The pandemic of 2020 (and 2021!) has led to an explosion in the use of indoor bike trainers. Let's find out why!
I've been using an indoor bike trainer for around 4 months (at the time of writing) and I absolutely LOVE IT, and have to say it's one of the best purchases I've ever made!
So give me just 5 minutes of your time today and I'll show you 8 awesome BENEFITS of indoor bike training and how it can improve your performance!
The benefits of indoor bike training are:
convenience
time-efficiency
safety
an improved riding position
more productive workouts
it's not weather dependent
keep motivated
it's fun
Let's dive in and take a closer look at each of these.
#1 Convenience
Unless you're lucky enough to live close to somewhere with quiet roads or you live next to a cycle track - you're gonna need to take some time to get to the place where you can do some decent cycling.
Before I had my indoor trainer, I would have to stick my bike and accessories in the back of my truck and then travel to a local cycling track. Not so much of a problem if it was my day off and I'm not strapped for time - but it was a pretty tight squeeze to travel there and back, shower, have breakfast and then head off to work.
The beauty of an indoor trainer is that (space permitting) you can leave your bike set up and ready to rock and roll.
#2 Time-Efficient
Indoor bike trainers enable you to use your time more efficiently by removing travel time and giving your workouts "bang for your buck".
In my example, I saved around 45 minutes by not having to travel to my local cycling track before going to work, time that I can now spend doing other things I love.
Often we use the "I don't have enough time" as an excuse for training.
Time to crush that limiting belief with an indoor bike trainer!!
If you opt to go with a smart trainer, then thanks to modern technology you can connect wirelessly third-party apps like Zwift and enjoy the pre-designed workouts they have planned for you.
A problem I used to have is that I would do a lot of "junk" miles and not really use my training time effectively. which can design workouts for us.
Later on I'll give a bit more detail on how indoor bike trainers will improve the productivity of your workouts.
#3 Safety
No matter how safe you may think the roads are, there's always the chance of having some bad luck.
Thailand is notorious for bad driving and is consistently ranked as one of the counties with the highest number of road deaths in the world.
Using an indoor bike trainer is super-safe. No having to wait at traffic lights, or worry about getting cut up by a bus or truck driver that can't see the little cyclist on the inside lane.
In fact, the only safety issues you have to worry about is keeping cool and hydrated! Oh, and if you choose to train with a roller you'll need to get the hang of balancing and staying upright!!
#4 An Improved Riding Position
Watch any Youtube videos about how to go faster on a bike and the issue of riding position will crop up frequently.
There are a few things that can make a difference to both your speed and comfort on the bike, for example:
saddle height
forward position of the saddle (layback)
saddle tilt
Quite often, a few millimetres can make a big difference. Marginal gains and all that!
For example, if your saddle is too high then you won't be able to generate enough power and you'll find your hips and rocking back and forth while you ride.
Or if your saddle is too low you won't be able to extend your legs enough to get as much power as possible. You'll also find that you're using the muscles on the front of your thighs (quads) too much which can make them get tired quicker.
For a few more pointers, check out this quick + useful bike fit tips video from Simon Richardson at the Global Cycling Network.
Problem is, if you're out on the road it's not always easy to just hop off your bike, adjust a few things and hop back on for another test.
But with an indoor bike trainer it's much simpler.
With wheel-on units, like the Wahoo KICKR Snap I have, because the bike is stationary it's very easy for me to get off, make some adjustments and get back on.
For me, it's mostly about comfort and being able to ride for a reasonably long time and feel comfortable - and I've found saddle height and layback impacts this a lot.
#5 More Productive Workouts
This kind of relates to the efficiency issue I mentioned previously.
If you live in a built up area or somewhere which doesn't have a good stretch of open road, doing some high-intensity work on your bike can be hard.
You're always having to stop for junctions or traffic lights, as well as having to worry about other traffic on the road.
But you don't have these worries with your indoor trainer.
Pro cyclist Tim Johnson of Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com says that "It should be used for specific goal-oriented sessions such as a specific interval, rather than just going for a ride on it.”
Sometimes, when we're out on the open road we tend to get caught up in the "just going out for a ride" syndrome. Whilst these sessions have their own benefits, they do take up our precious time.
Your workouts can be even more productive if you're using a smart trainer which is connected to an online "virtual cycling world" such as Zwift or TrainerRoad.
Zwift offers a wide-range of workouts targeted at improving different aspects of your cycling performance. There are high-intensity workouts in just 30 minutes or longer steady workouts over 1 hour.
Simply select the workout you want to do, turn ERG mode on and let the trainer adjust the resistance for you automatically. This allows you to focus 100% on your workout and not on your surroundings.
#6 It's Not Weather Dependent
Depending on where in the world you're reading this, I'm sure the weather has some impact on your outdoor bike riding.
I live in Thailand, and whilst I love the warm (sorry, hot) and sunny weather, going out for 3-hour bike ride brings other heat-related challenges.
Probably a more common weather problem are the cold and wet winter months faced those of you in Europe or the US.
But you guessed it, with an indoor trainer you don't have to worry about what the weather is doing outside!
The only thing you need to be aware of is the need for a fan!
Shane Millar aka GP Lama uses a super sized fan to keep him cool :)
This wasn't something I actually considered until my first ride on the indoor trainer.
Cycling outdoors the wind will naturally cool you down. Obviously inside you don't have any wind so it's super important to have a fan to keep you as cool as a cucumber!
#7 Keep Motivated
Even the most motivated cyclist or triathlete is gonna have days when it's a real challenge to get your gear on and get out of the house.
I remember days waking up in the dark, having planned to go out for a ride, hitting snooze and going back to sleep!
But now I can sleep safe in the knowledge that my bike is set up and ready to go. All I need to do is get into my cycling shorts, fill up a water bottle and jump right on. It makes it a lot easier to keep motivated and stick to training plans.
Speaking of which, I recently completed a 12-week training plan on Zwift, called "Build Me Up".
One big plus point was that my weekly workouts were planned for me so I didn't have to think what I was going to do.
This made is much easier in the mornings, waking up and knowing exactly what workout I was going to do and I only had to walk downstairs to do it!!
#8 It's Fun
Last but not least is the FUN factor :)
Coming back to my opening line, perhaps the image you have in your mind of indoor cycling is simply pedalling away staring at the wall!
But thanks to modern technology this doesn't have to be the case any more.
If you go for a smart trainer then you can connect to Zwift and all of the options that it provides.
With Zwift you can:
do specific workouts
join group rides
take part in a race
complete a 5-stage tour
just go out for a ride on one of over 50 routes.
You can also listen to your favourite music whilst riding, definitely not something you can do on the open road!
Read: Beginners Guide to Zwift
Final Thoughts
So, there you have 8 awesome benefits of indoor cycling.
I hope I've managed to get across the fun and performance benefits of indoor cycling and hope that this inspires you take up this great form of training.
Have you got an indoor trainer? What are some of the benefits that you have found using it? Love to hear any other ideas or things I may have missed!
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