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Weekly Summary January 20 – January 26, 2014: Let it Snow!

Home » The Training Hours » Weekly Summary » Weekly Summary January 20 – January 26, 2014: Let it Snow!

Weight program: Strength Build Week 3 out of 6

Monday: Off
Tuesday: 20min warmup, 2x20min (5min rest in between) @ ~FTP, 10min cooldown
Wednesday: Weights
Thursday:  1:15h Indoor Z2 ride
Friday: 0:45h Indoor Z2 ride
Saturday: 20min warmup, 2x20min (5min rest in between) @ ~FTP, 10min cooldown
Sunday:  2:00h Indoor Z2 ride

Total Bikescore/TSS: 310

Total Training Time: 6:30h bike+1:15h Weights

Weekly Summary

Featured Again

I was happy to see that all of a sudden my site traffic jump. It was coming from no other place, but my home country – Bulgaria. One of the active members of the local cycling forums (koloezdene.com) really liked the blog and posted a link to it in the racing section. It created quite some buzz and I got some nice emails. I am glad the content and my travels in the world of cycling are providing value for others=)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

The long awaited winter is finally here! Yes you read that right, I am happy that it is 10 below freezing, snowy, icy and absolutely not suitable for training outdoors! In a way I had gotten myself mentally ready to spend months until mid-March on the trainer. The unusual for the season mild weather, has made it difficult for me to get motivated for spending yet another training ‘going nowhere’ on the trainer. Yet it was cold enough for black ice to form on some roads, making it too dangerous to risk falling and breaking something (bike or myself). I can honestly say by the time the weekend rolled around and the sun was up in the cloudless sky, I really wanted to be out on the open road, rather than in front of my computer watching another movie/series.

Can You Say Indoor Cycling?
Can You Say Indoor Cycling?

Speaking of which….

Breaking Bad

You have probably heard some of your friends mention it, and/or occasional reference to the series titled: Breaking Bad. After quite some people around me saying it was the ‘latest and greatest’ thing, I caved in and got the first season. Well it wasn’t the latest (the series started in 2008), however, although I am not going to call it the greatest, it is certainly unique.

How often do you get a story of a high-school chemistry professor, with a wife and family, teaming up with the local dealers to cook some of the purest methamphetamine? I am not going to comment on the ethical/moral values of the series, however, Breaking Bad fits all of my criteria for ‘something to watch while on the indoor trainer.’ – the plot is engaging enough with enough suspense without too many dramatic scenes causing ups and downs and the episode length is logn enough that I watch one episode and a good part of a second one

That brings me to…

What to Look For in a Movie/Series for Better Indoor Training

Boredom and monotony is what throws a great number (almost all) of people from training indoors. Finding a suitable distraction can and will make it a more pleasant experience. Watching a movie is one of the best distractions and I have found a couple of things that consistently work and make time pass much much quicker.

Subtitles

Whether it is a movie in a language you are not fluent in or something in your native tongue – subtitles do 2 things.

  • One: they make you focus on something in front of you (crucial when riding rollers)and your mind is occupied with something ELSE other than the fact you are not going anywhere, yet pedalling quite hard
  • Two:  if you happen to have a noisier trainer (any magnetic trainer…), you don’t have to blast the volume on top of the whirring/buzzing sound you are inevitable making while spinning indoors. Your significant other, neighbours, children will thank you. For some reason reading subtitles are less mentally taxing than listening to a turned up TV….

Plot

There are as many preferences on genre and plot as there are people in the world, therefore I am not going to advise on how to ‘pick your poison.’ However, some general tips.

Avoid stories with a lot of time warping – slowing down, stopping, speeding of time. The Matrix is a popular example where time is in a way changed and a scene that seems to take 10minutes is actually 2-3min long, you don’t want the illusion you are spending less time while you are not. It gets demoralizing very quick. Ask me how I know…

Very disturbing/surreal/engaging plots (The Vengeance Trilogy and Jagten (The Hunt) are a couple that come to mind right away) might get to the point you are so fed up, so annoyed, so angered by the story/characters that you have to get off the bike and stop the movie. Unfortunately it doesn’t end there and your training afterwards is also a bit ruined.

Length

Imagine watching a very engaging movie that lasts for 1:40h while you have to do a 1:30h workout. Coincidentally while you are the most tired you are the most motivated to see if the character is going to make it.

With series it is a bit more complicated since they range from 20 to 50min per episode.

For a typical workout of ~1:00-1:30h that means

  • 3-5x20min episodes (Friends, Seinfeld, etc.)
  • 1-2x50min episodes (Breaking Bad, CSI, X-files etc.)

Why is it important?

For the most part each episode is self-contained so it seems as if you are starting and stopping a couple of times, the equivalent of your training startign and stopping. In addition watching end credits is not a lot of fun. The shorter series like Friends and Seinfeld are usually 20ish episodes long per season; during a typical trainer workout you can get though nearly a quarter of a season which in some cases is a lot of stuff happening and in my opinion just too much to take all at once sometimes.

I prefer my workout to finish while in the middle of an episode so it gives me an excuse to do a 5-10min cool-down, rather than immediately going to the shower with my heart rate still high.

Hence as I noted above, series like Breaking Bad are perfect for making the hours tick while on the trainer.

Music

Music is another option for getting through an indoor workout. My music taste is very mood dependent, so it is too variable to have something lined up that would give me enough motivation for more than an hour. The big positive though with music I can use an iPhone/headphones and cut out what is around me.

The Dream is Alive!

You can find explanations of the terms here together with explanations of the Training Zones.

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Home » The Training Hours » Weekly Summary » Weekly Summary January 20 – January 26, 2014: Let it Snow!

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