The time for excuses is over. Too cold, too wet, too dark? That was once upon a time. Today it's always the season - if you have a smart trainer at home. What used to be the weather is now more likely to be smoking graphics cards, wobbly WLAN and other stumbling blocks of electrical and entertainment technology that can diminish the fun of cycling when stationary, but cannot prevent it.
It can be a bigger challenge to utilise all the technology in a targeted manner. Take Zwift, for example: the most heavily frequented virtual cycling world is built in such a way that you are constantly incentivised to accelerate more than you would of your own free will. And that doesn't just mean racing, but any activity. The competitive spirit is fuelled by the constant display of rankings and the distances between those ahead and behind. Scoring is actually always on. It is therefore difficult to stay cool and work specifically in the desired training area.
Set stimuli with interval training
Alternatives to free driving are structured interval training in virtual worlds. In this case, it is no longer the terrain that determines what happens, but the brakes are used to create interval structures. This approach offers the advantage of setting specific stimuli. There is always the challenge of actually maintaining a certain performance over the duration of an interval and not just as long as it feels good (which is typical for freewheeling). On the one hand, this is good, as it leads to stronger stimuli and potentially faster adaptation. But on the other hand, there is also a risk of overdoing it. It is therefore important to keep an overview. Rule of thumb: 80 per cent of your training time should be spent in the GA1/GA2 endurance zone. This can be easily checked in the training records.
If you choose your workouts wisely - for example, if you only choose one workout of the hardest type per week and complete the majority of easier workouts (Zwift: workouts from the endurance block), you can train with a lot of variety without burning yourself out. Permanently high training stress harbours the risk of burning out. Because if you're always going full throttle, you may be taking two steps at once on the fitness staircase, but it won't take you very far. After a meteoric rise, there is the threat of an even faster fall; at best, a performance plateau can be reached.
Alternating between tension and relaxation
So if you don't just tweak for fun now and then, but ride indoors a lot, you need a master plan to achieve your personal goal. Of course, this can be very different: For example, someone who sees indoor races as the highlight of the season will need to adopt a different approach to someone whose seasonal goals lie on the road in spring or summer. Because one thing is clear: it is not possible to always be in top form all year round. Good training thrives on alternating between tension and recovery. This applies to both short and long periods of time, i.e. from a daily plan to an annual plan - or even a four-year plan at Olympic level.
If you want to be fit all the time, you will fall short of your potential. In order to get the most out of yourself, you have to sharpen up your form in targeted swings towards day X - this is called periodisation. The effect has not only been proven in elite sport, but also with Strava data from tens of thousands of users. "Smart" trainers who periodise their training and do not always train the same thing achieve better top performances than the group of "always fit" people. Periodisation, which tailors the training content more and more specifically to the planned competition the closer this competition gets, has proven itself. The further away the competition is, the less specific the training should be - this means laying the foundations in endurance, strength and speed. Indoor training can also be used for this - but you shouldn't go "full throttle" all the time.
3 goals - 3 plans - 4 weeks
Firstly, identify your goal: what do you want to achieve with indoor training?
1. simply have fun
Indoor training offers great opportunities to stay active regardless of the weather. But how can you make the most of this variety? A guide to effective winter training.
>> click here for the training plan
Prepare 2nd season 2026
You want to achieve the best possible performance on the road in the next cycling season. What role can indoor training play? And which forms of training are advisable?
>> click here for the training plan
3rd highlight of the season E-Race
Do you want to race successfully indoors over the winter? Then you need to be prepared for this type of competition. We'll show you what's important.
>> Click here for the training plan
The training plans are each designed for four weeks, but can be repeated as required. Good luck!
