How to train in cycling during winter months

Autumn is coming and the days are getting shorter. Soon the time will change and the sun will suddenly disappear in the afternoon.

Fog, cold and autumn greyness often end up even the most determined cyclists with sadness and laziness. In a moment then it will be the turn of ice and snow and winter that more often than not confines the bikes in our cellars, inhibiting our desire to ride outdoors.

Reducing the kilometers on the saddle during the cold season is part of the physiology of training and seasonality of this sport. However, it is not necessary to think about completely storing the physical form so laboriously built during the summer season.

Winter, like every time, will pass quickly and if we do not work in these months, the risk will be to find ourselves in the spring to have to rebuild from the beginning an athletic condition that instead we could maintain, if not even improve.

Indoor cycling: when the home trainers become an excellent choice

In the minds of each of us, cycling corresponds to an idea of ​​freedom, nature, open air and evocative landscapes; it is not said, however, that winter must necessarily end up being associated for a cyclist with a concept of inactivity.

An effective solution is to resort to indoor cycling. Do not imm ediately start snorting and imagine training sessions boring and unpleasant. In reality it is possible to make these training opportunities extremely pleasant, following well-structured training plans.

Not only will you be able to escape from boredom, but you can even realize that you have the possibility to improve your athletic condition, thus arriving in spring in better shape than ever before.

Where to start?

Simple! Buy a home trainer or borrow from a friend. Mount it at home, in the garage, in the cellar in the garden or wherever you have a space that you think is appropriate.

Then get an hour in the evening after work, at dawn before breakfast, during lunch or when it is convenient for you to get on a bike and start pedaling. Remember that you rarely climb on the rollers with the sole purpose of turning the legs.

It is good that the focus is precise and that it corresponds to a work of variations, strength, modulation of the right cadences, maintenance of a correct pedaling technique and so on.

With a varied program, guided by who knows what he is saying, aimed at a goal, detailed and modulated on your specific needs, even time will pass quickly and you will realize that the metabolic and muscular work you are doing will be anything but light .

A successful workout with Alessandro Ballan

Use our 12-week video workout plans (24 or 36 video workouts downloadable on tablets and smartphones of your choice) in which Alessandro Ballan, none other than a World Champion, will guide you to your best athletic condition and therefore best performances.

Alessandro Ballan will ride with you throughout the video training session, proposing targeted protocols of SFR, power, threshold, resistance, maximum V02, agility and sprints. You will improve your weaknesses, prepare your races and you will soon start to go faster than your friends on weekend outings.

You will discover that in a short time you will be able to perform intense, fast and focused training on specific jobs aimed at improving your performance. The gratification you will have once you put the wheels back on the asphalt will be enough to convince you of how much indoor cycling can also be a perfect complement to your usual road training.