Training on a Turbo Trainer

Every cloud has a silver lining. This winter period represents a good opportunity to carry out specific work — often more difficult to do outdoors due to traffic or the terrain's topography — to improve the quality of your pedalling and increase your performance, whether in terms of power, cadence, explosiveness or endurance base.

In addition to helping you maintain good physical condition, this technical and athletic work will allow you to hit the ground running when the season starts and we are once again allowed to ride our roads and trails.

Preparations...

As a preamble, bear in mind that cycling on a turbo trainer causes sweating and an elevated heart rate due to the rise in body temperature, since there is no air circulation. It is therefore very important to hydrate very regularly, preferably with isotonic drinks or at a minimum electrolyte tablets, so as not to become dehydrated and risk injury, particularly of a ligament nature.

Position yourself, as much as possible, near a window or place a fan in front of you if you have one. Don't forget to put a mat or towel on the floor to protect it, and on the bike, as sweat is acidic and can damage certain components of the bike (cockpit, front brake, ...). Also keep a towel nearby, for example on the handlebars, to regularly wipe your face as you will quickly start dripping with sweat.

...and Precautions

Once these preparations are complete, always start with a 10 to 15-minute warm-up, gentle and progressive. Likewise, it is important to cool down at the end of the session with 5 to 10 minutes of smooth pedalling at a low resistance level. In general, avoid sessions of more than one hour as the turbo trainer places much greater demands on your joints and muscles. Indeed, you are always in motion and therefore always exerting effort because, apart from a few rare models, there is no inertia, no descents...

After this short but essential warm-up, you can start your exercise, depending on the aspect you wish to improve. With a resistance turbo trainer, that is, one attached at the rear wheel, you will be able to carry out all of the exercises presented below. Roller trainers, while perfect for working on pedalling technique, balance, cadence and endurance base, will find their limits when it comes to power work.

Whatever the case, be careful not to overdo it during this pandemic period, so as not to weaken your immune system. While regular physical activity strengthens your immune defences, too heavy a training load can conversely weaken them and promote the development of symptoms in people who were previously asymptomatic carriers.

Exercises

To accompany you through this particular moment, Probikeshop offers you various exercises, achievable with any turbo trainer, regardless of its range level. If your turbo trainer is connected and/or interactive, online platforms such as Zwift will make your training fun. For those with a more basic turbo trainer, prepare a good music playlist, a series or a film to avoid boredom and keep motivation high!

Furthermore, the French Cycling Federation has developed a training plan broken down into three programmes according to your level: "Getting in shape" / "Intermediate" / "Expert". These programmes include turbo trainer sessions and physical preparation work.

Cadence

This refers to the ability to turn the legs quickly. This value is measured by the number of rotations per minute (rpm). Working on coordination and cadence helps increase pedalling efficiency and reduces muscle fatigue.

Cadence is trained by spinning at low intensity (65–70% of MAP), ideally at 110–120 rpm for a duration of at least 30 minutes.

You can also perform shorter but more intense exercises, alternating for example sets of 5 minutes of high cadence / 2 minutes of recovery.

Explosiveness

It will allow you to improve your sprinting abilities and guarantee you lightning-fast accelerations.

This quality is trained by chaining very short efforts (5 to 20 seconds) but very intense ones (intensity "i7"; give everything you have), with a recovery time of 2 to 5 minutes. For this type of session, it is necessary to plan a long warm-up to avoid the risk of muscle strains or tears.

Pedalling

In addition to cadence work, work on your pedalling technique, that is, circular pedalling. Naturally, cyclists tend to only push down on the pedals. Circular pedalling involves actively pulling upwards during the return phase and moving the ankle as fluidly as possible.

The most effective way to improve this is to repeat short phases: 4 to 5 times 30 seconds of single-leg pedalling, alternating left leg / right leg, with a 2-minute recovery period between each set. The pedalling should be done at cadence.

This work will allow you to gain significantly in efficiency.

Endurance Base

The turbo trainer will allow you to work on your endurance base. Done properly, a 30-minute session produces the same effect as a 2h–2h30 road ride. Endurance is trained by pedalling at a level between 70 and 90% of your maximum HR, chaining intervals of 3 minutes at "i3" intensity, with a 3-minute recovery period.

Strength and Power

By performing this exercise with a big gear and a low cadence (50 to 70 rpm), you will develop your strength, ideal for increasing your power. Power is indeed the combination of strength and cadence.

You can of course work on strength by pedalling with both legs at this same cadence of 50–70 rpm at an "i4" intensity (anaerobic threshold), over longer durations (approximately 5 minutes of effort / 5 minutes of recovery), but without exceeding 25 minutes in total to avoid, once again, the risk of injury.

Pedalling should be done at an intensity level of "i3", that is, slightly above your base endurance pace. Concretely, it is a pace you can sustain for 2 hours on the road, but while struggling to hold a conversation; this is not about going into the red.