turbo advice

ciaeim

hi , i just did my first training on my turbo trainer, 1 hour,av speed 28.2, high of 32.7. cadence av 94,high of 132. heart rate av 147 high of 163. i absolutely sweated buckets but actually enjoyed it. usually when i am out cycling my av cadence is about 70 rpm and av speed 26 to 29 kph, i was told i should look to increase my cadence, looking at the figures from my turbo session i was hoping someone could point out what i could do to achieve an improvement. thanks for reading.

ps i am 51 and 83kg

Raam

Average speed? Where did you go?! ;-)

ciaeim

Raam wrote: »

Average speed? Where did you go?! ;-)

ha ha went nowhere but av speed shows up on my strava profile and also max speed.

Ryath

Average speed is meaningless on a turbo you could average 50 with the resistance down low. You need to really have a metric to work of. Heart rate, power, or just just rate of perceived effort RPE. Heart rate is good and you can do good interval sessions. Disadvantages slower to respond to changes in effort and on a turbo will elevated due to overheating. (Get a fan)

Power is expensive either a powermeter or turbo's that give power readings.

RPE is can good but you need to know your body and be honest with yourself probably better for the real masochists.

If you are using a garmin speed/cadence you could consider using trainerroad. It gives an estimate of power based on what turbo trainer you use.
http://www.trainerroad.com/

I find it very good gives a lot more structure to sessions rather than just sitting there spinning for an hour.

harringtonp

Speed will have real meaning and can be used as a training benchmark if you always keep the back tyre at the same pressure, put it on the unit in the same way and keep the units resistance the same.

Speed then depends on your bikes gears and cadence and you'll soon figure out what you can maintain for intervals and be able to track progress. Effectively you will be using virtual power. This is what the poster above is referring to except that the speeds for a particular turbo are mapped to watts (relationship isn't usually linear unfortunately).

Regarding cadence I usually like to work at least 10 rpm higher than my natural "self selected" cadence

ciaeim

thanks guys,, one other question if i want to go out for a short cycle do i have to change the skewer from the one provided with the turbo?

RV

ciaeim wrote: »

thanks guys,, one other question if i want to go out for a short cycle do i have to change the skewer from the one provided with the turbo?

I have a special wheel for the turbo which I don't use outside. Even the tiniest piece of flint, from outdoors, seems to work its way through the tyre and puncture your turbo training plan. Got a cheapie wheel in the LBS.

carltonleon

ciaeim wrote: »

thanks guys,, one other question if i want to go out for a short cycle do i have to change the skewer from the one provided with the turbo?

I have never changed the skewer since I got my turbo 2 years ago. I use it for both with absolutely no problems

dragratchet

yeah think its really a case of avoiding the opposite, dont use your stock skewer on the turbo...

listrybabe

What are the best training methods with a turbo. Cadence ? Heart rate ? Time ? Or is their specific training CDs out their ?

Ryath

listrybabe wrote: »

What are the best training methods with a turbo. Cadence ? Heart rate ? Time ? Or is their specific training CDs out their ?

Cadence is good to work on the turbo but is something you would vary depending on what you were targeting in a session.

Heart rate is still good but is slower to respond you may be holding your heart rate above 170 but still be taking mini breaks with out realising it. It can work well for long intervals but the shorter they are the less benefit to working with heart rate they'll be. If you have some one to give you sessions or do them in a group heart rate can still be a very useful tool and along with power can tell you a lot about how you body is performing.

Time if you mean doing intervals of specific length and effort good. If you're just going to sit on it for an hour and spin away not so good. It's better than nothing but you'll get a lot more out of your hour if you have a specific session to do.

Power is the best to work to there is no cheating with it if it's saying to hold 200 watts and you slack off even for a second it will drop.

http://www.thesufferfest.com/

They are video's with on screen instructions you ride along to, even by themselves are very good sessions and can really keep you motivated. I use them with trainerroad which syncs to the videos and gives your interval sessions as power targets. You work at different cadences as part of the sessions as well.

I'd highly recommend trainerroad you need a ANT+ speed/cadence sensor and a ANT+ USB stick

They have hundreds of sessions to do and training plans to follow even doing just two 1 hour sessions and a Sunday spin a week would have you in very good condition by the end of the winter.

thekooman

Sufferfest is great as well for high intensity using cadence and heart rate. some great videos but this stands out:
http://www.thesufferfest.com/training-video/a-very-dark-place/

dragratchet

thekooman wrote: »

Sufferfest is great as well for high intensity using cadence and heart rate. some great videos but this stands out:
http://www.thesufferfest.com/training-video/a-very-dark-place/

+1. thats my fav video as well. Sufferfest videos imo are excellent for encouraging you into doing an honest session. i stick the trainer on close to the hardest setting and then use my gears to follow the rpe and cadence instructions
combining it with my cadence sensor is slowly bringing me around to more of a high cadence for endurance approach

Hi Ho

ciaeim wrote: »

thanks guys,, one other question if i want to go out for a short cycle do i have to change the skewer from the one provided with the turbo?

No, but the securing mechanism on the turbo will mark your skewer.

Finglas Incubus

Hi Ho wrote: »

No, but the securing mechanism on the turbo will mark your skewer.

I have this issue (Elite Super Chrono, Cube Peleton Race). Is this just a cosmetic consideration or can the securing mechanism damage the skewer or release in some way?