Objective evidence of improvement

The Computrainer has a great feature call Spinscan. The Spinscan takes every single pedal stroke and breaks it down into 24 segments. (If you want to take a look at a Spinscan graphic, go to the analysis page on the www.gccyclefit.com webpage. ) Each segment represents the power that you are producing for that portion of the pedal stroke.

Based on how you pedal, the Computrainer gives you a Spinscan number. This number is calculated by dividing the average wattage over the course of a pedal stroke by the peak wattage. If you are a masher, your peaks will be high and your overall average wattage will rather low. This will give you a low Spinscan number

If you are able to apply force to the pedals all the way around the pedal stoke, you will have relatively low peaks but high overall average force. This will give you a high Spinscan score.

Here's my story: When I first purchased the Computrainer, my Spinscan was 52. It was horrible. There were four segments of the pedal stroke where I wasn't even applying force to the pedals(That's really bad). More on that in a future post.

With concerted effort, I was able to improve my Spinscan number to a 72. I changed my bike fit so that I was able to apply force to the pedal more effectively. Then I started doing pedaling drills. Each ride, I worked on pedaling. However, I couldn't break the 72 point threshold. I would periodically retest on the Computrainer. But each time, I would end up between 70 and 72. If I tried harder, my Spinscan number would actually get worse.

Where am I going with this you ask...
Enter the ROLLERS! As you know, I've worked out on the rollers several times a week over the last several months.

Last night, I used the Computrainer to workout. I started out by warming up with the Spinscan. Without additional effort, my Spinscan number was 79-80. That is a huge improvement. 85 is my goal.

I offer Spinscan testing. If you want to get tested, let me know. Then you can go out and train. After you have trained, come back and retest to make sure that you are on the right track.