3 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your Indoor Trainer Workouts

Winter in the colder parts of the country leave many cyclists looking at their indoor trainer with disdain. Yes, the thrill and joy of riding a bike happens on the road or trail—but cycling indoors doesn't have to be as boring as it might sound.

Thanks to plenty of good indoor training videos and the short amount of time it takes to get in a good workout, the "trainer time" can be enjoyable and beneficial to your cycling fitness during the winter months.

In order to get the most out of indoor training, it's important to have a purpose, define a plan and learn to stick to it. Use these tips to get started with your indoor workouts.

More: Beat the Indoor Training Doldrums With These Workouts

Have a Purpose

Distraction is the key to making time pass on the indoor trainer. Sitting in the saddle and spinning away while staring at the wall is only going to make you bored and frustrated. To get the most out of your workout, you need to have a purpose and something to help motivate you along the way.

If you just finished cyclocross season, you probably gained fitness in the last few months. Taking time off in the early winter to recharge for the upcoming season, in this case, probably isn't a bad thing. For everyone else, you should be able to think of at least one reason how the indoor trainer can help you get better.

Here's a list of nine ways the indoor trainer can benefit you:

1. Improve your cadence
2. Work on pedaling technique and form
3. Even out muscular imbalances (one leg dominant)
4. Saddle height, fore, aft and pitch experimentation
5. Adjust new cleats or get used to new shoes
6. Begin using rollers to improve balance
7. Try out cleat shims if you know one leg is longer than the other
8. Increase power for 40K time trial
9. Become a more efficient climber

More: 2 Indoor Trainer Workouts

If you're deficient in any of these areas or need to test new gear, the indoor trainer is the perfect time to experiment. It's easier to make small adjustments to get your bike and gear dialed in correctly when you're not out on the road, so take advantage of it.

In general, January should include one or two moderately intense trainer sessions. The rest of the workouts for the week should center around building aerobic fitness.

The base building phase is when things can get boring fast. Incorporate some of the cycling skills from the above list or others that you'd like to work on. Specific goals will help you to keep things interesting during this phase of training and break up the monotony.

More: 2 Indoor Workouts to Improve Climbing

Define a Plan

After you decide what you want to work on, you'll need to figure out what workouts will help you to improve upon your deficiencies.

Let's say this winter you'd like to improve your form, develop a higher pedaling cadence and build your aerobic fitness. Here's a sample workout that you might use to work on these specific skills on your indoor trainer.

• In a 53 x 17 gearing, pedal at 90 rpm (revolutions per minute) for four sets of 5 minutes. If this gearing isn't hard enough, use a larger gear as long as you can hold your heart rate at 15 to 20 beats below your threshold while maintaining 90 rpm. In the final minute of each set, increase your cadence gradually until you reach 115 to 120 rpm. Concentrate on spinning in smooth circles. Rest for 1 minute between reps.
• For the second portion of the workout, use the same gearing as before but try to spin at a slightly higher cadence between 90 and 100 rpm. Complete 10 sets of 2 minutes, pedaling easy for only 15 seconds in between reps. You may need to use a smaller gear to keep your heart rate in the aerobic zone, so adjust as needed. Focus on spinning smooth circles and avoid mashing the pedals on the down stroke. Try to keep your feet light on the pedals and see how still you can hold your upper body. This will improve your form and cadence when you get out on the road.

More: 3 Drills to Improve Cycling Efficiency and Pedal Cadence

Be Consistent

To improve your weaknesses, you'll need to be consistent with your indoor workouts. Get into the habit of working on your specific weakness 2 to 3 times per week. Complete 1 to 2 higher intensity workouts to round out your fitness. Most indoor cycling videos have plenty of interval workouts, and these are good way to keep yourself motivated. Watching someone else suffer along with you makes things a little easier, even if it is on TV.

By the end of winter, you should have improved your base fitness and fixed some of your weaknesses. Remember that the key to improving is consistency and finding a way to mix things up in order to keep your training interesting.

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