Alastair Campbell even works on his Wattbike

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Alex Skelton @ 9:51 am

Alistair Campbell has written an article for the Saturday Times – whilst on his Wattbike. Although his cadence appears to be a bit lower than we would have expected you can probably put that down to the distraction of typing on a blackberry whilst cycling – I know I could not do both very well. Alastair makes good use of his Wattbike focussing on both physical and technique trainint to ensure that when he gets out on the road he is able to get the most out of his cycling. Using the polar view he is able to determine how well he is cycling whilst monitoring his power output (or speed) at all times.

Alastair also explains his shock at seeing cyclists not wearing helmets – I have to admit that I could go on a rant here, I share the same desire to see everyone who cycles do so safely and for me that includes wearing a helmet. One thing that particularly annoys me is parents with their kids in a child seat – child wearing a helmet, parent no helmet – surely that is not a way to teach young people about safety! Rant over – I might add that I do not wear my helmet on the Wattbike….

20 seconds is pretty good Alastair

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — Alex Skelton @ 8:25 am

Yesterday evening before heading out to the Sports Industry Awards, Alastiar Campbell tweeted that he had finally managed to ride circles on his Wattbike. Having spoken to him before about it, I know that it was becoming a bit of an obsession, but for those that do not know about the polar view on the Wattbike monitor it does not make much sense. Unlike other exercise bikes the Wattbike offers a view that shows you how efficiently you are pedalling, with 100% efficiency being power delivered consistently throughout the pedal cycle. What that means in real terms is that there is always force being applied to the road so that you keep moving forward all the time. 

We have been lucky enough to test some of Britain’s (and as a result the World’s) best cyclists and what we find every time is that the difference between the best and the rest is how efficient they are from the moment that they get on the Wattbike. I have created an information sheet about it the Polar View, as well as 10 tips to improving (I had sent these through to Alastair last week – it looks like he found them useful).

Click on the icon to view the pdf.

shape

What shape are you?

10 Ways to Improve your Shape

10 Ways to Improve your Shape

Guest post from Alastair Campbell – Do muscles have memories?

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Wattbike @ 4:38 pm

Originally posted on AlastairCampbell.org

Do Muscles have Memories?

With a long journey home ahead of us, a quick blog to pose the above question. It has come to me many times as I have cycled around the Highlands.

Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I took delivery of a wattbike, a tweet on which prompted a rash of ‘what’s a wattbike?’ responses. I explained that it is a static bike used by British Cycling for training and the spotting of talent.

The wattbike’s great advantage over the kind of bike you get in a gym is that it feels like a real bike, you can use proper cycling shoes and it has a stack of computer technology on there which enables you to race against yourself (previous rides) or others, or over well-known routes.

But the computer wizardry I use most is a screen which tells you what percentage effort each side of the body is putting into each pedal stroke. The goal is 50 50. As you pedal, a shape forms on the screen and the goal is 50 50 with a perfect circle.

I’ve managed to get 50 50 often enough but never the perfect circle. But in working to make it happen I have been conscious of moving the power in my legs from muscle to muscle. Sometimes only the front of the thigh is working. Sometimes the back. Sometimes the calf. The closest I ever get to the perfect circle is when all are operating together, which may be more tiring but is more efficient.

When I first got the wattbike, there was a danger it was becoming my latest addiction. The weather at home was not so good, I could read a book, pedal away and keep an eye on the perfect circle.

So when we got up to Argyll, I was glad to get out on the real bike a bit more. And even more pleased to note I was riding a bit faster, and a bit further, than this time last year. Not by much, but enough to realise my muscles had learned to operate in a different way as I cycled along.

So in answer to my question, yes, muscles do have their own memory system.

Like I said, short and sweet, and not a hint of politics in sight. Normal service will be resumed on return.