Spinning with HR by Matt Hart (Torq)

We thought this might be something you’d be interested in if you live in the busy metropolis. TORQ have teamed-up Pedal Studio to get behind their venture. Cycling indoors was for the purist with a high boredom threshold until indoor cycling classes such as ‘Spinning’ started to spring up in the mid 1990’s. TORQ are huge advocates of these kinds of classes if they’re instructed properly. It’s not quite as good as riding outside, but it comes a close 2nd…

According to Pedal Studio’s Andrew Clayton “In recent years indoor cycling has become one of the most popular classes at the local gym, promising to help you shed pounds in a fast, effective way. More often than not, you come out of the gym sweating profusely thinking you have had a ‘hard’ workout, but with no real feedback. The con is over, and Heart Rate monitoring during spin sessions is here at last.

Pedal Studio in Putney is pioneering the way, offering every rider free set up to the Suunto Heart Rate monitoring system. It ensures that a controlled intensity class is delivered, and you can reach your fitness goals sooner than you think. Each rider wears an individual, discrete monitor and is able to track their Heart Rate throughout the class, even receiving a workout feedback summary on email afterwards! Exercising in this way keeps you to train in the correct ‘zones’ and is thus results focused.

To main Spinners’ motivation and focus on goals Riders are encouraged to join the Pedal Studio’s cycling and triathlon team ~ Pro Vo2. To maintain the correct hydration with a mix of carbohydrates and electrolytes riders use TORQ energy. We think this is an ideal product to use for indoor sessions like these, because participants lose such large volumes of fluid and need to maintain hydration and energy levels.”

Andrew goes on to say ”Spinning®, a brand within the Star Trac sports equipment family, is the best cardio vascular workout you’ll ever get in less than one hour. It is no longer about an instructor shouting at you with music on full & strobe lights flashing! It is controlled, goal driven & results orientated. All backed up with the evidence of the Heart Rate feedback, adding to the motivation to achieve your goals. 95% of our members say monitoring their Heart Rates improves their exercising experience!

Exercising in this way can help many areas of the body, particularly the respiratory system. Maintaining your Heart Rate within various training ‘zones’ requires controlled breathing, subsequently facilitating the ability to reduce heart rate more quickly after exercise. It takes a few weeks of regular training to see a marked improvement, but it is guaranteed & anyone can start at any level of fitness. This technique can even be used to help control stress levels, which is particularly useful when living a busy London life! This is no ordinary form of exercise.”

For more information on Pedal Studio, visit: www.pedalstudio.co.uk

For Pro VO2 cycling and tri club, visit: www.pedalstudio.co.uk/Provo2%20Club.html

For TORQ energy, visit: www.torqfitness.co.uk/acatalog/TORQ_energy_drinks.html

Pedal Studio baby - James Edmondson

We have some very exciting Pedal Studio news. We have had our first Pedal Studio Baby ! Congratulations to Gill and her husband. Those of you spinning regularly must have noticed Gill and she kindly wrote a lovely article about being pregnant and spinning in our last news letter. I had to chuckle she was even watching her HR during the delivery – good girl - and had a fantastic delivery...this is from Gill.

Hi Andrew,

I am pleased to announce the arrival of the first Pedal Studio baby! James Edmondson arrived on Tuesday morning at 11.25am, weighing 7lbs 3oz after 30 hours labour!! I think I did 4 Spinning classes last week with my last one on Sunday. So less than 24 hours after my last Spin class, I started contractions and 48 hours later I was a proud (and tired) Mum. Baby is perfect in every way and I'm recovering pretty rapidly which I am sure is down to my staying fit.

Thanks to all at the pedal studio for keeping me sane and fit (by the way, my HR never went higher than 68 throughout ardous labour process much to the amazement of the midwives!!).

I look forward to getting back on my bike and into the Studio though I think it will be a good few weeks still before I can tolerate a bike saddle!!!

Gill

Spinning with a bump...

As a keen triathlete heading into another cold Winter and dreading the approaching but inevitable turbo training sessions, I was very excited when my friend e-mailed me news of a new spinning studio opening in Putney. Fantastic – I had always enjoyed Spinning but have an aversion to Gyms as they tend to rip you off and I do most of my training for free in the great Outdoors (running and cycling).
However, almost immediately after hearing this news, I found out I was pregnant. That was going to change things a lot!!! I was determined to stay as active as I could throughout my pregnancy but would obviously be cutting my exercise load significantly.

Having done my research on exercise in pregnancy and talking to my GP, I realised that Spinning and Swimming were going to be the 2 things I could keep doing throughout. The great thing about Spinning is that you can adjust your effort to the zone you want to work in while still taking part in the class and enjoying the group atmosphere (not to mention the extra motivation it provides!). All I had to do is keep an eye on my heart rate, make sure I stayed hydrated and not overheat – which is why I always hog the bike nearest the fan (sorry!). Latest recommendations for exercise in pregnancy is to avoid going above Lactate Threshold so basically, as long as I stayed aerobic and felt good, then there was no reason not to continue.

In the first trimester, I found the Pedal Studio fantastic as it was so icy outdoors, I was really reluctant to ride my bike as risk of falling was just too high. I had a quiet word with my instructors to let them know and they were all really fantastic and supportive. I was a pretty frequent attendee then but I have to admit as the weather got better and the days longer in the second trimester, the call of my bike and the outdoors proved too much and I spent some time riding gently in Richmond Park (and sometimes further afield) while I still could. I managed to keep running until 23 weeks and stopped outdoor cycling at 26 weeks and since then have been at the Pedal Studio 3-4 times a week as and when work schedule allows. As my bump has gotten bigger and bigger, everything has felt like hard work but once I’m on the bike in the studio, I don’t even notice I’m pregnant. Being able to Spin has kept me sane and I plan on keeping going as long as I can fit on the bike (though I will obviously slow down more and more as time goes on).

I would like to say Thanks to Andrew and all the instructors at Pedal Studio for being so friendly, helpful and understanding. (Also Thanks to my fellow Spinners for not laughing as I now have to wear my Husbands training top as nothing else fits!!)
It really makes a difference to have such a great facility on our doorstep and with childcare also available, you can be sure I’ll continue to spin once the bump makes his or her way out into the big bad world!!!