😕

Seriously though, there’s only 8st of me it’s upping the power I need, not dropping the weight.

Up the forces then. Out of saddle climbing requires more torque than power in general (IMO) so you need to practice sticking in 1 gear and slogging up hills rather than spinning faster.

[patronising] See, mrsf, it’s been working already and you didn’t even know you were doing it! [/patronising]

I think DGOAB has a good point, and it’s not an easy one to give out from a man to a woman: men tend – on average – to be stronger than women, and there’s not a lot to get away from that. Other than hard work.

I ride with decent road racers, and sometimes get so disheartened when I find myself fired out the back of the group on the slightest incline. It was worse on the early season chaingangs, when I couldn’t hold on for more than 10 minutes. Now I’m much stronger.

Also, I find that riding on my own – i.e. without the benefit of a group – has also made me stronger. Tempo rides on my own for a couple of hours are more beneficial to me than a four hour club run where I sit on someone’s wheel for much of it not stressing my body enough.

I suspect that GF is one of those people who’s fit as a butcher’s dog whatever!

4/5th whatever………..

spinning classes, like a turbo session, but much more entertaing, especialy if your compettative and just try and out sprint the leader

and the lance armstrong book.

mrsf – just tried to email you but it bounced back?

Pin this to the garage door, kind of like how you dangle a carrot in front of a donkey 😉

IHN sod off. (I saw them again today).

DGOAB, did you use clare . bowyer @ btinternet. com ?

tom, I knew I was doing it, it’s been intentional, just was wondering if anyone had advice I’d not considered 🙂

And yes, he is of that butchers dog type. v frustrating!

Sounds like I am doing the right things anyway, I just need to keep at it.