Winter 2013 stationary cycling

[Catrin]

My lovely Gunnar is on the trainer....but...I...just...don't...want...to ride on the trainer. I am pretty much a gym rat right now, but I am afraid of loosing too much bike endurance. Part of me wants to ride on the trainer, part of me wants to do anything but... but I will try a spinning class Tuesday morning if my neck isn't bothering me too much (spin bikes gets its attention more than anything else).

So I need to get creative and spend SOME time on the trainer...let's see, what kind of reward can I give myself for getting on the trainer?

[Anelia]

Today I wanted to go snow riding but after the long slow walk I was freezing, so I got on the trainer and did these intervals and after that some BW and free weights training.

[Becky]

Last night, a few of my teammates and I did The Sufferfest's "Angels" workout. Grueling! I thought I was going to die. I hate the trainer, but suffering with friends makes it easier to bear somehow. The Sufferfest workouts are quite good, with good music and no goofy clipboard-carrying coach. We'll be buying more.

[Crankin]

Today's trainer workout is the shortest, but definitely the hardest for me.
5 minutes warm up.
5 minutes one legged drills, 30 sec. each leg, at level 1-2
5 minutes fast spin (90+ rpm) in easy gear
3 minute climbs, starting with it all seated and ascending by 30 seconds until it is all standing, with one minute easy spin intervals in between at level 4-5 difficulty (I think there are 7 of these)
5 minute cool down

I never stand on the bike when I climb outside. Although I can actually stand on the trainer now, because I have it in the highest gear, my cadence is between 40 and 50. I am trying to concentrate on good form, rather than speed at this point. I sweat bullets despite the slow cadence.

[Catrin]

Today's trainer workout is the shortest, but definitely the hardest for me.
5 minutes warm up.
5 minutes one legged drills, 30 sec. each leg, at level 1-2
5 minutes fast spin (90+ rpm) in easy gear
3 minute climbs, starting with it all seated and ascending by 30 seconds until it is all standing, with one minute easy spin intervals in between at level 4-5 difficulty (I think there are 7 of these)
5 minute cool down

I never stand on the bike when I climb outside. Although I can actually stand on the trainer now, because I have it in the highest gear, my cadence is between 40 and 50. I am trying to concentrate on good form, rather than speed at this point. I sweat bullets despite the slow cadence.

This looks very interesting, Crankin, and I will have to try it. I actually felt like getting on the trainer last night after work...but my knee continually complained even at a low resistance so I just called it good. Sometimes it does that and then relents, other times not. This looks like a nice short intense work session and that is what I need.

[Whocautencen]

I wanted to put plants in my pond, but is it too late now? Would plants like duckweed, frogbit, water hyacinth, water lettuce, etc die in the winter?

[Swan]

let's see, what kind of reward can I give myself for getting on the trainer?

France has the right of it, if this video is anything to go by! I wonder how I can get a set-up like that at home...

[Catrin]

France has the right of it, if this video is anything to go by! I wonder how I can get a set-up like that at home...

I saw this video about a year ago - pretty amazing! I bet I wouldn't be thinking about that twinging knee

[Anelia]

The last few days I was riding outside and I noticed that if I had to push a little harder on the large gears, my legs got fatigued pretty fast. SO I remembered that I haven't done power in more than 2 or 3 months. I do speed intervals with figh HR but I do them in an easy gear. So yesterday I put the big ring in front
Here's the HR on Garmin but the workout was:
20 min warm up with 2 fast minutes thrown inbetween
7 min power @50-60 cadence
3 minutes >100 cadence
7 min power @50-60 cadence
3 minutes >100 cadence
7 min power @50-60 cadence
3 minutes >100 cadence
7 min power @50-60 cadence
8 minutes easy

[Crankin]

Today I did my Yoga-Spin program, from the Cyclo-Core set.
Five minutes of warm up yoga
Get on the bike, do 5 minute warm up spin in easy gear at 80 rpm
Then, did 5 X 3 minute intervals, using ascending gearing, until I was in the hardest one, which is 52/11. One minute rest interval in between.
Of course, I ignored the directions to keep the cadence at +100 (yeah, right), but due to the past 2 weeks of doing some other types of trainer stuff, I could keep a steady cadence of 50 until I hit the hardest gear, and then it slipped a bit.
Two minute cool down, 80-90 rpm in an easy gear, get off of the bike and...
Twelve minutes of power yoga, holding poses for at least 30 seconds to a minute.

One thing I noticed today is that I had the natural urge to stand on the trainer and stretch, and when I did this, my cadence actually went up for the first time, ever. I hope this transfers to outside, so when I see DH do his acceleration, I can try to stay behind him. Being that I am always behind him, I can always know when he is going to do this and it looks so easy, until I try to do it.

[Crankin]

Workout this morning:
Warm up set:
5 minute warm up, easy spin
3 sets of 30 seconds sitting, 30 seconds standing at an easier intensity (this was hard, as I have trouble standing in easier gears), zone 2-3, with 1 minute easy spin in between
6 minutes of one legged drills with 80% effort on one leg/20% on the other, zone 2-3
Main set #1:
4X3 minute intervals, consisting of 70 rpm, each interval at increasingly harder gears, zone 3-4
2 minute easy spin
Main set #2
4X3 minute intervals, where the first 2 minutes are seated and the last one is standing, using harder gears than above set, zone 4-5

7 minute cool down

[BeckaG]

I go do 40-60 minutes on my spin bike 3-4 times a week. I turn on a pandora workout station and keep pace with the songs, raising and lowering resistance to keep my heart rate and breath where I want it....resistance and speed always keeping my legs burning just a little. Most of my time sitting, some standing. A little 5 min warm up and cool down, followed by a 30 min power yoga dvd. This usually gets the job done, I'm happy and covered in sweat by the end.

[cycling78]

I love stationary cycling.
But Indoor cycling has benefits and disadvantages too.

[BenRiddle]

Hi Crankin,
Love to hear your story. Check out the 10 cycling tips for beginners.

[Bike Writer]

France has the right of it, if this video is anything to go by! I wonder how I can get a set-up like that at home...

Swan,

Now THAT'S what you call motivation!