30-minute roller sessions to improve

Winter time is approaching, which for many people with endless workdays means that the roller becomes their only way to maintain their training. Although with modern rollers and current virtual cycling applications, spending time on the bike is not difficult, for many it still represents a real torture machine. For them, good news: chaining short workouts, up to 30 minutes, can be enough to have a good training session that we will complement with weekend rides.

Many sessions, short duration. How to train on the roller without losing your mind in the process

Although virtual cycling applications have become popular and current rollers offer a very high level of realism that makes it possible to do sessions of two hours or even more, the reality is that, for most cyclists, the roller is still the last resort and something completely unbearable.

In order to deal with this necessary evil, they have no choice but to change their approach and, instead of trying to replicate their road rides on the roller using the benefits of virtual cycling applications, opt for shorter and more intense sessions in order to add a sufficient training load that allows for some level of improvement, reserving aerobic work for weekends, when it is feasible to face long outdoor rides.

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A training technique that has been supported in recent years by various studies that demonstrate that high-intensity training and its impact on VO2max also has a certain effect on aerobic systems, allowing us to have a large part of the work done for those days when we can go out on the road and spend hours on the bike.

The problem with these short workouts is the high demand of them, so we must be scrupulous with the rules of the indoor cyclist: maintain good hydration before, during, and after the training session; have a fan to promote sweating and avoid overheating, as well as perform the activity in a place where the air is renewed.

Here are some examples of workouts of just 30 minutes with intensity expressed in terms of the perceived effort scale or RPE where 10 is maximum effort; 7,8, and 9 are perceived as very hard; 5, 6 as somewhat hard; 3, 4 as easy pedaling, and 1-2 as very easy.

Up and down

Basic session that allows us to introduce the high intensities necessary for these very short workouts and, at the same time, increases caloric expenditure.

• Warm-up: 2-3 minutes RPE 3-4
• Threshold pedaling: 10 minutes RPE 8
• Rhythm recovery: 4 minutes RPE 4
• Threshold pedaling: 10 minutes RPE 8
• Cool down: 2-3 minutes RPE 3-4

Ramp

With this training, we practically touch all training zones in what can be a good simulation of what we can find when pedaling in a group and the pace intensifies as certain hot points of the day approach.

• Warm-up: 2-3 minutes RPE 3-4
• Ramp x 2
  • Tempo rhythm: 6 minutes RPE 6
  • Threshold: 4 minutes RPE 8
  • Maximum effort: 2 minutes RPE 9-10
• Cool down: 2-3 minutes RPE 3-4

Stretching the VO2max

The 30-second intervals that stimulate the improvement of maximum oxygen consumption are one of the most popular workouts that have been introduced in the early part of the seasons, even as an extra in the middle of road aerobic sessions. On the roller, they become an ideal tool, but we must be careful with the recoveries to avoid ending up completely destroyed. An example of a session would be.

• Warm-up: 5 minutes RPE 3-4
• Intervals 15 repetitions (If they are too demanding, we can break them down into series adding one more minute of recovery between blocks)
  • Maximum effort: 30 seconds RPE 10
  • Recovery: 1 minute RPE 3-4
• Cool down: 2-3 minutes RPE 3-4

Threshold work

Improving the anaerobic threshold is the key to improving our physical fitness, which will allow us to maintain more intensity for longer periods. To stimulate it in the best way, it is necessary to combine efforts slightly above and below it. We can do it like this:

• Warm-up: 10 minutes RPE 3-4
• Series x 6 repetitions
  • Maximum effort: 30 seconds RPE 9-10
  • Recovery: 30 seconds RPE 4-5
  • Above threshold: 30 seconds RPE 9
  • Below threshold: 1 minute RPE 8
  • Recovery: 1 minute RPE 3-4-
• Cool down: 5 minutes RPE 3-4