Travis Barrett, who won the 2020 Cape Town Cycle Tour, is putting all his focus on indoor training to maintain his fitness during the 21-day national lockdown.
Cape Town Cycle Tour winner Travis Barrett is currently putting all his focus on indoor training. Photo: Tobias Ginsberg
“This is not something new to me as I generally do two to three sessions on an indoor trainer during the week anyway,” said Barrett.
“The only real difference is that all of my rides are now being done on an indoor trainer.”
The 20-year-old is currently doing his indoor training in his garage at home in Edenvale and feels it provides fewer distractions than outdoor training.
“I think more often than not training indoors is sometimes more convenient, especially since not all of our local roads are safe to train on during the week.
“I think there are both mental and physical benefits to training indoors.
“A major benefit of training indoors, or using an indoor trainer, is that it becomes much easier to focus on the session you are doing and to complete your workouts to the best of your ability.”
The OfficeGuru rider has a coach who is helping him plan his workouts so he will be in his best physical condition by the time he can compete again.
“The most important thing we are actively trying to focus on is staying motivated and enjoying training indoors.
“Doing over four-hour rides on the indoor trainer is enough to break many athletes mentally, so it has been important to ensure that the training is always palatable.”
Barrett’s coach creates workouts for him which he then uploads to the Zwift virtual cycling programme.
“I am fortunate enough to have access to a smart trainer, so it’s as simple as just jumping on the trainer and pedalling away.
“With modern technology as well as online training platforms such as Zwift, indoor training is much easier.
“You are able to ride and train in groups with your friends, teammates and people around the world from the comfort of your own home. Sometimes you can even ride with some of the best World Tour pros.”
Barrett says one of the benefits of training at home is that he can focus on other areas off the bike that he can improve on.
“There is always room for improvement in areas cyclists often forget to focus on, like strength and stability.
“Staying at home now has given me the opportunity to actively focus a little bit extra on important areas such as core strength, stability and overall general conditioning off the bike.”
To keep indoor workouts from becoming too monotonous, Barrett says it is very important to have a change of scenery every now and then.
“I often do things such as swop my road bike for a mountain bike to train and race on; it helps keep things exciting for me.
“Some people find that it can get quite challenging and boring to sit on an indoor bike in a static position for what can sometimes feel like hours. But when you learn to overcome those mental obstacles you will learn to appreciate being able to ride outdoors.”
While the nation is unsure how long the coronavirus restrictions will ultimately be in place, Barrett believes it is still possible to achieve your goals with indoor training.
“Setting goals for yourself is always the first step to success. Once you’ve done that it helps to keep you focused, regardless of whether you are training indoors or outdoors.”
