{"id":8099,"date":"2016-06-28T08:30:18","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T15:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/?p=8099"},"modified":"2016-06-27T08:45:37","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T15:45:37","slug":"wahoos-top-10-reasons-an-indoor-trainer-is-essential-year-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/2016\/06\/wahoos-top-10-reasons-an-indoor-trainer-is-essential-year-round\/","title":{"rendered":"WAHOO’S TOP 10 REASONS AN INDOOR TRAINER IS ESSENTIAL YEAR ROUND"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wahoo<\/a><\/p>\n

From the Wahoo Blog<\/a>, by Cory Bruno and Jim Rutberg, CTS Coach and co-author \u201cThe Time-Crunched Cyclist\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to change your mindset about indoor trainers. For too long they have been relegated to the position of \u201cThe Alternative\u201d. If it\u2019s too cold or snowy outside, you can ride the indoor trainer as an alternative. However, in the pursuit of your fitness and performance goals \u2013 regardless of the weather or road\/trail conditions \u2013 an indoor trainer is an essential year round training tool. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

1) Indoor Trainers Maximize Limited Training Time<\/h2>\n

When you have limited training time, it\u2019s important that you take advantage of every minute. Let\u2019s say you have an hour. To ride outdoors you have to make sure you have all your gear, figure out what route you\u2019re going to use, dress for the weather, etc. And once you\u2019re out there, you might spend 10 or more minutes just sitting still at stop lights. Sometimes it\u2019s like television: a 60-minute show is actually more like 44 minutes of content. Over days and weeks this adds up to huge chunks of wasted training time that could have been used to improve your fitness had you rode uninterrupted on a trainer.<\/p>\n

2) Trainers Allow for Highly-Targeted and Specific Intervals<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s nothing worse than having your 20-minute lactate threshold effort interrupted because you misjudged how long you had before you hit a stop light. When you have intervals that require very specific work and recovery time periods it can be difficult to find an uninterrupted road long enough or with just the right grade. Trainers eliminate the need for the perfect road and ensure you can focus your intervals without distraction every time. And when you want a less structured ride you can control your smart trainer with the\u00a0Wahoo Fitness app<\/a>\u00a0or a connected device and ride your favorite route.<\/p>\n

3) Trainers Are an Effective Way to Warm-Up at Races<\/h2>\n

The pre-race warm-up is an essential part of a successful race and smart athletes \u2013 from local Cat 3\u2019s to UCI Pro Tour riders \u2013 develop warm-up routines they know will work for them every time. You can use a standard trainer, or a smart trainer will take your warm up to the next level. If you have access to electrical power you can use your smart trainer and the Wahoo Fitness app in Level, Erg, Sim, or Resistance mode. With the\u00a0ELEMNT<\/a>\u00a0you can even control your\u00a0KICKR<\/a>\u00a0and run through a warmup you have programmed into the device. No matter where a race takes place, trainers allow athletes to run through their warm-up without worrying about riding roads in a new city or getting a flat tire minutes before your start.<\/p>\n

4) Post-Workout and Post-Race Cool Downs Improve Recovery<\/h2>\n

When you want to train or race effectively day after day it is important to pay attention to post-workout recovery. After completing hard efforts in training or competitions, you want to spend 10-15 minutes spinning steadily to cool down. Even if you can\u2019t complete this at the race site, a short recovery spin in the evening after you drive home will be helpful, too.<\/p>\n

5) Smart Trainers Can Simulate the Exact Course of Your Race<\/h2>\n

Smart trainers have changed the game when it comes to race specific training. You can now upload racecourse .GPX files and ride the course using your smart trainer. By examining the demands of the course you or your coach can create custom workouts to match the efforts you\u2019ll experience on race day. Now, even if your race is 500 miles away in another city you can do hill repeats on the course\u2019s final climb and know exactly what to expect on race day.<\/p>\n

6) You\u2019re Not Limited By the Hours of Sunlight in a Day<\/h2>\n

If the only time you have to train is early in the morning before dawn or after work when the sun\u2019s already gone down you could strap on a bunch of lights and go dodge hidden potholes, but it\u2019s not likely to be a great workout. Instead, you could stay safe and make your life easier by completing a solid training session indoors.<\/p>\n

7) You Can Avoid the Energy-Sapping Heat<\/h2>\n

Just as you sometimes ride the trainer in the winter to stay warmer when it\u2019s cold, it can be just as important to ride indoors when the summer sun is baking the ground outside. Power output is diminished when your core temperature is elevated, which is all but inevitable on\u00a0hot summer days<\/a>. When you have specific, high-power training to perform and can only do it during the hottest part of the day, you\u2019ll often achieve better results doing those workouts indoors.<\/p>\n

8) Great for Cadence Work<\/h2>\n

Indoor trainer workouts are great for developing a fluid pedal stroke. During high-cadence, low-resistance intervals, any roughness in your pedal stroke will quickly become apparent as your hips rock and you bounce on the saddle. Trainers can also be an effective and safe way to work on isolated leg training without worry about dangling your leg and possibly swerving out on the open road.<\/p>\n

9) Connect to Apps to Compete and Share with Friends<\/h2>\n

Working out with others can help keep you accountable to your training plan and even motivate you to push your limits further during workouts. With a smart trainer, you can now connect with apps like\u00a0Zwift<\/a>\u00a0to ride and ride with your friends. And when you\u2019re done, you can automatically upload your ride to\u00a0Strava<\/a>! This fully interactive, connected trainer experience has led some of our athletes, especially athletes in congested urban areas, to prefer indoor training.<\/p>\n

10) There are No Distracted or Angry Drivers Indoors<\/h2>\n

You have a family you love and a career you have worked hard to build. None of that matters to the texting teen in an SUV, the drunk office manager heading back to the cubicle farm, or the random angry guy who seethes every time he sees a cyclist on his precious road. For many cyclists, training indoors is an effective way to manage and minimize risk. A lot of pro triathletes train indoors because they can stay in an aero position safely and maintain specific power intensities targeted to their events.<\/p>\n

Jim Rutberg is a Pro Coach for CTS and co-author of several books on training and nutrition, including \u201cThe Time-Crunched Cyclist, 2nd Ed.\u201d and \u201cThe Time-Crunched Triathlete\u201d. Cory Bruno is a competitive cyclist and content specialist for CTS. For information on personal coaching, training camps, and Endurance Bucket List events, visit<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\/\/trainright.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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From the Wahoo Blog, by Cory Bruno and Jim Rutberg, CTS Coach and co-author \u201cThe Time-Crunched Cyclist\u201d It\u2019s time to change your mindset about indoor trainers. For too long they have been relegated to the position of \u201cThe Alternative\u201d. If…..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[279],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8099"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8099"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8103,"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8099\/revisions\/8103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livetoplaysports.com\/news-press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}