Indoor bike workouts

after it sitting in my basement unused for 3 years now, I finally set up my road bike on my Wahoo Kickr direct drive trainer. Going to load Zwift on my iPhone and stream to the TV in the basement. Returning from injury all I would do is start with 45 minutes of cycling at an effort that gets the heart rate up initially. From what I've read the workouts serious cyclists do are really not that different from runners - 5 x 5 minute effort at 90% of max heart rate with warmup and warm down. Steady state effort of say 40 to 60 minutes replicating a tempo run on the road at either your HR for the half marathon. The interval duration can be a little bit longer because it probably takes a little longer for your HR to climb and your body can handle the effort better. The volume in terms of hours/week can be higher when cycling but it doesn't need to be if fitness is your goal

Going to follow this thread to see what suggestions others with more experience have to offer

At the ripe old age of 59, I'm pretty much done with running due to chronic injuries including some serious tendon ruptures and now OA (28 yrs of running). So, it's back to bodybuilding, which I competed in for 10 years after college before transitioning to distance running.

So, my only form of cardio is the 4×4 Interval training which can used on the treadmill, Elliptical or stationary/spin bikes. I use the standard spin bikes that the gym uses for the spin classes. This HIIT program works for me if I follow the protocol 100% - pushing the effort to 95% max HR. I do it 3 times a week and it'll kick my butt if I do it hard enough.

https://youtu.be/1XDsRNeVynk

I met a few runners from time to time at the gym using the spin bikes. Some were going easy due to being in rehab protocol for an injury. A few others were using the bike for cross training or as a substitute for a bad weather day (they didn't want to use the treadmill instead looking at something non-weightbearing). Most of these guys & gals were doing some variation of HIIT for their workout.

How much time does it take to adapt to a bike before you can even hit higher heart rates? I can go an hour before I hit my easy run HR, and my quads are still sore the next day. I like the zero impact cross training, but I don't know how to adapt it to interval workouts.

go to YouTube and look up CTXC or GCN videos. they have great interval workouts of all lengths that'll keep you fit. another great session is 3x(13x(30 seconds MAX effort, 15 sec recovery)). 3 minutes easy between sets, this will be hard and makes the time pass quickly

You can make it closer to running by standing up on the pedals for the hard portions. This has got good results in short term studies. One workout is to pyramid from 30s to 60s hard efforts (very high resistance, standing up, 80-90 rpm) and back down with 30s spinning after each effort (lower resistance, sitting, 80-90 rpm) then 60s recovery. I noticed a difference after doing it just a couple of times. Similar kind of benefit to running hills.

Yeah I’ve done the 3x 13 30secs hard 15 easy, pretty killer but I loved it. Just wonder if it’s healthy to do that often (?)

I should say I’m using an assault bike, which is a little different

You can do pretty similar workouts on the bike to running in terms of minutes.

Short stuff like :15 or :30 all-out. VO2 effort- 2:00/3:00/4:00/5:00. Threshold stuff 10:00-20:00. Long tempos up to an hour or more total time (straight or broken).

I would stick to 2-3 workouts/week. Look around, some pros include some form of quality daily. But they're also on the bike for 3-5 hours and the time spent above Z2/3 is usually pretty low.

here are some classics:

2x20 minutes at FTP W/10:00 easy spin rest

4-6x4:00 at VO2 W/3:00 easy spin rest

3x10 minute surge from Z3 to FTP with 3:00 Rest

3x 6x40/20 with 6:00 between blocks

You may find that your max cycling heart rate is different than your max for running. Mine is 10 to 15 lower. Sore legs? Maybe you’re pushing too hard at too low an rpm and need to spin faster but push less hard?

I don't think he is pushing too much power at a relatively low cadence. He is probably simply not adapted to this different type of force production. Unless he is cranking out huge wattages on 30 rpm of course.

I would suggest training 4 to max 5 times per week on the bike, even though you think you could go one more day. The training stimulus is different and going out too often or too hard will leave you burnt out after a few weeks. Nothing new for any endurance athlete.

Your maximum heart rate on the bike is usually around 10-15 bpm lower than it is while running because the excessive load of the entire bodyweight is missing each pedal stroke. So keep that in mind.

If you haven't already done so, install a fan in front of you to simulate the draft you'd experience outside. It will help your body cool itself and thereby reduce your heart rate and metabolic exertion.

Take in about 500ml of fluid per hour ridden and if you are going over 1h make sure to refuel with some carbohydrates. This is especially important when going through a workout or riding significantly longer than 1,5h. Or else - well you are going to bonk pretty bad.

For the workouts themselves:

Have 2-3 easier rides, which should feel fine all the way through (2-3/10 on the pain scale). You will think you can go harder, but you have to resist doing so. The aerobic stimulus is already there and going out harder will only leave your legs tired.

On one of those rides you might implement a few surges every 6-8 minutes. Not going full gas on those, but increase cadence and power to at least FTP.

For the remaining workouts I'd suggest one being 3x(7-12)x30/15. The 30'' being pretty hard and the 15'' really easy. And the other one a classic 4x4'/5', which can be done at just slightly above your FTP. Again no need of killing yourself. It is better to start conservatively and progress throughout the sets instead of going to the well in the first set and then feeling drained for the remainder of the workout.

Of course there can be a lot of variation to those workouts, but for the beginning you should do just fine with those.

If you have any more questions or criticism - feel free to ask and discuss.

Thanks for the explanation. I've been doing 80-90 rpm, but I don't have a way to measure power, so I just try to adjust the resistance by feel. It helps to know my heart rate will be around 15 bps lower than when running.

Lots of good advice already given. Here's some other tips for you:

* Put a fan in front of you to cool you.

* Keep a towel handy to wipe sweat from you (even with the fan...you'll still need it). You can drape it over the handlebars (or put it on a stool next to you).

* Paper towels (on a stool next to you) to blow your nose & spit into. (Think about how often you snot rocket & spit during a run.)

* Water bottle (on the stool next to you) or in water bottle cage.

* Put bike in front of the television to help kill him as you spin.

* Put remote control (on the stool next to you).

* Wear bicycle shorts (if you don't already wear them)

* Wear bicycle shoes & clipless pedals (if you don't already wear them).

--Most of your rides will be just like a regular run. So, spin on the bike for 45-60 minutes, keeping your heart rate at an aerobic level.

--For workouts, after a proper warm-up, I like to use the television commercials in two different ways.

1.) Ride the entire commerical break at a hard aerobic pace (think tempo run effort or CV effort) and use the actual television program for recovery or back to aerobic pace. Next commerical break, whenever it randomly appears next becomes the next "hard bout." With warm-up & cool down, & when the commercials appear, in an hour ride, you'll hit 5-6 hard aerobic intervals.

2.) Ride each individual commercial (:30 commercial) as hard as you can (think 200 or 400 effort), usually standing-up on the pedals--hard effort. The next commercial is rest back sitting down on the saddle (:30 commercial). Up on the pedals for the next commercial. This is sorta like a short Fartlek (but you'll do a bunch of them). So, this workout is probably 5 X :30 on/:30 off with 10 minute recovery between. But, you'll end-up doing 3-4 X (5 X :30 on/:30 off) in 45 minutes because it's a hard workout.

Nice thing about both of these workouts is they appear during the boring commercials & you still get to watch your program!

Don't forget to cool down too.

Hope this helps.

I wouldn’t say 15 is a rule of thumb. Mine is closer to 7.

I’ve been biking about 10 hours a week for the last couple months.

Lots of sweet spot at around 90% threshold with one Vo2 max plus tempo workout tossed in or a 30/30 workout.