WINTER - Indoor Training - HOW?

[Rick Youngblood]

This thread is about - What do you do to keep yourself in shape over the winter time and to maintain the muscle mass gained through Spring Summer and Fall on the days-weeks-months that you can't ride your prized Cruzbike?

I started cycling 3 years ago (all recumbent bikes) and purchased my first Cruzbike this last February, a Silvio 2.1, and then in the Summer a Vendetta 2.0, thanks Ratz. Since February (of this year) I've lost 30 pounds through riding and a better diet (eliminating sugars and bad carbs). I've gained (for me) a tremendous amount of muscle mass, not only in my legs, but my upper body too. I want to try and maintain as much as possible through out the winter time. I will also mention that the last 3 years of winter here in Redding CA has been extremely mild with very little rain days making it possible to ride almost-nonstop. This year so far is looking like things may get back to normal - rain wise - around here and it just may rain like it's supposed to - we need it.

Below are our exercise machines - my wife uses them most. I use the Bowflex sometimes. I'm not interested in setting the Cruzbikes up on a trainer. So I'm going to try and make use of the stationary recumbent and the elliptical machine and leg exercises on the Bowflex. I have no plan or idea how I'm going to incorporate these into some kind of training routine for those no-ride days or weeks. I do know one thing for sure, I'm won't being sitting on the recumbent machine for 3 hours. So I'm thinking the workout should be under an hour and intense.

I would like to know what others do, it may help me and others?

 

[Robert Holler]

For me it is a winter of

For me it is a winter of CrossFit and hitting intervals on the rowing machine. Keep workouts short and intense (10 minutes) with once a week a good 20 minute max burner.

Tabatas are good too.

An hour workout for me includes warmup, some weights, an intense WOD (workout of the day in CrossFit lingo) that may be as short as 3 minutes and cooldown.

More than an hour of actual working out and you are not working out hard enough.

 

[Kenneth Jessett]

Winter is the best time to ride

Rick, For me living in South East Texas this is the beginning of the best time of the year to ride, so the only advice I can give is to move south. ;-)

The weather right now is drop dead gorgeous for any outdoor activity and although it will get colder by January, no ice or snow is to be expected.

Ken

 

[Robert Holler]

Follow that up there with a

Follow that up there with a nice massage, Rick!

 

[Charles.Plager]

Get a trike (maybe some snow

Get a trike (maybe some snow tires) and ride outside!

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Thanks guys.
It's the rain

Thanks guys.

It's the rain and drizzle that will keep me off the bike. Snow is rare. Cold is okay, I've ridden in freezing - I don't like it, but I will do it if I have to. But I won't go out and intentionally ride in the rain, I do get caught in it now and then.

Looking back at the past 3 years, this time of year would be perfect with very little rain, if any at all. But looking at forecast, we may not get that great weather. So I need a failsafe plan to stay in shape. Weather has been funny this year, not normal at all. Seems like we slid out of summer right into winter - what happened to fall!?!

Robert, being married to a massage therapist, I do get massage, once a year on my birthday

!

Yep, would love to go south!

 

[LarryOz]

Rick,
I have bought a wahoo

Rick,
I have bought a wahoo kickr. It is pretty cool. Among other things, it can use any Strava segment and will auto adjust the magnetic tension to mimic the ride. It is pretty amazing. About a grand though, but with it you can duplicate and/ or simulate any ride. That and weights for upper body 30 minutes, 3 times a week is going to be my winter routine if I can't ride outside. I want to be ready ride sebring on Feb 14, so will need it all, inside and out!

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Very interesting Larry. The V

Very interesting Larry. The V can be mated up with that? Let us know how it works out for, with some pic's too!

 

[LarryOz]

Yes, the V or S will mate

Yes, the V or S will mate with the kickr.
The kickr has its own cassette. You just pop you front wheel off and install on kickr. For you, you could keep you S on the kickr and ride on bad days, then have you V ready for good days outside. No switching back and forth. Almost wish I had my S back now. Maybe I'll just get a new V and stick it on the kickr????
I will send pics when I return from Honduras, after Nov 2.

 

[ratz]

Kickr; walking, and weights.

We've got an old Quest 1.0 Frame; the plan is to get a Kickr and and mate that up as a permanent trainer. Just need some to update the ancient derailaur controls and save up for the Kickr.

For the winter it'll be 30 minutes a day on the stationary bike; hard; in the future hope to replace that with the Kickr and strava simulations.

Power walking on the local indoor track; speed walking does a nice job of simulating recovery rides.

Upper body free weights


An per typical I'll weigh the same in March as I do now; but it won't be muscle weight because winter training around here never works when the highs are -10F it's hard to do anything energetic.

 

[KiwiGuy]

Additional suggestions

Hi Rick

We've just come out of winter and heading into longer spring days, so I can tell you a little of what works for me over the winter months. Maybe some of it would work for you as well.

Personally, I think the key things to focus on over winter are:

#1. Weight training to maintain muscle mass and build strength.

#2. Keep my aerobic endurance going.

#3. Work on developing force (fast twitch muscle).


WEIGHT TRAINING
I suggest weight training at least twice a week. You've got a nice set-up there so you don't need to go to a gym. Just need a small number of dumb bells or kettle bells.

Most of my weight training is focused on upper body and core, but I now believe in doing some strength building for the legs (low volume/heavy weights - 2 sets of 5 - 6 reps only. Any more than that and I find the weight training negatively impacts my cycling). I do a split routine, but it's not necessary. My two favorites are one-leg exercises - Bulgarian split squat and Romanian dead lift. Takes a while to master them, but worth the effort imho.


AEROBIC ENDURANCE
The key to keeping aerobic endurance up is to complete an easy 3 hour plus ride once a week. Since you can ride year 'round that's likely to work for you. I do that on a Saturday unless it is raining - in which case I do an easy spin on the trainer for an hour. Over the winter I tend to shoot for another easy hour on the trainer on a Sunday (if I can't fit in a 2 hour road ride) and Wednesday as well.

As long as you keep the weekly long ride going all winter, you'll come into spring good to go.


DEVELOPING FORCE
I find most of the guys I ride with just focus on aerobic endurance and don't worry about developing force or muscular endurance. However, it seems to me that winter is a great time for developing force, which puts you in a good place to build muscular endurance when spring comes around.

For me this is a high intensity work-out on a trainer for one hour - done a couple of times a week (Tuesday and Thursday). I don't recommend anymore high intensity work. All the rest should be easy zone 1/low zone 2 cycling and/or walking (no more that 75% of max heart rate) - you can tell that I've been influenced by the research into polarized training.

A force workout goes like this: after a 15 minute warm-up, stick it in your biggest gear and full-power sprint from a complete stop for 8 to 10 seconds. Recover easy for 3 minutes and go again. Do 8 repetitions. That will do you for a force workout. Go easy for the rest of the hour. Optionally, take it easy for 10 minutes and then add in two or three cruise intervals (8 - 12 minute intervals in the sweet spot just below LT) which will build muscular endurance as well as continue to build aerobic endurance.

However, if you want to keep working on your fast-twitch muscles, at least once a week continue by putting in a 10 minute recovery and then doing 30 second sprints with three minute recovery. Fit in 8 to 12 of those depending on how you're feeling and how much time you have available.

Rick, this works for me though obviously isn't for everyone. However, I hope there are some ideas in here that you'll find useful.


Kind regards.....

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Thanks guys.
Hey Blair - is

Thanks guys.

Hey Blair - is it not Spring all year round in New Zealand

? That's quite a training routine, I may need to do a lot of training just to do part of your training program

. Or just move to New Zealand in the winter or spring, oh, wait now I'm confused!

Ratz ~ highs are -10F! Give's me the willies just thinking about that.

 

[Eric Winn]

Rick, you are quite welcome

Rick, you are quite welcome to come here and help rake leaves and shovel snow. It can be quite the workout.

-Eric

 

[KiwiGuy]

Ha ha

I wish it were spring all year 'round here.

I suspect there are quite a few parallels in the weather between Redding and Auckland given your latitude and proximately to the coast.

As for training, I've reached a time in my life where I have I figure I have to make a choice between not exercising and steadily going downhill, or exercise smart and live the life of a man 10 or more years younger than my chronological age. I'm enjoying the second option.

For training I have something planned everyday, but it doesn't mean it gets done. If I've got client facing work, or I'm tired or traveling, (or it's cold and dark outside while my bed is just too warm and cosy) then often a workout or two get missed. I don't worry about it anymore as I just slip into whatever I've got planned on the next available day.

My plan pretty much looks like this year round:

Monday: 1 hour weights Tuesday: 1 hour intervals on trainer Wednesday: 1 hour weights plus 1 hour easy on trainer if I have time Thursday: 1 hour intervals on trainer Friday: 1 hour weights Saturday: 3 - 4 hours road ride with a group of cycling buddies (or 1 hour easy on trainer if it is raining) Sunday: 2 hours road ride (normal for daylight savings hours) or 1 hour easy on trainer (normal in the winter)

Despite life frequently getting in the way of following this plan, I typically get at least two weights workouts and three rides in each week.

Kind regards....

 

[Jim Gerwing]

Winter Routine

Rollers 4 times per week
5 minutes to warm up
10 minutes at @34 km/hr (real effort? I dunno), recover
10 minutes at@36 km/hr (real effort? I dunno but it's more than the previous set),recover
10 minutes at @ 38 km/hr (real effort? Do better than 38 if I feel like it, usually I don't), stretch

walk dog 15 minutes every morning
walk 15 minutes after work every day before commute home.
walk 15 minutes in evening if not a workout day

Be careful what you eat. (The first and most important principle of health)

I follow, more or less, Roger Bannister's training philosophy: workout hard five days a week for a half hour per day. This from an Olympian who broke the four minute mile barrier.

 

[mzweili]

Riding on rollers

Jim,
you state
''Rollers 4 times per week''
are you riding your Vendetta on rollers similar to Tacx Galaxia T1100, or is your bike mounted on a trainer?

 

[Jim Gerwing]

CycleOps

Heh Marc,
CycleOps 'power'. This version has a magnetic bar running parallel to the free roller that can be adjusted for resistance. Rollers can be tricky and I've been modifying my hand hold toward the centre-line of the bike which increases the trickiness.

 

[LarryOz]

My V on the Wahoo KICKR

As promised, here are some pictures of the V mounted on the KICKR.
It is pretty nice and not that hard to mount, although it still takes me ~10 minutes and of course I get greasy since requires messing with the chain.
I have used the Wahoo app on my Galaxy S5, and also Wahoo app, and Strava Segments app on an IPAD3.
I really like the Strava Segments. You can pretty much ride any segment and the app controls the resistance of the KICKR to make for a very realistic ride!
I rode to the top of Mount Mitchell here in NC on Monday, and it was a killer workout!
You also get to ride against any rider that has posted a segment time, so it is a little extra motivator.
You can also upload you ride to Strava or any other simlar app. It just does not record the altitude gain, which is a bummer.
I am looking forward to trying TrainerRode on my PC when I get an ANT+ dongle for it.
.
My goal for this winter is to increase my FT Power as much as possible before Sebring on Feb 14.
This will help me train quite hard as long as I can stick to it!
I don't really like taking the V on and off the KICKR though, and since I sold my BMW I do have some cash, so I am thinking very seriously of ordering a V20 frame and building it out with Di2.
Then depending which V I like riding on the open road, I will leave the other one on the KICKR for bad weather.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

That's pretty slick Larry,

That's pretty slick Larry, thanks for the update and images.

Next would be a pair of 3-d glasses, connected to the Kickr for a visual ride. And maybe some sound effects, and a fan simulating wind blowing in your face that increases and decrease with your speed

! Why not?

So, you shift, as if you are climbing, and coast downhills?

 

[Eric Winn]

Kinomap

Rick, a site like Kinomap includes ride videos so you get the riding view to go along with the workout.

I'm not sure how good the videos are but it sounds intriguing.

http://www.kinomap.com/welcome

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/tag/kinomap

-Eric