Project Podium

Love this article.

http://machinesforfreedom.com/blogs/stories/17596692-self-deprecation-and-the-female-cyclist

Self-Deprecation and the Female Cyclist What is it about joining in on a group activity that makes us feel it is necessary to give everyone a PSA regarding our potential performance? It’s important to note, also, that no one ever asks this of you when you show up to a new group ride. No scary gang of girls rushes up on you, demanding to k…

So excited for this:

http://theamateurhour.org

The Amateur Hour Organisation. The governing body of cycling, the UCI, have changed the rules regarding Hour Record attempts, updating equipment regulations and imposing the requirement that anyone attempting to set a record be part of the Bio-passport system. While they don’t go as far as saying they’re not allowed, this effecti…

Fancy May Bank Holiday in Yorkshire?

You can watch or race the Women't Tour of Yorkshire, part of the legacy from last year's Grand Depart.

Oh, and the men are racing as well!

http://letour.yorkshire.com/tour-de-yorkshire/womans-race

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/128520/Women's-Tour-de-Yorkshire

Events Entries are being taken for a women’s race being held on the York circuit of the Tour de Yorkshire when it visits the town on Saturday 2nd May.

SO interesting to see SPORT science translated to keeping fit ;)

Would love to see some of this data - just look at how much equipment they have (those mask apparatus are NOT cheap!!).

http://www.cosmed.com/en/news/video-news/item/apple-watch-health-fitness-testing-lab-revealed-in-abc-news-interview-featuring-k4b2?utm_content=bufferd13f9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

COSMED - Apple Watch health & fitness testing lab revealed in ABC News interview (featuring K4b2) Worldwide leaders in cardiopulmonary and metabolic diagnostics, including spirometry, pulmonary function, indirect calorimetry, exercise testing, body composition.

I might need one....

http://totalwomenscycling.com/news/swizzels-sweetie-jerseys-taking-back-childhood-45534/ .97

Swizzels Sweetie Jerseys Taking you Back to your Childhood! | Total Women's Cycling Scimitar Sports have teamed up with your favourite childhood sweet brand Swizzels, to bring out a fun and exiting range of cycling jerseys to make you stand out from the crowd. Within the range, they’ve focused on three of their most popular sweets, Love Hearts, Refreshers and the iconic Drumstick.…

Ladies.... help scientists understand your body and it's reaction to training better.

https://stmarys.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/female-health-questionnaire

Female Health Questionnaire Online survey BOS

Top snack tip:

Lunchbox snack pots - rice pudding, custard. These are small and convenient, will survive at the bottom of your kit bag and provide calcium and protein and filling carbohydrates. Yum!

Ladies join me!

I've signed up to the Rapha women's 100km, you can too.

http://pages.rapha.cc/womens100?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=post&utm_content=en&utm_campaign=2015-03-womens_100

Rapha Women's 100 On Sunday 26th July 2015, join thousands of women around the world to ride 100km. A global event, ride on your own or join one of the organised rides. Rides will be taking place everywhere, including several led by Rapha. Over 8,000 women took part in 2014 — this year we're aiming to double that num…

Hour record - Part 3!

So we have the basics covered - reducing resistance (bike fit and position, equipment) and maximising your engine size.

BUT physiology is a bit more complicated than that! Take rider A who has a VO2 max (aerobic capacity) of 60 mL/kg/min, and rider B who has a VO2 max of 70mL/kg/min. You'd think that rider B would have the advantage, right?

Now, if Rider A can sustain 80% of his VO2max for an hour (that's 48 mL/kg/min) and rider B sustains 65% (45.5 mL/kg/min) then rider A will clearly be able to perform at a higher level.

This is the holy grail of sport science - moving away from the lab and 'how' you do something (good economy, large engine) - and into the real world and 'what' you can do. It's a FUNCTIONAL measure.

In fact, you may have come across this very measure before - it's referred to as the FUNCTIONAL THRESHOLD. As an endurance athlete, being able to sustain a high percentage of your maximal capacity is just as important as having a big engine in the first place.

Several of the same peripheral adaptations we discussed in part 2b are also the main determinants of your threshold - more blood vessels and more powerhouses to maximise your use of oxygen to produce energy.

Training for the Hour Record - Part 2b.

Some of the physical adaptations mentioned in part 2 are what we call central adaptations. That means they relate to the lungs and heart rather than the muscles (which are peripheral). There's very little evidence to suggest the lungs themselves are a limiting factor in athletics performance as we rarely use all of our lung capacity.

However, the attributes of the heart are very trainable. As athletes we are going to try and maximise the amount of blood that we can pump around the body. That means a slightly bigger heart than normal, that can pump more blood per contraction ('stroke volume').

So what training sessions are best for training your heart?

Very simply, anyone that causes the same stimulus as the one you're trying to target. Longer efforts around TT pace (zone 4) maximise the stress on the heart and target improvements in SV.

For example: 8 x 5 minutes (5 minutes recovery) at TT pace,
2-4 x 10 minutes at zone 4 or 3 x 8 minutes at an RPE of 7/10.

Any questions on the training sessions above, then just let me know.

Eleanor

Here's an article on bike fit with Sarah Storey - timely indeed!

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/gbcyclingteam/article/20150225-gb-cyclingteam-news-Dame-Sarah-Storey-finds-more-speed-in-pursuit-of-hour-record-0

Dame Sarah Storey finds more speed in pursuit of hour record The British Cycling Paralympic Podium Programme athlete and C5 individual pursuit world record holder made the improvement by questioning everything in the build-up to the record attempt, which will take place at round five of the Revolution Series on Saturday 28 February.

Hour Record - part 2.

So now we're we've dealt with removing resistance by considering our equipment selection and set-up, it's time to talk about maximising the inputs.

So the next thing you need to attempt the hour record is a BIG ENGINE. (That's the scientific terminology by the way!).

Now depending on your source, genetics could account for as much as 50% of your aerobic potential. The rest is down to your training and lifestyle.

So ignoring the genetics (we can't change those, sorry!) we can focus on the physiological adaptations we can expect from training.

Aerobic capacity is the body's ability to get as much air into the lungs, extract as much oxygen from the air, deliver it via the blood and supply as much muscle as possible. The maximum rate at which we can do this is called the VO2 MAX. You've heard of that, right?

So, you need to maximise:
* your air intake;
* the amount of blood the heart can pump per beat;
* the amount of blood (specifically the oxygen carrying part);
* the amount of blood vessels going to the muscles and
* the amount of 'power stations' in the muscle to use that oxygen.

I'll talk about training methods for each of these in my next post.

Eleanor