by John | Jan 21, 2015 | Latest News, Master Instructor Blog, Training With Power, Zone based Heart Rate Training
Hey [wlm_firstname] how hard should I be working to; get faster, lose weight, build endurance, ect…
Answering that is the age old dilemma many of us face when questioned by our riders. We try to be helpful by offering subjective descriptions of what both thresholds should feel like. We give breathing cues, run special FTP classes and/or include Best Effort intervals into our class. They're all designed to help our participants discover (for themselves) their threshold hearts rates and/or threshold wattages. We can get close… but at the end of the day they're still subjective measurements = not always as accurate as we would like.
Breathing gas exchange monitors can scientifically measure the two thresholds. Systems like those from New Leaf and Korr can objectively measure the changes in our breathing levels of O2 and CO2. They work well, but are very expensive to own (you can no longer purchase a New Leaf cart, now that they were purchased by Life Time Fitness) and individual metabolic testing can run to $200.00 or more. The actual tests are rather unpleasant, requiring you to wear a very uncomfortable mask – trust me on this > I've had over a dozen tests and would dread doing another.
The only other option was blood lactate testing during a graded exercise test at a university or sports performance center. Here they prick your finger every two or three minutes, while you work to failure during the assessment. I haven't done one of these personally, but it sounds equally unpleasant.
Enter the new BSXinsight – a wearable device that optically measures your O2 levels = this could be exactly what all of us training athletes were looking for. Pictured above, the BSXinsight is positioned on your calf using a compression sleeve. It wirelessly communicates with a smart phone and the data is displayed by (you guessed it) their special app.
Don't just listen to your body, look inside it.
Data and gear are only as good as their ability to improve your riding. Now you can access the most powerful training metric in endurance sports, making every mile more effective and putting every piece of technology you already use into valuable perspective.
BSXinsight uses revolutionary technology that allows you to see inside your muscle, measuring your lactate threshold and generating personalized training zones. Stop trying to “feel” whether you’re pushing too hard or leaving too much in the tank and let the science of your body speak to you.
Clearly identifying LT2 threshold
I just finished a fascinating conversation with one of the principals of the company. They have offered to send me a demo BSXinsight to experiment with. When I'm done I'll be sending it to Dennis Mellon for his feedback. Once we are done accurately learning our own LT and overlaying it with our Heart Rates and wattages, we will record an episode with the company spokesperson so we can share what we've learned with all of you.
Stay tuned 🙂
by John | Nov 16, 2014 | Best Practices, Master Instructor Blog, Training With Power
Hey – I just got an email explaining that Spivi has added a FTP (Functional Threshold Power) Test to their display training system. I can't begin to tell you how beneficial these short threshold/best efforts are for engaging participants in your power based classes. That's why I describe these as a Best Practice for anyone teaching with power.
Like PIQ, Spivi offers the option for riders to manually add their FTP / PTP wattage into a user profile. Another option is to enable the Fitness Test option where you can select an 8 or 20 minute FTP test that will record each riders average watts for the period and then add either 90% (8 minute) or 95% (20 minute) of it to their user profile.
To start the FTP tests wizard, press the left analog stick once, just like if it was a button. Now select the requested test from the menu and press the “Start” button to start.
Don't forget to Instruct the group how to ride and what to do during the test. The FTP test lasts as long as the progress bar on the bottom right side of the screens appears.
by John | Apr 28, 2014 | Instructor Tech Help, Spotify
The latest version of the iPhone Spotify App had an annoying bug in it that appears to be corrected when combined with the most recent iOS update I downloaded this morning. Good thing as it was making me crazy thinking the App was going to crash in the middle of class, while I'm waiting for the song timer to catch up with the music after a transition.
My Settings
Apple and Spotify update software in batches of users = your iPhone may update at a different time, depending on your location. If you want to compare yours with mine, I'm running Spotify version 1.1.0.2549 and iOS 7.1.1.
Crossfade set at 10 seconds and Gapless Playback turned on.
Here's what was happening
I you were watching the playlist timer during the crossfade between tracks, you would hear the music transition smoothly, but the timer and album artwork would freeze in place for an agonizingly long period of time.
Why this is/was important to me… I can barely see those tiny numbers
I will often use the Stage button on the console (with it's large numbers) to help me time longer intervals – possibly different from how you would. This is a work-around (hack) for me, due to having a hard time focusing on the small fonts Spotify is using.
The 3-4 minute “Best Efforts” I do early in class, to establish PTP (Personal Threshold Power) are a great example. I want the effort to end along with the song if possible, so I need to understand the total length of the track – but not have to continuously watch the countdown timer I have trouble seeing. During the fade between songs I'll sit up (bringing my eyes to the best focal distance) and take a quick peek squint at my iPhone, note the total time and then hit the stage timer on my bike.
Yesterday I used The Crystal Method — Busy Child which is long – 7:25 mins, for the opening 4 min PTP effort. If I hit the Stage timer at the start, I now have the large numbers counting up. Next I can do so simple math in my head: 7:25 – 4:00 = 3:25. Now I know that if the class and I hit the Stage button (resetting the timer to zero) and start the effort at the 3:25 mark on the console timer, I have a near perfectly timed 4 minute interval timed to finish with the music 🙂
Understanding how I do this, do you see how frustrating it would be for me to be sitting there, watching and waiting for the timer to catch up and display properly? I swear there were times when it would take 10 seconds or more, with me staring at my iPhone like Mr. Magoo.
Now everything appears to be working smoothly – and that makes me happy!
