Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Improved Cycling Fitness Test
From University of New HampshireResearchers used a three-minute all-out cycling test to study the last 30 second and predict a power level that a cyclist can sustain for 20 to 30 minutes.
UNH graduate student Jay Francis ’09 modified the three-minute all-out cycling test and found that it is just as effective as more lab-intensive measurements for determining exercise intensity.
Francis and his advisor, assistant professor Dain LaRoche, wondered if this increasingly common piece of equipment could be used to establish individualized exercise intensity domains – training zones that range from moderate to severe – that were as accurate as those established with complex laboratory testing.
“You can go out with your own power meter and, for free, in just three minutes, you can do what would cost you $250 and take over an hour in the lab,” says LaRoche.
With this data, says LaRoche, a cyclist can develop a range of individualized training zones that a coach will use to prescribe a particular workout.
Read the full article here.
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