How to stay injury-free on the trainer this winter

For most of us, it’s indoor trainer time. With indoor training apps like Zwift, Rouvy and MyWhoosh, riding inside has gone from miserable to fun. Or at least, bearable. You don’t have to stare at the wall anymore counting the minutes (seconds) hating yourself. However, given that you won’t be moving around quite the same as indoors, you still should be careful to stay healthy and happy. Molly Hurford, coach and author (check out her latest book, “The Strong Girl,”  here!) has some tips for your time spent riding indoors.

Stand up!

The trainer makes it really easy to keep your butt in place on the saddle for hours at a time, and this is a recipe for saddle sores, especially if you don’t have a great ventilation setup with fans and open windows, she says.

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“If you know you tend to stay firmly planted on the saddle, set a timer—I like the free interval timer app—to beep every few minutes to remind you to get up for a few pedal strokes,” Hurford advises. “This will give your nether regions some needed blood flow, plus shift you just enough so when you sit back down, you’re not on the exact same tissue.”

Wear your bibs the right away

Some people have the tendency to leave their bib straps hanging down when they ride the trainer. Hurford says, that’s no bueno.

“If you wear bib shorts, put the straps on! It’s tempting to let them hang when you ride inside, but that can lead to the chamois moving a little bit too much and create more friction,” she says.

Bike fit indoors is not the same as outdoors

If you’re riding several days a week or doing longer rides inside, you may want to adapt your bike so you don’t end up injured.

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“Be aware that your bike fit may need to be tweaked,” Hurford says. “What works outside with dynamic movements may not feel great on the trainer, so be prepared to make small adjustments to your seat height and saddle fore/aft position if things aren’t feeling great.”

Start off slow

Although it’s easy to jump into some long and hard rides once you begin your training for the next year, be careful.

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“Ease in. If you took an off-season away from the bike, don’t jump right into a 3 hour sufferfest on the trainer,” she says. “Start with a shorter ride to make sure your setup is working, and gradually build back up.”