Why hopping on an indoor bike this winter can not only keep fitness on track, but elevate your endurance and raise your mental resilience
The temperature’s dropping and days are getting excessively short, which can only mean one thing: winter’s coming.
The changing of the season can mean a changing of your fitness habits as you battle to keep things enjoyable, but heading indoors is no reason for your levels to drop.
Here we look at the top ways a Wattbike can help make the transition to the colder winter months an easier one.
1. Every second counts
One hour on a Wattbike can equate to about two or three on the road, making indoor cycling a solid option if you’re short on time.
When you’re out on the road about ten per cent of your time is made up by freewheeling, and this can increase to up to 40 per cent if you’re tackling a hilly route with a lot of descents. On a Wattbike, you get more bang for your buck.
2. It’s a more predictable ride
Training indoors ensures you get a focussed and safe session, and cuts out a lot of junk miles associated with the road. You won’t have to stop for traffic lights or worry whether a section of road is long enough to practise your sprints, meaning your ride quality will be improved.
3. There are no mental barriers
There’s nothing worse than having to set up your bike or pack your kit when you’re just not feeling it. With an indoor trainer like a Wattbike, your ride is always ready to go.
All you need to do is hop on and get pedalling.
With a Wattbike there’s no reason not to ride
4. You spend less time cleaning up after yourself
No one enjoys having to wash down their bike (or themselves) after their ride, especially in the middle of winter.
Save time and stay dry by training in the comfort of your own home and eradicate any accompanying faff.
5. Technique can be honed
Riding indoors means you can dedicate time to honing your craft. With the Wattbike Hub app’s industry measurements – Pedal Stroke Efficiency (PES) and Polar View – you can concentrate on improving your pedalling effectiveness in real-time.
You can also analyse every training workout retrospectively, enabling you to get the most of out every ride.
6. You can fit it in around your routine
Because you can get away with much shorter sessions, training indoors makes it much easier to fit your sessions around your lifestyle.
If you’re an early bird, you could get a session in before work, or if you have a busy family life, grab some time to yourself when the kids are in bed.
7. It’s a chance to practise pacing
Working to intervals will help you learn more about your body’s thresholds and how long you can sustain efforts for. There are a range of free workouts available on the Wattbike Hub, from HIIT to endurance sets, and everything in-between.
It’s a good way to enjoy targeted and effective training, without the need of a specialist coach.
8. You will build mental resilience
When you’re on the indoor trainer, there’s nowhere to hide. You’ll have to focus on the numbers and doing so will push you even harder than you thought possible.
It’s a great tool for competitive types, too – the only barrier is how much you want to hurt yourself!
9. You can switch up your training to suit you
The new Wattbike Atom connects to a number of training apps, so you can mix up your session depending on what you fancy on the day.
Take on a training plan with Training Peaks or the Wattbike Hub, or throw in a few social rides or practice races using Zwift.
10. You can stick to your training plan, come rain or shine
Outdoor training, especially in winter, is rarely an attractive proposition, but with a Wattbike you can always log those all-important training hours – whatever the weather.
The Wattbike Atom
Wattbike Atom is priced at £1,599.99. Visit wattbike.com.
‘Offering a fully connected cycling experience, the Wattbike Atom leads the way in connected fitness technology. When teamed up with the free-to-use Wattbike Hub App, it becomes an unrivalled training tool for accuracy and detail, with feedback such as pedal stroke efficiency (PES), power and heart rate available for detailed session-upon-session analysis. And it looks great too, while being easily adjustable so that it can be used by all members of the household.
