indoor turbo training programmes

JacksonHeightsOwn

i was never overly fussed about a programme these past 2/3 months while using a heart monitor

but tonight will be my first night on an indoor trainer (birthday pressie)

id like to try and lose some weight and of course get bike fit as well in the process

someone was saying to me to keep my heart rate at about 150bpm, and that keeps you in the "fat buring zone", is this true?

any help would be great lads

CheGuedara

This kinda came up before - the short answer is that there are a few ways that arguably result weight loss as the primary outcome of the exercise.

The one you're thinking of is training at 60-70% of your max heart rate (commonly taken as 220-age) which is given as a more a less physiological fact as buring lipid as primary fuel. This will feel like you're doing nothing (just a warning).

The second that came out as High Intensity Interval Training - which is what it sounds like. I don't know very much about this type but it has been said to result in faster/better results than the former type of training.

What I have found useful are books such as Serious Cycling by Burke and the website www.trainwithpower.eu although there are many resources out there with a shed load of guides training plans and info.

Morgan

Take a look here too:

http://www.tacx.com/beleef+tacx.php?language=EN&lvlMain=18&lvlSub=46&ttop=Training%20programmes

blorg

It depends on your max heart rate.

The "fat burning zone" tends to be regarded as between 60-70 (some stretch to 60-80%) of your MHR.

This is the zone in which the largest percentage of your energy needs are coming from fat.

Note you will burn more above this level of intensity, it is just the percentage from fat decreases- you will however be using more energy overall.

So if you are time-limited higher intensity is better, but it will take you longer to recover and make you more tired, so you may not be able to do so much of it.

To be honest on a trainer I am not sure how possible it would be to pootle along for hours at a lower intensity, the things are meant to be very boring. This is just what I have read, I don't have one. So maybe more suited to higher intensity efforts.

For weight loss specifically I have found that long effort at relatively low intensities works best for me.

Note the weather outside is very good at the moment so WTF are you doing on a trainer!

Lumen

chrisbonnie wrote: »

someone was saying to me to keep my heart rate at about 150bpm, and that keeps you in the "fat buring zone", is this true?

HR zones described here.

It's not really as simple as there being a "fat burning zone".

You can sustain a low intensity effort (e.g. 150W) for very much longer than a high-intensity effort (e.g. 300W), and therefore in theory burn much more energy going slow and steady, but good luck doing that on a turbo - you're more likely to go completely bonkers.

Weight loss is about calories in/calories out - eat less and move more. If you empty the tank on the turbo it'll get filled up from food and fat. Eat less food and you'll lose more fat.

edit: also, don't underestimate the calorie burn you can get from a high-intensity trainer workout. An hour at flat-out intensity can burn anywhere from 650-1500 calories, depending on your level of training, although you wouldn't be able to do that more than two or three times a week, and it would be unpleasant.

Beasty

blorg wrote: »

Note the weather outside is very good at the moment so WTF are you doing on a trainer!

Make the most of it - tomorrow, as they say, is another day (at least I will be able to test my Cruds:))

JacksonHeightsOwn

blorg wrote: »

It depends on your max heart rate.

The "fat burning zone" tends to be regarded as between 60-70 (some stretch to 60-80%) of your MHR.

This is the zone in which the largest percentage of your energy needs are coming from fat.

Note you will burn more above this level of intensity, it is just the percentage from fat decreases- you will however be using more energy overall.

So if you are time-limited higher intensity is better, but it will take you longer to recover and make you more tired, so you may not be able to do so much of it.

To be honest on a trainer I am not sure how possible it would be to pootle along for hours at a lower intensity, the things are meant to be very boring. This is just what I have read, I don't have one. So maybe more suited to higher intensity efforts.

For weight loss specifically I have found that long effort at relatively low intensities works best for me.

Note the weather outside is very good at the moment so WTF are you doing on a trainer!

fair point, i posted the original on my phone on my way home from work, just in now, it`ll be dark in about an hour, and ive to go out

plus i only got the trainer on friday, so wanna use it

CheGuedara

Lumen wrote: »

You can sustain a low intensity effort (e.g. 150W) for very much longer than a high-intensity effort (e.g. 300W), and therefore in theory burn much more energy going slow and steady, but good luck doing that on a turbo - you're more likely to go completely bonkers.

+1. No way I could imagine doing long low low intensity stuff myself, not a hope, but if it was incoroprated as the 20min start and/or end of an hour session with 20 mins of interesting stuff in the middle could be ok.

Lumen wrote: »

Weight loss is about calories in/calories out - eat less and move more. If you empty the tank on the turbo it'll get filled up from food and fat. Eat less food and you'll lose more fat.

And if you continue training and improve your fat free (muscle) mass as every gram of muscle is metabolically active, using energy just even as you're sitting, just as long as you don't over do it on the refueling it'll further help with weight loss and you'll be able to better able to keep weight off in future (so long as you keep the muscle there i.e. keep exercising)

Ryaner

The Tacx real life videos do really help pass the time. Gotten me through a 1 hour 40 minute run last week. However I find watching films the best thing, especially if you are after fat burning. Get a cadence going and you forget your cycling. End of the film rolls on, stretch out and you feel great.

CheGuedara

+1

For me it's:

1. winter arrives
2. trip to HMV for box sets
3. unpack turbo
4. fit bike
5. play dvd
6. pedal away

.. while keeping an eye on the wattage, hr etc

trek climber

Apart from the boredum factor, would it be right to say that an hour long session is enough at a time ?

tunney

trek climber wrote: »

Apart from the boredum factor, would it be right to say that an hour long session is enough at a time ?

I think five hours was my longest on the turbo. Good ride. Need not be boring. An hour on the turbo is worth 1.5 on the road. (Seemingly an hour on the CT is worth 2 on the road and I am beginning to believe it).

Turbo sessions for the large part should be very structured sessions with clearly defined goals and should not, in my opinion be just sitting there spinning. Particularly for the shorter (< 1:30) sessions.