Ride Fit Pick It Up!

At the start of this year I wondered what I was going to do about my #cycling. I've never been a fan of the #turbotrainer but I just had to embrace it and get the work done.


I came across Ride-Fit through a contact on LinkedIn and asked about getting my hands on a few videos to train with.

While I'm still overdue a long awaited review of the videos, I have to say I'm a fan of the simple yet effective manner in which the workouts are put together. Check out their new release below and dust off your turbo in readiness for some red hot workouts.

I'd also highly recommend their FREE 43 page Ride Fit™ Training Guide which provides great information on such topics as how to setup of your indoor cycle bike or turbo trainer, how to get multiple training experiences from the same workout video, the use of heart rate monitors and heart rate training zones, tools to monitor, store, analyze and display your training data and how to effective loose weight using indoor cycle or elliptical training.

Ride Fit™ Releases A New High Cadence Interval Training Workout - Pick It Up!

Pick It Up! is Ride Fit’s thirteenth indoor cycle training workout and puts the focus on high-cadence, lighter-resistance tempo riding.

This is the first Ride Fit™ title to focus exclusively on these RPMs and is designed to encourage users to strive for the higher cadence levels used by the pros, and that have been shown to lower fatigue and therefore improve overall performance.

Set to great interval training music from BodyRocker Fitness, this workout is approximately 31 minutes in duration and features "rolling-road" footage for the main ride segments.

A trailer for this new workout can be seen below.

More information, including training tips on high cadence riding, is available in our latest blog article, "High Cadence Riding With Pick It Up!"

A great addition to your Ride Fit™ training collection, Pick It Up! is available by download for $8.99 MSRP.  A DVD version is planned for early next year.

To celebrate the release of this new title, we're offering the first 50 customers to order 20% OFF any workout title(s) using the coupon code PICK3498.  Hurry these coupons won't last long, visit our store NOW!

Regaining Ground: Smokin' Joe - Ride Fit: This past winter, out of necessity, I became good friends with my turbo trainer. I've found it hard to get time firstly, to get out on t...

Ah sugar!!

What a simple yet complex thing sugar is?

C₆H₁₂O₆ 

Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen combined to form a compound that stores energy. Plants convert sunlight energy to sugars, we consume sugars and release that energy which fuels our molecular activity

I'm not doing a science paper, but that's one of the basic circles of life. Capture, convert, store, release. Energy just goes around the circle from one form to another, neither lost or gained though it feels like it in a long run!!

Everyone reacts differently, so I'm speaking about this from a personal point of view. If it resonates with you, I hope you can take something from it, otherwise, just store in in that bank of useless information that we all have! :)

I've always fought a spare tyre around my middle. I train like a divil and watch my diet but it won't go. I'm not advocating a  "Lose 8lbs in 5 days!!" conversion and most certainly would never entertain the concept. Instead I have progressively changed little things about my lifestyle.

I've an inordinately sweet tooth. Always had, always will.

I now manage it. By cutting sources of sugar from my diet over the past 2 years I can balance the odd treat dessert (usually homemade crumble) without feeling guilty or the need to run 20 miles afterwards.

Lots of people speak about energy gels and energy drinks in the sense that they get this amazing 'lift', they feel the body react to the sugars. I don't get it. The same with coffee, I don't get palpitations, buzz and likewise no withdraws when I take a break from it for a few weeks.

Now the body needs fuel, the sugar is just a fuel and is perfect for refuelling on the go during a long training session or race. It's light, portable, easily dissolved, easily consumed and packed full of energy.

Reading around the subject, I've self taught, that sugar spikes insulin response which triggers cortisol response which causes the body to store energy as fat.
Your body is under stress during exercise, fast sugar triggers more stress response, which triggers more fat storage or in fact restricts fat burning meaning you don't get any leaner through higher volume exercise.

Here's a good blog piece I found on the subject Hormones & Stress: Cortisol

Anyway this led me to think more about my body and reading more Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald advocating fuelling (correctly) before, during and after to minimise the stress response while others, Optimum Nutrition for Sport  have a more holistic consideration regarding mixing up fuel sources and training the body through adaptations to responses.

As mentioned on this blog almost a year ago (Stop Playing with your Food) I've adopted a bit of both worlds to suit me.

My main diet is protein rich (relative to how I used to eat) and a typical day would begin with porridge made on water ( sometimes a drizzle of maple syrup ), black pot coffee, some fruit in the morning and ideally dinner at lunchtime mid afternoon. (Usually meat and root veg, often just meat and no spuds). I'd often snack on mixed nuts and drink plenty of water.

This means I know there are no wild fluctuations in my blood sugars and with midday fuelling I can train in the evening / night. I can fuel with a gel before / early in session and after training I will have a recovery shake.

Elivar Products for the over 35's (Birth Cert required)

What I'm leading to is my recent discovery of a new product on the Irish market, Elivar.
A nutrition brand tailored for over 35's which initially (being honest) had me laughing before I realised: A) I'm long past that age group and B) this is the link I've been missing.

Using +Agave #9 gels sourced in +Amphibian King West meant I was already using low GI sugars, controlling my body's blood sugar and avoiding stress response. (Agave is widely used in nutritional products for diabetics and Agave#9 is ideal for any #diabetic sports person to use)

Now using #ElivarEndure I can fuel my long endurance training sessions where longevity is more important that explosive power or speed. The blend of protein and slow release isomaltose ensure that I can go the distance and coupled with a handful of gels I can be certain that my body gets all the fuel it needs. (See my recent long training session as an example)

Having an #ElivarRecover shake immediately after a hard or long session will help set me up for the next day and subsequent sessions:

Most recovery products have a 3:1 ratio of high glycaemic index carbs: whey protein, but as you get older you need a higher proportion of protein to recover effectively. That’s why Elivar Recover has a 1:1 ratio – and for sustained recovery a blend of fast releasing whey and slow releasing casein. This creates a longer recovery “window” to get you to your next session in better shape and with less pain.

Enter a new period of training, fuelling and recovery for me as I explore the options that Elivar provide me.

Contact the compnay for a FREE sample or pop into me at Amphibian King Limerick for more information.

Triathlon Schooling

Are Triathlon Clubs over-rated or under-utilised?

Back when I started triathlon (re-started) I did my initial bit of training by myself. My first few runs were 300 & 400m runs up the road and back. I was really impressed with myself when I was able to do my first 3km loop without stopping.

This was in the days before Couch25k and all the other training methods became vogue.

Cycling was the same. 10k on flat roads gradually became hilly 20k and ultimately taking on a 40k loop which went up Rocky Valley (in Co. Wicklow) and around gave the same satisfaction as if I'd climbed Everest.

I felt I had to do this sort of 'introductory' training to bring myself to a respectable level of fitness before considering the joining of a club. It also served a function of ensuring that I would like the sport and more importantly enjoy the training.

The reason was I'd taken on a challenge of doing a sprint distance triathlon in July of that year. It was a charity event for Focus Ireland and I'd drawn my brother and brother-in-law (to be) into forming a relay team for this. The two boys baled out and I was left having made the commitment to do the event & also having raised sponsorship I couldn't back out.

I took on some duathlons in the Phoenix Park that May & June, as part of my training, and got to see a social side of the sport which hooked me immediately. All levels of athlete mixed & chatted, shared information, tips on training, setting up your transition. All conversational, sort of like the passing of the guard, old teaching young. Not for one second was there an elitist vibe. By being there you were in the gang, there was acceptance, you belonged there without having to belong (if that makes sense?)

It was here that I met my first club members. They so impressed me with their hospitality, invited me to join them training the following week, which I did, it was a run session, my first ever properly coached running session. Weekend cycles and open water swims followed soon as I joined the club and got stuck into club life.

Nowadays I'm still a member of a triathlon club (not the same one, though I have very fond memories of my first club) even though I do all of my training solo or with one or two regular buddies.

Why am I a member of a Triathlon club?

Well, I want to give something back, if I can.

You see, without my club I would never have become the triathlete I am, nor would I have the confidence to be still training to develop into the triathlete I will be.

I learned an awful lot from senior members and coaches and from the sharing of information and from the sharing of sources of information.

As well as learning from my own experiences, I was learning from the experiences of others.

I was learning from people who had been Ironmen, I was learning from those going to be Ironmen, I was learning from those who had been injured, recovering from injury, about to be injured.

I was learning from those who broke things, fixed things, those who don't know how to fix things, those who relied on others to fix things. How to eat, how not to eat, how to pack a bike bag, unpack it, set up your race day checklist, plan a race, plan nutrition, recovery.

Pool etiquette. (the number one frustration for so many people is the lack of common manners in lane swimming)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] My ideal lane designation.[/caption]

How to ride in a group, how not to ride, how to draft in a run, swim, how not to draft on a bike. How to be safe in the sea, how to get into the sea! How to get into a wetsuit. How to get out of it.

How to post race party! :)

Everything.

You name it, everything I know or learned about triathlon started within a club structure. The follow up was from me, but the learning about how to learn came from the club.

This is why I believe it is critically important that anyone considering taking up triathlon should join a club.

Even if you train by yourself because of work, family, time commitments, you will still get the club emails about what's on, where. And you never know you might be able to swing that early Sunday morning cycle or that late evening swim session. Maybe not every week but even once in a while helps. Even if you never train with the club you will have access to a remarkable source of useful information and hopefully a set of peers you can bounce ideas off.

The best thing for me joining a club?

I met my wife there and we have two tri-babies :)

Go join a triathlon club, you never know what could happen.

Smokin' Joe - Ride Fit

This past winter, out of necessity, I became good friends with my turbo trainer.

I've found it hard to get time firstly, to get out on the bike and second, the one day you have a chance it's miserable and just not enjoyable out in the West of Ireland winter.

Searching around and asking pals advice there was a mixture of box sets, movies, Sufferfest, Spinervals, Carmichael Training videos and all sorts of things to do on the turbo to while away time. Initially I found it hard enough to simply motivate myself to get on the darn thing but with a little bit of focus and planning of training sessions it started to come together and I started to 'enjoy' a bike session.

Recently I made contact with a company www.ride-fit.com about their training films.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="395"] Ride Fit[/caption]

On first impressions they look good, plenty of information on how to push yourself, good guide on gearing, cadence, effort and turbo settings.

Have a look at the sample video here:



 

I've ordered Smokin' Joe and the plan is to download the file and do a decent workout on Monday evening.

Stay tuned for updates. 

 

 

RoadID - Affiliate program helping Croi Galway

Following from my previous post on Training ICE in which I stressed the importance of carrying identification with you at all times when training or racing, just in case of accident or medical emergency.

By far the simplest means of carrying identification, contact numbers and or medical history is by using the RoadID range of products. Personally, I have been wearing the WristID for the past couple of years and thankfully it is one of those products I have not had to use but still wear it daily. It's actually a habit now and I don't notice it, it's just like a watch and I rarely take the WristID off.

Due to the feedback and the number of queries I've received about the RoadID products (across LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter & here) I contacted the company to ask for some information.

RoadID have set Amphibian King Galway up as an Affiliate so that we can refer and direct interested people to the RoadID website.

If you are interested in buying a RoadID for yourself, your husband or wife, your father or mother, son, daughter, friend or training partner we would greatly appreciate if you would buy through our link (or the logo above)

We will earn a commission cheque for purchases made through this link. However, all commission cheques will be made out to Croi our charity partners for 2013.

So by doing something that may save your life you are also giving to help save someone else.

Thankyou & be safe out there.

Training ICE

On a somber note we often hear of athletes injured or killed by being struck by vehicles whilst out training. A couple of years ago when I started triathlon training in earnest, almost half of my sessions were done without club mates (restrictions of work, family etc.) and now most of my sessions are lone efforts.

At the back of my mind is "what happens if I'm unlucky to be in an accident?"

Most of us go running or cycling with the minimum amount of gear possible, usually a GPS watch, iPod and possibly a reflective vest, spare parts for the bike and so on. You are unlikely to run without the phone, but then there is a growing trend for people to use training apps to map routes and pace. Something I've advised people to do for a long time is to use an ICE contact in their phone (good to have in any event).

ICE is In Case of Emergency.

So just edit the name of the person that should be called if you happen to be in an accident by inserting 'ICE' in front of their name. It is good manners to leave the first name in an ICE contact so the caller knows how to address you.  So don't do: 'ICE Hubbie', 'ICE Wifey' etc.

For different reasons don't do 'ICE Mum' either better off that its a brother / sister or father who tells your mum face to face that you have been in an accident, than her getting a phone call, if I did that to my mum, she'd kill me!

A second option which I use all the time, as I only carry the phone on the bike, is a Road ID wrist band

RoadID is a series of different products but the basic and by far the best for anyone running, cycling, swimming, climbing is the Wrist ID. Put it on, leave it on.

Its $20 that could save your life.

Update - 30th April 2013

Just to let you know there are coupons available for little discounts on RoadID. A quick search on Google will turn up a few. At the end of the day whether you pay $20 or $19 for the wrist ID matters little, its the potential life saving aspect that is Priceless. Some good comments on the LinkedIn Triathlete group if any one is a member there.

UPDATE June 2013 - We have agreed a referral system with Road ID. Simply Click on any of the RodID images above and you can buy your RoadID directly from the manufacturers. ALL Commission from your purchases is passed onto Croi Charity in Galway.

Maffetone-Up Time

One way to check your HR

For the past number of years I've been training away using Heart Rate (HR) zones and my trusty range of +Polar watches starting with the RS200 and finally into the RCX5 being my most recent model.

The beauty of the RCX5 has been the Endurance Training Program that synchronises with your profile on polarpersonaltrainer.com. I've written previously about the benefit I saw over the course of a season training with this program, you can find that piece here: Regaining Ground: Heart Rate Mentoring - getting fitter.

What I missed out on was making the link to the training methods of Phil Maffetone. I was only recently when reading  Dr. Nick's running blog that I was reminded of the science common sense behind the training program. As far as I am aware Dr. Phil has passed over most of the responsibility for training and fitness management to Mark Allen who most triathletes will know (he is 6 time Ironman world champion) for his training by heart rate methods. There is plenty of reading here: Mark Allen online.

Ultimately what the method advocates is running within your capabilites as defined by your HR zones. Its is not all about running slow, or running long and slow. You much work within your individual abilities.

This method has been working for me and I plan to continue to utilise it as I work to get toned up.

If you need any help or advice on selecting a HR watch to suit you or your sport, please feel free to ask in the comments section.