Training plans for winter

I got my bike set up on my trainer last week and had a couple of rides. I'm very very new to cycling, I've only been riding a few weeks. But I LOVE it. . .even when my thighs are burning and I'm huffing and puffing up a hill in my granny gear (thank the bike gods for the granny gear).

Anyway, I feel kinda like aimless right now. I want to get stronger and fitter (and hopefully thinner) for next spring, but I feel like I need a plan. I could probably be ok just getting on a few times a week and increasing distance/time. I'm also going to get some Spinervals. But I like structured plans, too and I'd love to have something to keep me improving and motivated.

Is there anything out there (books, websites, etc.) that won't break the bank but could give me a good newbie plan? I'd also love to start a bit of strength training but I don't really know where to start or what will help on the bike. Are there any plans for this?

What do you do?

can you take a spinning class? that's what I'm doing this winter to not lose too much ground.

That's a great idea Mimitabby. I'd love to take spinning classes I've heard really good things about them, but I'm living in a rural part of the province that gets a ton of snow so I can't really get to any spinning classes within an hour of my house. But next year I'll probably be back to my grad studies so I can take spinning at my university.

I too don't ride much outside once winter settles in around me but I keep riding indoors. My bike/trainer now are part of my living room and I try to get at least 45 minutes in each day. The past few winters I have gradually worked my way through my gears - not perfect training plan but I felt strong in the spring. I calculated my gear inches and picked an easy gear to work in for a week or two. Once I feel like I'm not pushing myself I bump it up to the next gear (example: I started in my 53" gear and bumped it up to my 57" last week and this week I'm working with the 58" gear) and I slowly work my way through the various combinations. By the early spring I'm pushing some large gears(mashing I know) but it does wonders for my strength. I do not own any training videos so I spend my time on my bike watching music videos (if I'm riding early in the morning), reading a book and yes sometimes I even grade papers while I pedal away the mindless miles. Not sure if this will help you but thought I would toss it out as a suggestion.

Hey there firenze!

You might try The Heart Rate Monitor Book for Outdoor and Indoor Cyclists: A Heart Zone Training Program, by Sally Edwards and Sally Reed. It has many, many workout plans based on heart rate, which you can do on your trainer this winter.

Are you signed up at bikejournal.com or a similar place that allows you to keep track of mileage? Sometimes I find it easier to stick with a training program if I can see my progress in actual miles.

As far as strength training goes, anything to help the core is beneficial, and doing exercises for the quads and hamstrings will develop leg strength needed for cycling.

Good luck on your winter training plans!

-- Melissa

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Originally Posted by melissam

You might try The Heart Rate Monitor Book for Outdoor and Indoor Cyclists: A Heart Zone Training Program, by Sally Edwards and Sally Reed. It has many, many workout plans based on heart rate, which you can do on your trainer this winter.

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Thanks Melissa,

I might just have to ask for a heart rate monitor for Christmas, that sounds like a good book. I took a look on Amazon last night. And bikejournal.com sounds great, too. I'll head over there and sign up, I think it will help a lot.

Makbike - I think I'm going to start working on your gear suggestion to get my strength up. When I ride now I bit of single leg pedaling on both sides to get used to using my leg for spinning and not just pushing so I think working through the gears will help my legs become much stronger as well.

firenze --

I definitely recommend getting a heart rate monitor. It's a good way to guage how hard you're working and over time you'll see improvement in your fitness.

I've been off the bike for the past few months due to a shoulder injury and have recently started riding on the trainer. I'm starting slowly -- getting my legs used to pedaling again and my cardio system used to doing its job. A typical ride is 35 minutes of riding while watching the morning news before work.

5 minutes -- warm up
25 minutes -- find a gear that I can spin at 90 rpm without having my heart rate shoot thru the roof (70 - 79% of max heart rate is what I'm after)
5 minutes -- cool down; slow pedal and get my heart rate down to 60% of max

As I've been improving, I've tried the following variations during the main part of my workout:

- trying spinning at 95 rpm instead of 90
- spin for 100 rpm for about 2 minutes, and watch what happens to my heart rate
- spin a slightly higher gear at 90 rpm for 2 minutes, and watch what happens to my heart rate
- look at how long it takes for my heart rate to drop back in the 70% - 79% of max range (recovery) -- as I get fitter, it should take less time for me to recover

One of these days I'll write out one of the workouts from the Sallys' book, but in the meantime this type of workout is helping me get the miles in and I'm still finding it kind of fun.

-- Melissa