Village people
With all my kids home for the summer, my workout time is limited. I have been trying to do an on demand spin class on my road bike. I like it but (because) it is kicking my ass. I am looking for tips on bike set up. Should it change? The tension on the spin bike versus my gears. I have been kind of guessing. Could someone please help me when I have to stand and ride. It is a lot easier with the higher gears, not easier but I feel like I have better form. Help!
rectumdamnnearkilledem
Sounds like you're doing it right...or at least the way I do it. Nowhere biking is torturous, so do anything to make it tolerable.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Thanks. I am slowly getting the hang of it and it feels like I am getting a lot of bang for my buck.
If I regularly do Sufferfest workouts I lose a LOT less fitness compared to just mindlessly spinning while watching a movie/tv.
When I ride on a trainer, I think about the tension as if I was riding on the road. You'll be able to find a gear that feels like you're riding on a flat road. Use that as your baseline. (It should not be the hardest gear. If it is, you'll need to increase the tensioner)
From your baseline, a gear or two (or 3) higher you could still be on your seat but feel additional burn.
Higher than that, you would be out of the saddle. I like to count 50 revolutions while out of the saddle, and then I'll go back to my baseline. Every so often, there's a hill, and I'll mix it up.
Sometimes, I'll watch a GoPro YouTube video and follow the terrain of their route (I believe CTX has a good video, but they're riding on the wrong side of the road)
Very seldom do I go below the baseline and feel like I'm riding downhill (except for the cool-down portion during the last couple minutes of the workout).And, I seldom stop pedaling. Always applying some wattage and power while on the trainer.
I enjoy the trainer.
Cheers,Brian
Life Goals:
#1: Do what I can do
#2: Enjoy life
Hip Redux
I have a Coach Troy (spinervals) collection - totally get more bang for your time vs just watching TV.
Thanks.
I have been doing throwback sesions on Peleton. They were free but I upgraded the app and now they want money. I really like them and the instructor so I am doing the free month and reevaluting when the kids are back in school.
Consider giving Trainer Road a try. I think you get a free trial month, then it's $10 month. Tons of workouts, training plans, etc. If you don't have a power meter, you can put in the trainer you use (Kurt Kinetic, FluidOps, etc.) to estimate. You start with a 20-minute power test to figure out your ftp, and then the workouts are all based on that number, and hitting percentages of your ftp. Here's an example of a few workouts. The blue graph shows the power number you're trying to hit, as you pedal you make the yellow line (power you're actually making) and the red line is heart rate. Weirdly enough, just trying to pedal to the blue graph makes the time go much faster, and you get a good workout in. They also have all the sufferfest workouts, so if you have those you can watch the video and have the graph down at the bottom of your screen. I haven't been riding much, but plan on adding workouts to do a du in October. They have various low, medium and high mileage triathlon plans and i'll probably follow one of those to pick my workouts.
Coaching testimonial: "Not saying my workout was hard but KAREN IS EVIL."
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Thanks. I think somoene had told me about trainer road but I don't have a power meter so I didn't think that I could do the workouts.
You can still use TR without an actual power meter. They will use Virtual Power which is based off of power curves specific to the model of trainer that you use and an Ant+ speed/cadence sensor that you mount on your chain stay.
I use a program called Peripedal, which is very similar to TR except I paid a one time use fee instead of monthly. I can hardly imagine riding the trainer now without Peripedal and power based workouts. I also use a CycleOps PowerBeam Pro smart trainer. I like that I can just find the cadence I want and the trainer will adjust the resistance automatically (or not if you prefer that) as the workout progresses, or switch that off (ERG mode) if I feel like shifting and varying my cadence..
BTW, there are other power based programs out there besides the two I mentioned.
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
2014 Goals:
Stay healthy
Enjoy life