There’s no question training indoors is the most effective way to train. Zero distractions mean you’re able to focus on specific skills and nail your intervals with precision. But, despite how effective indoor training may be, the transition that happens predominately before winter from outdoor to indoor training can be a challenge at times. To help make the adjustment easier, here are five solid tips for staying motivated to train indoors.
#1: Set goals, have a plan, review often.
Goals are critical. Before you get on your trainer to workout, your mindset is everything. If it’s absent of goal-oriented thoughts, you put yourself at a disadvantage. All serious cyclists and athletes know this.
When you think about what your goals are, you become inspired. But not only that, you become prepared. This is key. Getting mentally prepared is the toughest part of overcoming a lack of motivation. When your mindset is right, everything is easier to do.
Here’s something else that’s key. While it’s good to know the “why” part of training, knowing the “how” is even more important. Just because your goal might be to complete your first Ironman, that goal means nothing without a plan for achieving it.
This is one of the reasons structured training plans are so effective. The exact steps you must take to reach all your cycling goals are laid out in perfect order. This gives riders extreme clarity. Clarity is a powerful asset, as it helps to squash any lack of inspiration you could have during your training by keeping you laser focused on your goals.
#2: Reduce decision fatigue.
Decision fatigue is an unsuspecting reason athletes can suffer at times from a lack of motivation to train. It’s the widely studied idea that the act of making decisions, no matter how simple, weakens a person’s willpower. The more decisions you have to make throughout the day, the more at risk you are of making poor choices. Like say, skipping a workout or making the wrong kind of adjustments during it.
To reduce the effects decision fatigue can have during training, structure your life to conserve willpower. There are many ways to do this. Here are just two tips to take into consideration:
First, make commitments — not decisions. Saying you’re going to work out on your trainer tomorrow is a lot different than having your training schedule in your Google calendar, with notifications going off at 7:00am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Make things easy. Decide once the times you can commit yourself to working out. Doing this will improve training consistency and take up less of your mental energy each day.
Second, make tomorrow’s decisions today. What do you need to eat to feel good during your workout? What do you need to wear in order to recover afterwards? What tools or devices should you have on hand? All that goes into getting ready for your indoor workout, think through the day before.
#3: Create an inspiring and comfortable environment to ride.
The place you do your indoor workouts should be two things: inspiring and comfortable. You’ll spend several hours a week there so why not make your personal pain cave as awesome as it can be?
I’ve mentioned this before, but I prefer a dedicated, tidy, dimly lit area with a brightness that borders on mood lighting. That’s how I like things when I’m putting in my hours on the trainer. There are other athletes, like Justin Rossi for example, who find the opposite inspiring. Rossi prefers his trainer on the carpet, beside an open window and his two French Bulldogs close by.
The lesson here: Discover the setup that energizes you and create it.
Regarding the comfort factor of your indoor training environment, there’s really only one thing you need: a good fan. Place it at the base of your bike and aim it at your body, or put it front in center on its high setting and you’re good to go. If you want to take things up a notch, buy an appliance to control the ambient temperature of where you workout. In this case, a portable swamp cooler or air conditioner will do just the trick.
#4: Use entertainment to combat possible boredom.
Indoor training has long been typecast as boring. This is changing. Especially in the last several years as new tools have made it to market. Now, more than ever, your indoor riding experience is what you make it. This translates to boredom no longer being a strong excuse for dismissing indoor training.
Whatever entertainment you love, you can have it right there as you ride. Use this to your advantage as you work up the motivation to train. Think of your favorite show or movie. Then think about how good it would feel to watch it while getting a killer structured workout in. How? TrainerRoad’s one way. Our workout software allows you to use all your favorite entertainment platforms including Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, iTunes and more.
#5: Use your favorite devices to stay on track with your training.
Technology should help you achieve your training goals — not keep you from them. That said, if you want to invest in an indoor training software, consider your devices beforehand. Ask yourself, “What are the devices I use most often and do the training tools I want to invest in support them?”
It’s best if your indoor training software and workout videos have multi-device compatibility. This helps make your life a little easier and gives you a plan B if you ever need it. Life throws a lot of curveballs. Sometimes your daughter needs your laptop to do her homework assignment, even though it’s your schedule time to train. Sometimes said laptop can burn up in a big ball of smoke unexpectedly. When curveballs happen, it’s nice to have a no-fuss backup plan, like switching to another device, to help keep you motivated and your training on track.
Conclusion
You already know the reasons indoor training is more effective than outdoor training. Hopefully today’s post shined some light on why it doesn’t have to be viewed as more challenging.
Riders, what are your tips for staying motivated to train indoors? Feel free to share them with me in the comment section below.
A version of this post originally appeared on Triathlete.com.
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For me as a father of three, I see indoor training as a way to get a great workout without leaving the house. I have a very tolerant wife, but leaving her with the kids just because I want to train just isn’t fair. So when I discovered TrainerRoad and learned that I could get an even better workout than just riding alone outside, it was a no brainer…
Plus I get to have some alone time with the TV in the basement without having to watch Disney Channel or Nicelodien ?
I’m completely with you, Anders. I can get done indoors what takes almost twice that amount of time outdoors. And the “alone time” with a good movie or some new music isn’t bad either. 😉
I print out my TR training plan and keep a paper copy next to my trainer. As I complete the workouts I colour over them with a highlighter. I find this ritual highly motivating especially as the colour creeps down the sheet. It shows me what I’ve accomplished and I get little mental self-kudos (the best kind).
Great approach, Tom! I don’t want to let any ‘cats out of bags’, but your excellent tracking method is very much in line with some hugely useful bells & whistles we’ll be adding in the future.
Appreciate this article and love Trainer Road!! I’m 6 months out from the start of a 3 race series totaling (300 miles).
Can you give me an idea of what my weekly TSS score should be? I’d like to split this up into two 3 month time periods. I’m guessing higher isn’t always better when it comes to TSS because recovery has to be taken into consideration. Also, it should be consistent with base (TSS= target?) build (TSS= target?) Strength/endurance/Vo2 Max (TSS= target?) Currently, I’m over 4 watts per Kilo when it comes to FTP. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated…..thank you!
Hey Dan,
Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer on this one as differences in background, aptitudes, rates of recovery, etc. can vastly influence your starting TSS level, your ramp rate and your breaking point. And then there’s the issue of different types of stress yielding similar TSS values but being nowhere near similar in their physiological toll, e.g. 100 TSS of base mileage vs 100 TSS of sprint repeats – very different types of “damage”.
The best advice I can offer is to diligently monitor your training and track your TSS increases over the course of each phase of training, i.e. base, build, specialty; and see to it that your FTP is on the rise nearly the entire time except for recovery weeks where you’re basically on the rebound.
Over time, and by ‘time’ I mean consecutive years of training, you’ll get a better handle on what keeps the improvements coming, what stalls your progress and what breaks you down too far and possibly sets your training back a little (or a lot).
This process of “dose & measure” is a necessary part of pushing your capabilities toward their fullest extents, approaching your own physiological & psychological potential, and there are no shortcuts or TSS values that hold true across the board, I’m sad to say.
But if you’re new to TrainerRoad, I recommend starting with Sweet Spot Base I (volume option to be determined by you based on all the things I listed in the first paragraph). Where you go from there depends largely on the demands of your event, e.g. rolling hills, sustained climbs, dirt/road, gravel/cobble sections, drafting, etc.
I hope this is useful, Dan!
My greatest motivation is seeing my name at the top of the leaderboard after results are in at one of the Masters’ Time Trials or being first over the finish line in a crit or road race. I’m motivated throughout the winter by power numbers: Seeing my power increase in small intervals each month. This only happens with daily successful training, I.e.: completed intervals, no matter how shabby. Each day must have proscribed training completed since that day can never return. It’s best done first thing.
So true Christopher! Well said.