HRV and Understanding Illness

Using ithlete to measure HRV and predict or understand illness and guide a return to training by Janet Birkmyre I suppose that most of us will have thought a little more about the effects of viral infection on our health and training over the past couple of years,...

HRV, Life Stress and Training

by Janet Birkmyre ithlete’s HRV measurement turns training data into intelligence – it adds value by personalising data that (while being based on solid research) is otherwise too generic to allow for optimal decisions about training to be made when the human...

Lockdown Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

by Jan Birkmyre According to my daily heart rate variability (HRV) readings from ithlete, it is very clear my body loves this lockdown.  On reflection, I suppose, that should not come as a complete surprise but even so, the magnitude of the improvement is a shock....

Better is Better

Like so many coaches out there, I’ve coached a fair share of athletes who subscribe to the “more is better” mindset.  Over my years in the endurance world, I’ve definitely learned to subscribe to the “more is not better; better is better” philosophy.  Why?  Because...

HRV guides trained cyclists to new performance highs

Who, what & why In a previous post we covered studies that show using HRV to be significantly better than a standard training program in improving the performance of club and recreational runners. Now, a new study by researchers from the Universities of Alicante...

The effects of overreaching on trained cyclists

Most endurance athletes are familiar with the term ‘overreaching’. That’s when you do high volumes of intensified training to cause supercompensation. But what actually happens to your body and what measures can you use to identify when overreaching has gone too far and become unproductive?

Notes from a high-volume cycling training camp

Simon Wegerif shares his experience and tips following this years week long cycling training camp in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The excellent paved roads extending from sea level to the main crater of Mt Teide at 2100m give continuous climbs of 18 – 48 km i.e. some of the longest in Europe.

HRV: It knows me better than I know myself

By Coach Laura Henry I started taking daily Heart Rate Variability (HRV) readings last February when my coaching company, Team MPI, partnered with ithlete.  I hadn’t ever heard of HRV before, and I was curious to see what it was about.  I was interested in learning...

Science and Cycling 2017 Dusseldorf – Our Highlights

Science and Cycling is an annual event, held near to the start of the Tour de France. The event enables sports science researchers and top-level practitioners to mix informally, and to listen and participate in a formal program of high quality peer reviewed...

Simon’s Tenerife Training Camp

The plan The main objective of this camp was to get in some good base miles with an emphasis on climbing in preparation for my second year of the Mallorca 312 challenge. Living in the New Forest in southern England, the terrain barely meets the criteria for...

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – October

Following the post-holiday blip, HRV has been fairly stable even considering my cold in mid-September. Mood and stress though have been an issue, particularly mood, most notably post holiday (expected) but also through the most part of September.

A Daily Training Cycle

Andrew Tamplin has created and shared a great infographic giving us an insight in to his daily training cycle and decision making process.
‘The morning recovery test effects all other aspects of the daily cycle, the simple fact is that if you are not recovered sufficiently from your previous workout, work or other life stress then you are not going to be training effectively.’

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – July

End of June is a scheduled recovery week, so not much during the week other than a 75 minute tempo ride on the 30th. Then on the weekend 2nd July was a group ride 2 hrs 30 mins, 56% in heart rate zone 2 and 38% in zone 3. On the 3rd it was Hill repeats at...

Science and Cycling 2016 – Summary of presentations

Science & Cycling is an annual gathering of researchers, expert practitioners and team performance managers arranged a couple of days before, and close to the start of the Tour de France. It was our first time attending and exhibiting and turned out to be one of...

Mallorca 312 – Event and post race recovery

In summary, I think the preparation for this event was a success – especially the many hours of MAF endurance training, and the aerodynamic improvements to both my position and the bike itself. I think diet was the only area I didn’t get quite right, and perhaps I need to gain confidence that I can perform on a low(er) carb diet on a 100m event first.

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – April

Week 14 This week culminates in a long training ride for our charity event (see footer). So the week would focus on low volume with HIIT, and introduces the first build phase of the training plan; 5th April – 65 minutes inc w/u, endurance based with 6 x 60 seconds...

Training for the Mallorca 312. The final month.

I have now begun my taper, with just a week to go before the 312km event in Mallorca next Saturday. I’m already in the centre zone of the Pro Training Guide, and expect to move rightwards during the week as my recovery continues to improve.

Coaching the TORQ Women’s Track Cycling Team

I had been using ithlete for several years as part of my own training monitoring and found the basic data helpful as an additional weapon in my armoury. So when I was given the opportunity to use an ithlete Team App in conjunction with my coaching role for the TORQ Track Team I was keen to see what it could bring to the table.

Preparing for the longest ride…

By Simon Wegerif Every year I have to do something that tests the limits of my endurance. Two years ago it was the Haute Route challenge of cycling from Geneva to Nice in 6 timed stages across the Alps, and last year it was the Etape TdF stage with 4500m of climbing...

Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – January

The start of the year sees a return to a training plan. 4th Jan was the first session, which was endurance based with 2 x 10min tempo included, 60 mins, repeated on the 6th (although this suggested HIIT, I stayed with the schedule). 8th Jan strayed from the plan when...

80:20 training & heart rate variability by Andy Dolphin

Learning about heart rate variability I started cycling in April 2012, and quickly found out about the ithlete heart rate variability (HRV) app in July. Up until that point I didn’t really train as such, but simply went out for a ride. I did a sportive in July and...

Cyclingphysio.com ithlete review

We wanted to share this great independent take on ithlete with you! A while back the ithlete team spoke to a guy named Dave who had a few questions about ithlete and mentioned he was reviewing it for his site – great we thought. But things are as busy as ever here at...

The Dragon Ride; Simon Polarised Training Challenge

Dragon Ride (Wales, 9th June) The Dragon Ride, at 130 miles, and 3400m of climbing is easily the hardest ride I have done in a long time (perhaps ever!).  I thought I rode it conservatively, but the zone distribution chart below shows that I spent the majority of the...

Fitness Does Not Equate to Health

  by Amber Pierce   A big part of what I love about being a professional athlete is helping promote lifestyle choices that lead to better health and overall quality of life. Fitness plays an integral role in maintaining and optimizing health, and people...