Here's a quick tip for the athletes who want to measure every aspect of their body's performance to get the most out of their training time. And lets be honest, who doesn't!?
You know how if you ride hard for a certain period of time without eating you eventually get what riders the world over call the dreaded bonk ('le bonk du dread' if you are in France!). We'll how about being able to actively measure it during a ride or on a turbo session? Knowing the correlation between how you are feeling and the measurement of blood sugar at 15 minute intervals will shed some important information on how long you can ride before bonking and also how much you need to eat to restore your blood sugar levels to normal levels. You can even measure how long certain gels or energy drinks take to work their magic and plan accordingly.
If anything just having the numbers to hand will help keep your mind focussed on eating and drinking the optimum amount on a ride and keep le bonk du dread safely at bay.
And all for the price of a cheap blood sugar monitor used as used by diabetics the world over.
Combine it with a powermeter and you can even work out a correlalation for your body between how you are feeling, what your blood sugar level is and how many watts you can sustain over a given interval. You'll be amazed at what you can learn about yourself using these simple tools.
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 17th, 2009. Comment. 
First and foremost its not a requirement that to be a good cyclist you have to train using a heart rate monitor. There's plenty of professional racers who never use a heart rate monitor (hrm). They do however have the benefit of many years experience of listening to their bodies as well as physicians on hand for regular check ups and assessments. For the amateur rider looking to improve their fitness or race performance then a hrm is a good first tool to understand and use.
A basic hrm will display your current heart rate at any given moment. An average hrm will allow you to set programmable upper and lower limits and will beep if your heartrate exceeds either of these limits. An exceedingly good hrm will record your heartrate and allow you to download it to your pc for later analysis. As is often the case the amount of features on your hrm will be governed by cost but with basic hrms starting at around 50USD they are within reach of most riders.
So what are the benefits from training and racing using hrms?
It will teach you to read your body and understand why a ride on a certain day feels harder than before.
It will help you spot when you are at risk of illness or fatigue
It brings objectivity to training.
It can be used to guage effort in races and assist in saving strength for later in a time trial or hill climb.
It is the gateway for riders to begin working out what their optimum training zones are.
Look out for further features which will teach you how to discover what your theoretical maximum heart rate is as well as working out what your training zones are.
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 18th, 2009. Comment.
There's two ways you can calculate your maximum heart rate. One is very easy to do but is less accurate where as the other method is much more accurate but neccessitates nearly throwing up your last meal after a hard effort!
Firstly - the easy way
Get your calculator out and work out 220 minus your age in years. Thats it - your theoretical max. So if you are 40 years old your theoretical max is 180. I told you it wasn't very accurate! What if you've been overtraining or you are coming back from fatigue, what if you are a very athletic man compared to a woman who hasn't been able to do any exercise for the last ten years? One size rarely fits all.
Secondly - The accurate hard way.
For this you need a static turbo trainer or a long steady climb and a heart rate monitor to measure your heartrate.
Warm up thoroughly and then select a reasonably hard gear that you can sustain for three minutes. You'll notice your heartrate increase and then stabilise for this effort. After three minutes has passed up your gearing again and do another three minutes watching your heartrate increasing and stabilising then keep repeating these three minute patterns until you get to the point where its starting to feel impossible to sustain.
Instead of your heartrate going up and then stabilising it will continue to rise as your legs scream with lactic acid and your lungs are finding it hard to get enough oxygen onboard.
Keep on pedaling! Keep on until you feel like you are either going to faint from exhaustion or barf up your last meal. And then keep going for just another 10 seconds more.
Right at this point check your heart rate monitor and try to remember that number amongst all the brain fog you will be feeling. (This is where the more expensive heart rate monitors that record data come into their own)
Congratulations on doing your first max hr test! Its something you will probably want to repeat in a masochistic kind of way to check your performance as you progress.
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 19th, 2009. Comment.
Here’s a great little turbo workout that will help you build some fantastic speed but doesn’t take too much of a commitment in terms of time spent on the bike.
First of all warm up thoroughly – steadily go up through your gears for 15 or 20 minutes or so
Now commence a 5 minute sprinting block-
15 seconds sprint
45 seconds recovery
15 seconds sprint
45 seconds recovery
15 seconds sprint
45 seconds recovery
15 seconds sprint
45 seconds recovery
15 seconds sprint
45 seconds recovery
At this point should should be feeling like you are in the middle of a good workout!
Now do 5 minutes steady recovery pace
Repeat the 5 minute sprinting block above
Repeat the 5 minute steady recovery
Repeat the 5 minute sprinting block above
Repeat the 5 minute steady recovery
That’s the hard work done, now just take as long as you need to adequately warm down and spin the worst of the lactic acid out of your legs.
Congratulations on doing one of the most value for money turbo workouts out there.
You can probably expect to be able to safely do this twice a week but be careful if you are doing much riding inbetween that you are giving yourself enough time to recover. Checking your resting heartrate daily with a hrm is a good idea to help spot signs of over training.
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 20th, 2009.
If you are serious about improving your cycling speed or endurance one term you are going to keep coming up against is V02 Max. You're probably wondering what V02Max is all about. Read on...
One way of measuring fitness amongst different types of athletes is by recording the amount of oxygen they can consume while they exercise at their maximum capacity. V02Max is this measurement of oxygen in millilitres per kilogram of bodyweight that an athlete can use in one minute. (V02Max = Volume of O2 (symbol for oxygen) at MAXimum). V02max is NOT strictly a measurement of power.
Fit endurance athletes tend to have a higher V02max value than a sedentary person and they can subsequently exercise more intensely.
Many studies have shown that athletes can increase their V02max by working intensities that raise their heart rate to between 65% and 85% of its maximum for a period of at least 20 minutes between 3 and 5 times a week.
An average V02max value for a sedentary male is around 35 ml per kg per minute and for sedentary females the figure is around 2700 ml per kg per minute. Elite endurance athletes would expect to average around 70ml/kg/min.
Sedentary V02max is primarily based on genetics but it can be improved by quality training. Some sedentary people will naturally have high V02max figures while others have lower figures. This genetic variation explains why not everyone can train themselves to become elite athletes.
V02max isn't the be all and end all of performance though. There are many athletes who had lower V02max figures but who still won consistently at an elite level. Other factors that contribute to performance are mental fortitude and the ability to endure pain, riding efficiency and lactate threshold. A rider with a high lactate threshold, economic riding style and an ability to tolerate pain can certainly beat riders with higher V02Max figures.
So what's the easiest way to increase your V02Max? The simple, and perhaps slightly flippant answer, is to lose weight. Remember kilograms are part of the V02 max equation so if we reduce that side of the equation then the other side of it goes up. There is less of you but your cardiovascular system is working the same as before, therefore you will be more efficient.
We will be looking at other ways to increase V02max in future articles so stay tuned.
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 21st, 2009. Comment.
The equipment required for a V02 Max test is pretty complicated and expensive so its not something you can really do at home or even with a local coach. There are various private sports labs offering V02max tests along with lactate tests, some more expensive than others.
By far the easiest and most affordable option is to get it tested at a university. Some universities do V02max tests as a commercial service but won’t charge as much as private enterprises, look for universities with a strong sports science background. It is possible to get V02max tested for free though – universities carry out various research projects and this includes research into fitness measuring, training effectiveness and other related areas. Get in contact with the head of sports science or exercise physiology at your local universities and see what projects they have got coming up that they require test subjects for. Not only should you get a test for free but quite often they will provide you with a training plan or other advice related to your findings.
The v02max tests are carried out in professional surroundings, often by MSc students or higher and the results are reliable. You can expect to be on a correctly set up stationary bicycle or a regular bicycle on a turbo trainer most likely with SRM power cranks or a powertap installed to measure your wattage as well.
When you have got your V02max results then you can start to work out effective training plans. Read on to discover more on this.
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 22nd, 2009. Comment.
Cycling power meters are one of the great modern inventions for training on the bike. They allow the rider to measure their power output while riding. They do this by measuring torque using strain gauges mounted in either the cranks, bottom bracket or rear freehub and by combining it with current velocity and using this to workout the power being applied. Some cheaper modern units work in a different manner by measuring opposing forces such as wind resistance, inertia, rolling reistance and combining these to come up with a less accurate power estimate.
Commercial cycling power meters have been available since 1989 but their high cost put them out of reach of most cyclists. Cycling power meters have become more popular in the last 10 years as the cost of production has decreased making them more affordable to general athletes looking for effective time efficient ways of increasing their fitness.
In addition to measuring power most bike power meters will also record and display heart rate, riding speed, distance covered and duration. By combining all of these an athlete gets a lot more out of a training session that if he just had a single feedback such as heartrate or speed.
Why is this? Well imagine if a rider is under the weather – his heartrate is going to be affected by this. If it’s a windy day then likewise his speed is going to be effected. If he measures both heartrate and power the correlation between them can be much more informative.
Cycling Power meters provide virtually instant feedback to the rider through a display unit mounted on the handlebars of the bike. Wattage is measured immediately and the actual power output is displayed. Heart rate monitors measure the physical effect of exercise effort and this is subject to a lag in the body – make an effort and it takes a few seconds or longer for your heart rate to climb. Therefore a cyclist doing interval training sessions using a power meter cn see instantly when his power output has reached say 350 watts rather than waiting for his heartrate to hit 180bpm 10 or more seconds later.
Additionally as a training session progresses a rider’s heartrate may stay the same but do to fatigue power may be decreasing – using a powermeter in conjunction with heart rate monitoring will record this point for further analysis
Example First Power Meter
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 23rd, 2009.
What is the FaCT System?
Imagine a very different way of approaching testing and training of athletes involved in endurance sports based on sound physiological principles and years of real world evidence based on the studies of hundreds of athletes. The Feldmann and Chlebek Test is exactly that and its creating a storm in the coaching world.
At the core of the FaCT system is the Lactate Balance Point Test, more commonly known as the LBP test which involves taking an athlete to a high intensity workload and then measuring their body's lactate response. The test can is not specific to a single sport and can be used on triathletes, cyclists, rowers, runners, swimmers, paddlers and cross country skiers.
The principles of the FaCT system are based on long term athletic development. This is not a get fit quick type system but one that is concerned with long term sustainable growth. It incorporates the understanding of the differences between structural adaptation and functional adaptation to exercise. Current lactate theory has destroyed the old myth of the harmful effects of lactate on performance and the old belief in aerobic and anaerobic approach to training and FaCT is based on these new principles.
FaCT is also concerned with correct respiratory training and oxygen utilization and with the introduction of new training equipment to the market FaCT makes recommendations which include hypoxic training, respiratory training, V02max testing and nutritional functionality.
This integrated approach combined with the benefit of regular LBP tests and view to continuous growth make FaCT a serious option for athlete looking to achieve their best possible performances. Athletes will still train using their heart rate monitors and cycling power meters but the way they use them will seem quite different.
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 25th, 2009. Comment.
Below is a partial list of teams and institutes who have used Lactate Pro testing equipment in conjunction with their training programmes.
Adidas National Running Team (Canada)
Arizona State University
Biathlon Canada
Canadian Forces Base, Kingston
Canadian Forces Valcartier, Biathlon
Canadian National Cross Country Ski Teams
Canadian Olympic Kayak Team
Canadian Space Agency
Concordia University, Montreal
Green Mountain Valley Ski Academy, Vermont
Hope College, Michigan
Ironman Institute (www.IronmanInstitute.com)
Laurentian University, Ontario
Marquette University, Wisconsin
Meredith College, North Carolina
Michigan State University
Mt. Sinai Hospital, School of Medicine, New York
Pacific Sport National Cycling Centre - Victoria
Pacific Sport National Sport Centre - Vancouver
Pacific Sport National Triathlon Training Centre
Pepperdine University, California
Pointe-Claire Club de Canoe, Quebec
Rhino Fitness Winnipeg, Manitoba
Rowing Canada
Speedskating Canada
Sports Medicine Institute, Intl - California
St. Lawrence University, New York
Stratton Mountain School, Vermont
Swimming Canada
Total Performance Institute, Colorado
Truman State University, Missouri
UC Davis Medical Center - Sports Medicine
United States Air Force
University of British Columbia
University of Calgary, Alberta
University of Indianapolis
University of Manitoba
University of Miami
University of Montreal
University of New Brunswick, Aquaculture Research
University of Prince Edward Island
University of Quebec
University of Scranton, Pennsylvania
University of Southern Mississippi
University of Texas
University of Vermont
University of Waterloo, Ontario
US Biathlon Teams
US National Canoe and Kayak Team
US Naval Academy Aquatic Club
US Olympic Training Center, California
US Olympic Training Center, Lake Placid, New York
USA Skiing - Downhill and Cross-Country
USA Speedskating
USA Swimming
Wall Aquatic Center at Northern Arizona University
Whittom & Boucher - Sports Performance Technologies, Quebec
Equipment used in conjunction with heart rate monitors, power meters and other training tools.
Filed under Knowledge by on Apr 26th, 2009. Comment.
