INDOOR TRAINING OPTIONS TO HELP YOU CRUSH EVERY CYCLING GOAL

DAVE AMBROSE, A 34-YEAR-OLD venture capitalist, had a problem most of us can relate to: work got busy, and his time to ride outside evaporated, resulting in low-energy and weight gain.

- SELENE YEAGER

By the end of 2016 he was the heaviest he’d ever been, carrying 86kg on his 1.70m frame. His friends suggested he try indoor training, but he thought it seemed boring. Finally, Ambrose agreed to test Zwift on a friend’s Wahoo Kickr. “I did 45 minutes for the first ride, and thought, ‘This is amazing,’” he says. “You actually feel like you’re outside. It changed everything I thought about indoor cycling.”

Hooked, Ambrose got his own Kickr and Zwift subscription. He soon began riding 160km a week - twice as much as he ever did outdoors. He got inspired to start cooking more and eating out less. By the end of that first year, he was down 11 kilograms.

“I had a ton more energy. Now that the weight was coming off, I wanted to get even fitter and stronger. But I didn’t want to go to a gym. I figured – like with cycling – there must be something I could do at home.”

His fiancée was into Peloton. Though he wasn’t interested in the cycling classes, he discovered the platform’s strength classes and started consistently tacking core workouts onto his Zwift routine.

He now trains indoors with the TrainerRoad app, competes in Zwift races, and does core workouts via Peloton. The subscriptions (sans equipment) add up to about R800 a month, which is more affordable than most gym memberships. Ambrose says they are totally worth it. “I feel like a new person.”