300 bodyweight challenge

The 300 bodyweight challenge:
Here's a quick 300 rep bodyweight circuit to start the day for you, here goes, enjoy!

Prisoner squats x20
Press ups x20
Alternate lunge x20 (x10 each leg)
Close grip press ups x20
Burpees x20
Rest 2mins
Repeat (3 rounds in total)

Cycle coaching Cardiff

Our cycle coaching services are aimed at people of all abilities, so if you want to finish your first 100-mile sportive, get faster on your mountain bike, improve your pedalling technique or need help with the bike leg of an Ironman triathlon, WhittleFit can help you achieve your goals and more!

You can work with our coaches on a one-to-one basis for fitness and technique testing, to develop a bespoke training plan, a combination of both or simply download a standalone training plan, either way, our structured, progressive approach will provide you with the tools required to achieve the results you desire.

Integral to our cycle coaching at WhittleFit is the Wattbike. The Wattbike was developed over seven years in partnership with British Cycling; it is the world's first indoor bike that feels like riding a real bike, whilst providing scientifically accurate training data.

Beyond cycling, the Wattbike has broader appeal. It is a superb cross-training and talent identification tool for a wide range of sports that want a high quality training alternative. It is currently being used by several Premier League football clubs, rugby union international teams, Olympic runners and GB international rowers. The Wattbike is simply the most advanced, scientifically accurate, simple to use training bike in the world.

When it comes cycle coaching, we appreciate that everyone is an individual, with different strengths and weaknesses. And depending on your event, you will have different training needs and goals. We identify your current fitness levels, goals, lifestyle and commitments and then balance them with an effective training plan that works for you, the individual.

If you're in Cardiff, Penarth or the surrounding area and would like to know more about the Wattbike email Mark or visit the WhittleFit website.

First ever mountain bike race

I did my first ever mountain bike race this weekend! And what an experience it was!

It was a 90 minute race held by Red Kite Events as part of their Winter XC Series. It was my first MTB race and my first 'real' outing on the new Merida 29'er.

I travelled up to mid-Wales the night before, just so I could get to the race site in plenty of time, and the weather was looking rather grim (snow & frost forecast) so I thought it would be prudent to be near the race site to avoid the worst of the weather.

However, the weather was pretty bad come race morning, -3.5'C on my car computer!!! The race was quite a low key affair, but the course was pretty brutal. The course consisted of a mix of fire road, single track and technical downhill sections, I was fine on the less technical climbs (always passing people), but really suffered on the technical descents, with loads of people passing me back. And that's the way the whole race went really, me passing them on the climbs and them re-passing me on the technical sections.

It proved to be a great race, very, very cold, but a great experience! Results won't be out for a few days but I'm content with my own race, and now know where I need to focus my efforts before the next race (in a few weeks time). Train smart all!

Wattbike training course

Yesterday I attended a Wattbike training course at the Wattbike Training HQ in Evesham. The Wattbike is the world leading indoor training bike that is revolutionising cycling at all levels. It combines scientific accuracy with simple and intuitive operation and is like no other indoor training bike.  It is the first indoor bike that has ever been endorsed by British Cycling and it is now used by elite cyclists, triathletes and adopted by countless other sports including Football and Rugby as the training and testing tool of choice.

The Wattbike feels like ‘real’ cycling and delivers accurate, repeatable and comparable results. The bike can be used for rehabilitation, general fitness, high level training, scientific testing, cross-training and competition. 

The Wattbike is the first training bike to bring elite scientific training to an affordable exercise bike making world class training accessible to home users and gyms.

Beyond cycling, the Wattbike has broader appeal. It is a superb cross-training and talent ID tool for a wide range of sports that want a high quality training alternative, delivering objective data. Therefore, the Wattbike is the most advanced, most accurate training tool available today helping everyone to train less and ride faster.

I really look forward to getting my own Wattbike for training cyclists, triathletes and people of all sporting backgrounds. If you're in Cardiff, Penarth or the surrounding area and would like to know more about the Wattbike email Mark or visit the WhittleFit website. 

Product Review: Sufferfest Indoor Cycling Videos

By now hopefully you'll know that Delme and I both love endurance sports, especially running and triathlon (swim/bike/run). And as both of us are time-crunched due to family, work, sports and social commitments, we need to find methods of fitness training that are effective and that we can actually fit into everyday life. Well, as far as our cycling training is concerned, this is it!

The Sufferfest group of training videos are intended for cyclists, triathletes and fitness enthusiasts who want to get seriously fit, but are limited for time. However, I warn you now - they are not easy! In fact they are designed to seriously kick your butt; they are evil! But they work!

So what are they exactly? They are downloadable videos for you to use on your indoor bike trainer (known as a turbo trainer in the cycling and triathlon world), spelling out the exact intensity and time interval required for that section of the training session, all set against the backdrop of some amazing pro cycling race footage and some great music tracks.

So in essence each Sufferfest video is based on a specific workout (like flat out sprints, short intervals, climbs, time trials efforts, even 20 minute race simulations), and tells you how hard to go and for how long, and during that interval the footage shows you what you should be doing (so if you should be sprinting, you'll see some amazing sprint footage). How simple is that? Even I can follow it!

The 2 videos I bought are "Revolver" and "Downward Spiral", each being 45 minutes and 60 minutes respectively. Revolver is billed as simple, brutal, uncomplicated and it doesn't disappoint. The main set is 1 minute intervals, with 1 minute recovery, it is tough, tough, tough, as you have very little time to recover before hitting the next interval. This is a great training session when you are very short on time and just want to get your ass kicked! Downward Spiral is 60 minutes of maximum intensity intervals, which gradually decrease in duration, with decreasing recovery intervals. This intense session even has you chasing Tom Boonen during his solo breakaway in Paris-Roubaix! Another great training session.

For me these training videos are a very welcome change to staring at a concrete wall in your garage, listening to music or watching a movie and have been a stable part of my triathlon training for a long time, in fact they were integral for me in qualifying for Team GB last year for the European Triathlon Long Distance Triathlon Championships. The combination of the intervals, the awesome cycling footage and the pounding, motivating soundtrack just makes it so much easier to train harder!

The Sufferfest videos are incredibly cheap too, I bought mine last year for less than £10 each ($12.99) and I'm really surprised they haven't increased in price yet. For your $12.99 you get a downloadable video that will see you through many a tough training winter, or even when you just need a kick up the butt to reinvigorate your training! You can check out the full range of training videos at the Sufferfest website, I would definitely recommend trying out one of their videos, but only if you're ready to work hard!!! Did I mention they are evil? Enjoy!