Indoor Training: from ridewithgps blog

http://blog.ridewithgps.com/blog/2013/10/06/Indoor-Bike-Trainer/

Posted on 06 October 2013.

There is a strong opinion that is shared by some cyclists, and that is that indoor bike trainers “Suck.” We can’t argue too much about that. We can probably all agree that there’s not much more enjoyable than a great ride out on the open roads in the fresh air. However, we can also argue about the importance of the indoor trainer for maintaining some cycling fitness through the winter or for getting some time on the bike in the early spring.

 

Because fall is rapidly approaching and the inevitability of winter is looming, we’ve been finding ourselves engaged in conversation about our upcoming “trainer season.” It sparked a good dialog and we thought we’d share some of it with all of you.

 

First, let’s tackle why riding the trainer is a good thing:

1. Riding the trainer a couple times a week allows you the ability to maintain some of your fitness through the winter. By not losing all your fitness through the winter months you have less of a build up in the spring where you’re just working on regaining what you had the last summer. This allows for you to have more enjoyable rides earlier in the year!
2. Riding the trainer when the weather is really bad can be better than a road ride because it takes less time. If you ride the trainer when the weather is bad you don’t have to spend a ridiculous amount of time putting layers on and off. Additionally, with the fact that you should reduce your ride time by ~25% from the road to the trainer you get a lot more return for you time.
3. Riding the trainer is better then getting rained on because you get to watching a movie, favorite TV show, or listen to an audio-book. The key with this is to find something that you enjoy, will help pass the time, and maybe isn’t something you’d get to keep up on normally. Some of the types of shows we really like to watch are: sci-fi movies, sports center, old bike races that are on Youtube, and any TV series because there’s always more to watch.

So what do we use?

Cullen and Zack both have Kurt Kinetic Trainers. Cullen got his because a friend sold it to him used for a bargain price of $120 and he knew it was well-reviewed. Both of them really like their trainer and they recommend it to others because it's fluid-filled and high quality, and supposedly has the best resistance curve unless you spend real serious $$$.

I have a Trek Mag by CycleOps trainer that he also picked up used. It’s not fluid, but it has served him well for several years. He also has a set of rollers that he uses in addition and that helps prevent things from getting stale.

We’ve also tried to answer the question of, “what trainer would we get if we could get any trainer?”

The consensus seems to be split between the LeMond Revolution Trainer, and the Wahoo KICKR. Both have a similar design, and are definitely more of an investment.

Ascending Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, AZ

Mt. Lemmon:

This was a solo and unsupported ride. 

Ridiculous wind. Both going up and descending. ...

(Ascent) http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1966285

Pretty much endless 4-9 degree incline the whole way. Above 6,000 feet the wind was whipping along the sheer cliffs and pocket clefts on the switchbacks. Stopped for a bathroom break once, got stung by a bee that was out of control in the wind, had to put on a windbreaker about 30 minutes before I reached the summit. 

 

Getting to the mountaintop town of Summer Haven I looked for the road to the very top of the mountain (observatory) but the road names changed up there to `boutique' names and I decided not to just troll up and down roads, esp. given the wind and low temps. 

 

Ride/elapsed times were good, esp given the wind.

Again, the wind was dangerous (of course) but I was careful. There were times I broke out in laughing fits ... it was that bizarre.

(Descent) http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1966283

The drive home. 

 

I decided that I wasn't getting any sleep yesterday so I packed up and left Tucson at 9pm expecting to be home by 2am at the latest. Fifteen miles north, on I-10, I ran into a ten mile traffic backup due to a crash by several cars and trucks that killed three people. News reports said that the accident was due to sandstorm obscuring vision around 8pm. Sat in my car for 90 minutes until the site was cleared. Then, when I got to the exit ramp from I-10 to I-17 it was closed off while they were doing service. Had to negotiate Phoenix side streets for another hour while I found my way on to I-17.

So ... Mt. Lemmon is off the `to-do' list at this point.

"Not gonna' let 'em catch me"

Wow.  I just found what a local bike shop did with my vid.  Great music.  "Not gonna let 'em catch me"

Doable, Non Brain-Killing Off-Season Training

I used to report my philosophy about cycling as: "I'm a fanatic about living a balanced life."  I hope the irony is taken.

Due to both a desire to pursue other interests (reading, geology, local history, etc.) and have emotional and physical energy available for family and social life I've struggled with bicycling.  To develop the level of performance I want requires at least 12 hours of cycling and the concomitant 8 - 12 hours of recovery (being `flat' and tired) per week.  In a word: unbalanced.

`Reluctant' is the word that best describes me when it comes to intense training.  (Joe Friel's recent blog entries do an excellent job of defining `intense').  Intervals are uncomfortable and taxing.  Tempo training, for me, bleeds off some of the pleasure I take in cycling up here in the beautiful high desert and Arizona mountains.  As well, when I have the expectation of doing tempo training I have made myself feel `pressured.'  As an adult I've pushed back against things and people who pressure me.  I get angry (and stubborn). 

Moving into the `cold' season adds to the reasons, and excuses, to not train well.  Too cold.  Takes too much time arranging clothing for cold, warm and even hot temps at different altitudes.  Shorter sunlight and black ice on mountain roads limits the times during the day I can ride.  The certainty of unavoidable mechanicals and flats reinforces the need to carry dry clothing available while I fix the problems. 

Yesterday I completed a training regimen that holds real promise for a good `off season' experience.  It addressed much of the reluctance and many of the  objections I have to winter training -- and training, in general.  It holds promise for a good several months of training. 

1. I don't have to carry 3 seasons of clothing.
2. I don't have to worry about ice and daylight.
3. I don't have to deal with the cold.
4. I save a great deal of time.
5. I can ramp and taper `interval' and `tempo' training.
6. I don't have to worry about mechanicals or flats.
7. I can hit the road less frequently and still maintain good fitness.

Indoor training.  Without the mind-numbing boredom of 3+ hour sessions on a bike. 

Below I include Garmin HR data for three activities.  The first activity is use of the Concept2 indoor rower.  Then the elliptical.  And finally the bike on an indoor trainer (Lemond Revolution).  Each `machine' allows for measuring time and effort.  Doing so permits development of a training schedule and program.  And, to paraphrase many, `anything that exists does so at a certain quantity that can be measured.'  And anything that can be measured allows for comparison and improvement. 

One Hour on the Indoor Rower

One Hour on the Elliptical

One Hour on the Indoor Trainer (Tempo and Intervals)

Now I have all the benefits listed above and a baseline with which to build a Training Plan and against which I can measure change (performance improvements). 

This is a great relief to me. 

But right now I have to get out the door to do this:  Skull Valley Loop





 

Aging: The Problems of High-Intensity Training

Joe Friel's Blog

Posted: 09 Oct 2013 10:42 PM PDT

 

Can the loss of performance with aging be overcome by training? Can you maintain your 35-year-old aerobic capacity and muscle mass, the keys to aging performance, when you’re 55 or even 75 years old? Most scientific research tells us that it’s highly doubtful (Doherty, Faulkner, Foster, Phillips, Raue). Even though much of this loss appears to be a result of disuse (LaRocca, Leyk, Wroblewski, Wright), there is no doubt that there is a decline in endurance performance with age that appears to be inevitable even among elite age group athletes regardless of sport. 

We know, however, that the rate of loss can be slowed if you continue to train at a workload similar to when you were younger, especially the intensity of your workouts both in aerobic (Katzel) and strength training (Aagard, Porter). I wrote about that here and here. But as many readers have told me recently in comments to this blog and in emails, the problem is an increased incidence of injury resulting from high-intensity efforts that seem to be especially high among runners. The other problem is slow recovery. The keys to maintaining aerobic capacity and muscle mass then are injury prevention and rapid recovery following workouts. I wrote about recovery and aging a few weeks ago here. So let’s now examine Injury prevention in greater detail.

Modifications to training are necessary to avoid an increased likelihood of injury. Typically, the older you are the easier it is to become injured and the slower an injury is likely to heal (Kallinen). Bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and muscles break down and form scar tissue at lower levels of training stress than they did when you were younger. An increased likelihood of orthopedic injuries may be the reason runners seem to slow down more than their similarly aged peers in swimming and cycling. While running is not the only sport athletes get injured in, it is more likely to produce orthopedic injuries than, for example, swimming, cycling and cross country skiing. So the normal training stress of runners often declines at a steeper rate over time. That may well be necessary.

In terms of continued performance improvement, there is nothing worse than an injury. It can easily result in a bunch of zeroes in your training log. Missed workouts mean lost fitness and starting over again.

To avoid injury, regardless of your sport, there are two things you must always do. The first is to start at a training stress level you know you are fully capable of managing. This has to do with how long and intense your workouts are and your weekly volume of training. The second imperative to avoiding training setbacks is to be patient with your progress. This is where most athletes make their greatest mistake. Allow more time at each stage of training than you did when you were younger. Be patient. Wisdom is supposedly one of the attributes of age. Apply it to your training.

Increase your workout durations and intensities slowly over time. Don’t rush to the next level. It’s too risky. Counterbalance these two workout variables. When you increase the duration of your workouts, decrease their intensity. When it’s time to increase intensity, decrease duration. For older athletes it's probably wise to avoid increasing both up at the same time. If you do, your risk of injury increases exponentially. You may have gotten away with a double increase when you were younger, but it’s now more likely to result in injury.
If injured the timing of treatment is critical. Don’t wait to seek medical help. Every athlete, but especially you as an older athlete, need someone in your corner who can treat injuries, or even niggling aches, when they occur. This could be a family physician, chiropractor, physical therapist, podiatrist or naturopath who you trust, who knows your endurance sport and who understands the treatment of aging athletes. I rely heavily on Nate Koch at Endurance Rehabilitation, a physical therapy practice where I spend my winters in Scottsdale, Arizona. With my summers in Boulder, Colorado I go to the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and to see Dr. Andy Pruitt, an old friend and fellow aging cyclist. They’ve both been treating my aching bones and soft tissues off and on for 11 years. I have complete faith in their effectiveness when I place myself in their hands as I’ve had to do on numerous occasions.

Closely related to injuries is arthritis which becomes increasingly common with advances in age. The best way to avoid this may well be continued exercise since it is less common in athletes (Maharam). The research doesn’t tell us, however, if exercise helps to prevent joint disease or if those who experience it drop out of their sport becoming sedentary and so skew the data. If you suffer from arthritis you have probably become adept at knowing not only what aggravates it, but also how to modify your training to accommodate it until the inflammation subsides. Prescribed medications may well be necessary at these times.

Training for Redemption (Note: no `god' talk here)

I've done better (2:49:00) and I've done worse (3:21:00) on the annual September Skull Valley Loop Challenge.  But I've never hurt so bad as I did this year (3:10:00).  Cramps.  Bonking.  Disappointment. 

In an earlier blog entry (IT NEVER STOPS) I offered my `analysis' of why things went so awry this time.  I also vowed that I would train differently and do better next year. 

Since writing that blog entry I concluded that I can race the SVLC course any time I want.  I don't have to wait a full year to do this course. 

So I gave myself seven (7) weeks to train differently and then do the SVLC course again.  I'm scheduled to race the course (solo) on Monday, November 3rd.  I intend to `redeem' myself. 

I'm training at `race pace' instead of at `tour pace.' 

Mindful of the need to balance rest with effort I've ratcheted up the `intensity' factor of my training.  Here are the factors of the `race' training method:

1. disciplined hydration while racing.
2. disciplined fueling / eating while racing.
3. twice weekly indoor intervals.
4. twice weekly tempo outdoor training. 

Intervals: 

I've avoided intervals in the past because a) they're uncomfortable, b) I've `wasted' myself when doing them by doing too much too fast.  This time my program is tighter and less arduous.  I'm doing only one half hour of intervals twice per week.  And the schedule is as follows: 30 seconds intense effort, rpms around 95; 3 minute rest between sets. 

I've found that this formula taxes me but doesn't deplete me for the rest of the day.  (INTERVALS)

Tempo Training:

Outdoor intervals and tempo training in mountains is hard to actually `dial in.'  For example, I can do interval max output for 30 seconds on a 4% incline, but backing off for 3 minutes ... still leaves me with cranking up that 4% incline.  Not quite `rest' between max efforts. 

And typically, when the 3 minutes is up I find myself descending and am unable to push as needed for the 30 seconds. 

Tempo is much more manageable but still gets complicated.  Ascending inclines I can hit my tempo heart rate goal but only as long as I'm ascending.  Of course, ascending takes more time than descending.  But there is scant chance for continuous, non-stop climbing before I hit a descent and the effort and heart rate plummets.

So, yesterday I developed a plan to accomplish steady and constant tempo pace. 

The 54 mile, 4,400 ft of climbing route from my home in Prescott to the `intersection' called Kirkland includes some climbing at the outset.  But after about 14 miles of steep ascents and descents (the White Spars) the route changes dramatically.  After 14 miles there are 9 miles of continuous descent (during which the power and heart rate drops).  Then there are another 4 miles of rolling descent to Kirkland. 

The opportunity for good tempo training occurs on the return trip up from Kirkland to mile post 298, a solid 13 miles of climbing at 2% - 9%.  With two exceptions of about 100 yards each it is all uphill. 

Yesterday I did the tempo training on the `Kirkland' route.  It is a great training ground for tempo.  It took me two hours, at increasing heart rate (and power, though I don't have a power meter), to complete the 13 miles. 

I stayed in the big (55t) ring up front and rarely got below the 28t ring in back.  My rpms were probably 70-75.  (TEMPO - Kirkland Route)

By the time I hit mile post 298 I was really feeling it.  That is a good thing.  (As well, I was feeling the cold of altitude and had to put on some arm warmers and a windbreak jacket).  I had about 17 more miles to go (including several long 9%-15% grades) but I allowed myself to keep the HR in the 115-130 bpm range.  Essentially, at `tour pace.'

So now I have two components of `race pace' training available to me right out my front door. 

I'm still looking for that (nearby) elusive flatland for long, 8 hour aerobic training.  Might be a long wait.