Typically sleds are designed to make hauling a heavy load over a set distance a little bit easier. Whether that load is a deer dragged out of the woods by a hunter, a kid’s sled barreling down a hill or Santa’s sled landing on a roof, the goal of moving a body of mass over a surface with ease is the same. But there are a few sleds made with the opposite goal in mind – making the task of moving a body of mass harder. These ‘power sleds’ are used in fitness training to build strength and stamina. Strength Squared, with locations in both Las Vegas, NV and Denver, CO, has only been making power sleds since 2010, but they have made a big splash in the market with an appearance on the NBC show, “The Biggest Loser” earlier this year.
Pounding out miles on the bike trainer through the shorter days of winter can be a real motivational challenge especially after a long day at the office. Hooking the bike up to the trainer, strapping on the heart rate monitor, watching the watt meter and simply turning over the pedals can be a real drag. Three Legs Cycling (3LC) has a series of training DVDs utilizing a different and simpler approach to training that promises a more exciting training experience.
The 3LC series DVDs are designed to help you stay fit, become stronger and stay motivated through the winter, but instead of requiring a host a monitoring devices, they have designed the series behind the philosophy of leg speed. Hook the bike up to the trainer, pop in the DVD and ride. The videos will take you through the workout and during certain intervals, instruct you to increase or decrease your leg speed. Even if you do not have a computer with cadence, simply watch the riders on the video and match their leg speed. If you feel good, put the bike in a harder gear and maintain the same cadence as the riders in the video. The beauty of the video is if you are having a lackluster day, simply put the bike in an easier gear, but match the cadence of the riders. It is that simple – always match the cadence.
Resistance bands are a great way to build strength or aid on the road to recovery from an injury. These bands are typically made of rubber, similar to Latex, and can sometimes break during use causing additional injury. This is counter productive especially if they are being used for rehabilitation. Since the mid-1990’s, Stroops has been making a safer resistance band under the name Slastix Technology – designed and manufactured in America.
To prepare for the recently concluded USA Pro Cycling Challenge many European riders arrived days, even weeks prior to the big event to acclimate to the altitude. But what do you do if you are already at sea level, and can’t spend days in the mountains but still want the benefits of altitude training? You could climb into a really expensive egg.
According to reports from The Wall Street Journal, and now making rounds throughout the blogosphere, tennis star Novak Djokovic uses a special CVAC Pod every single day. He climbs into the egg-shaped pod, which sorts of evokes memories of Lady Gaga’s arrival at the Grammy Awards earlier this year, but whereas her egg was just for show, Djokovic’s $75,000 device – which is just one of only 20 in the entire world – is meant to compress the body’s muscles by using computer-controlled valve and vacuum pump to simulate being at high altitudes. Basically it is akin to a trip to the mountains without the need to be stuck in a tight and extremely uncomfortable airplane seat breathing recycled bad air.
On second thought, it seems the device is actually just like being on a coach airline seat, something Djokovic probably hasn’t had to endure in years. But the difference is he only has to spend 20 minutes at a time, and just three times a week – although reports suggest the tennis star is in the egg daily. All things considered it does seem to be more of a compression rather than decompression device, but if it helps his game he might prove to be one smart egg.
When performance modifications are done to a car, a dynameter can be used to measure the horsepower and torque output at the wheels to analyze and further tune the vehicle. There is an endless number of changes that can be performed on a car that the dyno can measure, but it alone can not be used alone to analyze the effects of drag over the body and chassis without testing in a wind tunnel.
For years, top level professional cyclists have had access to equipment to gauge their power output and wind tunnels to analyze and improve their positioning while on the bike. They also had the deep pockets of sponsors to fund the use of this equipment, but the costs put the use of these facilities out of most amateur racers. Recently watt meters have become smaller and more affordable for the amateur cyclist, so why shouldn’t the wind tunnel be more accessible? That is all about to change.
Set to open in August, the FASTER Performance and Retail Center is finishing up the final touches on their new facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. Read the rest of this entry »
The iBike Dash CC (Cycling Computer) is a case and app combo that turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a cycling computer. The iBike is a top-loading case that fully encloses your iPhone and mounts it to your handlebars. The phone then displays a number of readings such as maps, speed, heart rate and other data.
Five colored heart rate zones tell you how hard you’re pushing it. You can use the meter to tell you when you’re at 50 percent to 100 percent of your max and when you’re in a fat-burning zone if that’s your goal.
It’s still time of New Year’s resolutions to get fit or any other number of goals. Fitness Anywhere is offering a sponsorship program through its TRX Suspension bands. The goal is to pick a compelling training goal, create and submit a video to TRX’s YouTube page, and get the most views to win cash and training to support your goal. The intro video, “TRX Get with the Movement” shows people with goals from winning an iron man to simply running more or fitting into a bikini before swim season. There’s no goal too trivial if it gets you in better shape.
TRX is a suspension training system. It’s got straps that hook into the ceiling, door jam or other sturdy structure, and leverages your body weight to create exercise. The TRX straps boasts users have the ability to perform hundreds of exercises that build power, strength, flexibility, balance, mobility and prevent injuries. It is a resistance program that has a lot of possibilities, provided you have somewhere to hang your straps.
To enter for consideration to get sponsorship from TRX there are a few steps. Make a 30-second video describing your training goal for 2011 and how TRX will help you achieve the goal. Upload your video to YouTube. Promote your video entry via Facebook, Twitter and any other social or personal networking you can leverage to get more page views. The contest runs from the start of the year to April 30, 2011. Ten winners will be chosen through the course of the contest. Five winners will be selected in February, and five more in April.
The prize includes a $1,000 sponsorship to be applied towards event entry costs, travel, lodging and gear. The prize also includes a TRX Suspension Training Pro Pack; a FLIP camera for the winner to share his goal progress and TRX training; and a customized TRX training program. Good Luck!
If you are familiar with cycling, you are probably familiar with the training device called ‘rollers’. Rollers are a very simple training aid consisting of three aluminum or plastic drums which the rider can only maintain their balance while riding. If they cyclist stops pedaling, they fall over. This might sound a bit dangerous and unnerving to learn, but if you can master riding rollers, not only will you get a physical workout, your handling and pedaling efficiency will greatly improve.
Even though there are many manufacturers who make rollers, they have remained virtually unchanged for decades until recently. TruTrainer rollers, manufactured by CycleDyne LLC in Brownsburg, Indiana, claim that their rollers have the closest feel and feedback to actually riding on the road. The secret to their rollers is the drum furthest to the rear is actually a flywheel. The only real visual difference between TruTrainer rollers and others on the market is the second drive belt connecting the two rear rollers. Read the rest of this entry »
There is no denying that the British take cycling very seriously. Maybe not as much as the French or Spanish in the world of professional cycling, but when it comes to the Olympics, the British have done very well. And much of that begins long before the games begin. With London hosting the summer games in 2012 you know the British are going to try to have a strong showing, and thus they’re pulling out all the stops and taking it to the next level in their preparation.
While there remains strict rules and regulations with the actual equipment used in the Olympics and professional cycling, the real arms race is in technology used for training. British cycling pro athlete Sir Chris Hoy (above, photo: Getty) is employing new sensors and gear during the pre-season and for his training rides to get him ready for the 2012 Olympics. An article in The Telegraphthis week hints at some of these technological advancements and the people behind these innovative training techniques. Read the rest of this entry »
As the old Peanut Butter Cups commercial suggested some things go very well together, and we expect that to be true in the world of indoor and offseason training on exercise bikes. This week Cycling Fusion, the developer of indoor cycling programs, announced that it has purchased Heart Zones, USA, the company that created the first heart-rate training systems.
Cycling Fusion founder Gene Nacey had already established a relationship with Sally Edwards and her company Heart Zones. “After being certified by Mad Dogg and opening a dedicated Spinning studio, I quickly began to understand why the outdoor cyclists were not coming to class,” says Gene Nacey. “I raced MTB for 10 years and had a few years of road riding under me as well. The cycling community needed a lot more science and sport specific training than what they would normally find in Spin class. That lead to my work with Sally Edwards and Heart Zones. The heart rate training began to bring them in, but I have to say, it wasn’t until the Keiser power bikes arrived that they began to take us seriously. This combination became quite compelling.”
The new partnership will hopefully see even greater innovation in the world of indoor cycle training. KineticShift.com will follow the developments from Cycling Fusion and Heart Zones in the months to come.
There is an old saying that there is no such thing as “bad PR,” so we’re curious about the new PR Bars, which have nothing actually do with the other kind of PR. These are actually Personal Record bars, which use something called Fast Burn Nutrition I echnology. This reportedly can keep insulin levels steady so that the body will use fat stores as an energy source. In other words, you shouldn’t get that sudden burst of energy followed by the accompanying crash that often occurs when eating other energy bars during a workout.
The PR Bars sound good too – good PR maybe – as they offer 15 grams of protein and yet only 200 calories. According to the company these can control hunger for three to six hours, and actually these come in tasty sounding flavors such as Double Chocolate. That’s enough to make you want to work out longer, just so you can indulge with one of these bars.
Whether you’re going the distance in an Ironman or just want to use the various logs while working out, the Timex Ironman Sleek 150-lap watch will allow you to see the results – and get through the various screens by just taping.
This TapScreen technology allows athletes to tap the face while swimming, cycling or running instead of having to locate and push buttons. This means you can spend more time looking at the results and less time trying to get there. This watch is also water resistant up to 100 meters – not that you’ll likely need to go to those depths, but as they say, “it takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” Or in this case it takes a licking and stills gives you the key facts in a digital readout, which includes large digits that offer information for 24-hour time, month, day and date display, and two time zones.
It offers a night-light with night-mode, target time pacer, dated training log with best lap, average lap and total time, 100-hour chronograph with lap and split times, 150-lap memory recall, 199-lap counter and on-the-fly lap or split recall. There are also alarms for hydration and nutrition so you don’t let those important details slip your mind. So next time you go for a training run, or are in a competition you can get all you need to know just by tapping away.
Typically sleds are designed to make hauling a heavy load over a set distance a little bit easier. Whether that load is a deer dragged out of the woods by a hunter, a kid’s sled barreling down a hill or Santa’s sled landing on a roof, the goal of moving a body of mass over a surface with ease is the same. But there are a few sleds made with the opposite goal in mind – making the task of moving a body of mass harder. These ‘power sleds’ are used in fitness training to build strength and stamina. Strength Squared, with locations in both Las Vegas, NV and Denver, CO, has only been making power sleds since 2010, but they have made a big splash in the market with an appearance on the NBC show, “The Biggest Loser” earlier this year.
When performance modifications are done to a car, a dynameter can be used to measure the horsepower and torque output at the wheels to analyze and further tune the vehicle. There is an endless number of changes that can be performed on a car that the dyno can measure, but it alone can not be used alone to analyze the effects of drag over the body and chassis without testing in a wind tunnel.
