Indoor vs Outdoor Training: Finding the Balance

Spring is just around the corner, and we know you’re itching to get back outside and on to the open road. However, have you ever considered keeping up your indoor training throughout the warmer months? Here we look at the benefits for doing so, and the importance of striking a balance between your indoor performance bike and the great outdoors.

Why Train Indoors?

We all know that indoor training is an efficient way of utilising cycling time and is especially useful for busy professionals who may be getting home in the dark. But what are the specific benefits of indoor training on a smart bike?

A session on a Wattbike is constant, with no stop-start traffic to contend with. This constant effort also makes indoor training time efficient. Simply put, you can ride for a shorter amount of time indoors whilst achieving the same effort and output as you would on the road during a longer session.

One key benefit of training indoors which can help you make significant gains is the opportunity to focus on pedalling technique. Measuring your pedalling out on the road is almost impossible, but bring things indoors and it becomes easy, thanks to theWattbike Polar View and Pedalling Effectiveness Score.

Why Train Outdoors?

Whilst we are obviously advocates of training indoors, we also realise the importance of training outdoors too.

Even with excellent virtual training tools available, indoor cycling can’t precisely replicate the feeling you get when you discover a beautiful new cycling route or when you beat your friend on the cafe sprint.

Whilst indoor training removes distractions like traffic to give you an efficient ride, it also removes terrain and with it the need to use different muscle groups. Training indoors all the time can result in some muscles being overworked whilst others are underworked. To fully optimise your training, consider riding a few outdoor sessions with varied terrain to ensure all your muscle groups are being used effectively.

Finally, there are a few aspects of cycling which you simply can’t learn from training indoors, like how to ride in a group for example. This is especially important if you have set you sights on sportives or competitive races for the coming season, without knowing the rules of the road and how to descend within group you could put yourself and your fellow competitors in danger.

Indoor Training vs Outdoor Training

Both indoor and outdoor training have numerous benefits and we recommend that you include both within your training. Many of ourtraining plansinclude an indoor session and an equivalent outdoor session, giving you the opportunity to mix up your sessions and still achieve your goals.

But what is the perfect balance of indoor vs outdoor training? If you’re completing 5 sessions per week, we’d recommend 2 indoor sessions during the week, with outdoor sessions when time (and weather) allows during the weekend.

Improve Your Cycling with Wattbike Workouts

Need indoor training inspo? Why not check out thesesessions aimed at improving your cycling performance?