We are physically capable of far more than our minds allow us to believe.

For example, I witnessed a gang break into a BMW while cycling at 4:30 am through London a few years ago. I was so shocked that I pulled out my phone and took a picture to send to my mates. Big mistake… They spotted me pointing my phone at them, accelerated at me, and continued to chase me through Chelsea. I cycled away as if my life depended on it until I eventually shook them by taking a sharp corner into a side road and hiding behind a phone box.

As you can imagine, I set a few power PBs that morning.

My point is, without a life-or-death situation, a sprint finish, breakaway to catch, or carrot to chase — our minds intervene and convince us to back off when our legs fill with lactic acid and start to burn. That's why, with indoor training, you have to create a necessity, a goal, a purpose — a reason to silence the little voice in your head telling you to back off — a purpose that motivates you to reach the end of your interval.

It's less effective than being chased by a gang, but it's much safer.

Winter presents the perfect opportunity to hanker down and commit to a season of quality turbo time. However, it can be pretty monotonous, so you have to make it interesting by setting goals and riding varied sessions. You have to keep challenging yourself to gain a feeling of progression. When the going gets tough, or you get bored during a long endurance ride, you need to look to the future and see the gains you are working towards as motivation.

Training indoors and following structured workouts helps me to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable and expands my mental and physical capabilities. It also helps me be consistent. The most important ingredient to improvement. That's why I love it.

Riding outdoors with my road team and friends comes easy, especially in summer. The speed, competitiveness, camaraderie, adventure, warmth, etc., help me turn the pedals comparatively freely.

The turbo, however, has one purpose: to make me work. It takes commitment to keep turning up, but the harder I train indoors, the more enjoyment I find outdoors.

You know, an artist doesn't write a song live on stage, do they? They write while locked away at home or in the studio. I’m not describing my riding style as artistic, but you get my point: practice makes improvement.

Reasons and benefits:

Time: As you can imagine, I have a busy life with a newborn son and all of the professional commitments that come with being a creative director. Midweek, I don’t have enough time to train as much as I’d like (I’m sure you can relate). Indoors, you can ramp up the intensity and do twice the damage in half the time. (You can’t get a puncture either, so you’ll never be late for a meeting.)
Challenge: Training gives me a sense of accomplishment, helps me set goals, channels my obsessive nature, and teaches resilience, mental strength, and many life lessons that I carry into every aspect of my life.
Control: where else can you ride at VO2 max for five minutes undisrupted? Without a traffic light, a junction, an incline that tips you into anaerobic, or a decline that drops you down into threshold? How else could you ride in Z2 for long periods of time without fluctuating into Z3/Z4 when you turn into a headwind? On the turbo, there are no distractions, disruptions, other road users, and no excuses.
Weather/daylight: I love riding in harsh conditions. It makes me feel like I am doing more than everyone else when it’s freezing cold, pitch black or pissing down with rain — but it’s not always practical and can add more hours to my day, which I do not have (I also spend a lot less time cleaning my bike).

Indoor Training Tips

Whether you are an old turbo-training soldier like me or just getting started, here are a few tips to help maximise your indoor training:

1: Don’t kill your heart rate monitor

HR monitors are essential for indoor training — to track progress and ensure you are training in the correct zone, but like tyres, they eventually wear out. I used to get through about four a year until I discovered that CR2032 coin batteries with a “Child Safety Coating” destroy HR monitors. If moisture/sweat gets inside your device, it will wash the coating into the electrical internals of your monitor and corrode it. Use non-coated batteries, such as the ones in the link below.

*(Please! As a father, I won’t be able to sleep at night if I don’t warn you to keep them away from small children. Coated batteries taste rancid — if a child puts one in the mouth, they will spit it straight out. Uncoated batteries don’t exactly taste like chocolate, but they are a choking hazard.)

My favourite HR monitor (and believe me, I have tried them all) is the Wahoo TICKR due to its simple design and ease of use. Wahoo’s customer care is brilliant if you do get stuck. The Garmin is second best. It lasts just as long but requires a tiny screwdriver to change batteries, making it less user-friendly.

2: “fuel and train. Don’t diet and exercise.”

To perform at your best, you need to fuel correctly for your session and refuel to recover. Generally, I aim for 60-90g of carbs per hour. Yes, you could perform a session on “fumes” to help lose a bit of weight, but should you? I have been there — riding fasted to try and drop weight to improve my power-to-weight ratio, but it's far more healthy and productive to focus on building power than losing weight — and building power requires fuel: “Fuel and train, don’t diet and exercise” (my catchphrase).

Also, the quality of your nutrition is vital. The synthetic ingredients, additives, fillers, and general gunk found in cheap sports nutrition products won't digest well; over time, this will accumulate. So instead, prioritise real food; it's packed with energy, tastes delicious, absorbs, digests, and feeds your gut health.

I became the creative director of Veloforte because I wholeheartedly believe and understand the importance of nutrition and real food ingredients vs synthetic ones.

Here are my favourite Veloforte products that I use before, during and after my turbo sessions:

Before: Veloforte Mocha — a rewarding blend of delicious crunchy hazelnuts, smooth hazelnut butter, juicy dates, aromatic coffee, rich cocoa and complete plant protein. Mocha is a balanced, time-saving breakfast (or anytime snack) and pairs perfectly with my morning coffee. It has 37g of carbs to fuel the front end of my session, 10g of protein to keep my intake topped up, and 14g of fat to support healthy functions.
As a new parent, I often have to eat one-handed. Veloforte bars are incredibly convenient.

During: Veloforte Fresco — I can't live without these during intense sessions. Each pack of six delicious soft chews provides 42g of all-natural carbs and has twice the energy of a gel. I eat two chews every 20mins. They are a great reward after each rep and carb top-up for the next. They also rebalance your electrolytes. You have to try them to understand what a game-changer they are.

During: Veloforte Passo — Just a 5% drop in hydration can lead to a 30% drop in performance. Passo is a hypotonic mix of pure electrolytes, natural carbs and antioxidants that rapidly rehydrates and re-energises (22g carbs). It’s bursting with a delicious sun-drenched mango and passionfruit real fruit infusion. Essential for pain-cave sweat-fests.

After: Veloforte Cappo — taking in quality protein after a workout is vital. After a turbo session, I usually make some eggs on toast, as this is my favourite breakfast and is packed with carbs, proteins and fats to kick-start recovery. An hour later, I will reach for Cappo to top-up my protein and ensure I am optimising my recovery — as protein is responsible for building and rebuilding every cell in your body, not just your muscles. Cappo has 20g of complete protein (full chain of BCAA's), is only 122 calories, feeds your gut health with prebiotic fibres, is very low in sugar, and is made with decaffeinated coffee (so you can enjoy it at any time). FYI: Like most Veloforte products, It’s also vegan.

3: Have a plan

To maximise your time, go in with an objective. You'll find some great training plans in Zwift, or select a structured session/workout. Recovery sessions are also great on a turbo because you can limit the amount of power you produce and truly respect riding in Z1. If you enjoy “Free Rides” and “Group Rides”, then crack on, but try and build some structure into your training — it will really help track and improve your fitness.

Make sure your FTP is in the right ballpark. Otherwise, you will be overworking or underworking. Also, keep it steady if you are just getting started — and increase the intensity/duration each week. Finally, don't feel defeated if you take on a session that is a little out of your comfort zone — and you can only get halfway through. Instead, aim to get further next week until you complete the session. Failure, I can live with. It's part of the process:

“ Losers quit. Winners fail and learn.”

4: Don’t wear worn-out bib shorts or shoes:

Bibs that are patched up, going see-through, and last season’s colours/sponsors are all fine in the privacy of your own home, as long as the chamois pad is in good condition. Riding in a fixed position for over an hour requires a high-performing, good-condition, pro-level chamois (unless you want to torture yourself further). My favourite shorts for indoor training are the Le Col Pro Bib Shorts — because the pad is the best I have ridden. (Use code: GARETHWINTER20 for 20% off Le Col at checkout). They have also just launched a specific indoor range.

Also, don’t wear worn-out shoes full-stop; this can lead to injury through a lack of support while laying down the power. Make sure your shoes fit well, are tensioned correctly, your arches are supported, your soles are intact, and your cleats are in good condition and the optimal position.

5: Hygiene

If your bike fit is optimal, or at least in the right ballpark, you shouldn’t have too much of an issue with saddle sores. However, sweaty, high-friction turbo sessions can still lead to skin breaks and sores. Salt is an excellent cutting compound against your skin, and the bacteria may cause infection — so best to use a high-quality chamois cream to reduce friction, soothe your skin and fight bacteria. VeloSkin is the best in the business — it’s made with natural ingredients and performs under pressure. (Use code: GARETHWINTER10 for 10% off at checkout)

Also, get straight in the shower after your session. Don't sit around in sweaty lycra — it's the fastest way to get a sore.

I use all of VeloSkin’s skincare products: shave cream, post-shave lotion, moisturiser, and recovery gel — they are far better than anything you’ll find in Boots. But please, VeloSkin, can you start making hair pomade?

I hope these tips help you to maximise your indoor training. Please comment below if you have any questions — I have far more than just five.

To prove I practice what I preach, drop me a follow on Zwift.

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Indoor Training season