Teen on a Turbo - advice?

[Boris Bajic]

Preamble: My 16-year-old son is slim, fit and likes a challenge. He is not a 'cyclist' but has decided to have a pop at some short (10m) TTs this summer. Not on a TT bike and more out of curiosity than any desire to join the lycra mob, but he seems to be addressing it with vim.

He rides 4 times a week (many other duties to fit in) and has recently decided that time on the Turbo is a good idea.

He has (currently) two regimes:

1. Warm up gently, then 10 miles going at it (getting a 10-mile 'time') then a gentle warm-down. He likes this and keeps his own data. It works for him.

2. Intervals: A warm up then a series of ten 3-minute sessions without stopping, as follows: 30 seconds flat-out sprinting followed by 150 seconds recovery.

What else should he be thinking about doing on a Turbo?

With the recent shitty weather, he's been on it more than he's been on the road.

Last night we didn't have much time so I just said warm up and do some super-high cadence and then some super-high-gear flat-out stuff. I really had no idea and the boy was clearly aware that he was taking the advice of an idiot. He did what I said with short intervals between bursts, but it left him unmoved and unimpressed....

I'm looking for some pointers here.

What works for you?
What doesn't?
What are good regimes that fit into a hour (or even 30 minutes)?

 

[mr Mag00]

time pyramids work well plenty on the interweb

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

Three turbo-trainer interval plans.
General advice on interval training.
Interval session for a ten mile TT.

I only started myself this year, so I can't really comment on what does and doesn't work, but he should find something in the above links to keep him occupied.

 

[User269]

My only suggestion would be to use a heart rate monitor. The subjective experience of effort, pain, and discomfort are intensified on a trainer, so it's possible to use one at well below your optimum training effort. Using the HRM ensures you're in the right zone.

 

[TheSandwichMonster]

If he's training specifically for 10TT's, then what you've listed as session 1 in the OP is pretty good. TT's are all about finding your max sustainable pace and then going at it. Rather than going for "miles", which is a pretty arbitrary figure on a turbo, it's probably more useful to go for time. The idea with these sessions is to find the maximum sustainable output over the time. That being the case (and assuming you have some kind of cycle computer that will do speed/distance), then you can use the speed as a proxy for power.

A classic 2x20 or a slightly shorter 2x15 would be about right. Warm up for 10-15 minutes, go at TT pace for 15 or 20, 5 minutes rest, then another 15 or 20 minute interval before cooling down. Once he gets used to knowing what his body is capable of, he should be aiming to maintain a pretty-much constant speed through the course of each of the intervals - he shouldn't be getting slower as time goes by.

 

[VamP]

2x20 and 3x10 is the meat and two veg of TT training. Riding 30 minutes at race pace is less useful.

However,...

What is his base like? Has he done a decent amount of aerobic mileage? If not then the peaks that he can achieve with intervals won't be very high, and also short lived. If he is at all serious he needs to use HR monitor to work out at what intensity he is training. Perceived effort is useless without a lot of experience first. I strongly urge some reading, this is one I find useful but there's lots out there.

Also be aware that most early gains in TT times will come from pacing, and to that end getting out there and riding lots of TTs is invaluable. The next big improvements will come from getting aero. Position, helmet, wheels, bike - in that order. Fitness gains from intervals will only become noticeable once these two areas are resolved.

Finally, to stop the boredom from creeping in, how about some Sufferfest DVD's?