Training in the Great Indoors
Getting in shape for cycling, rowing and skiing --- without ever
leaving home

By JEN MURPHY
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE
October 1, 2005

Hoping to stay in shape through the winter without catching frostbite?
Increasingly, amateur and professional athletes are turning to indoor
workouts to train for sports when conditions outside aren't ideal.

Purists might scoff at the idea of rowing inside rather than on the
water, or biking in place for hours in a dreary room, but recent
advances in equipment design and technology have made exercising at
home less tedious than it used to be. Indoor training alone isn't the
optimal way to prepare for races and other demanding sporting events,
but outdoor workouts have their pitfalls, too. Experts say a
combination of indoor and outdoor conditioning is best, especially for
those looking to ramp up their strength and endurance. We look at the
pros and cons of training for cycling, rowing and skiing, without ever
leaving your home. To read about long-distance runners who train on
the treadmill, see: Running to Stand Still1.
* * *
CYCLING

Options for cycling indoors go beyond spinning classes at the gym.
Cyclists can hook up their bikes to trainers, essentially stands that
attach to the rear wheel of your bike -- or rollers, a training
machine akin to a treadmill for bicycles. With the aid of
interactive-graphic software projected on a computer screen,
television or against a wall, riders can have a virtual outdoor
experience, watching video of courses that mimic actual races such as
the Walt Disney Half Iron Man in Orlando, Fla., or San Francisco's
Escape From Alcatraz triathlon.

Trainers create varying levels of resistance using wind, magnets or
fluid. The faster you pedal, the more resistance you generate.

On rollers, the cyclist rides on top of three aluminum cylinders that
rotate along with the bike's wheels. Rollers take a fair amount of
proficiency to use because just like road riding, you can only
maintain your balance while pedaling. Beginners might want to line up
their bike near a doorframe, so that they have something to brace
themselves against if they start to wobble.

Pros

Being able to ride outdoors often depends on the weather and the time
of year. Icy, snowy winters can make roads perilous. Hot, humid
climates and cities with poor air quality aren't ideal, either.
Another benefit of training indoors is being able to control one's
surroundings. "A lot of people don't have easy access to a 20- or
30-minute ride without stop signs, traffic lights and bad road
conditions," says Sam Callan, science and education manager for USA
Cycling, the organization that fields U.S. national teams. A
controlled environment also makes it easier to measure performance
changes, says Chris Carmichael, founder and chief executive of
Carmichael Training Systems and coach of Tour de France winner Lance
Armstrong. "Generally, you should focus on a specific physiological
demand or element you are trying to develop, like pedal cadence, when
you're using an indoor trainer," he adds.

Cons

"Nothing compares to the outdoors," says Jim Miller, director of
women's endurance programs for USA Cycling. "Can you prepare for a
local century ride indoors? Probably. Can you prepare for the Tour de
France inside? No chance."

Mr. Carmichael cautions that by training indoors, riders miss out on
environmental changes that they will have to confront in outdoor
races. "Outdoors, you always have little dips and ascents, and if you
make a left turn you might face a crosswind and your speed drops.
Those small speed changes are very noticeable when you are out there
and, subconsciously, you develop skills to deal with them."

Many manufacturers say their products simulate uphill riding, but
cycling coaches say inclines are impossible to duplicate on a level
surface. "When you're actually climbing a hill outside on a bike, the
front wheel is not level with the ground," Mr. Carmichael says. "The
arms move from the drops of the bars to the tops, and you start using
more of the glutes and lower back, and the upper body becomes more
engaged." Elevating the front wheel better imitates a climb, but the
cyclist has to stop the workout and remove the incline to return to
level ground. Another consideration is noise -- some indoor trainers
can be loud, so test them before purchasing.

Equipment

Basic trainers are available from Blackburn, Cateye and CycleOps --
they range in price from $160 to $800.
[Challenger roller]
The Challenger roller from Kreitler retails for a suggested $300.00



CompuTrainer (www.racermateinc.com2) combines a trainer with
computer-generated 3-D simulations of hills and turns. The entire
package sells for $1,474. The CompuTrainer also can analyze pedal
stroke and other performance guideposts.

Kreitler (www.kreitler.com3) makes a range of rollers that retail for
between $290 and $600.
* * *
ROWING

When rowing on water, you are essentially pulling an entire boat back
and forth beneath you, while your body remains fairly stationery. On
an indoor rower, the machine is fixed and the body moves back and
forth on a sliding seat.

Pros

Rowing machines have the advantage of safety, comfort and convenience.
"There's no getting wet, no tipping over, no worry of a motor boat
running you down," says Judy Geer, co-founder of rowing-machine maker
Concept2 and a former member of the U.S. national and Olympic crew
teams. "Sometimes you can work out harder indoors because you can
completely focus on the motion of rowing and not worry about other
variables." Technology also makes it easier to monitor training gains
(or deficiencies) on an indoor rower than on the open water.

Cons

While indoor rowing machines are useful for maintaining endurance and
muscle, they don't replace the feel of a boat, says Harvard
University's men's heavyweight crew coach Harry Parker. "Running is a
little different because you can run at a normal gait [indoors]," adds
Mr. Parker, a former Olympic rower and Olympic crew coach. "With
rowing, you have to have a feel for that particular skill of putting
the oars in the water and taking them out, and you just can't
duplicate that skill."

Equipment

Concept2's (www.concept2.com6) Model D indoor rowing machine costs
$850 and comes with a display monitor that measures elapsed time,
distance, pace, calorie expenditure, power output and strokes per
minute. It also keeps track of performance and can transfer workout
data to a PC.
[WaterRower-Classic photo]
The Classic rower from WaterRower, shown in American black walnut,
sells for $1,495.



WaterRower's (www.waterrower.com7) indoor rowing machines adjust
resistance automatically, which means there is no fumbling with
settings. The machine is nearly a foot shorter than those manufactured
by Concept2. Their wood or stainless steel frames are designed to look
more like furniture to blend in at home. Prices start at $895.
* * *
SKIING

Indoor ski-training machines come in three basic types --
cross-country, incline and lateral platform systems. Cross-country
machines simulate skiing and come with makeshift poles, while incline
trainers, which are designed to be used by either cross-country or
downhill athletes, don't resemble skis but condition the muscles
involved in the sport. Lateral platforms are designed primarily for
downhill skiers.

Pros

Indoor training helps improve performance as well as prevent injury.
"The incline trainers and cross-country trainers don't beat up on
cartilage, so you can train hard without beating up on your joints,"
says Vern Cooley, an orthopedic surgeon at the Rosenberg Cooley
Metcalf Clinic in Park City, Utah, and member of the U.S. ski and
snowboard teams' medical board.

Cons

Nothing can prepare the body for dealing with outdoor challenges like
ice patches and negative wind chills. "Optimally, it's best if you can
train both indoors and outdoors," says Dr. Cooley. "Athletes on the
U.S. ski team do a lot of both [because] there are some things you
can't do outdoors."

Equipment

NordicTrack Classic Pro Skier (www.nordictrack.com8) replicates the
motions used by cross-country skiers. A true test of one's
coordination, its adjustable, independent-resistance controls for the
arms and legs allow you to vary the intensity of upper- and lower-body
workouts. It sells for $599.

The NordicTrack Incline Trainer X10 ($2,299) and NordicTrack Incline
Trainer X5 ($1,755) don't look like skis but train the core muscles
involved in the sport. The key feature is the incline pad -- the X10
can be raised up to a 50% grade.

Skier's Edge (www.skiersedge.com9) uses a nonimpact lateral design. It
comes in three different frame sizes -- the higher they rise off the
floor, the greater the challenge -- with interchangeable platforms and
various resistance settings that simulate nearly every style of alpine
skiing.

Write to the Online Journal's editors at newseditors@....