Hall of Famer Sally Edwards Launches Power Training for The Masses

Aug. 28, 2009 - PRLog -- Since training with power meters hit the professional circuit, there has been a steady “trickle down” effect to the rest of the cycling community.  At first, securing the equipment would often cost more money than the bike itself, easily running over $3,000 in bike hardware, software and training.  Fortunately market forces being what they are in the U.S., current choices range from $200 to still upwards of 3K to begin the journey of using power metrics to get stronger and faster.  

That being said, these options are still generally only used by competitive cyclists.  The training and interpretation of results are not for the recreational rider as there is a fairly high learning curve or “confusion factor”.  The entire field has its own vernacular with terms like Coefficient of Drag (CdA), Normalized Power, Critical Power, Functional Power, Maximal Accumulated O2 Deficit (MOAD), etc.  In addition, indoor cycling or Spinning® classes right now are still generally void of any training tools on the bikes, let alone power meters.  

Nevertheless, the trickle down affect of this power craze has also found its way into the indoor market with the latest bikes designed for group cycling.  There have been few innovations in the past few years, but with the spate of bikes on the horizon in 2009, everything is about to change.  

“Three years ago when I opened Global Ride, I could only find 2 manufacturers that offered bikes with power. Now there are at least 6 on the market.  These bikes now have heart rate monitors built in as well, so training tools are finally making their way indoors.”  Said Gene Nacey, owner of Global Ride Training Center

This is great news for cyclists, even recreational riders, since power training will do more to help bicyclists than any other tool in their arsenal for one important skill; hill climbing.  Even though many participants of indoor classes do not ride outside, their desire to improve their fitness, gain strength, and lose weight is generally universal.  The one thing that holds them back though, is that bikes without power meters have no gauge or indicator to show how much resistance they are putting on the wheel.  As a result, indoor riders can put in hours of Spinning® each week, and see little to no increase in strength or power (pools of sweat notwithstanding).  In addition, they limit their calorie burn by limiting how hard they their bodies can work (see http://www.sgfitness.com/site/1388195/page/851086 for more details on this.)  

With the industry on the cusp of entering into the “power zone”, Gene Nacey has created a completely new approach to training indoors with power, directed at the non-competitive population of recreational riders and non-cyclists.  Gene has teamed up with Sally Edwards to make this into a brand new Power Certification for indoor cycling instructors who will soon be faced with bikes with power meters and the need to both teach, and interpret them for their students.  

“Gene has created a system that not only anyone can learn, but anyone can teach.  He has demystified the numbers, translated them to everyday language and analogies, and added an entire new dimension to conducting indoor classes.  Power training isn’t just for the pros anymore.  We are delighted to imbed his methodology into our overall Heart Zones system of cycling instructor certifications.”  Said Sally Edwards, founder of Heart Zones, USA.

A complete agenda of the two day workshop and book signing can be found at http://www.globalride.org/Site/Class_Schedule.html /.  There is a limit of 20 participants for the workshops, so those interested are urged to make their reservations quickly.  Those just wanting to hear Sally speak and have a book signed should also RSVP to Global Ride (contact information below).

Spinning®, and Spinner® are registered trademarks of Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc

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Global Ride Training Center is the only Indoor Cycling facility with power meters in the Pittsburgh area. Yoga, Pilates and strength training classes are also offered almost daily. Global Ride specializes in training cyclists and triathletes. Global Rida also conducts Metabolic Testing for weight management and max VO2 training. . All pricing, class schedule and instructor profiles can be found online at http://www.globalride.org