by Ernest Freeland

Riding an indoor trainer doesn’t have to be a chore.  You just need to approach it with a positive outlook and vary the workouts so they remain fun.

I usually end up riding alone at home and in front of the television. I have several different things I do to keep it interesting.

One workout is riding at a steady state during the show. Then when the commercials start I sprint every other commercial until they end. As the season progresses I’ll change it to increase the intensity, sprint the first two commercials and recover on the next one, sprint the next two and continue till the commercials end. If you need more intensity move to sprinting three commercials and recover. For these work outs I typically ride the show in zone two and then try to sprint in the top of zone four bottom of zone five.

In another workout I ride a steady state during the show and then ride at an increased intensity during the entire set of commercials.  During the show I ride in zone two and then ride in zone four for the commercials.

Want a longer interval? Warm up during the first portion of the show. Then do your interval during the show and recover during the commercial.

One never knows how many commercials you’ll get “stuck” with but that is what makes it fun.

There are many other ways to entertain yourself during your work out. There are trainer videos with workouts you can watch, electronic trainers that vary your resistance and allows you to ride all around the world. Meet up with your friends and ride together or come ride with us in one of our Indoor Trainer Sessions or Virtual Mini Stage Races.