Winter sessions for the turbo trainer or gym bike. Winter sessions for the turbo trainer or gym bike. 29/10/2011
Winter is coming and the Christmas music has started in the shops so I thought I would post a session or two to keep you focused. As usual seek out a coach or a trainer before commencing a new program (and check with a health professional too).
This is, apart from being the usual disclaimer that you exercise at your own risk, is very important for your training. So much power the athlete generates can be lost if the bike position is incorrect or ‘off’. Learn how to set up your gym bike or have a bike fit for your trusty steed before you injure yourself or waste power. Apart from that, you should never follow blindly any plan you find on the internet as you have no idea who wrote the plan, who is the target audience for the plan and does the plan fit into your training? And is it the right kind of session for you at this particular point in your season or your training age (as opposed to your biological age – an idea for another article, I think).
That said, treat the sessions below as suggestions or use them to stay motivated. I will try and post more in the next two or three months. The sessions have various exertion levels or cadence suggestions to give you an idea of the effort you need to cycle at. I have deliberately not used gearing or heart rates or power wattage as we all have different ‘toys’ attached to our bikes and turbo’s.
Tabata Interval
10-15mins Warm up; building up to 75% effort/ RPE
20sec SPRINT 80-90% effort
10sec Recovery, High cadence
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
2 min Recovery, easy gear and maintaining 45-50% effort, take fluids onboard
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10-15 mins Cool down, lowering heart rate/ effort incrementally.
If you are stuck for time or wish to introduce interval training slowly then 10 mins each for the warm up and cool down and finish the session after the first half (the 2 min recovery mark above).
Hill Climb session
This is a basic hill session; the RPM refers to revolutions per minute. To get your RPM, count each time the left leg is at 12 O Clock for 15 seconds and multiply by four. The RPM is sometimes referred to as cadence. You will notice the recovery is at a higher RPM, this is to get the blood flowing faster in the lower body muscles to recover faster and better before the next bout. Stay in the seat/ saddle for the hills as there is no standing climbs in this session. If five hills are too much then reduce to three or four, and if it is not enough increase the hills incrementally to eight, after eight hill repeats, drop back to five but increase the time to 5 minutes per hill.
10-15min Warm Up; building up to 70-75% effort/ RPE
3min 1st Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
2min Recovery, easy spin at approx 60-70% effort, RPM 70
3min 2nd Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
2min Recovery
3min 3rd Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
2min Recovery
3min 4th Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
2min Recovery
3min 5th Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
10min Cool Down, lowering heart rate/ effort incrementally
Have fun and enjoy the sweaty sessions.
This is, apart from being the usual disclaimer that you exercise at your own risk, is very important for your training. So much power the athlete generates can be lost if the bike position is incorrect or ‘off’. Learn how to set up your gym bike or have a bike fit for your trusty steed before you injure yourself or waste power. Apart from that, you should never follow blindly any plan you find on the internet as you have no idea who wrote the plan, who is the target audience for the plan and does the plan fit into your training? And is it the right kind of session for you at this particular point in your season or your training age (as opposed to your biological age – an idea for another article, I think).
That said, treat the sessions below as suggestions or use them to stay motivated. I will try and post more in the next two or three months. The sessions have various exertion levels or cadence suggestions to give you an idea of the effort you need to cycle at. I have deliberately not used gearing or heart rates or power wattage as we all have different ‘toys’ attached to our bikes and turbo’s.
Tabata Interval
10-15mins Warm up; building up to 75% effort/ RPE
20sec SPRINT 80-90% effort
10sec Recovery, High cadence
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
2 min Recovery, easy gear and maintaining 45-50% effort, take fluids onboard
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10sec Recovery
20sec SPRINT
10-15 mins Cool down, lowering heart rate/ effort incrementally.
If you are stuck for time or wish to introduce interval training slowly then 10 mins each for the warm up and cool down and finish the session after the first half (the 2 min recovery mark above).
Hill Climb session
This is a basic hill session; the RPM refers to revolutions per minute. To get your RPM, count each time the left leg is at 12 O Clock for 15 seconds and multiply by four. The RPM is sometimes referred to as cadence. You will notice the recovery is at a higher RPM, this is to get the blood flowing faster in the lower body muscles to recover faster and better before the next bout. Stay in the seat/ saddle for the hills as there is no standing climbs in this session. If five hills are too much then reduce to three or four, and if it is not enough increase the hills incrementally to eight, after eight hill repeats, drop back to five but increase the time to 5 minutes per hill.
10-15min Warm Up; building up to 70-75% effort/ RPE
3min 1st Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
2min Recovery, easy spin at approx 60-70% effort, RPM 70
3min 2nd Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
2min Recovery
3min 3rd Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
2min Recovery
3min 4th Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
2min Recovery
3min 5th Hill, High Resistance 85-90% effort, RPM 50-60
10min Cool Down, lowering heart rate/ effort incrementally
Have fun and enjoy the sweaty sessions.
