Track training on rollers

[sam86]

I have just brought a set of Elite rollers for some track training and the occasional bad weather days.

Can anyone suggest some training plans and the best way to gain improvements using a set of rollers. I have just started to get my balance and keep a decent cadence but also been able to play with the gearing on my track bike.

Cheers.

[mangpress]

gday,
are they the elite parabolic rollers with the bankings on each side?
if so, i recommend (and im serious) painting the middle 6 inches of the foremost roller (that you will see when on the rollers) in a bright colour contrasting to the colour of the rollers. do this all the way around that front roller so that when you spin the roller the contrasting strip is continuous. i say this because one of the most important functions of rollers to achieve balance and poise on the bike (you would have bought a wind trainer if you thought otherwise), and th banking on the parabolic rollers encourages a ridiculously slow learning curve, because you will not fall off of them. this may seem like odd logic, but the object is to, when riding the rollers (on any bike) to keep your front wheel within the six inches you have painted onto the roller.
PM me if you have any qualms =]



i have found that my rollers are most useful when working with a HR moniter, as you can use the percentage of your total HR in corellation with your cadence (assuming use of a track bike) to measure if your fitness has increased.

ie (hypothetical figures)
your max HR is 200
on day 1, at 90 rpm for 2 minutes, your heart rate is 150
on day 2, at 90 rpm for 2 minutes, your heart rate is 145
on day 3, at 100 rpm for 2 minutes, your heart rate is 151
on day 4, at 90 rpm for 2 minutes, your heart rate is 135

therefore, % of MAX HR as dec. and 'fitness' has increased.

obviously this is not a training plan and IANYGP but you can understand the worth of developing a highish cadence on rollers on your track bike.


if you don't have a HR monitor, then you have the following options:
buy one for about $150
use your speedo to measure your cadence and just assume that you're getting fitter anyway becuase the gods smile down on you.



depending on what disciplines you race (or like) will determine how you use the rollers.
for any sort of endurance training, holding between 70 and 80% of your MHR (yeah, get a HR monitor, they're really really good) for between 5 and 10 minutes at a time (after a warmup) with no more than 5 minutes rest in between each set (try for 3 sets initially) is a good way to begin. You must force yourself to maintain the cadence for the whole set though, because cheating will not work. But find a tempo that is good for you and work with that initially.

i hope this helps.