Although it would be great to be able to train outdoors on your bike all year round, living in England makes this difficult. Some session are also easier to do on a turbo trainer or spin bike, where you don’t need to worry about cars, traffic lights, pot-holes, roundabouts!
We use interval training based on perceived effort (how hard it feels), heart rate, cadence (how fast you are turning the pedals), resistance/gear ratios or power to create a wide variety of sessions so there’s no chance of getting bored. Training in the company of others also makes it easier to motivate yourself to work hard. Having a coach around to observe during the session means that any obvious issues with bike set-up and cycling position, pedalling technique or choice of cadence can be quickly and easily identified.
Spin and Brick Sessions
We have two sessions a week using the spin bikes at Moss Side Leisure Centre. The first session is on Tuesday morning at 6:30am, whilst the second one is a Brick session on Thursday at 6:30am and includes a run either outside or on the treadmills in the gym after the bike – great practice for the triathlon!
Each session uses a mix of cadence, resistance level, perceived effort and time for the reps and sets. The sessions are designed to improve your cycling performance by increasing force production and developing aerobic power along with helping improving your pedaling technique.
The sessions are great way to get in some tough sessions that you can’t do out on the road, so why not give them a go!
What will be provided?
- Coach
- Session Plan
- HR / RPE tables to help judge intensity
- Music (where available)
- Fans (where available)
- Spin Bike
What should you wear?
- Cycling / Tri-Short (lycra with a degree of padding)
- Cycling top, running vest or t-shirt – you will sweat a lot!
What do you need to bring?
- 1 x Towel to mop up sweat from you and bike!
- 1 x 750ml drink (as a minimum)
- Optional: Heart rate monitor
- Ideal: Knowledge of your maximum heart rate achieve whilst cycling, maximum power achieve during final minute of a ramp test, CP5/20/30, etc
Etiquette
- Arrive a few minutes early and begin warming up so that the coach can start the session promptly
- As well as a towel to ‘mop your brow’ during the session, please make sure to use the spray and paper towel provided to clean and wipe down your bike after the session.