SHOULD I QUIT MY INDOOR RIDES OVER SUMMER?
Think before you pack away your turbo until winter: it could help improve your performance
Thanks to the summer weather and longer evenings, cyclists are getting out and about on the roads more often. But don’t pack up your turbo trainer just yet. Although nothing beats an outdoor ride, a sprinkle of indoor sessions can inject some crucial specificity into your summer training regime.
Targeted indoor workouts can really boost your preparation for big European climbs, says Adam Daniel, master trainer at Wattbike (wattbike.com). “Indoor ‘ramp’ workouts target improvements in muscular strength and endurance, which are two key components for climbing,” he explains. “The strength comes from the ever-increasing demand of the ‘steps’, and the endurance from holding a nearaverage Functional Threshold Power (FTP, the effort you can sustain for an hour) for an extended duration.”
After a 12min warm-up, do 3 x 10min efforts, with 3mins rest in between each one. For each ‘ramped’ block do 6mins at 90% FTP, 1min at 95% FTP, 1min at 100% FTP, 1min at 105% FTP and 1min at 110% FTP, then wrap it up with a 5min cooldown. You’ll enjoy a welcome boost to your gravity-fighting skills next time you’re climbing outside this summer.
Indoor lactate workouts are also an efficient way to enhance your lactate threshold – the point at which you feel pain – so you can push harder on your long summer rides outdoors. “Working just above your FTP will increase your lactate threshold because you’re stressing both your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems at the same time,” explains Daniel. Aim for a 10min warm-up followed by 4 x 8.5min efforts, with 2mins recovery in between each one. For each block, do 3mins at 105% FTP, 30secs at 50% FTP, 3mins at 105% FTP and 2mins at 50% of FTP, then finish with a 5min cool-down. It’s a quick indoor workout that will help to condition your leg muscles ready for those gloriously long summer rides.