George Caines, Master Trainer and Head of Education at indoor cycling brand, Wattbike (wattbike.com)
Throughout the dark and cold weather that we experience in the UK in winter, it’s easy to lose interest and the motivation to keep training. Indoor sessions can bring plenty of benefits to your training regime, to help you reach your goal faster or more efficiently.
The most obvious benefit of training indoors is that it takes away the risk of weather affecting your session. The miser y of running in the cold, wind, rain and dark can all be avoided by heading indoors. There’s also a lower risk of injur y for those who train indoors rather than running on the pavement, and you can further reduce injur y risk by incorporating indoor cross-training into your plan.
|| Indoor training is now more sociable than ever and it can also be a lot more time efficient than training outdoors ||
Scientific studies show that moderate intensity cycling has no negative effect on subsequent running kinematics (stride length, cadence, etc), and further studies show improvements in cardiovascular fitness.
Runners can dramatically increase their training volume by using an indoor bike, like a Wattbike, while keeping their injur y risk low. S100B levels – aprotein that acts as an inflammation marker in the body – are lower after cycling than running which is great when it comes to recovery.
Indoor training is now more sociable than ever and it can also be a lot more time efficient than training outdoors. If you’re a fan of speed workouts, there’s no better way to accurately gauge your pace than training indoors in a controlled environment. With no traffic and route planning to worry about, it’s easy to pinpoint more accurately what is helping to improve your physical performance.
Sarah Boyd, Product Manager at Destination Sport Experiences (destination sportexperiences.com)
Spending time outdoors regardless of running goals has enormous benefits to our physical and mental wellbeing, as well as being accessible to all – and with our relatively mild UK winters, there aren’t many days in the year when we can’t get out for a run.
In contrast to an exercise culture which can have us reaching deep into our pockets, running outdoors is also really cost effective; you just lace up the trainers and go.
Another good argument for training outdoors is the opportunity to disconnect from hectic work/life schedules and connect with nature all year round. It’s a great chance to inject some adventure into your training; bragging rights are earned through reaching new elevation heights, tackling obscure terrains, and getting Strava legend status. And you also get extra kudos for getting on on a cold morning!
|| You may find you need to eat more on cold days, or take more fuel with you on long runs in the colder months ||
If you don’t want to switch off completely, you can incorporate winter running outdoors into your social calendar. Jogging between appointments can reduce your car mileage, and running with friends, or in a running group, is a healthy distraction from tired legs. It also keeps you warm if you work from home and you can even use the time to bond with your dog – which is how I prefer to run.
You need to think about suitable kit in winter time and nutritional planning is also key to happy winter running. You may find you need to eat more on cold days, or take more fuel with you on long runs in the colder months. This shouldn’t put you off doing it though; it’s just about adjusting what you do at different times of the year.