Daylight Savings Time is almost here. The days are getting colder, the roads wet or icy, and the trails are getting impassable- the perfect time to fire up your indoor trainer and work on building endurance and power for next season!
To keep you from getting bored on the trainer this season, here are a few ways to vary your workouts to keep motivation high, and boredom low.
Vary the Length of your rides.
While long rides are an excellent way to burn off some of the extra calories we all find during the holidays, they can get tedious after a while. If you find yourself zoning out after an hour or two on the trainer, try shorter interval-style workouts. concentrating on your heart rate can be a great way to keep you engaged, and build great fitness.
Switch up your distractions.
If you tend to watch a lot more TV over the winter, then you might as well use that time to spin your legs out as well. For a really fulfilling indoor experience, however, consider switching your distractions, limiting them, or cutting them out altogether in the case of hard interval rides. If your heart rate is above 80%, you’re not going to be paying attention to much else anyway!
Join a spin class.
Join a spin class.Your local Live to Play Sports dealer will either be running a bring-your-own-trainer spin class this winter, or they’ll know someone who does. Riding in a group setting is as entertaining and rewarding indoors as it is outdoors, and it’s a great way to make new friends!
Try Riding on Rollers.
If you’ve never ridden rollers before, give it a try! It’ll take you a little while to get completely comfortable, but it’s a better full-body workout, and it’ll certainly keep your mind engaged with the experience in a way that a stationary trainer can’t do. For the uninitiated, here’s a quick video on how to get up to speed with riding rollers.
We hope these tips prove useful in keeping you motivated to ride all winter long. You’ll thank yourself for the effort next spring, when you return to the roads and trails faster than ever!
