The current global focus on socially responsible activity has us all wondering what we can do to support our family, friends, and neighbors who may be unusually susceptible to health risks. For many, this is simply riding or working on bikes solo, but for some in metropolitan areas, this isn’t an option. So if riding outside isn’t an option today, we hope you’ll enjoy a series of indoor bike trainer workouts from Specialized/Feedback Sports Cyclocross Superstar Maghalie Rochette and her coach David Gagnon (PowerWatts Nord).

They know a thing or two about blending hard work and fun, so here’s the first bike trainer workout in a series of four!! Our many thanks to Maghalie, and especially coach David!

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If you did not know, David, who we often speak of as the mechanic of the Specialized/Feedback Sports Cyclocross Team, is also a coach. This week, David cooked up four workouts for you to try at home. 

The workouts are all approximately one hour, but you can always make them longer by adding a longer warm up and cool-down. The goal is not to overextend yourself, but mostly, they are meant to balance health, happiness, and improved performance. It can be boring to ride the trainer with no purpose, so we hope that these workouts will keep your sessions fun and stimulating!

We hope you have a lot of fun! Don’t hesitate to let us know how it went! Tell us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

***Note: In all the workouts below, the % is based on your power threshold. If you’ve ever done a 20min test, 100% = Your 20 minute power. These workouts are described in power. If you don’t have a power meter but are using an Omnium, pair your Omnium to Zwift, The Sufferfest, TrainerRoad, Rouvy Virtual Power, vPower, or Kinomap for estimated power readings. For more instruction on how to set this up see here. If you do not have access to one of these apps. You can use heart rate or perceived exertion, with 100% being equal to the maximum effort you can sustain for 20 minutes, zone 3/4 for heart rate or a perceived effort of 7/8 out of 10. If you’re new to training metrics check out this great article from Bicycling Magazine.

Workout 2 – Easier endurance workout

This workout is less intense than the first one and more in endurance. The session should not
be that hard, but the goal is to focus on quality of execution. For sure you’ll be able to go harder,
but that is not the goal today, just focus on being efficient and working on your cadence.

Warm Up

10 Minute Easy Spin

4 Minutes @ 70%

1 Minute Easy

3 Minutes @ 80%

1 Minute Easy

2 Minutes @ 90%

1 Minute Easy

1 Minute @ 100%

2-3 Minutes Easy

Main Set
This will be 3 blocks of 8 minutes with 2 minutes of recovery in between.

Block One

Maintain 80% only changing cadence for a total of 8 minutes, alternate between the following:

1 minute @ 70 RPM and 1 minute @ 100 RPM

2 Minutes recovery

Block Two

Alternate sitting and standing for a total of 8 minutes of the following:

1:30 minute @ 75% seated / 30 seconds @ 100% standing

2 Minutes recovery

Block Three

Working on cadence again, settle into a gear to match the required power then spin up your cadence at the top of every minute for 5 seconds then slowly back off back to 90 RPM. Total of 8 Minutes

80-85% @ 90 RPM.

At the beginning of each minute, stay on the same gear and increase cadence around 110-115RPM for 5sec. Then, back to 80-85% @ 90 RPM.

5-10 Minutes of Easy Spinning to Cool Down

And you’re done, you did it! As mentioned if you’d like to extend this work out a bit, add on some easy spinning before or after the intervals. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this workout, we’ve got two more coming!