Why Data Is Good For Indoor Cycling by Paddy Murray

Why Data Is Good For Indoor Cycling by Paddy Murray

by | Feb 18, 2016 | Instructor Training

Data-Science

Group indoor cycling began 25 years ago.  With great class delivery by instructors, indoor cycling can provide low impact, high energy, thrilling and inspiring workouts. It’s globally one of the most popular indoor classes and in the last few years dedicated indoor cycling studios have raised the bar in terms of class quality and experience. All good there then … no need for change eh? Not so! One fundamental omission from group cycling has finally been properly addressed: the intelligent measurement and use of data. Consumers have shown that data is here to stay with the exponential increase in use of fitness apps, trackers and wearable technology. Data has finally reached the world of indoor cycling! Boutique studios followed closely by some of the large operators are leading the way utilizing big screen displays and cloud-based performance tracking tools to provide an accurate fitness picture to members. It’s not guessing, estimation, and assumptions any longer. Studio owners are able to provide real value to their members through showing them real, measureable results.

Reliable data can be extremely motivational, demonstrate historic improvement, and provide clear and achievable goals. This also equips the studio and the instructor with incredibly important information as to which members are achieving their goals and which members may benefit from some additional instruction, guidance, or motivation. Applications such as VismoX, Performance IQ and MyZone are smart tools that help the instructor and participants with structured predefined classes, simple and clear analytics and goal setting. This is a brave new world for indoor cycling but one that can be rolled out to supplement existing programs with minimal challenges.

With indoor cycling moving into the data world this is also an opportunity to appeal to an entirely new audience … the outdoor cyclist. Outdoor cyclists at the elite level have been training using power meter measurement for nearly 15 years. The benefits are clear, measurable and attainable as a cyclist trains within power ‘zones’ that are set based on his or her personal ability and goals. When this system of measurement is translated to an indoor class, the results are remarkable. Now a class of 30 participants can all train at the correct intensity which is personalized to each rider’s body. For too long indoor cycling classes have been high RPM and lots of sweat, with no tangible gains or goals to strive for. On the simplest level it’s now possible to accurately calculate calorie burn and improve endurance, sprinting or whatever you or your coach/instructor set as your target. The data can be used as an integral motivator real time in a class or it can be tracked in the background depending on the type of class being offered.

The world of data is going to take the world of indoor cycling firmly into the 21st century, attracting a whole new audience, providing more variety in programming, new instructor aids, and personalized goal setting and tracking. For more information on how adding power measurement could help your business, visit  www.stagesindoorcycling.com

I’ve decided to start a new Blog

I’ve decided to start a new Blog

by | Mar 30, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog

I’ve decided to start a new Blog. It will be a cacophony of Rants, Research and Reality Checks. In 2007 I took the proverbial “red pill” see original Matrix movie if you are not familiar with that reference — it will be good for you :), for Indoor Cycling and the science of training, and ever since I’ve been wondering if I wouldn’t have been better off taking the blue pill. Ignorance is bliss after all.

Truthfully, I have no regrets. As in much of life, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that there is a very real difference between exercise and training, and that difference can be felt through and through; body, mind and spirit. Furthermore, the science behind creating this change in our fitness and performance on the bike is thoroughly captivating; compelling me to want to learn more and more.

However (you knew the other shoe would drop eventually, right?), the bad news is that seemingly opposite techniques can sometimes yield the same results. Educated, respected and credible sources can, and often do, disagree vehemently with each other with regards to methodology, technique and overall approach to training.

Each one will site well vetted and published research, making their respective cases as to why their methods are superior, or at least founded on science and therefore the proper way to achieve their desired results. So what’s the big deal you might ask. Everyone has their own way of doing things, right? The “big deal” is that I want to make sense out of this stuff, and it gets dog gone hard to separate fact from fiction, or formula from philosophy.

For example, there are studies showing VO2 increases from very intense H.I.T. type training, and there are studies showing VO2 increases from doing a ton of steady state riding in the low heart zones like zone 1 and 2. Likewise there are coaches that swear by weight training to augment your strength objectives, while there are others who won’t let their athletes near the gym; both siting research to support their position.

Yet we can see these extremely different methods produce equally successful athletes in many cases. It’s as if the body is somehow affected by the belief the athlete and coach have about what they are doing, and not the science behind it. Am I the only one that thinks this is completely illogical, weird and by the way, maddening?

So what’s a coach or educator supposed to do? Well, I’m not throwing up my hands… at least not on this account. Actually, not on most accounts. Instead, I have been doing the only thing we control freaks know how to do in the face of confusing facts and information. That is to take matters into our own hands, and do our own research. If one or more of these philosophies seems to ring true, we do our own homework, set up controlled studies, and we base our methods and techniques on the reality of our own findings – of what works — where we can see it, feel it, record it, and repeat it.

On my next post, I’ll try to explain how we wash this red pill down with enough spring water to yield this fruit.