Gliding along a country road, the warm sun on our skin with just enough of a light breeze to keep us cool… these are every riders dream conditions. Unfortunately we live in Ireland and these kinds of days are few and far between. With our sporadic weather patterns and lack of daylight hours over the winter months, keeping up with our cycling training in an outdoor setting becomes increasingly difficult. Some people may also have irregular working shifts meaning that the only time they have available to train is early in the morning or late at night.
Regardless of the reason, inconsistency is detrimental to your training progress. Turning to indoor bike sessions, as much as it may pain us to do so, may be the best option when it comes to keeping up that time in the saddle and in turn, that training consistency.
So if you have decided to embrace the turbo trainer then here is our top tips for indoor cycle training to help keep you as comfortable and focused as possible, get the most out of your training time and avoid any unwanted damage to your bike.
1. Build An Entertainment Station
By this we don’t mean a 72 inch HD TV with full surround sound (although go for it if you want to!) but setting up your phone, tablet or laptop on a chair, stool or stand just on front of where you have your bike and turbo trainer located.
Indoor sessions can be pretty monotonous with no traffic, junctions, hills or in fact any features of an outdoor cycle, so having access to a screen will go a long way to making the time go faster. Once you have your device in place and you have access to Wi-Fi, the entertainment options really are endless. Watch some vlogs from your favourite content creators, listen to a podcast or even stick on a video of a beautiful alpine cycling route on YouTube.
2. Create A Playlist
Some people like to listen to music, eBooks or podcasts while on their indoor trainer, while some people like to watch YouTube videos or even Netflix. Whatever your choice of entertainment is, one thing you want to avoid is frequently stopping mid-session to search for a song or select your next video. Create a playlist before you start your cycle in order to reduce downtime and avoid unnecessary interruptions to your training session.
3. Locate Your Bike Station To Face Outside
The worst thing about cycling inside is the fact you are not cycling outside, so try to create the outdoor experience as best as you can. Set up your bike station facing out a large window, patio door or even set the station up on your balcony if you live in an apartment, although this is option is still weather dependant to a certain extent. Having some form of exposure to sunlight will make the experience far more enjoyable as opposed to spending that time in a dark room facing inwards towards a wall.
4. Invest In A Good Quality Fan
Without having any wind or even a light breeze to keep you cool on your ride, your body temperate will rise quiet quickly when cycling indoors and in turn the room you are cycling in can become very hot and humid.
After your first hot and sweaty cycle, investing in a small electric fan will make perfect sense.
Set it up beside your entertainment station facing directly towards you. It will replicate that cooling feeling you get from a light headwind hitting you while you cycle and it will go a long way to making that intense indoor training session a bit more comfortable.
5. Approach It Like An Outdoor Session
Just because you are cycling in the comfort of your own home doesn’t mean you shouldn’t approach a cycle like you would if you were hitting the road outside. Get kitted out in your cycling shorts and jersey just as you normally would.
Make sure that you have your water bottles on your bike and sufficient food in your jersey pockets to keep you fuelled. When going outside for your cycle you would have all of these bases covered ensuring that you are comfortable, hydrated and adequately fuelled to get the most out of your time spent in the saddle, so keep up this approach with your indoor sessions too.
You want to have everything that you need within arm’s reach to minimise downtime and maximise results.
6. Increase Your Hydration
We already mentioned in point 4 that your body temperate can become quite high when training indoors. As a result of this you will naturally sweat more and lose a lot more fluids than you normally would when training outside. Make sure to take on a little more water or energy drink to counteract this extra fluid loss.
If you sweat heavily, or you are planning a longer bike session then it may also be worth adding some hydration tablets to your drinks in order to replace those lost electrolytes in your sweat. In short, just treat your indoor session like you would treat an outdoor session on a warm summer’s day.
7. Cover Your Headset And Handlebars
The headset is the assembly of bearings on the front of your bike where the fork connects to the bike frame. It allows the fork and the bike wheel to turn. It can become worn and rusted over time if water gets into it. Unfortunately the headset is located directly under your head when cycling so it is prone to sweat making its way down into it.
Sweat is a double edged sword, as not only it is a source of moisture but it also contains salts which are also corrosive to metal.
Your handlebars are another source of concern when cycling indoors with all this extra sweat dripping down onto them, along with the sweat building up on the palms of your hands. The bar tape covering your handlebars can become saturated with sweat which in turn will seep through to the frame underneath causing rust.
However there is a simple way of combatting this by covering the front section of your bike with a towel. Drape it over the handlebars where it will act as a sweat-catcher, making sure to cover the headset and brakes too.
8. Wipe Down Your Bike Post Cycle
Leading on from the point above, covering your handlebars and headset with a towel will go a long way to protecting your bike from rust but we would always recommend that you give your bike a quick wipe down after your session. Sweat will make its way onto other parts of your bike frame regardless of your best efforts to try and avoid it.
Use a fresh cloth or towel, making sure not to use the one you used to cover your headset as this will only lead to spreading more sweat over your bike. It would be even better if you can give it a light wipe down with a damp cloth. Focus on the frame just under your torso and on your saddle. Also give the headset and handlebars a wipe down too just in case some sweat did seep through your towel.
Lastly give your brakes and wheels a quick wipe. A few minutes of care given now will make a big difference to ensuring the long-term health of your bike.
9. Build Some Structure Into Your Session
We always recommend that you approach all your training sessions with an outcome in mind. This might mean you are focusing on improving your base level aerobic fitness, building your climbing power or improving your anaerobic threshold.
Not having a plan in place usually leads to a session that doesn’t fully maximise the potential results.
This is even more important when it comes to indoor bike sessions. Without any hills to practise your climbing, long stretches of road to work on speed or headwinds to cause any resistance, it can be very easy to just hop on the turbo trainer and aimlessly pedal away.
Many cyclists find themselves training in a grey zone that is too high to be classed as a base level aerobic session but too low to fall into a higher end anaerobic session.
Before you hop on the saddle, decide what you want to achieve from the time you are training. Build a structured session around this and include intervals or efforts that reflect your goals.
Make that time count.
10. Sign Up To Zwift
Some of you may already be familiar with the Zwift phenomenon that has taken over world of cycling and triathlon.
If not then here is a quick overview; Zwift is an online virtual training platform. You create an account for €14.99 per month* which allows you to access multiple features like Explore, Train or Compete. You will need a screen to display the app and a smart trainer that is Zwift compatible. Most devices like a laptop, tablet or phone are all fine for your Zwift setup. You then sync your indoor trainer to your Zwift app. Once this is done, you can access training sessions, races, group rides, solo cycles and much more.
It feels like you are cycling in a video game that reacts to the effort you are putting in on your trainer. It opens up a whole community of other Zwift users and you can race or train with complete strangers or even friends of yours who also have a Zwift account.
If you are confined to the indoors for a large part of your yearly training, then this really will take much of the monotony out of your sessions.
There are other cycling apps available too but Zwift is becoming more and more popular and in turn the community is continually growing. The monthly fee is a small price to pay in order to save your sanity!
11. Join A Turbo Class
If Zwift doesn’t sound like it is for you but you still like the idea of the social aspect and need similar motivation to push yourself hard in training then a turbo class could be your answer.
Cycling clubs, gyms, and fitness centres and even many bike shops all run turbo classes over the winter months.
Class sizes will vary depending on the size of the premises but typically range anywhere between 10 to 30 people. Sessions are generally 45 minutes to 1 hour in length and are based on intense interval style training.
They are a great way of getting quality training done while benefitting from the expertise of an instructor who leads the session from the top of the class. Also they can be quite sociable too, allowing you to interact with people of similar interests before and after class.
12. Consider Indoor Sessions Throughout The Year
Although most cyclists will only resort to an indoor bike session when they are forced to due to poor weather but it is worth bearing in mind that both professional cyclists and triathletes incorporate turbo sessions into their training throughout the year.
There are multiple benefits to be derived from a turbo session that are not as easily achieved while on the road. You have far more control over your efforts on an indoor trainer as there are fewer variables that are out of your control. Traffic and traffic lights, busy junctions, wet roads and headwinds all have an adverse effect on your ability to keep a consistent pace or effort during a ride.
If you are training to power output or heart rate, consistent and accurate data is essential in order to measure progress. This is far more easily achievable on an indoor trainer.
So if you are hitting the saddle for a casual ride then by all means take to the roads when possible. However if you are planning to compete in a race and are focusing on improving specific aspects of your performance then don’t discard the turbo trainer the moment the sun comes out.
To Sum It All Up…
Regardless of whether you are doing your indoor sessions out of necessity due to poor weather or out of preference to focus on specific aspects of your training, these indoor sessions can be quite monotonous and mentally challenging compared to cycling on the open road.
There is a lot to be said about creating a comfortable environment to train in as it will go a long way to keeping you focused and effective.
The more comfortable that you are in your new setup, then the more likely you will be to stay consistent with your training plan. This consistency will in turn lead to greater performance in the long run and maximise the results achieved from your precious training time.
*Zwift price correct as of November 2023
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