If you have bought a trainer in winters past and found that it just gathers dust and you can not possably force yourself to get on it and ride, allow me to offer a few options that may just have you riding all winter on a regular basis and coming into the spring stronger than ever.
If you live in the Indianapolis area here are 4 ways to make the most of your off season!
#1 you can stop by Performance Bicycle in Castleton 3 days a weekj (mon, tues and saturday) for a free Cure Chasers cycling spin on your own bike and trainer class. You can find more information about this either at CureChasersCycling.org or at the Indianapolis Beginner and Intermediate Cycling Meetup group. We have between 10 and 30 people who ride together on a free workout lead by USA cycling certified coaches. They are a lot of fun and not getting bored is the key to success with an indoor trainer.
#2 you can join a Computrainer class. I personally have a studio, but I am not the only game in town as Shea Rankin has the cycling studio in Carmel and Marion College also offers this type of training with their power base classes. This type of training is not just for racers but is for anyone who wants a quantitative way to take their cycling to the next level both in and out of season! If you want more information feel free to contact me either through this blog or visit my website schwabfitness.com to see the advantages that this type of training offers.
#3 if you have some cycling friends and a little bit of indoor space (a lot of people will put a heater in their garage) set up some regular sessions with 3 or 4 friends and you can get some great workouts while socializing with your cycling besties! One twist on this is to have videos that you ride along with to give some structure to your workouts. A couple of good suggeastions are http://www.thesufferfest.com and spinervals. One way to keep it interesting is to take turns providing the videos.
#4 you can always join a healthclub and do spin classes, the downside to this is particularly at the first of the new year arriving to class and finding no bikes available. The bikes are all different so your level of rexistance will vary from class to class. So to me this is a last resort. I like having people get used to the controls on their own bike, having the same fit and resistance as you go through your workouts is a plus as well. Another alternative in Indianapolis is nebo Ridge Bike shop in Carmel as they off classes on kurt kinetic trainers if you don't want to jump in with your own trainer and want to kick it up a notch over the Y or LA fitness spin classes.
Remember that keeping in the saddle during the winter is going to make your next season and your overall fitness much more consistent, along with keeping your general feeling of health and well being at it's peak!
Coming up next, some ways to get outdoors during the cold winter days!
Keep on pedaling!
