I’m on an LV plan-builder plan with added endurance workouts via train-now. I mostly have 60 mins for a workout which is fine but occasionally I have more. The issue I have is inside I need a break around the 60 -75 minute mark for numb bits to be not numb and sore bits calming down.
Working with AT I’m trying to understand how to do this, should it be two 45 min workouts or select one long one and pause in the middle to refresh (as it were).
It’s never the case that the endurance isn’t completable from a fitness point of view just indoors causes a bunch of pain that outdoors I don’t see. In the summer it’s fine I can get endurance outside and just not track anything bar TSS in TrainerRoad but it’s going to be winter soon so my turbo will see even more action.
I think one long workout with a pause is better. Assuming it’s a ~5 minute walk around and not a really long break. Also there’s a lot more workout options at 90-120 minutes than there are at 45 minutes.
Worth trying to resolve the issue though. I’ve had a bit of this and stuff that has helped has been:
bib short choice. Some shorts that work fine for me outdoors don’t work on longer indoor workouts where I don’t move around as much
Getting out of the saddle regularly e.g. standing up for a few pedal strokes every 10 minutes
Switching positions regularly between hands on tops and sitting further back on the saddle, to drops or aerohoods position sitting on the nose of the saddle. I also have an ISM saddle which helps avoid numbness/soreness for me
Having a fan behind me that’s angled upwards to blow air over saddle area and my back.
If you’re getting such numbness in ~60min that you have to get off the bike and walk around for 5 min then that isn’t normal or healthy and you should look into ways to fix that. It could be a new saddle, your saddle is too high, wrong shoes, etc. For me the biggest thing is just standing (while pedaling) every 15 or so minutes during a trainer ride.
I agree with the need for a proper bike fit.
One thing I always do when inside is, in between intervals or every 20ish minutes of an endurance ride. I do some on the bike stretches, for example Just standing up and stretching out my calf muscles, and this other sort of hip flexor stretch. I always try to do that when riding indoors and helps a lot instead of being stuck in a fixed position for an hour plus.
If your saddle works OK when riding outdoors it isn’t the first thing I would address. Z2 rides indoor are a challenge and probably the main reason that the craze about rocker plates has caught on so rapidly.
Stand up frequently, like every 5-10 minutes, already early in the ride; when the tenderness has set in it won’t go away. Another tip is to double up on bibs, effectively adding more padding.