Winter Training..
 

For those of you who don't have the luxury to continue to ride through the winter months, what does your training look like on the trainer?! I'm hoping to take from all your ideas and develop my own training schedule this winter.

how many days a week are you on the trainer?
what are you working on each time? what are you hoping to accomplish?
do you watch DVD's/listen to iPod?
what do you like to eat pre, during and post ride?
how long are your workouts?

I was warned that when I got my trainer last year, to not spend a ton, as it would just be an expensive dust collector. I'm determined to not let that be the case this winter! :)

Some questions that you may have for me.

My goal this off season is to not be so fat, I'm actually really good looking at any weight, but I'd prefer to shave off a few pounds. I'd also like to just become a stronger rider. Getting on the bike makes me happier and less irritable... it also helps me eat healthier for some reason.. provides motivation to exercise self control and not eat crap food. Anyway, enough rambling.

I used to skate ski, and loved that as a cross-training workout. It uses the muscles a little differently, and is a great workout. I highly recommend it. But my lower back went bad on me, and I can't ski without a lot of pain, so I went to the indoor trainer. I try to ride 3 days a week.

We have a few Spinervals dvds, and my wife and I both use them. Hill climbs, technique, time trial, etc. If I just listened to music, I'd just pedal steady-state and never push myself. I also have a few vhs videos that the manager at Bike Peddler gave me, because he didn't have a vhs player any more. A couple of the videos are old CycleOps workouts, with Troy whats-his-name who later did the Spinervals dvds. One of them has a young Tyler Hamilton, who they totally skipped over at the time because he was practically unknown then. Pretty funny.

Sometimes I'll just watch a Jazz game and spin while the game's on and try to really push it during the commercials. Crummy intervals, I know, but oh, well.

I don't eat anything special pre- or post-ride, but I have a full water bottle handy, and also keep a Clif bar nearby in case I need a lift.

I typically work out between 30 - 75 min., depending on the workout I choose.

What am I trying to accomplish? Just trying to keep up the legs and lungs a bit. Work on the trainer is so different from riding on the road or mountain that it's practically a different sport.

My winter training has been going on for awhile as I haven't really felt like putting on the lights this fall to ride in the dark. However, running has really gotten in the way of serious cycling training so far.

I typically run 2-3 days a week and ride 3 days. 2 of those days mid-week will be trainer rides and hopefully one will be either on the road or mountain bike. A couple of my buddies really want to do more mountain biking this year, so I suppose I will grudgingly tag along.

Trainer workouts are between 30-60 minutes. Usually one is a short spinning workout, the other is a more intense workout of either high resistance, low cadence pedalling or near-max intervals.

I also hope to lift weights once per week.

I'm always disappointed with that first ride of the year because I've felt like I've put in a good winter of work but it doesn't transfer very well. Like you I just train to try and keep the legs and lungs in fair shape. For me my most important goal during the winter is to keep my weight down. I'm not real good at it but it would be a disaster without the workouts.

Living in Vegas has its rewards, and winter riding is one of them. Nonetheless, rides are shorter and not as intense, so I need to improve my winter months.