So I gave in an got one of those cheap turbos from the Aldi sale. I’m guessing that “spinning for an hour” is going to get very boring very quickly, what do people recommend in terms of free but good training routines?

I use the GCN videos- there are some routines there which vary from about 20 minutes to about an hour. They mix up different things, and have some riding POV footage as well as displaying some useful cadence and stopwatch info. Certainly more interesting and structured than just sitting and spinning for an hour.

<thread hijack>
Realise it’s early days for you Mr Burton, but how loud/vibrate-y is the turbo? Am tempted to get one myself. But as I live in a 2nd floor flat if I do ever buy a turbo then silence/smoothness is rather important. Thanks very much.
</as you were>

My entirely made up on my own routine is as below, accompanied by a cheesy rock playlist on Spotify. Hard enough to feel like I’m doing something, short enough to stave off boredom:

1 minute spinning legs
10secs hard effort / 10secs spinning legs
20secs hard effort / 20secs spinning legs
30secs hard effort / 30secs spinning legs
40secs hard effort / 40secs spinning legs
50secs hard effort / 50secs spinning legs
60secs hard effort / 60secs spinning legs

then 8 rounds of

40 seconds hard effort / 2 seconds spinning legs

then a few minutes (like a song’s-worth) of leg spinning cool down

svladcjelli: it hasn’t arrived yet, and I’ll be using it in the garage (basement) of my detached house… I’m guessing at £50 it won’t be quiet or smooth!

The GCN videos look good, but I wish some had a technical singletrack climb to watch instead of a roadie’s arse.

Yep, GCN is about as good as it gets. They’re oddly enjoyable once you find the ones that work for you, they’re very hard work too if you follow them properly.

the problem with singletrack on a turbo is it’s often pedal, coast, coast, pedal, turn, pedal… Whereas a road climb is pedal, pedal slower, pedal faster, pedal…

TV?

Take it straight back and buy a good one. The one I bought last year lasted one session and it seems like most of the reviews last time said the same. The guy on the till also made a joke about adding it to the pile of ones already returned. Even before it broke it was rubbish. The flywheel is far too small.

sufferfest twisted fun, good sense of humour and I think you get the yoga free now

Can you still get the sufferfest stuff individually? I thought it had gone to an app subscription now.

Great training vids when you want a hard session – not sure how an entire training plan of sufferfest would work, though!

There’s basically 4 routes, as far as I can tell (with some overlap)

1) be a masochist
2) Have some sort of funky training video thing like sufferfest
3) Make it incredibly horrible so that you can’t get bored- tabata and the like.
4) Watch TV

I’ve had success with 3 and 4. The thing about 4 is, it’s definitely not as good, but sitting on the turbo spinning simple mid and low intensity stuff for an hour is still better than sitting on the couch. And I find it draws me in, too, I’m way more likely to go and do a session if I want to see the next episode

+1 for GCN

I tried playing an xbox on one.

It didn’t go well.

I should get thevturbo set up now so i get in the habit

you get a free month to try most
https://thesufferfest.com/pages/get-started
Can’t buy individual vids but it $10/month and no lock in so perfect to pick up a winter and then put it away

I use the GCN programmes on YouTube. My brother uses the British Cycling programme – which has served him well because in the space of about 12 months he’s taken up triathlon as a complete noob and has just been picked to compete for Team GB at Triathlon, so seems to have worked for him.

I think it helps to have a clear goal in mind. There I nothing more boring that sat on a bike in your garage on a turbo, but at least if you have a goal and focus to be there it’s a bit easier to motivate yourself.