Why don't we do it in the road?

Okay, so you didn't like the poop jokes. Noted. Today, I'll hit on something a little more straightforward. Here's an article from The New York Times about indoor training versus outdoor training. (Spoiler: outdoor wins.)

The sad answer, exercise researchers say, is that you really cannot get the same training effect with indoor substitutes. That’s not to say that indoor training is useless, but rather that it has real limitations, with differences that sometimes are subtle, but significant.

“I think most athletes know that,” said Peter R. Cavanagh, an exercise researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle. “That’s why they are out there in all seasons.”

The article goes on to discuss these limitations in detail, which can mostly be summed up by saying that it's harder to work out outside.

One thing the article doesn't touch on, though, is that indoor training doesn't exercise your brain. When you're riding your bike outside, you constantly need to keep your guard up. You're constantly taking in your environment. You never know when you might encounter a pothole, angry driver or wandering camel. (What? It happens!) Indoors, you can just click on the tube and tune out.

Admittedly, I live next to the Pacific in Southern California, so I don't have to deal with snow days. As the NYT article indicates, there are times when folk northeast of my beach shack need to stay inside if they want a cardio hit. But I still think we've become too dependent on treadmills and stationary bikes.

I frequently ride my bike past a health club next to the Redondo Beach Pier where there's a huge picture window lined with stationary bikes and elliptical trainers. They don't even have a good view of the ocean. They're looking out over a Ruby's Diner, which I suppose is it's own kind of motivation, but I don't understand why, even when the thermometer hits an Icelandic 62 degrees, anyone would want to be in there when they could be cruising the beach.

But then again, I also listen to vinyl LPs and make my own salad dressing, so maybe I'm just a caveman.