Three top turbo trainers for every cyclist's level.
If you just bought a smart trainer or are about to (if you are not sure which turbo trainer is right for you, why not visit our turbo trainer guide?), you might be wondering how to make the most of it. You might be aimlessly scrolling through the various rides and challenges on Swift and other virtual cycling platforms without knowing what you are looking at.
To help you make the most of your turbo trainer, our Long Mile road manager and trainer Ciat has compiled three classic workouts to get you started whether you are a total beginner or a high-performing cyclist.
These turbo trainer sessions are split into three main phases:
- a warm-up to increase your heart rate and blood flow, getting your muscles ready
- the main set focuses on improving leg speed, cadence, body position, etc.
- a cool down to allow for a gradual recovery of pre-exercise heart rate and blood pressure
What are RPM?
In this guide, we will use two scales to measure effort:
- RPM: Revolutions per minute or cadence. Put simply, this is how fast you are turning the pedals. Most smart trainers will have a feature letting you read your RPM as you train.
- Perceived effort: if you don't have an RPM reading, you can use a scale from 1 to 10. 1 being easy and 10 the hardest effort.
Turbo trainer set for beginners
Time: 45 minutes
Warm-up: 12 minutes
Spin the legs at a cadence of 90rpm or 2-3/10 effort for 5 minutes.
Then, build for 5 minutes by repeating the following 5 times:
30 seconds @ 85 rpm / 30 seconds @ 100-105rpm
Do not change gear during these intervals. The gear should feel a little easy at 85rpm - 6/10 effort and tough at 105rpm - 8/10 effort.
Finish your warm-up with 2 min easy at 90rpm - 2/10 effort.
Main Set: Pyramid intervals - 23 minutes
1 min @ 90rpm in moderately hard gear / 1 min recovery in easy gear
2 min @ 90rpm in moderately hard gear / 1 min recovery in easy gear
3 min 90rpm / 90sec recovery in easy gear
4 min 90rpm / 2min recovery in easy gear
5 min 90rpm / 2.5min recovery in easy gear
Finish the main set with some climbing efforts - 6 minutes
4 x 1 min seated in hard gear @ 70rpm - 8/10 / 30 sec standing @ 70rpm - 9/10 in 1-2 extra gears.
Increasing the gears as you stand up will help strengthen your leg muscles.
Cooldown & stretches: 4 minutes
Do your cool down in an easy gear. It will allow your body to slow down and bring your heart rate and temperature back to normal. Stretching straight after your session, when your muscles are warm, allows you to reach out farther and reduce stiffness and cramps. Do not forget to drink during and after your set.
Intermediate Turbo Trainer set
Time: 60 minutes
Warm-up: 10 minutes
Start at 85rpm and increase your effort every 2 minutes. You can either increase your gears or your cadence speed.
Main Set: 4 x10 minutes intervals - 40 minutes
Select a hard gear and pedal for 5 minutes @ 65-70rpm - 6-7/10 effort, then increase your cadence to 90-100rpm - 5/10 effort for 5 minutes. Repeat these 5min/5min intervals set 4 more times.
This workout will improve your leg strength and leg speed at different efforts.
Finish the main set with some climbing effort - 5 minutes
5 x 30 seconds seated / 30 seconds standing in hard gear @ 65-70rpm
Cool down: 5 minutes
Do an easy cool down @ 80-90rpm - 2/10 easy gear. Stretch and drink plenty to rehydrate.
Advanced Turbo Trainer set
Time: 75 minutes
Warm-up: 12 minutes
Spin the legs @ 90rpm and add a gear every 2 minutes while holding the same cadence. Make sure you start with an easy setting but not too easy as you increase through the gears.
Follow this with 2 minutes of recovery by spinning the legs in any gear.
Main set: 3 x 15 minutes intervals - 45 minutes
Cycle for 12 minutes @ 85-90rpm - 7/10 effort and recover for 3 minutes in any gear (2-3/10 effort) and repeat this interval twice.
Follow these intervals directly by 5 x 1 minute @ 85-90rpm - 8/10 effort / 2 minutes @ 2-3 effort in any gear.
Cool down: 3 minutes
Do a relaxed cool down for 3 minutes in any gear at 80-90rpm. Do not forget to stretch and hydrate plenty afterwards.
Turbo Trainer Workout Top Tips:
Vary your turbo training sessions
Repeating the same session over and over again will inevitably lead to boredom.
While doing the same set every time isn't detrimental, you will get more out of your turbo trainer if you vary your sessions than if you stick to the same one-hour set. You can focus your trainer time on power, and speed or even have a casual virtual ride with friends.
Keep cool and hydrate
Not benefiting from the airflow of outdoors cycling, indoor training can result in a hot room and sweaty business. You should keep a fan in the room you are training in or, at the very least, have the window/doors open. It is also essential that you keep plenty of water on hand.
Get your friends involved
Misery likes company, and with modern systems like Zoom and groups on platforms like Zwift, you can easily be joined by friends during your turbo training workouts. You can also start a friendly competition and keep everybody motivated throughout Winter.
Invest in a quality turbo trainer
Whether you want a simple turbo trainer that you can use straight out of the box or an all-out smart turbo trainer, our Saris range is built to last and make every workout a breathe. Silent, compact, easy to carry around and simple to use with major virtual cycling platforms, the Saris H3 is the prime example of Saris's quality, rated 4.5 stars (out of 5) on bikeradar.com.
