As the old saying goes, a goal without a plan is just a wish. If you’re looking at the summer ahead with a cycling event or fitness goal in mind, then you’ll need a plan to help you hit those goals. That plan will likely focus predominantly on your fitness, and there’s no more efficient way to build fitness on the bike than with indoor cycling.
A great indoor cycling setup begins with one of the best smart trainers or a smart exercise bike, these can connect with accompanying apps such as Zwift and Rouvy, and together they align the on-screen gameplay with your pedalling output and, more recently, steering. There’s an endless array of entertainment to keep you engaged; completing routes, joining virtual group rides, racing against real people from around the world, and even completing challenges to earn badges.
But, of course, preparing for an event isn’t limited to growing your fitness. There’s a lot more that goes into it; course recons, fuelling and hydration strategies, pacing plans, and race tactics are just a few. It doesn’t matter if your event is a road, gravel or mountain bike event, there are various ways that indoor cycling can help.
We’re not here to say that it’s the only tool you need. It won’t train your bike handling skills or your ability to ride comfortably in a large peloton for example, but there are plenty of ways you can use it to your advantage. Indoor cycling should be seen as one part of the overall plan, and here are eight reasons why.
1. Accurate training
Smart turbo trainers and smart bikes are able to measure your power – the number of watts you push through the pedals – dozens of times every revolution. This allows you to train much more intelligently, with the help of apps designed to help you reach your goals.
Many of the best indoor cycling apps include training plans and programs for you to follow. These allow you to measure your fitness through a series of tests, build it through prescribed workouts, and track progress over time with in-depth analytics tools.
These fitness tests usually come in the form of an FTP test or ramp test, and once completed, they calculate your power zones, which the app then uses to create a tailored plan and help you train the aspects of your power curve necessary for your goal event, from building your endurance for long-distance events to refining your high-effort ‘VO2 Max’ and ‘anaerobic’ ability for races. You can even tell some apps what your goal event is, and it…
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