Indoor Cycling Tips

Cycling Weekly

The world of indoor cycling is only getting bigger but so too is the list of faux pas one can make. With so many things to get wrong, Sam Gupta shares everything he wished he knew when he started indoor training.

Transcript

00:00With the emergence of a whole raft of turbo trainers, indoor training bikes and accessories

00:04by the bucket load, indoor cycling has all but established itself as an entire discipline. But

00:10as the niche continues to grow, so do the list of faux pas one can make. So I'm going to tell

00:16you everything that I wish I knew when I started training indoors. So let's jump on the bike and

00:22get into it. Not drinking enough can be a mistake that we make when we're outdoors as well. But

00:31the level to which you can go wrong indoors can be amplified to the same level of not drinking

00:36enough outdoors in summer. And this is because the strong fans that we use when we're riding

00:42indoors obviously help blow away the sweat that's coming off of us when we're riding hard. But that

00:48means you might not notice how much liquid you're actually losing. Also, while riding

00:53at home, I for one know that I can get complacent about filling up enough water bottles. And

00:59that's because I think that when I finish my session, I can go and drink as much as I like.

01:04But really, I should be following the same example that I would set for myself when I ride outdoors.

01:10For most of us, that means 500 milliliters of water per hour. And if you want to mix in

01:15some electrolytes, well, that's only going to be a good thing because of course you'll be losing

01:20them through your sweat. The importance of regulating body temperature was made incredibly

01:29apparent in recent times when Philip O'Ganna and his team went to the incredible lengths to keep his

01:35core as cool as possible in the run up to his hour record attempt so that he wouldn't overheat in

01:41the final 20 minutes of his ride. And that's because if you get too hot, then your body can't

01:48operate at its best. This is why ventilation is so important. If you don't have a fan, then get one.

01:54And if you do have one, then get another and ensure that your head, your chest and your legs are all

02:00getting a breeze. Now, there are plenty of high volume fans out there that do the key job of keeping

02:07you cool. And to help you find the ones that I'm a big fan of, well, I've left a whole bunch of links

02:13down in the description box below. One thing that I've learned recently is that if you want to make

02:18your training sessions harder and you want to put more strain on your body, then you can train without

02:23a fan. Just be prepared for the fact that you may not be hitting as high numbers as you may do with a

02:30fan. Also, do be sure to stay on top of your hydration because you will be losing a lot more liquid

02:36a lot faster. We're all familiar with junk miles, those being the miles that we put in on the bike

02:45that don't really assist us in getting to any sort of end goal. And it can be quite easy just to roll

02:51around the Watopian landscape in zone three that doesn't really provide you with any sort of benefit

02:57compared to maybe foundation building zone two work or riding at threshold or above to really start

03:03to push the envelope. So if you're training indoors, try and stick to a training plan or structured

03:08workout to fully maximize your time on the bike. Because after all, riding with no sort of end

03:14benefit would just be the biggest waste of time.

03:21I for one love my food. In fact, my love for food is probably equal to my hatred of bonking. Now,

03:28one mistake which I used to make and I'm sure some other people may be making out there is actually

03:33not having enough food either before, during or after your training session. So I think ensuring

03:39you have something even little in your stomach when you start a session is important because it will

03:45mean that you can execute your training sessions with more conviction, which means they'll then end up

03:50being more beneficial. Now, you may be saying, Sam, what about fasted sessions? Aren't they any good?

03:57Well, to answer that, I would say yes, they do have their place in training, but they're better suited to

04:03professional cyclists. For us more normal cyclists, I would say that it's about working on consistency

04:09and getting the basics perfected. If you then go on to take your training really seriously,

04:14then I would be looking at everything around your training, such as your nutrition

04:18and your recovery before you then start going into fasted training.

04:28Sitting up whilst you're training isn't a bad thing by any means at all. And actually,

04:32we all need to stretch out and take a breath every once in a while. However,

04:36if you're undertaking the entirety of your training sessions sat up, then you could be missing out on

04:41the opportunity to engage and activate your core. And as we all know, a strong core plays a massive

04:48role in being able to put out your best amount of power. Now, another reason to train in your riding

04:54position is so that when you do go back to riding outdoors again, you haven't lost any flexibility,

05:00and actually you're still incredibly comfortable on the bike.

05:08As someone who used to work in a bike shop and more specifically in the workshop,

05:11I have seen my fair share of salted up stems and headsets. I cannot stress how important it is to

05:19use a towel or some sort of bike covering to protect the top of your bike. Sweat is incredibly corrosive

05:26to bikes, especially aluminium components. And these are all things which can be found in and around your

05:33handlebars, your headset, and your stem. I can also speak from experience that there is nothing,

05:39nothing more disgusting than unwrapping salty, crusty bar tape that has seen the equivalent

05:45soaking of the Pacific Ocean in sweat. Occasionally, our fitness levels do slip away from us. And one

05:56mistake we could be making is actually not adjusting our FTP bias in line with our current level of

06:02fitness. Now, your FTP bias is the number that your indoor training software uses to calculate your

06:08training zones. And then from there, it works out what numbers it would want you to hit during a

06:13structured workout. On the flip side, you may have been training so much that your FTP is increased,

06:19but that then means that your training sessions are no longer hard enough and will then stunt the

06:23ability for those continual gains. The key point is, if you don't adjust your FTP bias in line with your

06:30current level of fitness, then you won't be training in the correct zones. And that means that you could

06:35either be doing sessions that are too easy for you, or you could just be sending yourself in a downward

06:40spiral of sessions that are just too difficult.

06:47While indoor training can be a pretty time efficient way of training, there's two things that shouldn't

06:52be forgotten, warming up and cooling down. This is obviously a bit of a no-brainer as most of us will

06:59need to warm up to get our legs into a comfortable operating zone. However, it can be very easy to

07:06neglect the cool down. Gently spinning your legs for five to ten minutes ensures that you can flush out

07:12all that lactic acid and it gives you a chance to relax your muscles after some full gas efforts. Not to

07:19mention, it kick-starts your recovery and will help alleviate some of those aches and pains that can

07:24accrue after a pretty intense session. Much like my earlier point of not following a training plan,

07:32it's also important that you set yourself a goal that you'd absolutely love to achieve. Now, riding

07:38without purpose can be quite freeing and quite liberating, which is great. However, when spending

07:44time on the trainer, it can be a huge source of motivation if you've got something in mind that you

07:49can hold on to that you really want to achieve. Having something to work towards will give your

07:54training a brand new sense of purpose. The key here is that the goal is something that you'd

07:58absolutely love to achieve rather than it just being a kind of nice thing to do.

08:06So those are all the things that I learned when I first started indoor training and a few tips that

08:11I've picked up along the way. If you guys have any lessons that you've learned, then drop them down in

08:16the comments below. If you enjoyed the video, drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content

08:21and I'll see you all again very soon. I cannot stress how important it is to use a towel. Oh my god.

08:28Jesus Christ. I cannot stress how important it is to use a towel. Oh, no, a bit too much power.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended