why is training indoors so hard



marmatt

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Dec 28, 2005
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:mad: Being in northern utah I am forced indoors alot. The biggest difference I notice is how much harder I have to push the gears to get the same wattage as outside. For example, I'll do 2x20s going up a pass outside by pedaling as easy as possible. Same workout indoors and I have it in the 53x11 resistance about as high as it goes and i'm barely hitting threshold, my legs get sore and I have trouble making 10 minutes. Does the resistance on the trainer affect wattage? I know I am overheating somewhat despite the fans and open windows but it seems like i have to mash such big gears-I've tried smaller gears with hihger cadence but can only hit FTP at about 120rpm. Any suggestions?:confused:
 
marmatt said:
Any suggestions?:confused:
Move south?:p

Sounds like trainer does not have enough resistance (even though you are struggling). Assuming you can get enough cooling (and you need plenty), for many getting a trainer with more intertia (a heavy flywheel) might help to more closely mimic the road conditions.

Other than that, it's usually an adaptation thing - many who ride them regularly report power eventually gets up to levels they experience on the road. Some find they do better indoors! I hate 'em but then I can ride outdoors 365 day/year.

Then there's whatever you can do to relieve the boredom.
 
marmatt said:
:mad: Being in northern utah I am forced indoors alot. The biggest difference I notice is how much harder I have to push the gears to get the same wattage as outside. For example, I'll do 2x20s going up a pass outside by pedaling as easy as possible. Same workout indoors and I have it in the 53x11 resistance about as high as it goes and i'm barely hitting threshold, my legs get sore and I have trouble making 10 minutes. Does the resistance on the trainer affect wattage? I know I am overheating somewhat despite the fans and open windows but it seems like i have to mash such big gears-I've tried smaller gears with hihger cadence but can only hit FTP at about 120rpm. Any suggestions?:confused:

If it makes you feel better, you are not alone. I can do ~340-350W for 2X20's at the moment on the road, but the couple of sessions I've tried on the trainer this feels like a VO2max interval and I can't sustain the power for more than about 3-4 minutes. I did 240W AP for 3 hours over undulating terrain on an L2/L3 ride the other day, but sitting on 240W on the trainer hurts. It's weird. My solution: ride outdoors. No matter what.
 
http://www.cyclingforums.com/showthread.php?t=343971

above is a pretty good hashing out... if you can get through most of it you'll have a good idea of probably why the difference exists and how to mitigate indoor outdoor differences other than just struggling for a few months until you addapt to riding without inertial loading (conditions you won't have to ride in outdoors)... some don't experience any difference indoors and outdoors... don't let them tell you it's in your head.. there are real physical reasons for the difference... and real physical reasons why some would and others wouldn't experience the difference

is you don't care about the whys... short of mitigating the indoor/outdoor differnce is... get the room as cold as you can and as big and powerful fan or fans as you can, you may want to start with shirt on during warmup and remove as you get warmed up if it's too cold at the start... get a trainer or heavy rollers with as big flywheel as you can to increase inertial loading...
 

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