I’m new to the whole turbo training thing but I’m keen to improve my fitness over winter – or at least not lose it. What do I need to get started? I think something like Trainerroad or Sufferfest is probably a good idea because I know from the few ‘training’ rides I’ve done on road that I won’t motivate myself to do intervals without being shouted at.

I’ve separated my rambling essay into questions.

1) I’m aware of the whole rollers vs turbo argument but I’m gonna try a turbo. That’s the first hurdle. Can I get away with using my commuter bike wheel? It’s running Conti Gatorskins.

2) My garage is under someone else’s flat. Will they hear the noise of a turbo? Is it worth spending extra on a quieter one?

3) I have a Garmin Edge 510 with speed / cadence / HRM. I can, I think, upload various training profiles to this, although I’ve never used that function. Should I try and use that?

4) Alternatively I can presumably get a Bluetooth ANT+ dongle and pair the various sensors with my laptop (a Macbook Pro FWIW). Obviously it’s possible to go mental with various sensors/monitors etc but I’m not under any misapprehensions of grandeur – I’m not a career athlete!

5) At the moment I’m erring towards just buying a basic turbo and getting a couple of the sufferfest videos. Sufferfest doesn’t need anything special beyond the bike, does it? Any reason why I should spend more?

1) Probably, The worst that might happen is you’ll either wear the tyre out quicker than you’d like or possibly the tyre might slip under load. Give it a go first but if either of those happen then a cheap rear wheel and a turbo specific tyre would sort you out. But give it a go as is first you’ll probably be fine.

2) Stick a mat down to deaden the vibrations and you should be OK.

3 + 4) Dunno about training profiles, but you can pair your garmin with trainerroad if you get a fairly cheap ANT+ dongle. That’s all I’ve ever used (also with a macbook pro) and it works pretty well.

5) Try one of the videos and see how you get on. I prefer following the programmes on trainerroad because it gives me an actual virtual power number to try and hit which I find helps maintain my focus a bit better.

Not much to add to the above!

Get a fan, towel, music and Trainerroad and you’re all set for a winter of pain fun

What do I need for a decent garage workout?

A couple of 16kg kettlebells, barbell and 60kg of weights, a floor mat and a music-player…Oh and a punch-bag if you have room.

I bought a turbo last year with the intention of using it a lot (based upon the snow the previous year). Only managed half a dozen ‘rides’ as we had a mild winter, and consequentially rode more (weekend plus weekly night-rides).

Noise will be a problem, so you’ll definitely need a quiet tyre and a quiet ‘machine’ – with a Crossmark on I couldn’t even here the radio…

I just used my alarm on my phone for setting up the ride. 15 mins warm-up, 30 mins riding and then 15 mins warm-down.

I used an old MTB frame setup single-speed, so just varied the Turbo resistance to make it easier/harder.

And sweat, yep plenty of sweat.

Time drags hideously, so anything but steady state riding would be better. Personally I think TrainerRoad is far better than Sufferfest, which relies on perceived exertion. I want numbers dammit.

If you’re buying a turbo, get one which is compatible with TrainerRoad, there’s a list on their site. You’ll need an ANT+ dongle, but that’s it.

Otherwise yes, fan, towel. Enjoy.

I really enjoyed using a Schwinn airdyne bike years ago – works upper body as well and the air from the turbine keeps you cool :

I am really liking my macebells for upper body exercise :

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUFAEkzI404[/video]

You get the Sufferfest videos with a Strava Premium subscription.

Depends on your budget, but look at spinning bikes too.

You can have a reconditioned keiser mc3 for around £500, and I much prefer the feel of pedalling. Also more stable than a turbo, and *much* quieter.

There’s also a lot less faff with wheels, tyres, drive trains etc, which I what pushed me that way.

Harder to link to trainerroad, though, and the ‘power’ is more of a guide than anything accurate to rely on! I use sufferfest, and the West Wing at the moment for the less suffer-y sets.

Also, consider a fan!

A few points just from my experience (some already mentioned!)

– Fan essential
– Heart rate monitor or similar essential, and a proper ramp test to establish max & zones (pointless without this).
– KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE DOING BEFORE YOU JUMP ON! If you don’t have a set workout to follow, you will simply jack it in with boredom, you need something to focus on. So even if you’re going to do video sessions, have a back up x minutes at y zone, then x minutes/secs full etc. in case of computer/power problems etc.
– Get everything prepared in advance, water bottle, fan going, headphones etc. all set up and done before you even warm up. I get clothes laid out ready if it’s an early morning straight out of bed session. It’s amazing how often you forget something. Even a recovery/afters bottle ready if you’re doing a proper hardcore session.
– Ensure the bike is set up EXACTLY THE SAME as your main bike (be it race bike, summer bike, bling machine however you describe it!), if you’re doing regular hard sessions and then transfer over to a bike with a different set up you could do yourself damage or just find yourself very uncomfortable and not as powerful until your body adjusts. Don’t let that happen.

In addition to seconding all the previous replies I’d set up some workouts to download to your GPS. I can only do about 20 minutes steady riding but with a workout to follow an hour is easy (well, you don’t get bored).

You have to set up the workout using Garmin Connect and it’s not exactly the most intuitive program so give yourself a few goes at getting it right. What I found hardest was adding loops and putting efforts in to those loops, it’s really not very easy. Once you’ve created a workout or two then just sync the device and they’ll be downloaded. It’s also worth setting a specific activity for the turbo so that it doesn’t keep trying to locate satellites 🙂

Definitely worth having some music going as well.

You get the Sufferfest videos with a Strava Premium subscription

Useful to know, just got a turbo and was in the market for some vids.

Depends on your budget, but look at spinning bikes too.

I bought a reebok spin bike for the garage but it was pretty boring – whereas that Schwinn bike was a lot better.

Another piece of equipment I like are the stepper machines, but not on the ‘hardest’, which is actually the least resistance. Half an hour or more banging away at about 7 is a good workout and builds a lot of power in the thighs.

This:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgrKUDQQKsc&list=RDJgrKUDQQKsc[/video]