If you are cycling enthusiast, you probably don’t like winter. What is so good about not being able to take your bike and ride through the woods anyway? Enter the bike trainers. Something that helps you do what you love regardless of the weather. It is not the same as riding outside, but it is better than idling in your sweatpants, taking uncountable walks to and from the fridge, right?
Trainers are a perfect alternative to riding—if you have a plan. Honestly, regardless of how much you want to train, you can only have so much discipline. You are likely to get distracted or very tired fighting the resistance of the bike trainer. You need a bike trainer workout that will keep you focused, engaged and excited about what you are doing.
This article will give you various trainer workouts to keep you busy throughout winter. They will help you stay in shape, build strength, sweat and more importantly, save you from being bored to death. You do not have to keep doing the same exercise over and over; alternate them to make it more enjoyable.
For these workouts, you’ll obviously need a bike trainer. Consider these 15 best bike trainer reviews, if you still need to get one.
Key Takeaways
- With bike trainers, you can continue to ride your bike indoors when the weather outside is not too inviting.
- Having a training plan with different workouts prevents you from getting distracted and your indoor sessions from getting boring.
- This article gives you a bunch of bike trainer workouts to spice up your training and help you work on your pedal strokes, efficiency, power, speed, endurance, and climbing skills.
- The workouts have different lengths, levels, and styles, and some of them have links to show you how to do them or what they look like.
Best Bike Trainer Workouts
There are many great bike trainer workouts out there, so instead of re-inventing the wheel, we’ll point you to some of the best.
1. Bike Trainer Intensity Mix-Up
So the last time you tried to work out, you couldn’t stop thinking about that big heap of dirty laundry or that bill you forgot to pay? Here is a one-hour workout with different levels of intensities. It will keep you fully engaged—you will barely notice the minutes fly by.
Duration: 59 min. See workout
2. Smooth Pedal Stroke Trainer Session
Just as the name suggests, this workout is intended to make your pedal strokes smooth and enhance your neuromuscular quickness and efficiency. It is perfect if you are looking to sharpen your riding skills.
Duration: 47 min. See workout
3. ‘Kitchen Sink’ Bike Trainer Workout
If you are the kind of person who cannot concentrate on the same thing for long, Tony Zamora had you in mind when coming up with this exercise. There are different intervals and drills in this single workout; you will never know how short an hour is if you do not try this exercise.
Duration: 60 min. See workout
4. The Boredom-Bursting Workouts
Although the bike trainer is supposed to kill boredom, sometimes it is the source of boredom. When you are training, you might find yourself staring at the wall, wondering how you have never noticed that dent or ding. Then you’ll think, “I better fix that before I forget.” And that will mean the end of your workout. This three-set workout will make your training exciting, and you will always look forward to it.
Duration: as long as you like. See workout
5. Trainer Speed Pyramid
This exercise will help you put more power into your cycling without necessarily spending extra energy.
Duration: 46 – 56 min. See workout
6. Steady State Trainer Workouts
There are three variations of the Steady State Workout and each one varies slightly from the other.
Duration: approx 65 min.
Workout 1 – see workout
Workout 2 – see workout
Workout 3 – see workout
9. Indoor Trainer Cadence Builds
Cadence Builds will help you increase your leg speed and endurance while maintaining a constant effort or speed level. As the cadence increases, your RPM and heart rate goes up.
Duration: 45 – 55 min. See workout
10. Bike Trainer Menagerie
This trainer workout will become your new favorite; combining drills, intervals, and strength in a single hour.
Duration: 60 min. See workout
11. Four-Minute Trainer intervals
The rest intervals of this four-minute trainer workout will make look super easy. But the intervals are quite intense, anything but easy.
Duration: 60 – 70 min. See workout
12. Punchy Bike Cadence Set
Consider making this exercise one of your key workouts to help you learn to cycle in punchy climbs. It is also ideal if you want to train yourself to gain speed after navigating corners and turnarounds.
Duration: 52 – 69 min. See workout
13. Cadence Brick Builders
Sometimes the race does not turn out as planned. The weather may surprise you, or for some reason, you may increase your speed a little too early and regret later on the bike. The Cadence Brick Builders is perfect for preparing your legs for anything that may happen during a race. Your legs will be able to adapt to whatever rhythm gracefully.
Duration: 52 min. See workout
14. Pedaling Drills
Every workout on the bike trainer does not have to be some intense exercise that should leave you gasping for breath. Your efficiency on the bike is important too. And what better time is there to train for efficiency than during the off-season? This simple workout will consist of single-leg spinning, high-cadence spinning, and the pull drill to help you paddle efficiently during races.
Duration: as long as you like. See workout
15. Climbing Workouts
The climbing workouts will enable you to be better at climbing while training from your house. That the French Alps were covered in snow will not be your excuse anymore.
Duration: as long as you like. See workout
16. Sprints
Complete your sprinting and speed intervals without worrying about stoplights and traffic.
Duration: as long as you like. See workout
17. Indoor Trainer Session
Are the above workouts not intense enough? Here are two beastly bike trainer workouts for you to push your limits. You can always go harder until it is as intense as you would like.
Duration: 70+ min; 2h15 – 3h15. See workouts
18. Bike Tabata Intervals, Monster Indoor Session and Force and Skills
These five workouts are a bit intense—especially the monster indoor session. But again, you either cry during the training or the race; which one do you prefer?
Duration: between 30 – 90 min. See workouts
19. OverUnder Intervals, Power Intervals, Speed Intervals
These three workouts are individual sessions. Do not do all of them at once, especially if you are a beginner. They will help you prepare for racing events as they mimic real-life roads.
Duration: approx. 60 min. See workouts
20. Hill Climbing Bike Trainer Workouts
The hill climbing workouts are two exercises to help your legs prepare to pedal up a hill, no matter how steep it is. They are not for the faint-hearted as they can be tough (meaning they will hurt, just so it’s clear enough).
Duration: 45 – 60 min. See workouts
Conclusion
Whatever is keeping you from taking your bike out can only do that—keep you from taking your bike out. It cannot stop you from training and learning a few tactics on your bike. The above cycling trainer workouts offer everything that you will need from a good workout; whether you want to enhance your efficiency, pedal strokes or push your limits by doing intense exercises.