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Intensity!?
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I am curious as to others approach to this. And the traffic on this forum makes me sad.

I tell clients not to work out the day of the fit and that the fit itself will be some hard work around threshold, but nothing too crazy. I dial up to threshold or maybe a little more for seat height and drop adjustments.

How do you use intensity during your fits? How do you change the it when you are doing seat height changes compared to cockpit changes for instance?

How 'hard' do you advise your clients they might be working during the fit? How much time are you having them ride at threshold at one time? Overall? Anyone have them going over threshold for extended periods?

Do you tell clients not to work out before their fits? Do you provide towels for all the perspiration this intensity produces?
Last edited by: Dave Luscan: Sep 27, 13 15:08
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Re: Intensity!? [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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good question!
I, for one, do not mind if a rider has come to a fit after a workout be it swim, run or bike. The hardest part about fitting is 'fitting for fatigue', so how to replicate whatever discomfort someone has at three to six hour mark in a ride? I think it's certainly better to come to the fit having already worked out or ridden to the session, rather than straight from the Cubicle. Otherwise I know that if they've just come from the Cubicle they will need at least ten minutes of warmup. But yes, I do increase the 'headwind' as the fit progresses as well as listen to the sound of the pedal stroke.

When is the best time for a fitting for performance gain - 'before' the rider has done a lot of training and is tired/tight and on taper or fully rested? I'm not doing blood lactate tests or calculating power in a fit, just measuring angles and listening to the rider (ooo, that's better, etc). But I will listen to the feedback the rider is giving me when things are feeling good/bettre/best, they will want to go harder/faster.

And I'm surmising that you are sad about the lack of traffic on this Fitters forum, yes? Not the great universe of ST? Or was there a thread about this topic?

Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com
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Re: Intensity!? [ABarnes] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the reply. And yes, I am surprised there is not more action in this particular room.
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Re: Intensity!? [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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I usually tell people to take it easy for the day or two before a fitting so they don't come in overly tired. Recently I started to think about this differently, your average triathlete or cyclist is always going to be a little fatigued, tired or sore, so if they come in totally refreshed then that isn't actually their norm. I am starting to tell people just to do their normal routine in the days leading up to a fitting, whatever that is.

As far as intensity goes, I dial it up for people during various parts of the fitting such as when recording with Retul or setting bar drop/saddle height but for the most part I have people at about a 5 or 6 out of 10 on RPE. I also usually let people ride at a relatively high intensity towards the end of the fitting to see if anything starts to look or feel a little off.

Towels - I ask them to bring their own but I usually keep some clean ones around.

Jonathan Blyer,
ACME Bicycle Co., Brooklyn, NY
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Re: Intensity!? [Dave Luscan] [ In reply to ]
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Fitting should reflect how they ride. If its a weekend warrior you want them well rested.If you have someone who stage races let them ride all week but you want to start the fit with them fresh. You get a better evaluation .Have a good fan in the room to keep their core temp down as well as towels. lower core temp enables them to work harder and longer. try to schedule enough time to reflect the average workout or event they do. Training should reflect racing and fitting should reflect everything they do on a bike. don't think formula .think about a custom designed fitting.
Happy

Happy
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