Rollers vs Trainer and Indoor Training

The ultimate debate between winter riding indoors. Do you go with rollers or a trainer? Most people I believe go with the trainer. With a trainer, you put your bike on it and pedal away. You do not have to worry about falling off. Rollers allow you to work on your balance and you pedaling technique. You have to keep a smooth motion to keep the bike steady.

I talked with a the local shop here in Conway and convinced me to go with rollers. I purchased a set of Kriteler rollers after demoing a set for a couple of weeks. I really enjoyed my workouts on the rollers during the winter time last year. I even had a couple of 2 and 3 hr sessions of the rollers while I was training for my first half Ironman in New Orleans. The big issue with rollers is that they are very difficult to stand up and do one leg drills which brings me to my 2011 training.

I have decided this year to go ahead and add a Kurt Kinetic trainer to my indoor workouts this year. I felt that I was missing the hard resistance efforts and the ability to work on "climbing" while training. I'm really looking to improve my times this year and felt adding the trainer to my workouts would help. I will still use the rollers at least once a week for easier rides and even some harder rides, but the trainer will help give a little more variety in my workouts.

As the winter ends and we move into Spring and summer, I will get the opportunity to head outdoors for riding, but sometimes my schedule doesn't allow for it, so adding the trainer will still allow for good workouts indoors when the sunsets later in the year.

Indoor training can be boring, so how do I handle the boredom. Well I have set a cave in my garage to allow for the training. I have a TV and DVD player to watch while training. What do I watch? I have a Netflix subscription to watch movies and shows that I can catch up on. I have also downloaded a couple of "The Sufferfest" video workouts. Here shortly, I will have a book of Indoor Cycling workouts that will add some variety to my routine when just watching TV.

With that I leave you with tricks that I can't do on rollers!