Am I wasting my time?

You may not be wasting your time depending what your goals are, but why the trainer - isnt it more fun to ride on the road?

Hay, if your just trying to get fit and reduce health risks, 30 mins 3 times a week is a good start. Just make sure that you get out of breath and don't do three days on four days off; rather do day on day off.

The perfromance increases from this kind of schedule won't be great and you will stop improving after a short while (i.e. plateux), at which point you will need to increase the training stimulous (i.e. intensity, volume or both).

So, if your just trying to get fit and reduce health risks what you are doing will be fine. If you want to perform better, what you are doing will need constant changes and is likely to be too little in the long term. If you want to improve your performance get a coach.

A coach? Sounds expensive! Aren't there training routines on the internet or somewhere that I can work towards?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by MartyMcFly
A coach? Sounds expensive! Aren't there training routines on the internet or somewhere that I can work towards?

Some coaches work for free in the UK, although most over the net will ask for payment.

There are training routines, but these are a little flawed in that they don't take into account your individual situation or your goals. These 'one size fits all' programs aren't that great. Check out the Lance Armstong/Chris Carmicheal book for one.

Your other option is to post a little about your goals, your current ability, age, weight, what you like/dislike, etc. and ask for suggestions from people on this forum.

If you only want to get a little fitter and healthier, what you are doing now is fine!

Not sure how to describe my ability, and what I like/dislike, I'm not sure what that means, I'm 23, 168cm, 64kg...

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by MartyMcFly
Not sure how to describe my ability, and what I like/dislike, I'm not sure what that means, I'm 23, 168cm, 64kg...

Most importantly, what do you want to acheive? If its just to get fitter and healthier, you're doing OK already.

As for ability, how long have you been training, how far/fast do you ride, have you races, etc.?

As for what you like/dislike, what kind of riding do you like or dislike, do you like high intensity or low intensity most, riding with a group or solo, etc.?

If you're looking for some good introductions to cycle training for fitness you might find this page on active.com http://www.active.com/archive/index.cfm?sport=cycling&category=Training%20 useful. Many of the training tips they give can be adapted to cycling on the trainer.