As my training ramps up heading into the Winter, I had anticipated purchasing a new computer-controlled resistance trainer for my cycling. I projected many long, boring hours creating puddles of sweat on the basement floor. In an effort to make that more tolerable I thought a pre-programmed, video –enabled trainer would help alleviate that. Unfortunately, this comes with a pretty large price tag at ~$1600.
While scanning through some past blog entries on DCRainmakers’ site one day I came across a mention of TrainerRoad. You can check out the detailed DCRainmaker review of TrainerRoad here. TrainerRoad is a web-based application that allows you to ride power-based workouts using your standard bike trainer, ANT+ USB dongle, and a speed/cadence meter. There is a small Adobe Air application that you download to your PC/Mac which communicates with your ANT+ dongle and reads in from your ANT+ enable cadence sensor as well as HR monitor. They have profiles for most standard trainers although they seem to be best calibrated with the Kurt Kinetic models. This allows them to estimate your power output which they call “Virtual Power”.
A TrainerRoad account is $10/month and they have tons of different workouts to choose from. It is recommended to first do a test ride to establish your Functional Threshold Power(FTP) and Lactate Threshold Heart Rate(LTHR) zones then all subsequent rides are then based on that value. You should also test every 6-8 weeks to adjust for improvements you have made.
TrainerRoad Intervals on Ride Screen
TrainerRoad also has some base workout plans you can follow which prescribe different workouts each week for a particular time period. You can select a plan based on your level of fitness, goals and time period. I like this feature so I don’t have to sit there sifting through all the workouts on the site, but they do provide a nice filtering capability for narrowing down the type of ride you are looking for.
Ride Video Synchronization
One of the cool features of TrainerRoad is the ability to integrate biking videos with some of the workouts. If you filter on “Video Workouts”, you can select a workout that is synchronized with a particular cycling video such as Spinervals or Sufferfest. The videos are sold separately through the appropriate sites and links are provided in the workout description. Pretty cool feature for passing away those hours in the basement.
TrainerRoad also works well with regular videos on Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, etc. by providing a minimized view that allows the video to take most of the screen real estate. I actually prefer the minimized state better as it is more simple.
If you are looking for a way to make those long hours in the basement go faster and more productive, I would highly recommend TrainerRoad. They are always working on improving the product and new features come out pretty regularly.
