For competitive bicyclists with goals - whether competing in the Tour de France or aiming for the podium at a local race - faster cycling comes from training regimens based on various zones of exercise intensity. New research from exercise scientists at the University of New Hampshire has found that effective training regimens, which generally are created after expensive, time-consuming laboratory tests, can be developed from a relatively simple, do-it-yourself test.
Using two tools most competitive cyclists already own -- a power meter, an increasingly common training device that mounts on a bicycle's rear wheel, and a stationary bicycle trainer -- UNH graduate student Jay Francis '09 modified a three-minute all-out cycling test and found that it is as effective as more lab-intensive measurements for determining exercise intensity. The study, which was Francis's master's thesis, is published in the September 2010 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, the premier journal in the field.
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