I booked myself in for a fitness test in TCD last week.
Its very, very reasonable at â¬60, probably the best â¬60 you will spend if you are serious about going faster.
The test includes lung capacity before and after the test, blood test, VO2 test, body fat % and lactic acid build during exercise (running, bike, paddling and rowing) They also give you a medical before the test. You get results right after the test, a recommended training programe based on your sport/results and answer all your questions about your results (and you will have loads)
They will also recommend diet changes depending on blood test results and the sport your training for.
Takes about 2 hours to do the test, no waiting, a friend and myself had the place to ourselves for the whole morning.
They are also looking for 'subjects' to test for students thesis. i.e. free test !
Contact Dr. Nick Mahoney 01 8963580, tell him I sent you.
Sure its free to hook up on a Epic savage spin,stay with Alfie,Damo,Max,Byrner and youre fit.Get dropped,youre not fit!!But if you come back 5 weeks in a row and you stay with them,then youre on the way to great fitness!!Want to know what to eat,ask the lads,they'll tell you.As Richie says,"stick with me and I'll make you deadly!" Never a truer word spoken.Plus going on Epic spins does'nt require giving blood,well not unless you include falling off youre bike or Richie's famous "bleeding from youre eyeballs"LOL.
However,I see the students do the test for free,free will appeal to alot of people,maybe even me,but no way would I have a needle stuck in me to give blood!!
well..unless you are going to be a serious, serious Athlete then I wouldn't bother with this, its only useful if you follow it to the letter and ride on the road. And you really have to follow it,
Believe me, some of us have been down this road at least once and its actually more frustrating than you think having this knowledge. I know for a fact that several savage riders quit after doing this test, followed the " training plans" and didn't get the results.
They forgot that Mountainbiking is not easily calibrated or restrained by science like other sports.
Enjoy your riding , nobody here is a proffessional or on a fast track to the Olympics. This test can't help you go faster on singletrack or downhill and that at the end of the day is what we are all about, most peoples progress in the sport is halted by either lack of riding,lack of confidence or lack of commitment, or all of them together.
Mountainbiking is meant to be enjoyable, it will cease to be if you are looking at a HR monitor, following a diet to the letter, doing intervals, hill repeats, etc.
When you have had enough craic on the bike and you can't stick it any more or you are a natural masochyst and really want to be a champ then by all means go and do this, but I would strongly recommend that you waste your time learning to manual or tailwhip first.
Richie
Richie, I agree with you up to a point â no one in Epic is ever going to make a living out of riding a bike so if youâre not enjoying yourself then youâre wasting your time! On the other hand thereâs not a lot of fun spending half of your time on the bike feeling that youâre about to pass out at any minute! I donât know whether itâs an âage thingâ but Iâve found that I have a very distinct heart rate (lactate threshold?) that if I ride below I can basically ride all day. However if I go beyond that rate for any length of time I very quickly become totally exhausted and even if I slow down I canât really recover. I've found that I can get around the club course quicker by actually riding easier, concentrating on keeping my HR/breathing under control. I find a HR monitor really helpful from that point of view.
My aim for the winter will be to try and push up that threshold a little bit so that I can hang on to the back of the Savage Spins when the pace âhots upâ in the New Year! If that means having to watch what Iâm eating and do a few interval/road sessions then so be it!
yeah but Richard, think about how cool you would be if you could do a tail whip !!
My point is Richard, that learn to ride the bike enjoyably and then go and do this test, this test is only for Elites ( including top masters, Experts and Vets) ..
There are lads out there with serious PowerFat and can kick the arses of people who have all done this test, follow their diets, wax their legs, wake up with their HR, don't drink..
I'd really hate to be on of those guys when a PowerFat guy overtakes them ..
and it happens in every NPS..
Don't cod yourself..its not science, its religion..
Now the reason i'm taking the piss out of this whole " test " thing is simple..
there are hordes of riders out there looking to improve but there is no easy answer, the amount of people who have not mastered the basics is shocking..
This test is for people like Ryan and Mel and Elite Athletes like them. trust me, i've seen this several times over the years.
Give me â¬60 for 1 Month and i will improve you better than any test , Richard, guarenteed.
by all means do the test, you won't understand the results and they'll have no bearing in the middle of Wicklow in December when off camber roots and 1 foot drop offs are confounding you..
Richie
I'm not having a go at anybody for doing this test, i'm only voicing my opinion..bear in mind though that if you do it and enter anything less than Elites , you will get abused !!
by all means do the test, you won't understand the results and they'll have no bearing in the middle of Wicklow in December when off camber roots and 1 foot drop offs are confounding you..
Richie
I have a great picture in my head of Lynchie reading his test results upside down in the gully half way down the EWOKs, "This does not compute!"
I've done this a couple of years ago in Trinity and it's good from the perpective of learning your heart rate limits and zones. Knowing for example that 195 is your HR max and 45 is your resting HR means you can set up your Garmin or your HR monitor correctly and know how hard, tempo or easy to take your spins even if you don't stick to it (which I don't) it's good to know.
oh yeah i hear you Stu..once upon a time when I was a serious athlete, i did the test to see what my maximum should be..which was fairly high as I recall even at my advanced age..
but I really got a pain in my hoop calming down and taking it easy and my results suffered..
so my personal exerience is not a good one, so i'm easily predujiced against it..and as I know I over train anyway, it was a waste of time.
my interest is piqued though..but to follow through on this stuff you really have to be in to it..
Mountainbiking is really different to all other Endurance sports..theres a huge amount of technique and brutality involved that science can't regulate..
and we all know science is no craic at all !!
Firstly I wouldn't call myself an athlete, let alone a serious one ;-)
But you are dead right Richie, knowing your HR doesn't matter a flute when you have to get up a steep climb in a race, in fact sometimes you're better off not knowing (or looking at the HR monitor) in case you give yourself a heart attack. By the way my max HR on the test was around 190 and I've frequently (usually in races) hit above that so called limit.
I do find knowing your HR limits useful on longer spins say over 3 hours as keeping your rates in check usually means you finish strong and don't blow a gasket!
I did some some of these tests for a sports science research study in DCU a couple of years ago. A strange experience being hooked up to all these different machines and monitors - I felt like I was in an operating theatre! Afterwards you get loads of stats and graphs and figures and they have to be interpreted by someone who knows how they relate to actual training. This can then focus training in specific ways such as you need to do more intense training at this heart rate to improve power or endurance or whatever. I didn't follow any of this though!
I didn't get much out of it cause I'm not really into that kind of scientific training and I only did the test cause it was free - I wouldn't pay full price for one. Some people like their regimented training and following specific programs and all that and these tests would be great for them but for me that takes a lot of the fun out of biking. Anyway the test doesn't improve you - its the training based on it that will and thats the hard part and you can't just pay â¬60 to get that bit.
That scientific training definitely works if you have the mindset for it but yeah it definitely won't help you get down that rooty descent or over that rock - getting out on the bike as much as possible and challenging yourself every time will though. And it will be a lot more fun.
I booked myself in for a fitness test in TCD last week.
Its very, very reasonable at â¬60, probably the best â¬60 you will spend if you are serious about going faster.
The test includes lung capacity before and after the test, blood test, VO2 test, body fat % and lactic acid build during exercise (running, bike, paddling and rowing) They also give you a medical before the test. You get results right after the test, a recommended training programe based on your sport/results and answer all your questions about your results (and you will have loads)
They will also recommend diet changes depending on blood test results and the sport your training for.
Takes about 2 hours to do the test, no waiting, a friend and myself had the place to ourselves for the whole morning.
They are also looking for 'subjects' to test for students thesis. i.e. free test !
Contact Dr. Nick Mahoney 01 8963580, tell him I sent you.
Sure its free to hook up on a Epic savage spin,stay with Alfie,Damo,Max,Byrner and youre fit.Get dropped,youre not fit!!But if you come back 5 weeks in a row and you stay with them,then youre on the way to great fitness!!Want to know what to eat,ask the lads,they'll tell you.As Richie says,"stick with me and I'll make you deadly!" Never a truer word spoken.Plus going on Epic spins does'nt require giving blood,well not unless you include falling off youre bike or Richie's famous "bleeding from youre eyeballs"LOL.
However,I see the students do the test for free,free will appeal to alot of people,maybe even me,but no way would I have a needle stuck in me to give blood!!
well..unless you are going to be a serious, serious Athlete then I wouldn't bother with this, its only useful if you follow it to the letter and ride on the road. And you really have to follow it,
Believe me, some of us have been down this road at least once and its actually more frustrating than you think having this knowledge. I know for a fact that several savage riders quit after doing this test, followed the " training plans" and didn't get the results.
They forgot that Mountainbiking is not easily calibrated or restrained by science like other sports.
Enjoy your riding , nobody here is a proffessional or on a fast track to the Olympics. This test can't help you go faster on singletrack or downhill and that at the end of the day is what we are all about, most peoples progress in the sport is halted by either lack of riding,lack of confidence or lack of commitment, or all of them together.
Mountainbiking is meant to be enjoyable, it will cease to be if you are looking at a HR monitor, following a diet to the letter, doing intervals, hill repeats, etc.
When you have had enough craic on the bike and you can't stick it any more or you are a natural masochyst and really want to be a champ then by all means go and do this, but I would strongly recommend that you waste your time learning to manual or tailwhip first.
Richie
Richie, I agree with you up to a point â no one in Epic is ever going to make a living out of riding a bike so if youâre not enjoying yourself then youâre wasting your time! On the other hand thereâs not a lot of fun spending half of your time on the bike feeling that youâre about to pass out at any minute! I donât know whether itâs an âage thingâ but Iâve found that I have a very distinct heart rate (lactate threshold?) that if I ride below I can basically ride all day. However if I go beyond that rate for any length of time I very quickly become totally exhausted and even if I slow down I canât really recover. I've found that I can get around the club course quicker by actually riding easier, concentrating on keeping my HR/breathing under control. I find a HR monitor really helpful from that point of view.
My aim for the winter will be to try and push up that threshold a little bit so that I can hang on to the back of the Savage Spins when the pace âhots upâ in the New Year! If that means having to watch what Iâm eating and do a few interval/road sessions then so be it!
yeah but Richard, think about how cool you would be if you could do a tail whip !!
My point is Richard, that learn to ride the bike enjoyably and then go and do this test, this test is only for Elites ( including top masters, Experts and Vets) ..
There are lads out there with serious PowerFat and can kick the arses of people who have all done this test, follow their diets, wax their legs, wake up with their HR, don't drink..
I'd really hate to be on of those guys when a PowerFat guy overtakes them ..
and it happens in every NPS..
Don't cod yourself..its not science, its religion..
Now the reason i'm taking the piss out of this whole " test " thing is simple..
there are hordes of riders out there looking to improve but there is no easy answer, the amount of people who have not mastered the basics is shocking..
This test is for people like Ryan and Mel and Elite Athletes like them. trust me, i've seen this several times over the years.
Give me â¬60 for 1 Month and i will improve you better than any test , Richard, guarenteed.
by all means do the test, you won't understand the results and they'll have no bearing in the middle of Wicklow in December when off camber roots and 1 foot drop offs are confounding you..
Richie
I'm not having a go at anybody for doing this test, i'm only voicing my opinion..bear in mind though that if you do it and enter anything less than Elites , you will get abused !!
by all means do the test, you won't understand the results and they'll have no bearing in the middle of Wicklow in December when off camber roots and 1 foot drop offs are confounding you..
Richie
I have a great picture in my head of Lynchie reading his test results upside down in the gully half way down the EWOKs, "This does not compute!"
I've done this a couple of years ago in Trinity and it's good from the perpective of learning your heart rate limits and zones. Knowing for example that 195 is your HR max and 45 is your resting HR means you can set up your Garmin or your HR monitor correctly and know how hard, tempo or easy to take your spins even if you don't stick to it (which I don't) it's good to know.
oh yeah i hear you Stu..once upon a time when I was a serious athlete, i did the test to see what my maximum should be..which was fairly high as I recall even at my advanced age..
but I really got a pain in my hoop calming down and taking it easy and my results suffered..
so my personal exerience is not a good one, so i'm easily predujiced against it..and as I know I over train anyway, it was a waste of time.
my interest is piqued though..but to follow through on this stuff you really have to be in to it..
Mountainbiking is really different to all other Endurance sports..theres a huge amount of technique and brutality involved that science can't regulate..
and we all know science is no craic at all !!
Firstly I wouldn't call myself an athlete, let alone a serious one ;-)
But you are dead right Richie, knowing your HR doesn't matter a flute when you have to get up a steep climb in a race, in fact sometimes you're better off not knowing (or looking at the HR monitor) in case you give yourself a heart attack. By the way my max HR on the test was around 190 and I've frequently (usually in races) hit above that so called limit.
I do find knowing your HR limits useful on longer spins say over 3 hours as keeping your rates in check usually means you finish strong and don't blow a gasket!
I did some some of these tests for a sports science research study in DCU a couple of years ago. A strange experience being hooked up to all these different machines and monitors - I felt like I was in an operating theatre! Afterwards you get loads of stats and graphs and figures and they have to be interpreted by someone who knows how they relate to actual training. This can then focus training in specific ways such as you need to do more intense training at this heart rate to improve power or endurance or whatever. I didn't follow any of this though!
I didn't get much out of it cause I'm not really into that kind of scientific training and I only did the test cause it was free - I wouldn't pay full price for one. Some people like their regimented training and following specific programs and all that and these tests would be great for them but for me that takes a lot of the fun out of biking. Anyway the test doesn't improve you - its the training based on it that will and thats the hard part and you can't just pay â¬60 to get that bit.
That scientific training definitely works if you have the mindset for it but yeah it definitely won't help you get down that rooty descent or over that rock - getting out on the bike as much as possible and challenging yourself every time will though. And it will be a lot more fun.