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A coach's thoughtful ponderings about trainer usage

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A coach's thoughtful ponderings about trainer usage

Old 12-17-19, 10:41 AM
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A coach's thoughtful ponderings about trainer usage

I read this short article about the effective usage of trainers and liked it well enough to post it. Here ya go:
LINK

Last edited by Clipped_in; 12-19-19 at 11:51 AM.
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Old 12-17-19, 10:56 AM
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IMO there’s nothing new or controversial in this article. But it’s good nonetheless.
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Old 12-17-19, 10:57 AM
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thanks, i got some benefit from this as well.
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Old 12-17-19, 11:25 AM
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Did my first SST workout yesterday in the cycle gym that I have access to (Stages cycles w/powermeters). Gonna do that 3 times a week, while still getting outside as much as possible. Should make for a good balance and hopefully build some speed/strength over the winter.
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Old 12-17-19, 12:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Clipped_in
I read this short article about the effective usage of trainers and liked it well enough to post it. Here ya go:
Link
The most disturbing thing about that is the photo showing the foundation for that wall.
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Old 12-17-19, 12:33 PM
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Very reasonable. Shockingly so. And it makes feel better about not shelling out big bucks for a smart trainer if I was just going to have to put it on a dumb setting anyway.

Last edited by caloso; 12-17-19 at 12:52 PM.
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Old 12-17-19, 02:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Clipped_in
I read this short article about the effective usage of trainers and liked it well enough to post it. Here ya go:
Link
Is your name Jesse? You might want to consider trimming the URLs you receive in your email before posting them, going forward.

Good article, though, thanks for sharing it.
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Old 12-17-19, 02:30 PM
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I would be very surprised if the decision whether to use erg mode or not had any significant effect on one's fitness.
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Old 12-17-19, 04:13 PM
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Originally Posted by OBoile
I would be very surprised if the decision whether to use erg mode or not had any significant effect on one's fitness.
It might have an effect on your knees.
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Old 12-17-19, 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by caloso
It might have an effect on your knees.
Not really, unless you have a habit of slowing your cadence to 50 and lower. It isn't any different than being in the wrong gear on a hill. But that is the WRONG gear, not the way you want to ride. Same with ERG.
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Old 12-17-19, 07:25 PM
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My wife was just given an old CompuTrainer and she loves it. Finally, she can ride with power, whoo whoo. However it's not connected to any device, so she can't record TSS, too bad, but oh well, she still records hrTSS. She only uses it in erg mode. It has made a difference for her, being able to dial in just the right power for steady-state or intervals. Very useful. She keeps it spinning at around 90 cadence and 16 mph and just hits the buttons for resistance. So simple. I admit to giving her workouts based on her FTP measured on the trainer. She likes that, so it's all good.

Rather than virtual training, we get outside on the tandem year-round and do some damage..
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Old 12-17-19, 07:34 PM
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I stick to rollers. A challenge to keep on board, and really feels good to spin smoothly.
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Old 12-17-19, 10:48 PM
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Yeah, I just use my resistance rollers for all inside riding. I gotta say that they've more useful to me now that I have a Powertap hub on my single. There's enough resistance that I can do anything I want on them. Don't need an erg mode to hold the power steady, nope. I'm only bored during cool-down. I do have to pay attention, which is good. A friend once walked in during a roller session. I looked up, said Hi, and was on the floor. Just got little pedal cut on my calf.
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Old 12-18-19, 01:25 AM
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I disagree on erg mode. Unless you are basically going to failure you are not going to go in to "death spiral". It helps to keep you in right zone. Personally I like erg mode. I think it makes me do work outs more consistently and higher quality.

Also you can drive zwift or whatever with your PM, and not trainer PM. So you get same numbers inside or outside. That being said it helps if your PM supports bluetooth. ANT+ is kind of finicky. Specially for short intervals. Although it could be just my environment is super noisy.
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Old 12-18-19, 08:16 AM
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I'm an ERG mode junky and have used it to good effect for about 3 years. It keeps me honest, and with an 8 speed road bike the thing I hated about training previously was how tough it was to dial in a good power/cadence combo. With ERG I can just keep a steady cadence and my Hammer keeps me on power. It's not without its downside though, I think mentally it's tougher for me to do any steady intervals outside on more rolling terrain because of the mental focus it takes to stay in the zone and shifting. But that might just be a me problem, since it was tough before I got the smart trainer!
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Old 12-20-19, 02:07 PM
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I hate erg mode as it "feels" really unnatural, but I like resistance mode or simply climbing up one of the mountains. It feels easier to self-select a good cadence than in erg mode, which always feels like it's trying to get me to slow cadence down.
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Old 12-20-19, 04:12 PM
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I like erg mode for intervals that are in the sweet spot range or lower. For higher short intensity stuff, I feel like erg mode can restrict your potential.
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Old 12-21-19, 03:05 AM
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Originally Posted by colnago62
I like erg mode for intervals that are in the sweet spot range or lower. For higher short intensity stuff, I feel like erg mode can restrict your potential.
The Sufferfest tells you when to not use ERG mode. Yes, any type of sprinting workout needs to have the sprints free form. Also, when I've done group rides in Zwift with sprints, they are frequently set up so that ERG mode is turned off for that interval, although it sometimes doesn't work. And any FTP tests should be done without ERG mode.

I go back and forth between structured workouts in ERG mode and free form riding. There's a place for both.
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Old 12-21-19, 07:40 AM
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I like erg for a couple of canned workouts a week. It allows me to ignore power and concentrate on cadence and I think it’s good for working on those parts of the power-cadence-duration space that I might otherwise tend to avoid because they’re uncomfortable.
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Old 12-21-19, 08:27 PM
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One issue I never see addressed in these kind of articles is motivation. You can get a wonderful workout in all kinds of ways, but if it doesn't incorporate some degree of fun, you're a lot less likely to continue it. I know some people who just love going to a gym and doing a spin class, but that's got very little appeal to me, and if that kind of thing was what cycling was all about, i'd find a different hobby.
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Old 12-22-19, 12:21 AM
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Originally Posted by MoAlpha
I like erg for a couple of canned workouts a week. It allows me to ignore power and concentrate on cadence and I think it’s good for working on those parts of the power-cadence-duration space that I might otherwise tend to avoid because they’re uncomfortable.
I will do sweet spot intervals with my track bike. Erg mode allows me to not have to change gears and like you, just focus on cadence.
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Old 12-22-19, 07:16 AM
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Originally Posted by StephenH
One issue I never see addressed in these kind of articles is motivation. You can get a wonderful workout in all kinds of ways, but if it doesn't incorporate some degree of fun, you're a lot less likely to continue it. I know some people who just love going to a gym and doing a spin class, but that's got very little appeal to me, and if that kind of thing was what cycling was all about, i'd find a different hobby.
I will direct your attention to the Slowtwitch triathlon forums. Where people only train indoors period, then go do one outdoors race per year. Some even run indoors all year. Zero outdoors. Some of them not even with the visual stimulation of Zwift.

There have been a few confusing and sad forum topics about that over there.

I get living crap places or being afraid, but take up another hobby if you’re cutting the off all the good parts. Be happier.
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Old 12-22-19, 07:32 AM
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Originally Posted by burnthesheep
I will direct your attention to the Slowtwitch triathlon forums. Where people only train indoors period, then go do one outdoors race per year. Some even run indoors all year. Zero outdoors. Some of them not even with the visual stimulation of Zwift.

There have been a few confusing and sad forum topics about that over there.

I get living crap places or being afraid, but take up another hobby if you’re cutting the off all the good parts. Be happier.
Several years back, I was down at Galveston Island. It was in the 70's, a beautiful day, getting close to sunset. I was walking along the seawall, with ocean breezes blowing in. All in all, just a wonderful day to be out. Then I walked past a gym, and up on the 2nd floor of the gym, people were walking on treadmills. It boggles my mind, but to each their own.
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Old 12-22-19, 08:01 AM
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