Turbo Torture Time

Created On: 04 December 2010

It's that time of year when you either give in, buy some lights or head to the turbo torture chamber.

Rollers, turbo trainers, spinners have massively helped coaches and athletes to control training, warm ups and testing sessions but is it essential? With the other options being muddy, cold and dark it has formed part of cyclist off season for years. With technology have come a more and more imaginative forms of turbo trainers with prices starting at £40 up to £500. Trainers at the bottom end are basic and bomb proof with resistance only provided by fans or fly wheels and of course your gears. At the top end you can buy actual courses you will be racing or want to race on, even racing with others on line! For triathletes of all abilities the turbo and its torture is an essential part of the darker months training to sustain speed fitness and hit the early season running.

So you get your turbo set up in the torture chamber (garage / shed or living room!)

What do you need:

Race bike / training bike -> Turbo wheel tyre (turbo trainers wreck tyres so use a different back wheel / old tyre or turbo specific tyre)
Towels - lots of sweat so cover bike especially headset and steerer tube
- Turbo towels
- Hand towel
Fan to prevent over heating
Music/videos/company (take your pick)
Front wheel wedge (block of wood, or ideally Yellow Pages)
Drink (lots of sweat = dehydration) see smoothie recipe below
Location garage/shed/ not first floor flat!
Heart rate monitor/power meters/speedo

What to do?

Endurance ride - if it is too dark and too dangerous to go out on the roads:

Imagine you are on your favourite ride and try to mimic the terrain with use of gears, effort and position on bike. Remember to move around the bike in and out of saddle and free wheel and stretch every now and then. Rough estimate turbo riding is about 1.5 of the effort on the roads. To do 1.5 hr road ride equivalent to 1hr turbo ride.

Specific sessions (keeps it interesting and torturous):

All of my sessions are done on heart rate as I have found this easiest to control. Here are two examples (more coming soon in our follow up article turbo torture 2).

30 minutes (keep the speed session):

Minutes	H Rate	% HR	Feel	Elapsed
5	60	65	Easy	10
4	60	70	Steady	14
3	60	75	Strong	17
2	60	80	Pushing	19
1	60	85	Hard	20
5	60	75	Strong (holding on)	25
5	60	65	Easy	30

Rest HR	60
Max HR	180
HR Range	120

45 minutes (time trial pacing session):

Minutes	H Rate	% HR	Feel	Elapsed
10	60	60	Easy	10
5	60	75	Steady	15
2	60	80	Strong	17
1	60	85	Pushing	18
5	60	75	Steady	23
2	60	85	Strong	25
1	60	90	Pushing	26
5	60	75	Steady	31
2	60	90	Strong	33
1	60	95	Hard	34
11	Warm	Down	Easy	45

Rest HR	60
Max HR	180
HR Range	120

After a hard session on the turbo you need to recover properly so why not try making this fantastic recovery smoothie provided by qualified nutritionist Abby Harman

About the author:

Mark at MyTriCoach has been coaching for 6 years helping others with his knowledge of training requirements at all distances and levels that he has amassed over 23 years in the sport. From his first triathlons the Jordan series in Bedford and the Hillingdon Tri Stars events to representing his country at junior level and cycling for a French team Mark has combined his sport with full time work and family life. This has given him a clear understanding of the desire to get the best out of the time available.

Coached athletes at MyTriCoach perform at all distances and at all levels of the triathlon spectrum. Programs cater for 1 to 1 sessions, group outings or distance (emailed / phone) programs. During 2010 season MyTriCoach athletes qualified and competed in all the major European and World Championships, 70.3 and Ironman World Championships, several athletes competed on the elite domestic circuit, as well as those who produced life time personal bests.

To find out more visit www.mytricoach.co.uk

Tags: news,ride,beginners,training

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