How to make indoor training more fun

It's fair to say indoor training isn't quite as appealing as your favourite loop on a summer's day, but that does not mean it has to be boring. In fact, I'd say it's a mistake to write the indoor world off as purely a training tool - these days it can genuinely be fun, provided you get these things right.

With a bit of planning and a few smart nudges, the turbo can become something you actively look forward to. So, take it from a former turbo-phobe, five things you can do to improve your quality of life on the indoor trainer this winter.

Join the party - don't stay in solitary confinement

The fastest way to make indoor riding more enjoyable is to stop doing it alone. Each of the big platforms does 'social' slightly differently, and that’s the point - there’s a flavour for everyone.

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While Zwift is still the busiest town in turbo land, with rides every five minutes, from gentle recovery spins to branded race series. The drafting model means you can actually sit in a bunch and get a break, and rubber-banded group rides keep mixed abilities together so nobody gets spat in the first five minutes. Weekly club meet-ups on voice chat, I think, help to bring back one of the main reasons most of us ride - to be social.

MyWhoosh, Rouvy, and IndieVelo are just a few of the other better-known indoor training platforms, and with so many available and offering a different blend of gamification or realism, it's worth looking into what is going to work best for you.

One thing is for certain though, these platforms really do make a difference to indoor training enjoyment. For me, it was Zwift that changed my opinion a few years ago, and all of the platforms mentioned have come an awful long way since then.

If you are new to the virtual ride sphere, it's worth experimenting to see what fires you up to ride. Online races, for example, add some competition to your riding, but they might not be for everyone. Social group rides or challenges put up by the platforms mentioned above span far beyond full gas racing and might be a better fit for your ride enjoyment.

Get your entertainment right

For many people, indoor training is really about cramming in a quality session in the middle of the week and getting maximum bang for your buck when it comes to training hours. It's here that I'd recommend deploying some different distraction tactics for your riding.

If you are just trying to get through your interval session, I recommend using ERG mode so you can let the trainer do the work, and supplement your indoor training platform with something a little bit more stimulating.

Music is the obvious one, and creating a good playlist will most definitely help get you through an intense session, but for lighter workouts, I would thoroughly recommend a podcast or audiobook too.

Most of us have some sort of weekly listen these days, and I have found it can really help to save episodes for your turbo session. Not only is it slightly more engaging and therefore a better distraction from suffering than just listening to music, but it creates a more positive association too. And that is paramount for a consistent winter of training.

Noise-cancelling headphones are well worth considering for indoor training too. In combination with your favourite tunes or audiobook, they can truly drown out the drone of your turbo trainer, and that will make training more fun.

Suffer in luxury

Setting up your indoor training space is an incredibly important part of enjoying your training, and something that you wouldn't always consider from an enjoyment perspective. Nowadays, though, I think the amount of training I do through the winter is almost directly proportional to how easily I can get on my trainer in the first place.

If you can, dedicate a bit of space to your training. You might be lucky enough to have space in a garage or basement, but even having a handy storage space for your trainer next to where you ride is going to help decrease faff and make indoor training less annoying.

Equipment is key too. You don't have to break the bank, but small things like a soft towel to mop your brow, an indoor training mat to save any mess, and a nice cold drink can help sessions pass quicker.

If you do want to go to town, there is a whole host of tech to help make indoor training closer to the real thing.

The very best smart trainers on the market have a whole host of features that make training more engaging. Whether it's Wahoo's moving Kickr Move, or controllers like Zwift's Play attachments, if you have a bit of spare money to put into your setup, the tech does make a difference.

Set goals, and chase them

A little healthy game design goes a long way when motivation dips. There are two broad routes - in-game targets and real-world metrics.

In the virtual worlds, chase route badges you haven’t unlocked yet. Platforms vary in what they reward, so pick the carrot that excites you - a jersey, a bike unlock, a ticked-off collection page. They may seem small, but throw yourself at these goals and you will find that it's often enough to keep you coming back. The key is to choose goals that finish within the session so you get that satisfying dopamine hit when you step off.

Focusing on the quality of your training helps too. For example, and amazing as ERG mode is, I used to complete plenty of interval sessions without it, while focusing on producing the smoothest, pretiest power graph I possibly could. It's nerdy, but it did work, which is really what matters!

It's also important to take a step back and set longer-term goals for the winter. Here in the UK, for example, there's probably about four months where evening rides might be tricky for most of us - that is a long time to lose motivation.

To help, it's worth laying an emphasis on something in the new year that you can look forward to as well. Whether it's a spring sportive, a reliability ride, or even the restarting of a Tuesday evening chaingang - it doesn't really matter! But knowing your efforts are for the greater good will give your winter sessions more purpose, and that makes them far more palatable.