Winter is now upon us, and Covid-related restrictions have also greatly limited access to sports facilities and, consequently, training opportunities. At this time, using modern indoor cycling systems is definitely one of the correct choices to make. You can take advantage of the benefits of very effective and efficient training (takes less time than outdoors) combined with the opportunity to train indoors in maximum safety at any time of the day, regardless of the time of day or weather conditions.
You can focus on the quality and duration of each phase of training. Any variation in intensity, whether short or long, can be achieved precisely and systematically because you do not have to deal with the disturbing elements you find on the street. Remember that when you ride outside you have to be very careful not only of vehicles and road signs, but also of asphalt and its imperfections. Indoor cycling is not a substitute for road training. Indoor cycling is complementary, and can bridge some of the limitations of outdoor training.
Indoor training is very efficient because you maximize the warm-up and cool-down time required to reach the starting point and return home. Eliminate all traffic-related downtime. Recovery between one active phase and the next is always qualified. If you compare the power graphs of an indoor and an outdoor workout you quickly realize that in the latter you go from a minimum of 20 to more than 30 percent of the time without pedaling. Which in indoor cycling by definition is not the case. There are no traffic lights and no downhill slopes. Therefore, you are always pedaling and the training density is much higher. One hour indoors can be much more useful than two hours spent on the road. Indoor cycling is also a great opportunity to work on pedaling technique.
From a practical point of view, how can you organize your training week? How can you make full use of your smart trainer? The alternatives are many.
The important thing is to choose the training control software that best suits your needs. The basic principles of training always apply. Also in indoor cycling. Especially remember the progressiveness of the load and the variability of the training stimuli. I say this because too many people use social training platforms to participate in races or otherwise in training where the only goal is to outperform other cyclists. This leads you to make every workout a competition or almost a competition. Too stressful. You can make your training fun even without having to resort to a race every day. Given the static nature of the position I am able to make training more engaging for my athletes by aiming for variety in the workouts they face. And within each of them I incorporate continuous variations in intensity and/or cadence to get the most out of them muscularly, metabolically and technically.
What are the best jobs to do indoors?
One category of work that I always include in the athletes’ week is neuromuscular work. The goal is to stimulate maximal strength in all its variations in terms of durations and cadence regimes. They are important because on the road it is too dangerous, with rare exceptions when the road allows it, to do these workouts. We are talking about ALL OUT efforts for 10 to 15 to a maximum of 30 seconds where you have to put all your concentration on the maximum effort and not on the dynamics of the road. These tend to be short works even under an hour in which these short, intense variations are alternated with long, low-intensity recoveries. Through this work it is possible to go and recruit new muscle fibers and increase our base displacement as a result.
A second category of workouts to do indoors are those aimed at improving pedaling technique and sensitivity. You can do alternating leg work to improve the thrust and control of the pedal by each of the two legs independently. Particularly useful when there are strong thrust asymmetries between one leg and the other. Other work I routinely include for my athletes is work structured on different cadences to improve the coordinative aspects of pedaling. The modes are numerous and diverse. You can work by varying the cadence while keeping the power constant or vary both power and cadence at the same time. In the former case, you can develop both force progressions (reducing cadence at equal power) and regressions (increasing cadence at constant power). Very interesting both to work simultaneously on muscular and metabolic aspects. In the second case, on the other hand, you can vary the cadence inversely to the power by simulating the sensations you experience on a gradually steeper climb that requires you to gradually reduce the cadence.
Regarding metabolic workouts you have all the tools at your disposal to go and stimulate the training area you are interested in. Compared to the road, the individual repetitions and overall work must be much shorter given the more stressful situation compared to the road. So welcome strength endurance work developed at lower cadences or threshold repetitions to be performed according to the situation and goals of the work at higher or lower cadences.
Definitely avoid excessively long workouts developed at constant intensities and cadences, which should instead be performed outdoors on extensive weekend outings.
Take advantage of your smart trainer to increase the share of quality workouts within your training plan. Training is not just about volume measured in miles and hours spent in the saddle. Intensity should be part of your weekly program with a frequency that depends on your level and goals in terms of competitiveness. The advantage is that it is a cross-cutting tool suitable for the professional as well as the beginner that can accelerate the technical learning phase and muscle and metabolic growth compared to road training that is initially much more dispersive and dangerous.
(Main image credits: Tacx)