I think I’ve finally hit the point that I want to do something about my size and fitness. I know I’ve needed to for a while, but hasn’t exactly been top of my list. Pretty sure the weight I’ve piled on, especially in the past year or so, isn’t helping matters whatsoever. Night time is the worst, that’s the time I eat. And eat. And eat. You get the picture.

Thinking of utilising the time better once the kids are in bed. Briefly looked into it and it seems to be a mine field. What do I need exactly? Does the setup née dto stay in place or can I put it out of the way when I’ve finished? Lots of questions I hope will be answered automatically in the replies. Any recommendations? Don’t mind second hand or whatever. It appeals more than just a trainer like I had before and I think it could make good use of my evenings.

Thanks.

Ideally a smart trainer (Tacx T2240 starts at around £200 – or less in Halfords sales).

Ant+ dongle for the laptop, or apple TV or Ipad.

A bike !

Garmin speed/cadence sensor (if you wish – these were already on my bike)

Laptop/Apple TV or ipad. Apple TV might be cheapest option.

A fan (or two in my case) to keep cool.

£12.99 per month subscription.

For the trainers – look at max resistance, noise level and reliability. That Tacx is notoriously unreliable.

You don’t need a cadence sensor unless you care about cadence.

There are other options other than Zwift, depends what you want to do. Most of them have free trials. Bkool has variety. Rouvy lets you ride against a real world video. Road Grand Tours and GoldenCheetah are currently unlimited free. Some of the video sites are one-off payment rather than subscription, which is cheaper long-term.

Or there’s always Peleton…

And buy a fan, gets very warm with no air flow. Zwift is the most popular, you can do races or proper training or just ride. Decent amount of variety and courses change every few days from London to world championship road courses to Watopia.

And buy a fan, gets very warm with no air flow.

A very good fan!! It’s amazing how hot you get

Big fan, got it.

I guess I need to do some more research into these options and see what’s what and go from there. Thanks for the replies so far, really appreciate it.

It’s a litte pricey, but I bought this when it was on offer, I think I paid around £55
Vacmaster Air Mover

It’s epic! When switched to full my towel won’t stay on the bars.

Big FAN as above! I bought a car workshop fan, it’s massive, and way too cold at first, but you’ll sweat your bits off once you get going.

Zwift is a winner, you pay month by month if you like and can cancel anytime (I only have mine in winter).

I couldn’t bring myself to do turbo sessions before zwift, mind destroyling boring! If I watched tv etc then i’d slack off the pace.

Zwift races are a real motivator!

On the cheap: a basic non smart turbo, speed sensor, cadence sensor, and a turbo tyre. (Zwift do an estimated power for a bunch of non smart turbos, check out their site).

Posh: Smart wheel off turbo trainer.

Zwift racing is a lot of fun. No way I’d be able to motivate myself to do an effort like that watching a graph or Netflix. You get totally swept up in it, and after a couple of races start trying to work out strategy/what others are doing around you.

The Zwift training plans leave a lot to be desired imo. But you can make your own basic workouts in there easily..some 5x5s, 3x12s, sweetspot whatever. But 1 zwift race a week will work well as your really hard sesh.

I’m an outdoors guy. But on a winter’s evening after work, when it’s dark early and wet and horrible – jumping on Zwift and immersing myself in their world is fantastic I have to say.

I really like Trainerroad personally – it’s not as immersive as Zwift, but will get you fast!

I had my best gains with TrainerRoad, when I was racing time trials. But you’re head needs to be in the right place, ie. you need to want those gains. It’s an excellent platform though. I still listen to the TR podcasts.

I think TR is now more expensive per month than Zwift

I tried out zwift last winter, mostly because they started supporting the trainer I already had. A few things that were a bit of a surprise for me:
– Even with a fluid trainer (not a smart one where the resistance changes with the virtual gradient) it’s really immersive. The visual feedback of your little feller going slower up climbs works amazingly well to push you to put more effort in.
– training to power (even Zwift power) is a revelation. So much more precise than HR zones. I’m a bit number geeky so I really liked this bit.
– there’s almost too much to do on Zwift, with training plans, group rides, fondos and just riding around. I live somewhere sunny, so didn’t really get enough indoor riding time to get the most out of it.

I didn’t really use it enough to get any real gains from training, but just doing an FTP test and a few workouts taught me a lot about what kind of output I can sustain – which came in very useful in the one 10km timetrial I ended up doing this year.

There are a few guides around on how to get a setup according to budget. As mentioned above, I already had a supported trainer (the brandX/lifeline TT02 fluid trainer) and a reasonable laptop, so I only needed a speed/cadence sensor and an ANT+ usb dongle to get going. I also had an ANT+ hr strap, and a garmin watch that allows broadcasting HR.

Oh yes – as well as setting up a good fan, laptop position (or tv position and where you put your phone with the companion app) is pretty important. As is some sort of sweat absorber to prevent you destroying your stem/bars/headset/carpet with rivers of corrosive sweat.

Interested in giving this Zwift thing a go too.

I’m probably going to invest in a direct drive trainer, but is it worth spending extra to get one that’s fully smart rather than a more basic fluid trainer?

Do I need a road bike? I’ve got an old rigid mtb.

Ta

Most direct drive trainers will accomodate various wheel spacings, so MTB should be fine.

I would get a fully smart. I had a basic setup: dumb turbo/ crank power meter. Then bought an Elite Direto, it’s much more fun! Especially when climbing mountains! Also they have ERG mode. So when training, you just push the pedals and do what you’re told! No changing gears and trying to match the power target

The cheapest way is a basic trainer and some GCN videos on YouTube, it’s not racing but some of the workouts are very engaging. Do 2 or 3 of those a week and you’ll really feel the benefits. It’s also dirt cheap as long as you have a bike and an iPad or laptop.

Zwift is great but there’s more outlay required.

A good point to be fair.

I work away so can’t use zwift for a few weeks at a time. When i’m in training I do exactly the above, spin bike and my mobile with the GCN stuff on youtube, entertaining enough if you’re in the mood, and you’ll easily get a hard workout done in 45min.

There are a couple of knock off sufferfest style style vids on youtube from some Australian bike club too, also “enjoyed” these.

Thanks guys

Found a good video here:
https://youtu.be/hMCqYqfWG4E

Given I’ve got a trainer already (an old Minoura rim drive one) I think I’ll just get a speed / cadence sensor to start with.

If I enjoy it I can invest in some fancier gear. I’m not quite ready to throw £600 at a direct drive smart trainer just yet!

May be worth grabbing a turbo specific tyre too, a normal road tyre will wear out quickly, and a Mtb tyre will vibrate the nuts off both you and your bike!!!

Ozzie sufferfest style

GCN spin class style vid

GCN have loads aimed at various training, FTP improvement etc.

Have just invested in a kickr core and trainerroad. Wanting to get fitter in my late 40s and complete a ride thinking I am not about to have a coronary!

I think you have an aeris 120, as do I and the mrs. Happy to send you a pick of our set up if that helps or let you know about experience of set up etc.

Maybe think what you are wanting to get out of this. We’ve decided on trainerroad to try out a structured fitness focused programme. I know some of the other platforms are not as focused on following a specific plan. It could be a good focus for you and perhaps a target or motivation such as measuring fitness gains might help a little with the eating i.e. all tie together.

Finally, hope you are getting some other support or have had some support after what you have been through recently? No idea what has been offered to you or what you have accessed but there are sources of support out there.

Anything I can help with further just let me know.

Still wish I’d got the Blue aeris!!!

@wideboy Don’t forget that Zwift has an Android mobile app these days https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zwift.zwiftgame&hl=en_GB

@nicknameless thanks for the comments. Pretty much what you’ve said is what I’m hoping to achieve. When I have worked out in the past, my snacking has automatically decreased. Like you said, everything hopefully will tie in together and generally lift my spirits/boost my confidence/lose weight/get fitter. Yes I have an aeris 120LT, a graphite one. Well chuffed with it so far.

I know someone locally selling a viking road bike quite cheap, not the best thing but good for this I reckon. Still got my trainer tyre from a few years back in the cupboard too with the accessories for the trainer I had.

As far as extra support goes, we all had a few sessions but then it just stopped. That was 3 months ago and they aren’t returning my calls so trying to look for alternative counselling and support for us all now.

@gnusmas no problems. I too have the 120LT in graphite. Love the bike. We got the reconditioned kickr core – it was £599 so a little pricey. Happy to keep you updated on my progress with trainer road.

Were the sessions useful? Everyone’s GP is different – some helpful, some not. Have you got a helpful one who you could talk to about it?

Apologies in advance if the below is all old hat, or not of use, or not wanted at this time.

http://www.childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/coping-with-bereavement/

https://www.cruse.org.uk/

https://support.sueryder.org/community/coping-bereavement

https://support.sueryder.org/community/losing-parent

https://support.sueryder.org/community/losing-partner

https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/support/bereaved-family-friends/dealing-grief/bereavement-or-grief-counselling#get