Winter training

[DCWD]

OK, so how important is indoor training going to be for me this winter? I have access to spinning classes at the gym at work - hour long spinning sessions MWF and half-hour time trials and hills TTh. ...that's only 4 hours/week compared to the 10+ I'm doing now... If I make it to most or all of those sessions, or just go spin on my own a couple times a week, how much of my hard-won summer progress will I be losing compared to dropping a few hundred on a trainer and some videos? Indoor trainer: necessary livingroom furniture?

 

[CAMPYBOB]

i stay outdoors on a track bike when the roads are passable and there is enough daylight to ride.

indoors, it's rollers (good for form, not so hot for a workout unless you use the small rollers or a fan/mag unit attached)...and i really don't like the boredom of roller riding.

it's a given that i'm going to lose some strength and endurance, but the base it there to build on when spring gets here.

i also do some cross-country skiing when the snow-godz bless ohio with enough of the white stuff to keep bicycles off the roads.

hmmm? i mend fenceline...cut firewood...ANYTHING to get out of sitting on those dang, boring rollers. guess i should go organize my tapes/dvd's of all lemond's and lance's tour wins.

it's gonna be a long, cold winter!

 

[frenchyge]

Indoor trainer: necessary livingroom furniture?

IMO, yes it's really the *only* livingroom furniture that is necessary.

But in reality it depends on when you're looking to peak. If your bigger rides are later in the summer, then you can probably get away with 4hr/wk of maintenance during the winter and then spend the early Spring trying to build your form back.

 

[BlueJersey]

Is Winter that bad in VA??? I commute to work during the Winter as long as it is snowing. In this case, I can still ride way until early Jan. In NYC we usually get heavy snow fall around Jan to Feb. I still commute to work even when the temp is really close to
0 degree F.

OK, so how important is indoor training going to be for me this winter? I have access to spinning classes at the gym at work - hour long spinning sessions MWF and half-hour time trials and hills TTh. ...that's only 4 hours/week compared to the 10+ I'm doing now... If I make it to most or all of those sessions, or just go spin on my own a couple times a week, how much of my hard-won summer progress will I be losing compared to dropping a few hundred on a trainer and some videos? Indoor trainer: necessary livingroom furniture?

 

[capwater]

Is Winter that bad in VA???

Here in Richmond, VA I ride all year long. Admittedly the after work rides fall by the wayside due to the time change. I'll take a couple of spin classes each week, a couple of hour long indoor sessions on the trainer (can't handle the boredom for more than that even with the TV right in front) and get out at least once for a long ride on the weekend and maybe a shorter one during the week if I can sneak out of work early. January is really the worst because that is when there is a greater chance for the roads to be mucked up. My winter goals aren't so much about total mileage, but rather keeping the butt, back and legs in shape and maintaining a decent aerobic level so that once I can pack on more miles my ramp up time to race level fitness is less.

 

[YMCA]

4 hours of spin classes has got to be just about equal to the 10 hours you do on the road. Spin classes are full on mostly, whereas the road hour tends to have many breaks and some easier sections. You never stop pedaling in spin. Don't discredit the 4 hours you are doing. Your form will probably stay pretty high heading into your early season next year, and keep you from having to waste time with small gear base rides. You'll be straight to the 53 for those long road rides before the group rides start cranking.

 

[KeSs]

I am a spinning instructor and I do 8 hour long classes each week. I must say that depending on your instructor you can get just of good a workout in an hour as you can during a 40 mile race. The way my class is set-up you can set the resistance you want. Me and a few of the die hard fitness clients will put in workouts that will exceed 1000 calories burned in an hour. Spinning is a great way to kill time over the winter and since you are doing in with a group of people it makes it a little more enjoyable. I would also recommend maybe doing the spinning class, then right after while your still warmed up head to the elliptical machine and stay on that for about 30 min. Then do the step climber for another 30 min........thats my current workout and I highly recommend it. You can tweak it to suit how good of shape you are in. You will be working a large amount of leg muscles by using these 3 machines....Also, December/January/February is a great time to work on weight training to improve strentgh in your abs/legs/lower back. Hope some of this helps

-Sam

 

[biker-linz]

OK, so how important is indoor training going to be for me this winter? I have access to spinning classes at the gym at work - hour long spinning sessions MWF and half-hour time trials and hills TTh. ...that's only 4 hours/week compared to the 10+ I'm doing now... If I make it to most or all of those sessions, or just go spin on my own a couple times a week, how much of my hard-won summer progress will I be losing compared to dropping a few hundred on a trainer and some videos? Indoor trainer: necessary livingroom furniture?

What training you do in winter is dependent on a few things: your exact discipline, what type of training you enjoy, what kind of season you've just had, what the local weather / terrain is like and when you intend to peak next year (hope that's covered it).
Turbo trainers are immensely useful all year round and allow you to target specific aspects of your fitness. Time on a turbo is a lot easier if you either have a structure (personally, the 'fussier' the better) or some kind of distraction. Some people watch TdF videos. Me? I watch The Simpsons!

L.

 

[artmichalek]

Me? I watch The Simpsons!

Same here, but I'm still bored to tears after about an hour on the rollers. A few years ago I took up xc skiing, which has helped me maintain a pretty good cardio base over the winter.

 

[frenchyge]

I get bored riding at steady efforts, but hard intervals require so much focus that I find anything but music too distracting from my ride.

Hard intervals are where the trainer really shines for me anyway, because the rolling terrain makes it hard to ride hard and steady for anything over ~3 mins.

 

[Squint]

1000 Cal/hr is quite a lot considering you'll need a lot of ventilation to perform your best indoors.

That's about 270W for one hour without ventilation. I think even some pros would have trouble doing that.

 

[DCWD]

This is all good stuff. Thanks for the responses. Based on what ya'll've (I say that all the time, but don't know how to write it) said, my plan is to ride when I can, do the spinning classes when I can, and do a bit of weight lifting. I'll keep the trainer purchase in the back of my mind as a good course of action if I see myself falling off my current stats, as winter progresses. Last year I basically took off all of December and January, not because I couldn't ride, but because I never felt like I could ride hard. ...and of course, I hadn't really caught the bug until I got a nice bike (April, I think it was)....my level of commitment is a lot different than it was last winter, so I'll probably get out more. I mean really, why not save the money from the trainer and get a pair of nice road shoes in the Spring! ...or maybe that shiney new helmet at the LBS....or maybe both...

 

[DCWD]

This is all good stuff. Thanks for the responses. Based on what ya'll've (I say that all the time, but don't know how to write it) said, my plan is to ride when I can, do the spinning classes when I can, and do a bit of weight lifting. I'll keep the trainer purchase in the back of my mind as a good course of action if I see myself falling off my current stats, as winter progresses. Last year I basically took off all of December and January, not because I couldn't ride, but because I never felt like I could ride hard. ...and of course, I hadn't really caught the bug until I got a nice bike (April, I think it was)....my level of commitment is a lot different than it was last winter, so I'll probably get out more. I mean really, why not save the money from the trainer and get a pair of nice road shoes in the Spring! ...or maybe that shiney new helmet at the LBS....or maybe both...

 

[frenchyge]

Based on what ya'll've....

Ain't that them I-tal-yan restaurants they have down south? Ya'll've Gardens?

 

[DCWD]

Ain't that them I-tal-yan restaurants they have down south? Ya'll've Gardens?

Wife says "there is no such thing as a western accent. ...it's just that all you native Coloradans slur all your words together." I answer, "agessso".

 

[park]

I'm trying something different this year. Last winter I did the long slow distance thing while watching movies on the trainer and doing some outdoor riding, supposedly building my base. Conventional wisdom is that you have to do this LSD stuff and build up this base before progressing to intensity. I understand that but at this point, after a spring and summer of training and racing, don't we all have a base? Isn't it a waste of time to do LSD again and lose strength?
I will ride the trainer but I won't be on it long enough for movies. I've signed up with a tri coach at www.triathloncoach.com who has some excellent articles that convinced me to give this unconventional approach a try.

 

[Squint]

I'm trying something different this year. Last winter I did the long slow distance thing while watching movies on the trainer and doing some outdoor riding, supposedly building my base. Conventional wisdom is that you have to do this LSD stuff and build up this base before progressing to intensity. I understand that but at this point, after a spring and summer of training and racing, don't we all have a base? Isn't it a waste of time to do LSD again and lose strength?
I will ride the trainer but I won't be on it long enough for movies. I've signed up with a tri coach at www.triathloncoach.com who has some excellent articles that convinced me to give this unconventional approach a try.

I only do base if I've been off the bike for awhile and riding tempo or higher (intervals) would be inappropriate.

 

[DCWD]

I only do base if I've been off the bike for awhile and riding tempo or higher (intervals) would be inappropriate.

OK, I'll bite: how long is "a while"? I've seen other posts that say even 7 days off the bike will show a significant change in muscle composition. ...at what point during the winter do you say, "I've lost all/most the progress I made last year, so my Spring training needs to be all about building a new base".

 

[N_laplaca]

Conventional wisdom is that you have to do this LSD stuff and build up this base before progressing to intensity. I understand that but at this point, after a spring and summer of training and racing, don't we all have a base? Isn't it a waste of time to do LSD again and lose strength?

This confuses me as well. I am having a hard time understanding why its best to go back to 12 weeks of slow steady miles before doing any interval type training. If someone could make sense of this it would be great. I mean what is the harm in continuing with intervals throughout the winter?

 

[biker-linz]

I mean what is the harm in continuing with intervals throughout the winter?

There is no harm whatever, and many coaches (myself included) prescibe interval training all winter long.

L.