Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Elite Sports and Performance Enhancement
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1433368
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancements in Cycling Performance Enhancement Strategies for Cyclists: From Amateurs to Elite View all 4 articles

Training, environmental and nutritional practices in indoor cycling: an explorative cross-sectional questionnaire analysis

Provisionally accepted
Wouter M. Peeters Wouter M. Peeters *Adam H. Coussens Adam H. Coussens Iain Spears Iain Spears Owen Jeffries Owen Jeffries
  • Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Indoor cycling at home has grown rapidly in recent years facilitated by advances in technology and gamification. However, there is limited data on individual's training practices when cycling indoors. Using a single-time point, cross-sectional questionnaire, we gathered information on equipment, environmental considerations, training practices and nutrition during indoor cycling. Following 492 responses, external variables (weather; 88.4%, lack of daylight; 56.3%), time efficiency (81.9%) and general fitness (70.9%) were most frequently cited as reasons to engage in indoor cycling. "Smart" turbo trainers linked to a mixed-reality cycling software were most frequently reported in equipment set -up. 78% of participants attempted to control temperature with 96% of these participants using at least 1 fan to control airflow. The volume of indoor training differed between seasons (winter: 6h10 ± 3 h 30, summer 2h52 ± 2h57, p < 0.001), and structured (61.9%) and unstructured work-outs (64.7%) were completed more than once a week with fewer participants engaging in competitive/racing events (20.9%). 98% percent of participants consumed fluids with an average fluid intake of 0.74 ± 0.28 L/h. Dependent on type of work-out, participants reported less planning of carbohydrate and protein intake during short-duration work-outs (~40-60%) relative to longer-duration work-outs (~56-80%). Caffeine use was the most frequently reported ergogenic aid. Together we report indoor cycling practices with respect to training equipment, considerations of environmental and nutritional strategies and training habits. Our findings could be used to support the development of future research and indoor training guidelines.

    Keywords: Exercise, Cycling, thermoregulation, nutrition, Technology

    Received: 15 May 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Peeters, Coussens, Spears and Jeffries. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wouter M. Peeters, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.