The 60-Minute Indoor Workout

When the weather’s not playing along, or time is not on your side, a quality workout on the indoor trainer or spinning bike is all you need.

Training on an indoor trainer has some unique characteristics you need to be aware of:

You sweat more

When training indoors your body no longer moves through the air, almost eliminating the two biggest heat-loss mechanisms – evaporative and convective heat loss. The result is a rapid rise in core temperature and a hot and sweaty body in a very short space of time.

Solve it:

Buy the biggest fan you can get your hands on, place it directly in front of your stationary trainer and turn it on full blast during your workouts. If you are working out at the gym, bring a really absorbent towel and be prepared for some heavy sweating.

You get niggles

On the road your speed equates to momentum, keeping the rear wheel turning even when you stop pedalling. This momentum allows you to pedal through the top and bottom dead spots with relative ease. On the indoor trainer only the rear wheel has a little momentum in the form of rotational inertia. The moment you reduce the force on the pedals, there is an almost instantaneous reduction in rear wheel speed, causing the top and bottom dead spots to be accentuated. After spending some time on the indoor trainer you may notice a burning in your shins, upper thighs and groin as a result of the small muscles in these areas working harder to overcome the dead spots.

Solve it:

Expensive spinning bikes have a large, heavy, solid metal wheel which creates enough rotational inertia to make the pedalling action fluid, hence the name ‘spinning’. Manufacturers of indoor trainers are aware of this and have built larger and heavier fly wheels onto their most expensive indoor trainers. So look out for a trainer with the biggest and heaviest fly wheel.

Workouts are harder

The workout is constant. There are no downhills, and any freewheeling causes the rear wheel to come to a standstill in only a few seconds. As a result, a 30-minute workout on the indoor trainer can feel like an hour or more out on the road. Add to this the boredom factor and few are willing to spend more than an hour or two on the indoor trainer.

Solve it:

To maximise your gain in the shortest possible time, focus on doing quality workouts (such as below) on the indoor trainer.

Intervals

* Warm up for 20 minutes with light gears and high revolutions.
* Do 5 to 8 short (2–4 minute duration) intervals at over 90% of your maximum heart rate.
* The rest period between the intervals should be about 60% of the interval time, eg ±70 seconds for a 2-minute interval.
* Warm down for 20 minutes at low intensity.

Technique

* Make use of the amplified dead spot on the indoor trainer to practise developing an even and round pedalling action.
* Warm up for 20 minutes.
* Alternate between riding with both legs and one leg only for 2 minutes at a time and you will be spinning like a pro in no time at all.
* Focus on activating all your leg muscles.
* Alternate for a total of 8 to 10 sets of single-leg intervals on each side.
* Cool down with at least 15 minutes at low intensity.