Sometimes you discover a need in the market that hasn't been tapped before. And before you know it....
It happened with Ug boots and those leggings that look like jeans... and TV talent shows. But tonight, it was RCC Turbo Training. Advertised as "Get there 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start", I arrived a few minutes early to set up and found 10 riders already mounted up and cycling! This was already getting on for double last week's turnout.
And what an evening. Clearly a dormant hunger for winter training has been woken. At this rate, we're laying the foundations for a bedrock of very fit riders by the time late Spring welcomes us back to the local roads in the evenings.
Brian Costello and Olly both hot footed it directly from their respective commutes pushing the final numbers up to 14.
Ben Instone was even on hand filling people's water bottles when they were empty. Chris Batch turned up without a turbo trainer just to experience the session... and for his dedication spent the evening selflessly propping up soggy Maximum Heart Rate charts, handing people dropped towels and even assisting Russell with a wayward handlebar mounted fan (you're going to need a long extension lead for that in the summer, Russell!)
The regime started with a ramp up to a Heart Rate 1min resting recovery test. This involved pushing everyone hard over the course of the first half an hour to see how many heartbeats were regained in the space of a minute after stopping all output. For anyone unfamiliar with this - and there were a few puzzled looks - I've appended an article about it below.
After that we tried a few single leg exercises. Ben informs me that this can cause back twinges so it might be the first and last time we try it in that form... but very interesting to watch everyone trying to get a smooth circle all the way round with only one foot clipped in. Top marks to Dom Clegg who was turning at a cadence almost double that of everyone else in the room.
Finally, a few exercises in relaxing the upper body, exhaling, sitting down in the saddle and reducing heart rate without reducing output too much... plus a chance to practice taking on liquids efficiently. And at last onto the warm down...
Clearly, my choice of high energy dance music only cut the mustard for some people!
Brian was furiously lobbying for either the Pogues or a Bach Piccolo Concerto, I couldn't quite hear him... Nick Curran was barracking for Queen's Greatest Hits and Lisa Deefholt's expression when I attempted to warm people down with the Beach Boys spoke volumes.
Worse was to come. Persuading some of our competitive racers to slow their cadence right down at the end was proving too difficult so I had to resort to extreme measures. The Bee Gees - How Deep is Your Love: that seemed to work!
At the end of the evening, the room was like a Turkish Sauna. Huge puddles lay in slicks on the floor. There was a real danger of someone slipping and drowning in a lake of perspiration. Now if ever there was a task I longed for when I stood for Chairman, it was mopping up after an RCC Turbo Night. I wasn't disappointed!
A fabulous evening, huge efforts from everyone and the sort of spirit that many sports clubs would pay to achieve. Thank you everyone... and who's up for more next week?
Adrian
Recovery Heart Rate Info (culled from t'interweb).
The recovery heart rate is your heart rate a set period after you have finished exercise. Any fixed period can be taken as long as you use the same measure each time, although one minute after stopping is a good indicator.
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Your recovery heart rate, which you should take one minute after you stop exercising, indicates how quickly you have recovered from an exercise session. Physically fit people generally recover more rapidly because their cardiovascular systems are more efficient and adapt more quickly to the imposed demands.
The recovery heart rate has two decreasing phases: the first minute after exercise, during which the heart rate drops sharply, and the resting plateau, during which the heart rate gradually decreases. The heart rate should return to its pre-exercise rate approximately 30 minutes after the exercise session. However, the initial sharp drop in the heart rate that occurs one minute after the exercise is the most meaningful indicator of fitness.
To determine your rate of recovery, use the following formula:
Recovery heart rate = (exercise heart rate - recovery heart rate after 1 minute)
Monitor your exercise pulse immediately at the end of your exercise. Exactly one minute after the exercise, take your pulse again. Subtract the one-minute recovery rate from the exercise heart rate. The higher the number for the recovery rate, the more quickly your heart has recovered from the exercise.
Use the following table to evaluate your recovery rate:
Recovery Rate Number/Condition
Less than 20 = Poor
20 to 29 = Fair
30 to 39 = Good
40 to 59 = Excellent
Above 60 = Outstanding
The recovery heart rate also measures the intensity of your exercise. Very little drop in the one minute pulse could indicate that you were probably working too hard and your body was having a difficult time recuperating.
Training regimes sometimes use recovery heart rate as a guide of progress and to spot problems such as overheating or dehydration. After even short periods of hard exercise it can take a long time (about 30 minutes) for the heart rate to drop to rested levels.