Why You Should Have an Indoor Bike Stand
Summer is almost here and you know what that means—bike weather! That’s right. It’s time to dust off your set of wheels and take to the streets. Of course, you are prepared to acclimatize your buns to the feel of the saddle and you’re not looking forward to how your legs are going to feel in the morning.
Nevertheless, you are determined to really give it your all this year. However, biking does not have to be a fair weather activity. Many avid bikers continue their conditioning all through the winter months by using an indoor stationary bike stand.
So, before you take the cycle out for its first cruise of the season, only to abandon it once again to the depths of the garage while you ice your sore buns for the next week, consider the reasons why you should have an indoor bike stand.
It all comes down to consistency. Riding for fun is great, but the biggest benefits of biking are experienced when you make a concerted effort to change the way in which you commute.
Biking on a regular basis improves your cardiovascular health, muscle strength, endurance stamina, and overall feeling of wellbeing—not to mention the substantial financial savings that become immediately evident, regarding gasoline expenditure, vehicle maintenance, and extraneous costs for parking and more. Biking is, by far, the most health and cost efficient way of commuting.
Once you establish a habit of bike commuting, it becomes the part of your day that you look forward to. Your body feels alive and invigorated all through the day and you wake up with the anticipation of an exhilarating commute. There is one catch, however, that becomes one of the biggest deterrents to prospective bike commuters—discomfort.
Consistency is Key
There simply is no substitute for regularity and conditioning. The joy of regular biking is mitigated for those who do not engage in it on an everyday basis. This is because their body never gets into the rhythm of daily physical activity, as well as the soreness that results in the riders physical contact points on the bike. Let’s look at another example, which will illustrate this logic…
No Pain, No Gain
Imagine someone who is taking their first guitar lesson and we can call this person, Jill. Jill is excited to learn how to play guitar and she’s not afraid of hard work and focus, but Jill has never been big on physical discomfort. To Jill’s dismay, one of the first obstacles in studying the guitar is to form calluses on her fingers. Before she does this, it will be very difficult to improve as calluses will form naturally to shield her fingers nerve ending from the acute pressure of the guitar strings.
Since it hurts her fingers to practice, Jill never gets to actually learn how to play the guitar, because she never got over the physical learning curve. Jill’s teacher gives her a little gizmo to strengthen her hand, which will help to condition the muscles that she will use for playing. After a few weeks of strengthening her hand and finger muscles, she is able to maintain a regular practicing regiment, which results in her fingers becoming calloused and her ability to improve becomes exponentially easier, especially with a stationary bike stand.
There is an exact equivalent for bikers and indoor cycling, in the way in which one’s body acclimates to the pressure points of one’s bike, as well as in the conditioning to be maintained using an indoor bike stand trainer. Even if you can’t take the bike out on the town every day, you can keep up your physical conditioning by using a bicycle trainer stand in the comfort of your own home or at the gym.
Without regularity and consistency, the human body wants to find a natural stasis or neutral mode. This is why enabling your daily routine to accommodate cycle conditioning is essential. By keeping up with your biking, either outdoors or indoors, your body will settle into an active neutral state and will stay in a place of readiness from day to day, instead of losing the progress which you have made with indoor cycling.
Why You Should Have an Indoor Bike Stand
Indoor bike stands, or bicycle trainers, are an essential piece of gear for the serious biker or cardio enthusiast. No matter your daily routine, a bike trainer allows cyclists to use their trainers in their homes, office, school, local gym, or anywhere else that has just enough space to fit their bike.
Bike stand trainers offer many benefits for those looking to improve the quality of their health and biking performance with a concise, convenient method.
Key Benefits
● Maintain a Healthy Routine in Any Weather
No matter which weather has decided to show up, you never have to sacrifice your daily ride due to nature. With an essential bike trainer indoors, bikers are empowered to maintain their physical conditioning without having to purchase extensive amounts of weather specific gear, which can incur ongoing costs to maintain and replace worn out equipment.
An indoor bike trainer is a one-time expense, which can range between $50 and $1500, depending on the features that you require.
● Train on Your Own Wheels
Unlike a stationary spinning machine or other exercise bike often found in herds at your local gym, a bike trainer allows you to use the same bike that you use on the road.
Indoor bike stands will attach either to the back wheel of your bike or the back drive train—without the wheel. This is a huge plus for bikers who use cycling shoes of a clip-on, or clipless design, as it allows you to train with your own gear and equipment.
● Take Your Trainer on the Go
Indoor bike trainer stands usually weigh between 40 to 60 pounds and come in convenient carrying cases. They are designed to be portable and mobile, many models including a wheeled case to transport them. Even the larger roller trainers and exercise bikes are foldable and designed for wheeled transportation.
● Have Fun with Other Riders Abroad
Trainers have seen some great innovations recently with the advent of Smart Turbo Trainers. These indoor bike stands are designed with wireless capabilities and remote controlled operations.
By logging into trainer software, such as Zwift, CycleOps, or TrainerRoad, cyclists can link up with other real people from across the globe, to race on a variety of different courses. The smart technology allows the map to communicate with your trainer, automatically shifting the resistance to correspond with the terrain of your virtual route.
Whether you are a new biker or a veteran, an indoor bike stand trainer will accelerate your rate of improvement and overall health. Why you should have an indoor bike stand, has to do with self-betterment and unlocking your optimum potential as a cyclist. Best of all, no helmet is required.
Feel free to leave comments and questions and thanks for reading!
