This month started pretty bleak for me, carrying on from a
rather bleak end of May. Having put in a good block of training ready for the
Bala Half Ironman race on June 10th, I picked up an injury that I am
still unable to shake. Originally this only affected my run training, it now
turns out that I cannot cycle either, not the best since I have Ironman Wales
in 96 days L .
Either way, I am doing all the strengthening and flexibility exercises I can,
including Glute activation exercises and core stability training (read on and
you will see the reason why). My TFL muscle is causing me to experience knee
pain as it’s pulling the IT band upward. So, I am trying to cause the over
firing or overactive TFL to calm down and operate normally.
Anyway, training has hit a standstill, am only able to swim,
I pulled out of the Bala race, which I am devastated about as I was really
looking forward to it. Never mind, the main goal is recovery and Ironman Wales.
The main reason I am posting this month’s blog is to give an
insight of the experience I have recently had with a local performance analysis
company, Total Cycling Performance (@BodyBullet, www.totalcyclingperformance.co.uk).
I was contacted on Twitter (@Trirob249) by a nice chap
called Simon, who, having read my previous blogs was aware I was trying to
raise money for Help for Heroes foundation, by completing Ironman Wales 2012. Simon
offered me the chance to have a complimentary Bike fit and pedal analysis, to
which I kindly accepted. I spoke with Simon at length and checked out his
website, and realised he was working alone self-employed with this fantastic
business operation, and what’s more, he was local, only 30mins drive up to
Aberdare from Swansea, and well worth the short trip!
The day came where I arrived at Simons for my fit and
analysis, and was immediately blown away by his enthusiasm and knowledge,
gained from his BSc Degree in Sport and Exercise Science (I have also completed
this degree, but hearing Simon talk I now realise I should have worked a lot
harder to remember things….ooopps), his years of training and many other
qualifications. You will see from the pictures on Simon’s website or
@BodyBullet profile that he is in possession of some excellent equipment,
including a watt bike, which the pedal analysis is performed on, and other
strength training equipment such as barbells, squat racks, leg press machines
etc. I was impressed.
We had a little formal chat and then decided to get on with
the battery of tests that he had lined up, as I only had 3hours to spare, we
did not complete them all, but either way I found them beneficial. Firstly Simon
recorded all my Somatic results, i.e. weight, height, resting heart rate (RHR),
Max heart rate (220-age, 194, however true max heart rate is actually
different, see below), peak lung flow measurements and much more.
Once all this was done we moved on to Pedal Analysis. Everyone
pedals differently, some people have a high cadence (high rpm), some people
pedal stomp, others churn high gears. What Simon does is try to encourage an
efficient pedal stroke whilst maintaining decent and sustainable power output
and energy expenditure. The more efficient you pedal the more energy you will
save!
So I jumped on the watt bike and began pedalling. You are
greeted with a monitor and on that is a live stream of your pedalling efficiency
showing many variables such as peak force, power output, left/right pedal
information etc. Immediately Simon informed me that the shape of the diagram
being draw (like Etch A Sketch), was the wrong kind of shape, it looked like a
figure 8, meaning that I was not pedalling efficiently, I was stomping the
pedal down and not working on the return revolution (I think). After 3minutes,
Simon gave me some pedal feedback on how to correctly pedal. I then performed another
3minutes on the watt bike. My pedal efficiency uncorrected was 48%, after some
tweaks to the fit and position of watt bike (saddle adjustment etc.) my pedal
efficiency was 66.3%, meaning a rise of 18.2%!! I was very pleased with that!
This is something I will be working on when on the road (If I can get there). I
also reached 83.3% efficiency at some point on the last 3minutes; imagine if I
can hold that level of efficiency!
The next test was 3 minute maximum minute power test. This
is a 3minute test with 1min increases in power output, then taking an average
of the three stages of power output. My average power output was 282 Watts.
The next test was a True maximum heart rate test performed
again on the watt bike. I was very interested to see this, as so many cyclists
and triathletes train using heart rates zones, something I have never done, but
I want to implement. The test was completed in 2min stages, followed by 1min
resting intervals, each 2mins I had to cycle faster and push more Watts, thus
raising my HR, then in the 1min rest intervals, my HR would come down slightly,
until the next 2min work interval, after three repeats, and feeling like my
legs were falling off, we finally found my true maximum heart rate. It was
186bpm, compared to the theoretical figure of 194 (220-age).
Simon then showed me a 2minute test to see how standing up
whilst pedalling is not efficient, to which I said ‘’No, I’m better out of the
saddle and find it easier’’, well that turned out to be a load of crap!! In this
2minute test, out of the saddle, my pedal efficiency was 42%! That is awful! My
mate Andrew always tells me to sit down, but I never listen; now I will! He
always sits down up hills and always beats me to the top, so that should tell
me to listen to both these guys!
We then had a rest, and tested my core stability, which I
knew I would not be great at as I do not train core or use strength training,
even though I know it has its benefits! Anyway, I didn’t realise how bad I was.
On a 1min plank test, and a side plank test (left and right), I had epic fails
on them all!! Stage 1 result, and in my report it says ‘’very weak’’. This will
change I was so annoyed at myself for allowing this to happen, and could be a
factor of why I have this injury.
Again, back on the watt bike for more tests, I could not
believe how thorough this testing is, I was not expecting this at all. Simon
was so enthusiastic about it all as well, which is great to see. This test was
a sprint test, a 10 second test, where 4seconds is built up, then 6seconds of ‘smashing
it’! My peak power output was 778 Watts, with my peak power to weight ratio
being 11.68 (average).
If I had more time Simon would have gladly done more
testing, but unfortunately I didn’t. Once my gear was packed up he said he
would email me shortly with my report. When it arrived I was gobsmacked at how
in depth it was!! Graphs, tables, Etch a Sketch type diagrams from the watt
bike, amazing!! There was so much on there. The one thing that I will take from
this report along with pedal efficiency is my ‘current lactate threshold’’. The
following is taken from the report:
''158bpm against a theoretical of 164 (average). It
is very important that client does not allow his heart rate to rise higher than
155bpm during normal cycling as by doing so he then enters the “Grey Zone”
whereby he is riding too hard to develop his Maximum Aerobic Efficiency, yet
not hard enough to increase his current Lactate Threshold. Very specific
training methods are required in order to develop both (within sessions
structured completely differently). Endurance sport participants who have not
had performance testing carried out often spend the majority of their training
time in this “Grey Zone” only to be then left wondering why they do not get any
fitter, faster and stronger in their chosen sport.''
Basically, this shows me how important HR training is on the
bike, I could be smashing it up hills or on the flats but not improving, and
now I know why, because I am riding in the ‘’grey zone’’.
After my experience with Simon, seeing his knowledge first
hand, along with his enthusiasm and encouragement, and this outstanding report,
I can only advise people to not waste money on an aero helmet, or a ‘better’
crank set, or aero carbon wheels, instead spend it wisely on some performance
testing with Simon.
He has a massive range of packages available, from testing
to actual training programmes and much more. So do not delay, if you think that
something is missing from your training, or you think you have more to give, or
know you can achieve more but do not know how, then contact Simon today! I have
no doubt that he can help you, whatever your goal is! I was truly blown away by
it all, and, for the people who know me, I am a bit of a pessimist, I always
think ‘’ah that’s crap, I will keep doing what I am doing and I’ll get there’’,
but I never do, but you and I can with this form of service!
I would like to thank Simon (@BodyBullet www.totalcyclingperformance.co.uk)
for his time and knowledge and offering me that great opportunity to have this
testing, I only wish I had more time.
Simon’s motto:
“IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU’RE
AT, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW WHERE YOU NEED TO BE”
Just to give everyone an insight, I have included some pictures from the report that Simon made.
Pic 1: 48%
efficiency, figure 8 style, not good.
Pic 2: 66.3% efficiency, more rounded, like a sausage.
Pic 4: Graph to show my Heart rate training zones. I have since uploaded these zones to Garmin 305 GPS, so when I am riding I know what zones to stay in to train effectively.
