The weather has changed, the nights have become longer and darker and the winter season is well underway. For many of us, it becomes difficult to train outdoors during the week and it’s time to dust off the old turbo trainer and spend some quality time with it!

We enlisted the help of cycling coach Kerry Bircher of Revolution Cycling who was kind enough to share her expert knowledge about indoor training. She has also put together three indoor training workouts for you to follow. At this rate there’ll be no stopping you next season! 

Buying Guide: Turbo Trainers and Rollers 

For all but a few fanatics, indoor training has the reputation of mind-numbing tedium or a loathed session in the ‘pain cave’! However, done properly, turbo training can be a massive benefit to your performance on the bike. Turbo training or using the rollers is a very pure form of training with nothing to interrupt your progress and no traffic or road conditions to worry about.

7 Tips to Staying on Track with your Turbo Trainer

Once you have decided to include an indoor session into your training plan, set up your bike in advance. Find a location with good ventilation, open windows to promote the flow of fresh air and use a fan to keep your body cool. Place your equipment on a suitable mat to spare the carpet, and have towel on hand to mop your brow!!

If you’re using a trainer that raises the rear wheel from the floor then balance this out by raising the front wheel with a specific block or even a book of similar height. Have some motivational tools to keep you going, either hook up your iPad or laptop with a motivational video or create an upbeat playlist designed to keep your RPM high. Using power or heart rate to measure intensity is very useful for turbo sessions though it is possible to do this by feel.

Getting started with your turbo trainer: Everything you need to know

Getting Started 

The first thing you have to do before you start get on your turbo, is to be clear what it is you are trying to achieve. Your session should align with your overall plan that is designed to get you fit for the event or goals that you have outlined, or improve any weaknesses that you highlighted.

Traditionally, winter is used for base miles with lots of long, low-intensity riding but I challenge anyone to switch a ride outside for two hours on the turbo with no structure. So, if you are going to spend a lot of time indoors then mix up the week with a combination of long intervals, mid-level endurance and maybe a threshold ride, with an intensity that is moderately hard to very hard but can be maintained and will condition the aerobic system.

The following sessions are really great at improving aerobic endurance and are a great replacement for not being able to go out for your scheduled ride.