Indoor Biking Benefits

Biking indoors on a bike trainer can seem monotonous and boring but it comes with numerous benefits that you can be taking advantage to maximize your training. I'll take a look at several factors why I think you can benefit from indoor bike workouts.

Time Savings

If you live a busy life indoor biking will help you get the most out of the time you have to train. Biking outside you're at the mercy of the route you've chosen. Depending on the route you can find yourself stopped, waiting at lights, construction or other unforeseen obstacles. Often these stops are unpredictable and they'll disrupt your bike ride adding to your total elapsed time but not increasing the total time spent training. The advantage of biking inside is that you don't have to deal with these stoppages. Your total time elapsed will be your total training time allowing you to maximize the time you spend on the bike.

Another reason biking on a trainer will save you more time is the fact that while biking indoors you are applying constant pressure on the pedals the entire workout. The exception being if you decide to take a break. When you're riding outside you'll spend time coasting while turning, going down a steep hill or while coming to a stop. This effectively is time spent resting and giving your body a break. You don't have this rest period while biking indoors as you are continually peddling. It is for this reason that time spent biking indoors can be approximately 1.25 times more productive than biking outside. This means a 2:00 bike ride on your trainer is approximately 2:30 of outdoor riding. If you're a busy person, doing a workout on a bike trainer is one of the best ways to maximize your time!

Intervals

One of my favourite things about biking on my trainer is the ability to get the most benefit out of interval workouts. Being on the trainer allows me to focus on the interval at hand and not have to worry about cars, stop lights or debris on the road. Often you'll find a stop light interrupt your interval which can be quite frustrating. Eliminating these distractions allows you to focus on your interval objective, setting you up for a successful workout. This allows me to do a structured workout with a purpose and goal to it that further helps build fitness specificity when I required it. Biking outside your interval can often be interrupted making it challenging to fully accomplish the workout objective. If you're looking to get the most out of your interval training consider doing it on the bike trainer.

Safety

There comes an inherent danger being on the road. Be it drivers, debris, pot holes or other obstacles there comes a certain risk when riding outside. You can crash, get a flat tire or have a mechanical issue with your bike that can ruin your workout. I've had the misfortune of having had a couple bike accidents resulting in injuries that have sidelined me for a bit. Luckily despite my injuries I was still able to bike on my trainer following the injuries as it is a safe and controlled environment. Biking inside on a trainer will reduce these risks all together, keeping you safe and healthy to train.

Mental Toughness

It can be quite mind numbing biking inside. Your bike stays in one spot, you don't go anywhere and you're stuck looking at the same surroundings the entire time. This sounds boring but it helps foster mental strength and focus. The longer you spend on the bike trainer the harder it will be mentally to keep turning the pedals. When you're fatigued at the end of a race it is easy to lose focus and for you to slow down. Trainer rides will help build your focus and mental resilience so that in the later stages of a race you stay as fast as possible. Mental toughness can be cultivated in many ways and biking on a trainer is one of them.

Comforts

A benefit of doing a workout on your bike trainer is having access to several nearby amenities. You've got access to a bathroom, additional water and food. On long indoor rides I'll make a smoothie for part way through and have a bowl of oatmeal to eat on the desk next to my bike along with several bottle of water and electrolytes. Biking outside you're limited on storage space and what you can bring for fuel. This means you'll have to be a lot more prepared depending on the length of your ride. Along with having these comforts nearby you are also sheltered from the weather. Biking indoor you don't have to deal with any rain, hail, snow and wind allowing you to avoid any inclement weather. This helps keep you and more importantly your bike dry and clean!

These are several benefits why you should incorporate indoor bike rides into your training. I am not suggesting to only bike inside as biking outside comes with its benefits as well however I recommend adding it to your regular training routine. There's no substitute to the feeling of riding outside on a nice day but if you're crunched for time, looking to avoid inclement wether or want uninterrupted focus then biking indoors is a great alternative.