So most all of my bike workouts are on the trainer. Right now where I train is Hot!. I have good fans but just blowing hot air on me. It helps but it’s still hot.
I power through the workouts but of course they are a lot harder than when its 70 degrees.
My question is am I gaining anything by doing these workouts in this environment? Or is it having a negative effect? They sure are a heck of a lot harder to get through when it’s 90 degrees.
It’s pretty hot and humid here too (30s C / 80-90s F). I have double fans on max and began doing active cooling with frozen washcloths and ice bottles which was helpful. But, yeah, heat can be brutal.
If nothing else I’d guess you’re gaining mental fortitude by completing workouts in that sort of environment. Depending on your goals/events, heat training might also be quite useful. Can’t recall episode #s right now but they’ve definitely mentioned heat adaptation and training in heat on the podcast a few times…
1 Like
I ask myself this all summer. Better to do something than nothing. AC is on to try and have the cave cooler for tomorrow’s 5am.
Ultimately, watts are watts. The more the better.
Notwithstanding the higher RPE, your potential gains are pinned to the power you’re able to deliver in the workout. If the heat forces you to put out fewer watts, then your potential gains will decrease.
There’s benefit in the form of heat adaptation, but only if that’s specifically what you’re after.
1 Like
That makes sense, I still do the workouts but for instance. I just did Tinker +5. A threshold workout. My average heart rate was 138 with a max of 164. 85 degrees high humidity.
In April I did the same workout at 65 degrees with an average hr of 114 and a max of 142.
Did the heat turn Tinker +5 into a V02 max workout that was not scheduled into my plan?
that’s why we measure zones with power instead of HR. HR depends on so many factors, so it is pretty unreliable for intervall workouts.
1 Like