#thecyclegym

Hey everyone, In the news today: - How you get results with a lack of training - Lo-Dough…the new revolutionary bread - I got given a Mark Cavendish Team Sky World Champ Jersey! I hope you are well today on this awesome Friday! Result 1 So this week, it was another FTP testing time for a client and on the back of her messaging me with PB’s galore on Strava, it is fair to say that the pressure was on! Thankfully she has improved 10% in the last 8 weeks!!! Her sessions changed between coming in once a week and twice a week, so not a great deal of volume in her training, yet she improved 10%…How is that even possible? Well folks, Many cyclists or triathletes will think that they are doing everything that they can to challenge their cycling, when actually they are just doing the same repetitive thing over and over. You can get on Zwift or Trainer road as much as you like, but if you aren’t directly challenging the aerobic systems and the muscular systems that need work, then you aren’t going to improve your cycling fitness or get any faster. I have one client who came to see me because he is going away on a holiday and wanted to show his friends that he has improved his speed and hill climbing pace, yet he avoids the hills because he struggled on them. You won’t get better on hills if you don’t challenge the system to get up them. I even took him through a 1-2-1 on Zwift and pushed him in a way that he never usually does to show him what he is capable of and also how he needs to train. As we get older two things happen: 1. We don’t usually have as much time to train 2. We need more time to recover because our muscles don’t repair as quickly. Therefore, we need to move to a lower volume of work but maintain or increase the level of intensity that we ride at but it might take a professional like myself to assess this and understand what levels of intensity that is to create adaptations and change. Result 2: I heard from a gentleman called Ben last night who runs a company called Lo-Dough in Manchester. He is taking the bread world by storm after creating a bread that has more health claims than any other product on the market! One of them being 39kcal per slice!!! WHAAAAAT! You can make a pizza with his product and it is only 2 sins on slimming world when the usual pizza slice is about 15!!! His product is sold online HERE at 10am every day and usually sells out within 30 minutes of going live, so if you want some, make sure you get in quick! Result 3: I also got given a Team Sky Mark Cavendish World Champ Jersey yesterday. However I am going to have to get into the lo-dough diet to squeeze into it and make it look a little less like two pigs fighting under a blanket!!! Well that about ‘wraps’ things up!!! Have a great Weekend. Graham P.S. If you would like help training for a cycling event or want some cycle coaching we can help you. Our services include: 1. Training from our indoor studios. Fully kitted out gyms to help improve your strength, power and endurance. 2. We can train you at home using Zwift or Trainer Road 3. We can do remote coaching using Training Peaks Coaching Software If you would like some help with your cycling and training, then let us know by replying to this e-mail or visiting our Manchester (graham 07791060451) or Southampton (Andy 07770908030) websites.  Facebook   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram  Click to Post

Hey Everyone! I hope you are doing well today. BOY OH BOY wasn’t yesterday’s Tour de France good?! What a day in the saddle that was. They go so fast up those mountain climbs. They did 3 mountain climbs in the time that it takes me to do 1!!! What I loved the most was watching the GC contenders all sprint for the line! Not every day you get to see that! So how do they get up hills so fast? Essentially we are looking at turning over the pedals faster to increase the number of revolutions the wheel spins on the back. Think of your bike like a car, when you hit a hill in a car, you don’t ease off the accelerator, you push down a bit harder to get yourself over the top. You want to do exactly the same with your bike. 1. Accelerate your cadence and you will increase your speed. 2. You need to increase the duration that you can pedal faster cadences so that you build up your endurance. If you get a computer that tells you cadence, heart rate and potentially gradient, you will be able to start training like a pro by understanding the basic of metrics. This is a very simple way to boost your speed on a hill when cycling. If you want to watch the video where I explain it all, click here! Have a great day! Graham   P.S. If you would like help training for a cycling event or want some cycle coaching we can help you. Our services include: 1. Training from our indoor studios. Fully kitted out gyms to help improve your strength, power and endurance. 2. We can train you at home using Zwift or Trainer Road 3. We can do remote coaching using Training Peaks Coaching Software If you would like some help with your cycling and training, then let us know by replying to this e-mail or visiting our Manchester (graham 07791060451) or Southampton (Andy 07770908030) websites.  Facebook   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   |   Beam.Pro   Click to Post

Hi Everyone! Last night I drove 45mins South (it’s not actually that far, just traffic!) to go for a ride with some of my clients. This is the first time that I had been out with them for a while (maybe a year?!) and it’s been a few months since they were last consistently in the gym. It was interesting to see where they were at and what progressions they had made as they have recently been posting about their PB’s on strava. As you know I am a big advocate of indoor training because it: - develops muscle memory quicker - increases the intensity of the workout - decreases the amount of time needed to train One thing that always surprises me when I am out is how much I peddle. This for me comes down to erg training on a turbo where you have to constantly peddle. It is very similar to a track bike where you can’t stop pedalling otherwise your knees go backwards and it does more harm than good! I find a lot of people will coast around their route, but if you keep pedalling, this can be one of the first things to help you bring your time down. To be able to continually peddle, you need to make sure you have the endurance to do this. This doesn’t have to be complicated, just continuous pedalling on a turbo will quickly develop your endurance. It doesn’t have to be at a hard intensity, but the critical thing is not stopping for the whole duration that you ride. Start doing a couple of these training sessions a week and you will quickly see a change in your rides outdoors. Have a great day! Graham P.S. Remember that you can buy all of your turbo and cycling needs from our online store. CLICK HERE to see our latest offers on turbos, accessories and coaching. Facebook   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   Click to Post

Hey guys! Hope you are well today. It was a rest day on the Tour De France and I joined them in that rest day, but not out of choice. I am just like you in that I work long hours as it is difficult to turn off when you run your own business. I therefore prioritise my work over exercise. Despite knowing that exercise will help me: 1. Feel better 2. Keep my weight down 3. Make me keep up with faster riders There are times where I do have an hour or two spare, but I do end up doing something else. I have all the equipment that you can imagine. I have two studios with multiple turbo trainers, power meters on my bike, training equipment at home, two gyms that I can train at, yet I still don’t train every day. For me, the problem lies with motivation and not allows having something booked in. When I book something in like a meeting or an appointment, I start turning up because I am suddenly accountable to that person, their time and I know that they are trying to help me in some way. There are times when I am highly motivated and times where I really am not, but what I do know from my clients results, coaching, personal experience is that my results would be much better if I was more consistent and that I booked in to see myself! If this sounds like you then we are now able to train at our studio, in your own home and online. We have ALL the bases covered and there aren’t many coaches out there who can say that! Wherever you are in your journey, I am always on the end of the phone for a chat and advice, so don’t hesitate to call text or e-mail me for some help. Have a great day, Graham   P.S. If you would like help training for an event or want some coaching we can help you. Our services include: 1. Training from our indoor studios. Fully kitted out gyms to help improve your strength, power and endurance. 2. We can train you at home using Zwift or Trainer Road 3. We can do remote coaching using Training Peaks Coaching Software If you would like some help with your cycling and training, then let us know by replying to this e-mail or visiting our Manchester (graham 07791060451) or Southampton (Andy 07770908030) websites.  Facebook   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   |   Beam.Pro Click to Post

Hi There! Hope you had a fantastic weekend. What a great weekend for British Sport. Froome retains the yellow, Hamilton wins at Silverstone, and Jamie Murray became Wimbledon mixed doubles champion and Heather Watson was against him in the final! We also had two British wheelchair Wimbledon champions as well. Fantastic weekend. This weekend was also the end of a very long journey for one of my clients. When he came to me in April 2016 his goal was to do Ironman which was over 12 months away. Most of us can’t wrap our head around what we are doing next week let alone 12 months away so sometimes it can be hard to envisage what that day will look like. The things my client did correctly were: 1. He started training well in advance of his event time. It wasn’t a last minute rush. 2. He put plans together by setting small targets on monthly, quarterly basis. 3. He booked and did trial events in advance of his main event so that he knew what was going well and what wasn’t. 4. He received professional and qualified advice, coaching and training 5. He made a few sacrifices to achieve this goal, but made sure that all his friends and family were on board to help support him These simple practices put him in the best possible position to absolutely knock his race out of the park. They are now off for a very well deserved holiday to relax and have some down time. Once he is back and has reset his body, we will have a chat and see what the plan is moving forward. We will go through the routine of: 1. Setting Goals 2. Creating a Plan of Action 3. Breaking the plan down into smaller chunks to be more attainable 4. Putting the plan into action It really is as simple as that! Remember to live your dreams because life is short, so you must live it to the max. Have a great week, Graham P.S. If you would like help training for a cycling event or want some cycle coaching we can help you. Our services include: 1. Training from our indoor studios. Fully kitted out gyms to help improve your strength, power and endurance. 2. We can train you at home using Zwift or Trainer Road 3. We can do remote coaching using Training Peaks Coaching Software If you would like some help with your cycling and training, then let us know by replying to this e-mail or visiting our Manchester (graham 07791060451) or Southampton (Andy 07770908030) websites.  Facebook   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   |   Beam.Pro Click to Post

If you are planning to do an endurance event, it is really important to understand whether you are seeing improvements in your fitness and how to taper to reach the right form for your event. You must have a plan in place to manage this, which is where a coaching company can really take you to the next level of fitness and race preperation. If you have any more questions on peaking for an event, please do contact us. Have a great weekend everyone! Graham   P.S. If you would like help training for a cycling event or want some cycle coaching we can help you. Our services include: 1. Training from our indoor studios. Fully kitted out gyms to help improve your strength, power and endurance. 2. We can train you at home using Zwift or Trainer Road 3. We can do remote coaching using Training Peaks Coaching Software If you would like some help with your cycling and training, then let us know by replying to this e-mail or visiting our Manchester (graham 07791060451) or Southampton (Andy 07770908030) websites.  Facebook   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   |   Beam.Pro Click to Post

Morning all. Do you ever get frustrated at just being OK at something? Do you get annoyed that your friends or people around you are always better than you? I’ve been having this feeling for a while, but last night was the straw that broke the camels back. At the moment I use Zwift to train when I get an hour or so spare. I haven’t joined any group rides recently as there aren’t as many as the winter. However, last night I caught a 2.5-3 w/kg group ride which went around the flat section of the Richmond Course. I was up in the front group for about 2 laps but then suddenly they just upped the pace to about 3w/kg and I was left with a couple of other riders. I had two choices: 1. Put the hammer down and try to catch the front group 2. Slow down and wait for the pack behind me who were about a minute behind. I’m not one to wait so I just kept slugging away, but this leaves me bang in the middle. I’m NOT fast I’m NOT slow I’m just OK. I am just an average 2.5w/kg rider. When the scale is 0 is unexceptional and 5 is exceptional, I am bang in the middle. An 85kg, 5’10”, size 9.5, 2.5w/kg MR AVERAGE. This annoys me because I want to be EXCEPTIONAL. I want to achieve some amazing things in my life but I know that means I am going to have to make some sacrifices to do this. That will include: A tighter diet A more focused training plan Becoming accountable to someone or something If you are the same as me and are tired of being MR or MRS AVERAGE and want to join me on my quest to becoming EXCEPTIONAL then reply to this blog (Click Here) saying that you want to be exceptional and your phone number and I will call you back and see how we can get you the results you want to see. LETS GET RID OF MR/MRS AVERAGE TOGETHER. Have a great day, Graham   P.S. If you would like help training for a cycling event or want some cycle coaching we can help you. Our services include: 1. Training from our indoor studios. Fully kitted out gyms to help improve your strength, power and endurance. 2. We can train you at home using Zwift or Trainer Road 3. We can do remote coaching using Training Peaks Coaching Software If you would like some help with your cycling and training, then let us know by replying to this e-mail or visiting our Manchester (graham 07791060451) or Southampton (Andy 07770908030) websites.  Facebook   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   |   Beam.Pro Click to Post

Helloooooooooo!!!! How are you today? I hope you are well and looking forward to taking advantage of this sunny, beautiful day! Last week my beautiful wife went on holiday and left me to fend for myself. I love cooking and predominantly do the cooking in our house so when she is away, it’s not like I am left with frozen pizzas and microwave food. However, what does happen is I start thinking about the easy option. The Chippy smells good tonight, that wouldn’t hurt my diet at all… Maybe a Curry from the takeaway would be good… Oh, I’d love a chinese tonight… I am by no means a super athlete and I have the same temptations as anyone because after a long day working and coming home at 8/9pm, all I want to do is take the easy option. However, my clients have been making amazing changes to their lives and their diet and I wasn’t going to let them down by making poor choices myself. This is what a group environment and mentality can do. It can start to have a positive effect on your diet because you become accountable. You become accountable to yourself, your coach, the others in the private Facebook group, your friends, your family because once you make a decision to take action, it becomes their challenge too. So thank you to my clients for being awesome and making massive changes to help change their cycling and their lifestyles, which will help them achieve awesome things in the future. Keep accountable, Stay Good. Have a great day, Graham   P.S. If you would like help training for a cycling event or want some cycle coaching we can help you. Our services include: 1. Training from our indoor studios. Fully kitted out gyms to help improve your strength, power and endurance. 2. We can train you at home using Zwift or Trainer Road 3. We can do remote coaching using Training Peaks Coaching Software If you would like some help with your cycling and training, then let us know by replying to this e-mail or visiting our Manchester (graham 07791060451) or Southampton (Andy 07770908030) websites.  Facebook   |   YouTube   |   Twitter   |   Instagram   |   Beam.Pro Click to Post