Does indoor/outdor OXYGEN INTAKE have an effect on your training ?

dan krause

I used an indoor bicycle TRAINER for the first time in my life this last winter (the weather was no good for outdoor cycling at all this year in Michigan). Now that i am back outside my endurance and speed do not seem to have been affected at all. My indoor cycling was not as easy as outdoors, easily overtrained the next day. However now with outdoor cycling my physical ability seems to have catapulted foreward? Does quality of oxygen play into this?

daveryanwyoming

I've heard a lot of theories offered as to why indoor training seems harder for the same power levels compared to riding outside, but oxygen quality? No, that's a new one. Overheating indoors, lack of momentum, inability to coast, pure boredom, those come up often but not quality of oxygen. I'm not even sure what you mean by that, outdoors I'm often sharing roads with cars and breathing their exhaust, in what way does indoor oxygen quality suffer?

-Dave

grahamspringett

Err, isn't that called being fitter? Unless you live in a sealed environment, the oxygen in your house comes from outside the house.

Piotr

FWIW, when it's too cold to open a window, I always open all the doors to allow for the best possible ventilation when I train indoors.

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Trekrider4812

I would have to admit that I've thought of this idea before. The reason I thought the oxygen indoors (not a well ventillated room in the winter) may be lower is because I use it faster than it's replenished, i.e. I'm breathing the same air twice.

There's really no way to argue this unless you have and "oxygen meter" in the room, but I haven't fallen over blue yet so I'm good!

Could this be turned into cheap high altitude training ?

doctorSpoc

the biggest factor to control inside is cooling (i.e. i keep a window open and have two box fans on me in the cold long eastern ontario canada winter)... if you can approximate the cooling you can get outside, inside you'll be able to do similar numbers inside. in fact if you don't have the cooling outside the same thing will happen... i remember a 100km crit a couple years ago that was blazing hot (32C and first hot day of the season so wasn't acclimatized at all) and my FTP is in the ~250 range... in that heat i was doing 200W and it was hurting... everyone was hurting it was a death march.

there is the lack of inertia inside too... so a big honking flywheel helps, but the biggest thing inside is cooling, cooling, cooling...

Steve_B

I'm not disagreeing but I think that motivation is a factor as well.

doctorSpoc

for sure... looking at a wall for hours is not too inspiring.. but i think the biggest contributer to lack of motivation inside is working like a dog and then looking down at you power meter and seeing pathetic numbers. when i got the cooling right and improved the inertia my number went right up... that was very inspiring and motivating. now my very highest number are still outside, but for day to day numbers... now they are actually better inside than outside and my highest numbers inside not that far off of my very highest numbers outside. if you would have asked me a few years ago i wouldn't have thought it was possible.. want to improve your motivation inside? get your numbers up... want to get your numbers up inside? easiest way... get the cooling right.