Stationary Trainer Hints

Stationary Trainer Hints

Use an Old Bike
Without the bike moving freely underneath you, enormous pressures are generated on the bicycle. The bike you use on the trainer gets wet with sweat and rusts or otherwise corrodes in time. The headset, with the bike always "going" straight ahead, becomes grooved. For these and many other good reasons, if you are a regular stationary trainer enthusiast, do not use an expensive bike. An old or used bike will do, just make sure the position set up is the same as your regular bike.

Gearing
Although almost any gear setup can be made to work, the type of cog setup that has worked best for most riders is a 12-13-14-15-16-¬17-18-20-24-27. The closely spaced high gears allow you to tune the hard efforts precisely. The large 27-cog allows you to work on spin and leg speed without muscle strength or aerobic capacity limiting the session.

Fans for Cooling
Fans help evaporate perspiration and help to prevent sweat dripping on your equipment. You will be able to work harder and longer with a fan. Get yourself a large office fan and point it right at yourself when training. This will at least give you some cooling effect but you'll still find you sweat more than you do when out training on the road. Because of this, you'll need to make some additional adjustments. If possible, train at a temperature lower than room temperature- open the window or train in the garage. Feel cold when you begin and let the effort warm you up.

Monitors: Cadence, Heart-Rate / Power
Specific workout plans demand a cadence computer, which allows you to tune your efforts precisely, see your progress, and record your improvement. A heart rate monitor and a power metre are also valuable. They give important feedback about aerobic and muscular work.

Control Trainer Settings
If you control the settings of your stationary trainer (tyre pressure, roller resistance, gearing) your cadence computer effectively becomes a power meter, reflecting your workload.

Keep Records
Record your workouts. Keeping track allows you follow your progress and plan subsequent workouts. It is motivating and instils confidence. If you have a HR monitor that records your cadence and speed then you can record and download your data from it for a complete record that you can use for future analysis.

Raise the Front of the Bicycle/Trainer
Trainers raise the back of the bicycle up. To keep the bike level, raise the front also, this eases pressure on the crotch and makes workouts more comfortable. Raising the front of the bicycle/trainer will also help you to train hill-climbing muscles.

Make the Trainer Stable
Make sure the bicycle is securely attached to the trainer. If your rear wheel has a skewer that does not fit perfectly securely in the trainer supports, replace it with one that does. Raising the front of the trainer to simulate climbing? Front wheels on telephone books are not very stable. Plain wood is marginal. Cutouts on blocks of wood or moulded plastic are better.

Drink More Fluid
Because you'll be sweating more, you'll also be dehydrating much more quickly. Always drink more during indoor training than you would out on the road, and make sure you're drinking a good carbohydrate/electrolyte drink to help replenish lost minerals and provide a good source of carbohydrate that you'll be using during training. Make sure you drink a good recovery drink following your warm down. If you've sweated a lot during training you'll need to drink a good electrolyte drink following training to re-hydrate!

A Training Mat Helps
You can actually buy training mats for indoor training to put under the bike to catch the sweat and dull the noise. Yoga mats are ideal.  

Get a Large Analogue Clock
The other thing you should get yourself is a large analogue clock with a second hand. Hang this on the wall right in front of you when you train. It will become invaluable when you're going really hard and you won't have to worry about reading the tiny digital stopwatch on your heart rate monitor.