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Helen and I were fortunate to be invited to join in a meeting of researchers in the field of 'Cycling Science' at the Centre for Sports Studies, University of Kent last week. Representatives from the Centre for Sports Studies (CSS), Canterbury Christchurch, University of Greenwich, University of Brighton, British Cycling and of course PBscience all met to discuss some of their current work and ways in which future collaborations can be fostered. Alongside my own academic interests as I officially begin my Phd studies this week (gulp!), Helen and I are also committed to seeking out opportunities like this to ensure our coaching theory and practises are constantly developed and challenged, helping us to remain truly 'Cutting Edge'. What follows is a brief outline of some of the topics currently under investigation.
Marco Arkesteijn was first to present some data from the first study in his PhD researching some of the 'mechanical' factors that influence cycling efficiency. Marco compared a group of cyclists with a group of non-cyclists to investigate whether the timing and application of muscle contraction and pedal forces could explain the differences in efficiency between the two groups. Marco explains a bit more in his blog post on the CSS site, so follow the link if you'd like to learn more! Efficiency is a major focus for the group at Kent so look out for updates as they make progress in this frankly poorly understood area of endurance performance.
Next up, Matt Cole (Canterbury) shared some more efficiency findings, this time on the effect of diet on gross efficiency. Matt compared the efficiency of a group of cyclists during a two hour ride, following three days of either high fat, high carb or equal split diet. The study is ongoing so any discussion of results runs the risk of being a bit premature but there is a suggestion that a high carb diet leads to greater efficiency. Also, interestingly it appears that the body may adapt to your habitual diet by becoming most efficient at utilising the particular substrates that this diet provides. We'll keep you updated as more details emerge and as Matt begins his next study looking at the effect of supplementation on efficiency.
Last of the PhD presentations came from Patrick Cangley, a student of Helen's based at Brighton. Built from the ground up using first principles and basic laws of motion, Patrick has built a fantastic mathematical model to predict cycling performance, modelling the bicycle and rider by subdividing them into basic components (e.g. the rider was divided into hand, forearm, upper arm etc) and modelling each component and their interactions separately. With the input of some data on a course profile and details on a riders performance capabilities, Patrick is able to compute the optimal variable pacing strategy. The basic principle is fairly simple 'The optimal pacing strategy is that which minimises the fluctuations in speed constrained by the physiological limits of the athlete'. In other words the mathematically optimal strategy to complete a course is a constant speed, however factors such as terrrain and weather can make this impossible - the aim is to do the best given what is possible given your own performance capabilities. Simply put, ride harder when you're slow and back off when you're fast - the devil is in the detail! Using a 4km section of the G10/42 time trial course for testing his model, Patrick's model predicted a potential time saving of ~15s using the optimal variable power strategy over a constant power output. This was backed up by the actual riders performances - scaling this up predicts savings of close to a minute over the full course. Pacing matters!
All in attendance were agreed that such an informal and open forum was a great benefit in further research and understanding in all of our work so the aim is to meet quarterly. Rest assured, we'll keep you up to date on all the developments! |
