By AJ Johnson & Mike Ricci
Feb. 28, 2007 -- The indoor bike trainer is one the most under-used but effective tools any triathlete can own. The key is to use it in such a way that each workout is focused, efficient and fits with your season objectives. By now, you should have mapped out at least the first part of your season so you know when you need to schedule your base, build, taper and peak phases. The indoor trainer is most effective during the build phase as this is where the workouts will be a bit shorter and have sections in them that require you to put in hard, solid efforts. During the build phase, a well-structured trainer workout of 60 to 90 minutes can be one of your key weekly workouts.
If you are using a power meter, you should first perform a baseline test that you can repeat later in the training cycle to gauge your progress. If you do not use a power meter, you should still perform a baseline test early on, then repeat it later to gauge fitness gains.
So what does an effective indoor workout look like? That depends on what distance you are racing. Athletes prepping for an early-season Olympic-distance race like St. Anthony’s or Memphis in May will want to focus more on lactate-threshold and VO2 max work so the workout may look like this:
- 15-minute warm-up, including some one-legged pedaling and other drills
- 4 rounds of 5 minutes at LT wattage or HR, with 3-minute recoveries after each work interval
- Spin steady at an endurance effort for 10 minutes
- Finish with 2 rounds of 3 minutes at just above LT with a 3 minutes recovery
- Spin easy for a cool-down
This type of work will get your system used to creating and clearing lactate from the body. Remember that producing lactate is not a bad thing -- it is only when the body cannot clear it fast enough that it builds up and starts to burn. This is a key for the shorter events where the efforts will be harder and the production of lactate more rapid.
Long-course athletes will need to focus more on endurance but still need to train their LT and body’s ability to deal with lactate. The production of lactate is slower during a long-course event, but your body still needs to learn to deal with the effects of being just under your threshold for longer periods of time. The goal here is to teach the body how to operate as efficiently as possible at or just below LT (or a race-pace effort). A long-course athlete’s trainer session may look like this:
- 15-minute warm-up
- 2 x 30 minutes at your goal race wattage, or 10-20 beats below your LT heart rate with a 5 minutes recovery after each work interval
This will tax the legs and create lactate, but it won’t be such a rapid build up like the previous workout. If you are doing a hilly race like Wildflower, you can do the first 20 minutes of the first work interval at 60 to 70 RPM to build power in the hips and core. By staying at just under your LT you simulate a race effort and teach your system how to handle the load of long-course racing.
Combo workouts are an all-time favorite with our athletes. We love to set up a run-bike-run-bike or bike-run-bike-run workout to keep things interesting. A simple combo workout could be:
4 hours total time . . .- 1:15 trainer ride as 25 minutes in Zone1, 25 minutes in Zone 2 and 25 minutes Zone 3
- 45-minute run with a 30-second pickups every 3 minutes
- 1:15 trainer ride as 15-minute warm up, then 4 x 12 minutes Big Gear (in the front ring with cadence at 55-65 RPM) with a 3-minute recovery after each work interval
- 45-minute run with 15 minutes in Zone 1, 15 minutes in Zone 2, 15 minutes in Zone 3
Another combo workout could be:
2:15 total . . . - Bike 1 hour as 20-minute warm-up, 30-minute tempo effort in Zone 3, 10 minutes easy
- Run 30 minutes easy with 8 x 30-second pick ups
- Bike 30 minutes as 10-minute warm-up, 20 minutes in the Big Ring (cadence at 55-65 RPM)
- Run 15 minutes at Zone 3
All of these workouts are very simple yet highly effective for what they are trying to accomplish. Like any workout, when you get on the trainer make sure you have a purpose and goal that you are trying to accomplish. When you finish the ride you should be able to say that you effectively trained some facet of your physiology rather than just logging a set amount of hours.
Another great aspect of the trainer is that you can measure progress year round as you complete your workouts in the same conditions without traffic, stop signs or stoplights slowing you down. Doing these types of workouts throughout the year will keep you on track to reach your goals and surpass your results from last season.
Good luck!
Coach AJ Johnson and Coach Mike Ricci are both USAT-certified coaches and can be reached for personal coaching at www.D3Multisport.com
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