Search found 48 matches

by JohnI
11 Mar 2024, 3:22pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Max Heart Rate (Setting & Meaning)
Replies: 42
Views: 1667

Re: Max Heart Rate (Setting & Meaning)

Watch HRM are still Emporer's clothes territory but Garmin don't wan't you to know that.
That reminds me of a podcast/radio programme I was listening to just yesterday.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001wqdw
by JohnI
11 Mar 2024, 2:52pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Max Heart Rate (Setting & Meaning)
Replies: 42
Views: 1667

Re: Max Heart Rate (Setting & Meaning)

I use Garmin Connect and only realised relatively recently that my heart rate zones do seem reasonably accurate. I've been doing a fair number of indoor workouts on Zwift this winter, including FTP tests now and again. I'm pretty sure my FTP is accurate and that's consistent with my threshold heart rate.

Basically I'm saying that FTP is the thing that matters more than anything else, but you can work back from that to check FTHR and therefore what your max HR might be. That seems more reliable than relying on the standard formulae or trying to actually get to max heart rate. I suspect that Garmin may have tweaked my zones, but by chance I've always been fairly close to the 220-age formula anyway.
by JohnI
1 Mar 2024, 9:46am
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Pain on outer edge of right foot in cleats
Replies: 3
Views: 442

Re: Pain on outer edge of right foot in cleats

I've started to get some mild pain on the outer edge of my left foot recently. The history is a bit different though. I'm slowly recovering from a calf injury and the latest physio I saw reckons that I over-pronate on that side. He recommended that I wear insoles, even on the bike. I think my foot is still getting used to not being able to pronate as much, so it gets irritated on the other side. Anyway, the bottom line is that gait issues can affect this sort of thing so it may be worth getting it checked out and using different insoles as appropriate.
by JohnI
29 Jan 2024, 3:02pm
Forum: Family Cycling
Topic: 4 day family bike ride with 8 and 10 year
Replies: 16
Views: 3320

Re: 4 day family bike ride with 8 and 10 year

We did a similar trip with our (then) 12 year old a few years back and had some good advice from people on here, including a route to Norfolk.
viewtopic.php?p=1313093#p1313093
by JohnI
12 Jan 2024, 5:30pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Unused Muscles
Replies: 9
Views: 775

Re: Unused Muscles

I used to do triathlons but these days I've dropped the running. Swimming and cycling is a nice combination for overall fitness. I've had a few injuries from cycling over the years, so now when I'm in the pool I try to do some kicking (wearing fins) to build up the muscles in the legs which are not used as much on the bike. Also swimming is quite good for the core and posture, which can't be a bad thing for cyclists.
by JohnI
8 Jan 2024, 11:47am
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Quad pain/effort on MTB compared to road bike
Replies: 15
Views: 1121

Re: Quad pain/effort on MTB compared to road bike

I bought a gravel bike a few months ago and had a similar experience - it took me some time to get comfortable and I was getting some leg soreness from riding. This surprised me because I already have a road bike and an MTB but haven't had the same issue. Of course saddle height mattered but I also needed to raise the bars. This might sounds strange but I also changed my pedalling style so I was pushing slightly forward instead of straight down. My body was forward and down like on my road bike but my bum was back because the seat tube angle is more like my MTB. So basically I needed to be both a bit more upright but also to re-programme my brain to remind me that I wasn't on a road bike.
by JohnI
8 Jan 2024, 10:25am
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Cleat Set-Up Advice
Replies: 8
Views: 806

Re: Cleat Set-Up Advice

I've had ITB issues off and on for a few years. I also had a calf injury on the same leg that took a long time to clear up. The first physio I had was pretty useless, but eventually I saw another one and he told me that I over-pronate on that side and recommended wearing insoles with some arch support, even when I'm cycling. So far that seems to be working and I'm gradually building up the mileage.

It wouldn't have occurred to me that over-pronation is a problem when I'm cycling, but I had noticed that my pedalling action is slightly asymmetric and the foot on the dodgy side seems to point slightly more outwards than the other and moves a little on each pedal stroke (I use cleats with some float). So that's something that might be worth checking.
by JohnI
7 Jan 2024, 5:41pm
Forum: Health and fitness
Topic: Cycling, carbs, the bonk and ketones - in that order
Replies: 26
Views: 2176

Re: Cycling, carbs, the bonk and ketones - in that order

For 10y I've not had the bonk once. I'm on a lowcarb high fat diet for that period, keeping 38lb off.
I've been on a lowcarb diet for the last year, for general health reasons. I haven't been doing a massive mileage during that period (due to injury), but I've been surprised that my energy levels are higher than before and I've had no problem cycling for up to 2 hours or so. I've also lost 5kg and my FTP is the same as before so that's a win-win.

Certainly if I was doing longer rides I'd increase the carb intake, but probably only on the day of a ride. It does feel almost as if I've trained my body to need less carbs, or maybe I was just eating too much previously. It does seem quite individual though and I'd be wary of any general advice.
by JohnI
19 Oct 2023, 2:42pm
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: ?? Cadence versus torque and power, any data?
Replies: 49
Views: 5968

Re: ?? Cadence versus torque and power, any data?

Nearholmer wrote: 13 Oct 2023, 8:58am Possibly the best way to understand this is with your legs and lungs, by finding a hill of suitable gradient and length, and going up it using different gears/cadences.
I do a similar thing on a smart trainer using ERG mode that forces you to maintain a given power. So basically I can play around with different cadences and see what feels easier, and check what my heart rate is doing. I've always tried to maintain 90-100 rpm (I'm small and skinny legged) but I do find that maybe 80-90rpm for intervals of a few minutes at a fixed power means I don't get out of breath as quickly even if it seems more tiring on my legs. Presumably I'm using my fast twitch muscles a bit more, but I don't think I would be able to maintain that power/cadence combo for a longer distance/time.
by JohnI
9 Sep 2023, 2:56pm
Forum: On the road
Topic: bizarre sights on a ride
Replies: 14
Views: 3893

Re: bizarre sights on a ride

I was riding on one of my local lanes through a small forest a few years back when I noticed a car stopped in the middle of the road ahead of me. The driver seemed to be sticking something thin and long out of the window, which looked possibly like an air rifle. I think he may have been taking pot shots at the local wildlife. Presumably he spotted me because he drove off before I could get close enough to see more clearly or be in any danger. I didn't bother reporting the incident to the police because I had zero evidence of what had actually happened, but it seems that he would have been breaking several laws. Following on from the theme of mobile phones I guess it could have been a selfie stick, but there was something about it that made me think it wasn't.
by JohnI
8 Sep 2023, 11:40am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Smart Trainer and Gearing Question
Replies: 9
Views: 1056

Re: Smart Trainer and Gearing Question

Yes, I have a Wahoo wheel-on trainer and I think one issue is that the back wheel can slip which limits the virtual gradient that you can try. I go for 50% trainer difficulty but in real life I enjoy climbing. The other thing is that the bike doesn't move side to side when you're out of the saddle (unless you spend hundreds of quid on a rocker plate) so it feels odd and from personal experience I think it's not good for your knees. So I stay seated on longer climbs and adjust the trainer difficulty to suit.
by JohnI
8 Sep 2023, 9:14am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Smart Trainer and Gearing Question
Replies: 9
Views: 1056

Re: Smart Trainer and Gearing Question

Yes, it should feel pretty much like riding in the real world, which is part of the attraction. There are a couple of caveats depending on the options you select in whatever app you use. For example there's often something called "trainer difficulty" which sort of scales the resistance or smooths out hills if you want. 100% means it should be completely realistic, but you can set it to less. It's worth checking what the default is.

The other one is ERG mode where the trainer forces you to produce a certain power, for example by increasing the resistance if you slacken off and vice-versa. This takes some getting used to but is often the default on apps if you do a structured workout, and that caught me out at first but now I find it really useful. In ERG mode the idea is that you don't change gear at all because the trainer is basically in control. That's actually quite useful if you have an old bike with limited gears or a single speed.
by JohnI
4 Sep 2023, 4:52pm
Forum: Racing, Olympics, TdF, Competitive cycling
Topic: La Vuelta 2023 tv coverage?
Replies: 20
Views: 9458

Re: La Vuelta 2023 tv coverage?

With chromecast it'll depend on whether you try to use screen mirroring (which won't work at all well for video) or whether you cast from the app itself: there'll be a chromecast icon somewhere on the screen. In that case it works differently because it basically tells the chromecast device to start its own session and stream the video directly using the right format etc. It's a bit confusing.

For some reason Chromecast never really caught on and I think it's partly because it's simpler just to pick up a remote of some sort and pick what you want. I find it useful for all sorts of stuff though and I also need to use one for my job anyway.
by JohnI
4 Sep 2023, 3:53pm
Forum: Racing, Olympics, TdF, Competitive cycling
Topic: La Vuelta 2023 tv coverage?
Replies: 20
Views: 9458

Re: La Vuelta 2023 tv coverage?

That's interesting. I'm sure chromecast has worked OK for me, but these days I use a Google TV stick. For future reference (if anyone else is interested) there's a list of supported devices on the Discovery+ site: https://help.discoveryplus.com/hc/en-us ... discovery-
by JohnI
4 Sep 2023, 11:38am
Forum: Racing, Olympics, TdF, Competitive cycling
Topic: La Vuelta 2023 tv coverage?
Replies: 20
Views: 9458

Re: La Vuelta 2023 tv coverage?

Chromecast is a good option for older TVs - you can watch on your phone or tablet and then start watching on the TV.