Winter Trainer Rides - What's your go to workout?

[EPIC! Stratton]

So I'm trying to do some more trainer rides this winter as I'm no longer commuting by bike and need to keep in shape. I'm using a fluid trainer with speed/cadence and heart rate sensors and a Garmin 520.

What's your favorite work out for the trainer? :bike:

[MattTuck]

2x20

:no:

[bikerider888]

5x8:00 @ 105% FTP
2-3x20 at 95% FTP
1x60 at 92 to 95% FTP

[r_serati]

ctxc cycling videos

It takes a while to get used to cycling on the wrong side of the road though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[batman1425]

Slow endurance only on the trainer for me. Doing intensity work this time of the year is detrimental to my overall goals. When it's below 35 outside, base miles are the name of the game. I break it up with the Erg, lifting and core work.

Intensity on the bike starts building in late feb-march - and by that time, I'm starting to do it outside.

[MattTuck]

Slow endurance only on the trainer for me. Doing intensity work this time of the year is detrimental to my overall goals. When it's below 35 outside, base miles are the name of the game. I break it up with the Erg, lifting and core work.

Intensity on the bike starts building in late feb-march - and by that time, I'm starting to do it outside.

I thought that this idea was debunked. Not that basemiles aren't important, but that doing intensity during the winter was some how bad. I'll see if I can find the discussion we had.

[guido]

I try to get one long endurance ride, one sweetspot/subthreshold interval ride, one VO2Max interval ride and one or two endurance base/recovery rides. And i get the the gym for maintenance...

[kramnnim]

Trying to hang on to people way faster than me in the various Zwift races. :(

[jmoore]

Intervals. Lots of intervals. Varying length and intensity. Max ride time = 75 min. Get on, warmup, do intervals, cool down, finish.


I am training for a PR in The Hour this summer, so I just do what my coach tells me. But it's always intervals of some sort.

[batman1425]

I thought that this idea was debunked. Not that basemiles aren't important, but that doing intensity during the winter was some how bad. I'll see if I can find the discussion we had.

It's not that it is bad, it just that I'm not looking to peak in april or may, so I focus on lower intensity work during the winter months. I've seen people do it both ways with equal success, just depends on what works for you. I can say that if I don't get enough base in, 2-3hr races later in the year are MUCH harder than when I take the time to develop good aerobic fitness. Grip it and rip it crit/cross racing is less affected by that, IME.

Also, a lot of folks (myself included) detrain a fair bit during oct-nov-holiday period and jumping back in with a lot of intensity can -and has in the past for me- lead to injury. For me, its build slowly.

[sparky33]

Kinomaps virtual rides on a Wahoo Kickr.

Not really a structured workout, but I've been doing the videos from Italy lately and there are plenty of hills for a good session.
I'm enjoying indoor riding for the first time ever.

[makoti]

5x8:00 @ 105% FTP
2-3x20 at 95% FTP
1x60 at 92 to 95% FTP

I really hope these are on different days, or I've really got work to do...

[shovelhd]

Zwift rides and racing.

[Ti Designs]

Pedal stroke work, lots of it.

I've started what I call the advanced pedal stroke class, and before I can teach anything I kinda have to learn how to do it myself. The basic pedal stroke class is about learning how to isolate the two large muscle groups and only fire them when they're pushing in the direction the pedal is moving, so quads fire from 11:00 to 2:00 and glutes work from 1:00 to 4:00. The advanced class is about making both of those more effective. Timing is the trick with the glutes. In the basic class I teach people to fall into the pedals - that's my way of tricking the body into using the right muscle group, but it's not as effective as it could be. The real trick is to throw the body weight at the pedal, getting the peak force at or before 3:00 - it's a moving target so it's not as simple as it seems. With the quads the idea is to not use the rectus femoris - the hip flexor that shuts down the vastus lateralis. That one is a bit harder to explain.

It's January, I'm not at all fit - I always think I've gone too far in losing fitness in December. Just working on pedal stroke I'm seeing my power going up, at times to points that make me think I may be fast again some day.

[spartanKid]

Do 2-3 10 minute rounds of 40/20s, 30/30s, or 20/40s. That's :40, :30, or :20 seconds all out, followed by :20, :30, or :40 seconds easy, for 10 mins.

Takes 5ish minutes really easy in between, and repeat.


5 x 5:00 @ 110% FTP is another stand-by. take 3-5 mins EZ in between.

[bikerider888]

Pedal stroke work, lots of it.

I've started what I call the advanced pedal stroke class, and before I can teach anything I kinda have to learn how to do it myself. The basic pedal stroke class is about learning how to isolate the two large muscle groups and only fire them when they're pushing in the direction the pedal is moving, so quads fire from 11:00 to 2:00 and glutes work from 1:00 to 4:00. The advanced class is about making both of those more effective. Timing is the trick with the glutes. In the basic class I teach people to fall into the pedals - that's my way of tricking the body into using the right muscle group, but it's not as effective as it could be. The real trick is to throw the body weight at the pedal, getting the peak force at or before 3:00 - it's a moving target so it's not as simple as it seems. With the quads the idea is to not use the rectus femoris - the hip flexor that shuts down the vastus lateralis. That one is a bit harder to explain.

It's January, I'm not at all fit - I always think I've gone too far in losing fitness in December. Just working on pedal stroke I'm seeing my power going up, at times to points that make me think I may be fast again some day.

Is it April 1st??

[batman1425]

Is it April 1st??

Before you toss stones, check out the work Ti Design has done developing tools to teach people how to effectively and efficiently pedal a bicycle. It isn't as easy as it looks, and his tutorials are a valuable resource.

[laupsi]

Before you toss stones, check out the work Ti Design has done developing tools to teach people how to effectively and efficiently pedal a bicycle. It isn't as easy as it looks, and his tutorials are a valuable resource.

It's not as easy as it looks. It's as easy as it IS!

[velomonkey]

My go to winter workout involve several variables that when applied in a logical and systematic fashion result in a most positive outcome. How precisely I partake in these different items vary in both time and intensity. I prefer not to think of my winter workout as blocks of time of effort, but rather I see it as a dynamic program that is adjusted on outside variables.

Anyway, enough from me. Some of the items in my winter training.

Couch, bourbon (a member of a French royal family that ruled in France 1589?792), Netflix (french for Netflix), HBO GO and, when it occurs - Patriots playoff football - which isn't omnipresent but is always.

Sometimes I ride the rollers, sometimes hard, sometimes less hard.

Oddly enough both bourbon and rollers end up in me in as a sweaty, smelly mess so I can only presume the bourbon is making me better.

[93legendti]

before you toss stones, check out the work ti design has done developing tools to teach people how to effectively and efficiently pedal a bicycle. It isn't as easy as it looks, and his tutorials are a valuable resource.

+1

[regularguy412]

Well, what I'm doing now, mostly, I call 'the build up'. Climb on the bike. Put it in the 53x21 and just spin/warm up -- not necessarily fast cadence (You define 'fast'). Maybe 10 minutes at this level. Click up to the 19 for 5 minutes. Try to keep the same or almost same cadence. Click up to the 17 and do the same. If you're feeling good, click into the 16 for 5 more minutes. So when that gear is 'done', you're at 25 minutes. Click back down one cog for 5 minutes. And then back down again, etc. What this 'sort' of simulates is riding in a paceline. drafting near the back, is easy (early gears). As you get nearer the front, it gets harder. You slide to the back after your 5 minute 'turn' on the front. It's still not easy, but easy-ER. And you recover as you go down thru the gears and 'up' through the virtual paceline. Repeat the cycle if you want to or just have more time to kill.

It's a good time eater. Easy to watch the tube and do this workout. Just set a 5 minute timer if you need to.

As others have stated, more specific workouts with FTP and intervals become involved around mid-February.

Mike in AR:beer:

[FastforaSlowGuy]

5x8:00 @ 105% FTP

2-3x20 at 95% FTP

1x60 at 92 to 95% FTP


You are a beast. That is all.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FastforaSlowGuy]

Oddly enough both bourbon and rollers end up in me in as a sweaty, smelly mess so I can only presume the bourbon is making me better.


This sounds right. I shall embrace this and I shall be fast.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ti Designs]

Is it April 1st??

Yeh, I'm the idiot who's just learning how to pedal a bike...

[wallymann]

I thought that this idea was debunked. Not that basemiles aren't important, but that doing intensity during the winter was some how bad. I'll see if I can find the discussion we had.

a couple things to consider:
- one needs to have sufficient condition to make the early-season intensity worthwhile. many of us de-train sufficiently enough over the holidays to require re-establishing some reasonable level of condition.
- often the practical rationale for limiting early-season intensity is to leave enough "mental gas" in the tank to still enjoy riding deep into summer. often when killing it in jan, folks often end up mentally exhausted when the riding is just getting good.

[bikerider888]

I really hope these are on different days, or I've really got work to do...

Of course!

I usually do 2 days on, 1 day off. Sometimes 3 days on.

Hardest day first (highest intensity), then work down the intensity spectrum. Riding an hour at 92 or 95% of FTP isn't really that hard. You get used to that type of work and as long as you aren't estimating FTP too high it's fine.

VO2 work is the hardest and I don't do that year round, typically in 2-4 week blocks with a few weeks in between. It's mentally challenging.

[bikerider888]

Yeh, I'm the idiot who's just learning how to pedal a bike...

Since this is the first I've heard of anything like this, do you have any metrics that show improvement this training imparts? Such as O2 consumption being lowered at given power, higher power at VO2, etc etc?

I'm asking in all seriousness, did not mean to be condescending earlier.

[chiasticon]

My go to winter workout involve several variables that when applied in a logical and systematic fashion result in a most positive outcome. How precisely I partake in these different items vary in both time and intensity. I prefer not to think of my winter workout as blocks of time of effort, but rather I see it as a dynamic program that is adjusted on outside variables.

Anyway, enough from me. Some of the items in my winter training.

Couch, bourbon (a member of a French royal family that ruled in France 1589?792), Netflix (french for Netflix), HBO GO and, when it occurs - Patriots playoff football - which isn't omnipresent but is always.

Sometimes I ride the rollers, sometimes hard, sometimes less hard.

Oddly enough both bourbon and rollers end up in me in as a sweaty, smelly mess so I can only presume the bourbon is making me better.+1 (except substitute Patriots games for Flyers games, which are also much more frequent)

[Ti Designs]

Since this is the first I've heard of anything like this, do you have any metrics that show improvement this training imparts? Such as O2 consumption being lowered at given power, higher power at VO2, etc etc?

I base my program on the mechanical model of a person on a bike where force generated at the crank angle + 90 degrees is 100% efficient and force generated at the crank angle is 0% efficient. The program mostly teaches a rider to produce force in the right direction where it can, and to produce no force where it can't. The common assumption "It's not as easy as it looks. It's as easy as it IS!" is based on the fact that you can't make the pedal go anywhere other than a circle around the bottom bracket. That doesn't mean the force in the right direction, in fact the Pioneer power meter shows just how bad most people are at it.

Metrics like O2 consumption are for fitness based programs. Which one is better? There's probably more to gain with the average rider's pedal stroke than you'll gain in the same time working on fitness. What's more, efficiency gained means greater power as fitness increases. Lastly, there's a limit of time the body will continue to gain fitness, starting into a program too soon means fitness will start dropping off too soon. What else are you gonna do with your time?