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Turbo time

Calling all turbo users.

Today I did my first turbo session in my new set up in my shed.

I found an hour at an average speed was enough with the help of my iPod.

How long is long enough and any tips to make it a more enjoyable session.

Comments

  • I find TV is a good one - then once your done reward yourself with a massive pizza and a beer.

    Spinervals are meant to be ok.... not used them myself.... in fact not been turbo'ing for some time. You'll find it is very boring indeed.
  • You did an hour!!! well done!!

    I've got mine set up in my garage, I use my lap top and watch dvd's.

    Try intervals, 3mins spinning 1 min all out (change the timing to your own level as you get fitter)

    try some of the techniques described in 220 this month. single leg pedaling to get a feel for correct pedaling.

    if you lasting an hour keep it up!! you'll be flying by spring!
  • I bought a turbo in October. It is very boring, but gets the job done of maintaining cycle fitness over the lovely winter. My strategy involves watching hour long TV series episodes such as The Wire, or The Sopranos. This way, I almost look forward to the hour, but not for the cycling!
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    come on people.... turbo's are magic.

    Get your backside on the turbo and hammer it. I was going that hard the other week I was sick

    Get some spinnervals or use Rick Kiddles training dvd's. Guarenteed you'll last longer than an hour.

    An hour is a good set time to stick to espec at night time when your just home from work but I'm working my way upwards on the turbo to help build leg strength.

    If I don't use Rick Kiddles dvd's then its front of the big telly watching watching some drudgenous scottish football game... trust me turbos are more fun than watching scottish football.
  • nivaghnivagh Posts: 595
    I tend to listen to music. I don't have a plug in my shed so no TV set up and I don't want to use my (work) laptop to watch a DVD because it will get sprayed with sweat. I'd need a perspex screen or something between me and it!
    Last two one hour sessions I have been listening to the album "Live Angle" by Hybrid. If you like your breaks and beats, check it out, it's awesome!
  • okennyokenny Posts: 231
    I left my turbo out in the rain on the balcony....it's been drying for a week now.....I hope it still works.

    anyone got a VR turbo?
    they any good?

    (in case it doesn't work anymore)
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    Can you believe Mr Cone? Faced with a winter of turbo on the horizon, he instead opts for Arizona, sometimes I just don't understand the coaches mind...
  • I;d have to support Conehead on that. I haven;t got a turbo, instead, I sit on a spin bike in the gym's spin studio, for anything up to 3 hours, no music, no air con, light low, and just stair at the blank white wall in front of me.

    3 hours is the limit, becuase by thenthe medication has worn off.
  • jees the longest i've done is 30minutes! by that point if i dont get off, i'll be stuck on there for days as wont have to strength to unclip my shaking legs lots of heavy metal helps or the prodigy! i'm not sure i could do it silent though, so triumphant and Mr C i take my hat off to you!
  • after an hour it's not my legs that hurt but my....ermm....'under carriage'....hopefully will have toughened up by spring!
  • wyno70wyno70 Posts: 189
    I've got some trainign DVD's and they do make the hour fly by. I find for me, that they also give more structure to my sessions so it isn't just spinning aimlessly watching the telly and not concentrating on a specific part of my cycling.

    Works for me and means I get three additional evening sessions in. I maybe swap one of these for a night ride one night a week but if the weather is real grim, or it's icy, it's nice to have the choice!
  • BritspinBritspin Posts: 1,655
    Arizona it is then.....oh hold on I have no turbo...will never get one....see those thrice weekly spin classes have their uses...last night with a big fat no show I happily(!) pedalled away for 30 mins & ran home...(ran there as well BTW)...jobs a good 'un.
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    I'm just in the final throes of getting a turbo. Currently all my off-road training is also done at the gym.

    I have to say that I find the all the tv's to be a massive distraction, as on the rare occasion that something interesting actually happens on the bloody idiot-box then I stop concentrating on my pedalling.

    If I've got a long session going on then I'll stick the headphones on and pedal my way through Guns 'n' Roses - "Appetite for Destruction" - and oldie but goodie. By the time the album finishes I'm settled in for the haul, so I then rip the earphones off and resort to Conehead's technique of fixing my eyesight on a spot on the wall and playing the mental movie of whatever bike-ride takes my fancy. For shorter sessions its just the mental movie.

    For those that live darn Sarf (Hampshire), my mental movie is usually the climb from Durley up to Owslebury - the highest village in Hampshire, apparently. I must confess that I am occasionally distracted by other gym goers, but hey... that happens now and then in races, too.

    I reckon the mental training is a really important part of the game, especially for the longer distances, and even more so for those of us who are crap. As CH says, there's no iPod or telly on the long bike or run. You're on your own, in a world of pain and you need to have practiced the mind-set that makes you resist the "What the HELL am I doing THIS for???" doubts.
  • I just do 30 minutes seated, 30 minutes standing, and repeat until I go mad. Or one of the PT's finds me using the spin studio on my own and kicks me out. Welcomed relief.
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    Ok guys, I agree to a point. I think turbo's have their place in maintain decent fitness levels over the winter. I use Rick Kiddles dvd's which is more like watching a guy cycle and you pedalling to his instruction. I don't use music when on the turbo as I struggle to maintain focus, I find I have better focus when concentrating on the training dvd's instruction.

    I'm also using the turbo for one leg pedal drills and for practising technique.

    I usually turbo in the garage where I can have less things to disturb me but I bring the turbo back indoors if its mega cold. Then its dvd time.
  • aoneil - do you wear shorts with a chamois/padding? have you got a comfy saddle - you can get the ones with a cut out bit to keep ease the pressure on your jewels!

    bopomfo - i can never even get through the whole of appetite for destruction - how do you guys do it? i think i need to do longer sessions if i'm going for middle distance next year
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