Turbo Trainer VS Cycling outside

I lived in Beijing for a decade and now live in Saigon, so hear where you are coming from! I'm not that familiar with the term "turbo trainer"--maybe British? At any rate, if it's your own bike on the trainer and you are doing a structured workout, there is little to no difference in training effect from riding outdoors. Your workout is probably even better quality in many cases, because you can push more intense efforts without having to stop/slow down for traffic, etc. I do probably 90-95% of my training in Saigon on the trainer. While the bike's not my forte, that's probably not due to training (I'm lightweight for my size, which limits absolute power; and had no biking background prior to getting into tri at 41), I've gone from back of the pack on the bike to well into front of the middle (overall, men and women), which has allowed me to do well in most races in my age group and qualify for 70.3 Worlds last year. That's progressing in gradual stages from my first Oly, where I was 123rd out of 136 on the bike and well over 1:30 for 40 km.

If by "turbo trainer" you mean a spin/exercise bike, then it's not ideal, though probably still better than regularly going outside in Beijing's pollution and traffic. But the effect will be somewhat lessened by the fact that you're using a different riding position. Resistance also works differently on those bikes-many people ending up spinning super-fast to get amazing power numbers, or grinding huge gears that can injure the knees.. You can maximize the effect by trying to ride at whatever is your normal cadence on your road or tri bike (which should help you find the right resistance levels), and by doing structured workouts using power or heart rates zones set with that particular bike. The resistance setup can even vary from bike to bike, so if you're at a gym, try to use the same bike each time. Better yet, get a bike trainer and use your own bike. Structured workouts, videos, music, even programs where you can compete virtually with others, can all help make it more interesting.

I would say that in Beijing, the trainer should probably be the first resort, not the last, unless you can get to somewhere safe to ride, well out of town with cleaner air. Don't underestimate the threat to your health. Despite only running sporadically (2-3 X a week most years) when I lived there, my asthma became much more severe. Even now, almost 15 years later, while it's not as bad as when I lived in Beijing, it's still not nearly as good as before I moved there. Could just be normal aging, and worsening air quality in recent years here, but I wouldn't risk it--that air is nasty! Would save the actual biking for some shorter sessions in the last 3-4 weeks before racing to work on handling, gearing, etc.

I believe turbo is the British term for trainer (coworker is from UK and references it often).

But to answer your question, you will find the consensus to be that the turbo can be a better workout than riding outdoors. But, you have to make it a workout. Without having to stop, turn, dodge debris, dogs, hills etc. you can really focus on nailing your targets.

Here are my tips:
Get fans- you want lots of airflow to keep you cool. Number of fans is N+1
Using a training software-you mentioned having a training plan, but something like trainer road (or Zwift) will really keep you on track.
Shorten the rides and pick up the intensity- or find something to keep you entertained. Action movies can make 2 hrs on the trainer fly by.

I have wonderful cycling right out my door yet I still do 90% of my riding on the trainer. It's much more efficient and convenient.

Hope this helps.

Maybe I am more easily amused than others, but I do most of my cycling with a power meter, the workouts from my coach, and videos/music from a Youtube channel called HD Cycling. Lots of edited GoPro footage of scenic rides in Europe (they even include beer stops!) synced to music. The latter is kind of repetitious, but it seems like they try to choose stuff at a good cycling cadence. Or just put on your own tunes. Another favorite are videos posted by a guy named Bob Ryskamp. No music but some awesome alpine rides; some in the US as well. You can find similar stuff if you google "virtual cycling".

For longer rides (over about 2 hours), sometimes I will also throw in a movie CD and/or Kona videos from Youtube. Have not trained for full IM, but I think my record on the trainer is 4:15--it was fine as the workout had a lot of different targets to hit; I think I watched some Olympic events, a Kona video, and a couple hours of virtual cycling. I actually didn't do any outdoor rides at all between a HIM in late July and the day before Worlds in September. Weather was bad, work very busy, and didn't want to risk my safety or the bike at such a critical time. In North America or Europe, you no doubt have access to more amusing stuff for those long rides--Netflix and the like don't work here; English language TV is very limited. For shorter, more intense stuff, if you're working hard enough, your ability to focus on a video is probably kind of limited anyway--for me, scenery and music are enough.

Edited by Hot Runner 2017-03-04 5:39 PM

I have found indoor cycling (power trainer and rollers) to be of great benefit for me this winter and have incorporated into my long term plan even as the weather is breaking here in the southern US. What I find most advantageous is the consistency I get in the workouts, versus stop and go outside and other environmental factors. The one dynamic I think that some overlook is the handling aspect of outside riding and that you need some of that to stay on your game as a cyclist. That is the biggest reason I utilize my rollers and try to get in an hour ride on my roadie once a week on them.

All in all I am averaging about 90 minutes more a week utilizing this strategy as it is so much more convenient and a better usage of time for me. Good luck in your decision.

I do the majority of my rides indoors on a trainer using Trainer Road. It's a much more focused workout and saves time as well. Once it starts to warm up my weekly long ride will move outside, but even then all of my midweek rides will be on the trainer. It's incredibly difficult to replicate a good indoor VO2 max or sweet spot session outside... too many stops, cars, etc.

X2. I haven't been outside on my bike since October.

The trainer along with some good workouts can lead to great gains. The only issue I run into is that I can't train sprints on it. It spins out before you can put out the power needed. I also cannot tolerate much more than two hours on it. I simply wouldn't live in a place so polluted that I feared going outside to ride. I hope it's just a temporary relo for you.

-Mark

I do most of my training ride indoors and i consider myself an above average riding once I'm fully trained. I've even been known to do a few 5-6 hours trainer rides just because it's a better workout (imo) and just easier than wasting an hour+ packing and unpacking my bike to a place I can bike from. I just use a normal $~250 "dumb" trainer with a power meter. Some people swear by smart trainers and the road like feel but I don't really care about that. I'm riding non-stop on a trainer and I don't care if it doesn't spin down as long as it would if had some $1000 trainer. Never saw the point personally.

I have never been unable to put out sprint-type power on my trainer. if I wasn't, it was my body not giving it to me, not a trainer issue. I can put out as much power, at least for durations of over 30 seconds or so, as I am physically capable of without spinning out. Maybe it's more a gearing issue, or a problem just for bigger, stronger riders? Or by 'sprint" you mean the kind of sprint to the finish, or tactical surge, with way higher power than the average output that you see in pure cycling races? I can see how it might not always be ideal for training for those situations, but for most triathletes, who are aiming primarily for a fairly steady effort lasting about 30 minutes (sprint) to several hours (IM), it seems like one should have no problem hitting race intensity, and considerably higher, on a decent quality trainer, if gearing was correct for the athlete's abilities.

As a 47 year old, 115 pound woman whose forte is not cycling, maybe my absolute "sprint" power is so low that I just don't have this problem, and bigger, more powerful athletes do?? But if OP is training for a HIM, I don't think it's really a serious concern.

As for where one lives, there is not always a lot of choice in the matter. In some professions, mine included, the best opportunities happen to be in big, polluted cities with nasty traffic. It is nice to have the luxury of choosing somewhere with clean air; reality doesn't always work out that way for an individual at a given time. I commend the OP for making the best of a tough situation.

Edited by Hot Runner 2017-03-06 3:27 AM

Just echoing what's been said already.. But it's probably the type of trainer you are on. I don't believe you will out-spin any of the "fluid" trainers out there. You may check craigslist for used fluid trainers cheap. I picked up mine and my wife's for around $100 each (Cycleops Fluid 2). And you can hit 6-700w sprints all day long (although I feel like I'm going to break my bike at that point). And I totally agree.. more than two hours gets painfully boring for me, no matter how much entertainment I can find.

Tyler

There's very unlikely you will run out of resistance on a good quality fluid trainer... I have CycleOps Fluid2 and can hit 1300W (used to be a sprinter) and there's still plenty more in the trainer.... I don't know what the max is for Fluid2, but Kurt Kinetic claims power band from 5-3000W for the RoadMachine...

If you're overpowering the trainer, then it might be something wrong with it...

thanks for all the posts made here by everybody. as i am typing this right now it is really smoggy outside due to pollution.
so for me trainer is a necessity

the one i have is Tacx Bushido smart trainer, it works via bluetooth . i usually connect to my iphone, with that i can increase watts which provides plenty of resistance.

doing some research and speaking to others , it seems that most if not all pro tri athletes favour the trainer. one of them stated that if you need to do a long ride and put the time in, its good to do 3 hours but with resistance.

during the week i use to do intervals based on watts, if it was a short session, it would be 10 minute intervals, base that on watts you can handle. for example 250 or 300 watts for each 10 minute set, making sure minimum rpm is 90. 3 sets including a warm up and warm down

however sometimes i will not base it on watts, when i want to mix it up a bit. for example have a look at this "changing gears work out" you can also do this in reverse which is much harder. what do you think ?



"Work on economy and efficiency while using gears you aren't used to. Changing gears changes muscle
recruitment. You should get comfortable in a wider range of gears so that you can be more efficient on race
day.
Maintain a heart rate of ~130hbpm throughout Main Set and 110-120hbpm throughout Second Set.
Workout
Set up: If you typically ride an aero tri bike, move the trainer seat back and lower the seat slightly to trigger
the proper muscles. Be prepared to use a combination of sitting and standing.
• Warm Up: 15’ in a lower gear, starting at a slower cadence and final 5’ at 90 rpms
•
• First Set: 8x30” with fast legs on a low gear; rpms at 98-110. Rest: 30” at lower cadence •
• Main Set: Choose 5 gears which you will continuously use throughout each “Cycle repetition”.
Gear 1 should feel easy, gear 5 should feel hard.
o 4 x the following Cycle (all in all 54’):
§ gear 1 : 1’ seated + 1’ standing
§ gear 2 : 1’ seated + 1’ standing
§ gear 3 : 1’ seated + 1’ standing
§ gear 4 : 1’ seated + 1’ standing
§ gear 5 : 1’ seated + 1’ standing
o Keep same cadence all the way through. Seated 85 to 95rpm; Standing 75 to 80rpm
o 1’ with rest on very easy gear, at the end of each Cycle
•
• Second Set: Up to the 2hr mark, at aerobic pace, feeling you keep a high cadence (but don’t look at
the count). Change up the position of your hands every few minutes. Spend some time in the aero"

Yes I did exactly that today . Left the gear in the middle and increases the wats up to 210. The power on the output was about ranging from 290 to 320 through the whole session . 3 hours in total , the toughest trainer session I've had so far , my heart rate averaged the highest also so far , avg hr was about 142

My take:

Riding outside is usually more enjoyable, and helps build bike handling skills as well as practicing your routines for hydration, nutrition, etc.

Trainer rides allow for more structure in a controlled environment. There are definite benefits to doing structured interval workouts that are targeted to your goals. Riding outside makes structured intervals extremely difficult - you get a steep hill right when you're supposed to be in a recovery interval. You get a stop light right in the middle of what's supposed to be a high sustained effort interval.

My solution is to use the trainer for structured workouts with specific goals, generally 60-90 minutes. For longer base building rides I try to go outdoors when I can.

Also as mentioned above by others, do check out TrainerRoad.com
Having a professional design your structured workouts and scaling them to your fitness level makes your training time much more productive. TrainerRoad is a very inexpensive and accessible way to do that.
You will build fitness much faster with TrainerRoad than just jumping on a trainer.