BEST BUY FOR FITNESS
LizPirrie
Posts: 9
I'm a 34 year old woman who cycles small distances fairly regularly. My goal is to increase my fitness and do some longer rides. I'd like to get a century under my belt next year and one year I'd like to do LEJOG and L'Etape.
I have about £100 to spend and was thinking about buying a heart rate monitor.
Is this the best thing to spend my money on? If so, which one is best? If not, what should I be spending it on to help acheive my goal? Indoor trainer, lighter helmet, shoes? All suggestions would be gratefully received.
Cheers.
I have about £100 to spend and was thinking about buying a heart rate monitor.
Is this the best thing to spend my money on? If so, which one is best? If not, what should I be spending it on to help acheive my goal? Indoor trainer, lighter helmet, shoes? All suggestions would be gratefully received.
Cheers.
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Comments
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I'd always go for something that gets you training more, rather than a diagnostic tool. Might you do an hour (that you wouldn't otherwise do) a few nights a week indoors in front of the TV? If so, get a turbo trainer and fan - this will get you a lot fitter than simply knowing how your heart reacts to your current exercise.
There is some good info in the internet about exertion zones - basically what you use a HR monitor to look at. They usually also give a description of how it should feel - I think that you can get a long way by just doing this and spending the money elsewhere.
Good luck!0 -
I find my HRM monitor a good motivational tool comparing past sessions as well as seeing how hard you are working at any point.
Mine also has a measure of cumulative effort during the training session which is good for squeezing out the the last dregs of effort as you try and reach the next level.0 -
You definitely do not need to spend 100 pounds on an HRM. Maybe some warm gloves and overshoes will help you stay keen over the winter?0
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[Shameless plug]
However, if you do buy a HRM you could do worse than buying my Polar S720 (I am selling as I have a new Garmin unit, which I am loving because of the route planning capabilities).
It's a great HRM unit, comes with speed sensor, two straps, a CD-ROM and an infra-red to upload your training data to your PC and check your progress.
[Shameless plug]-- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --0 -
OK, Phil. I feel obliged to ask you how much you are selling it for?
I realise I don't have to spend £100 to get an HRM. I guess the question I'm asking is, what's the best training aid I could get if I had up to £100 to spend?
L0 -
You've listed shoes as a possible purchase. Have you got proper cycling shoes and clipless pedals?
Ruth0 -
£75-- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --0
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I have been involved in Competitive sport, for 35+ years including Swimming, Marathons, and Triathlon and in my humble opinion the HR Monitor is the best bit of training kit invented.... apart from a good pair of Speedo's.
"I guess some birds just aren't ment to be caged........"0 -
Yes, Ruth I have a pair of shimano MTB shoes with clipless pedals. I did wonder if I would benefit from something a bit lighter weight.0
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Captain Oakley, I'd be interested to hear how you use it?
The poll is now split 50:50 and I'm none the wiser!!!
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The purpose of a HRM is to display your heart rate and during exercise it will beat faster than at rest. This is obvious but some people believe that it will make them fitter. It won't.
What will make you fitter is the exercise itself. All a HRM will do is measure what zone you are training in and confirm that you are trying very hard, hard, moderate or easy. Most people don't need a HRM to tell them that.
For a £100 you get buy an indoor turbo trainer that will keep you riding when the weather is inclement or it's dark outside when you like to train in the daytime. After you have bought a turbo then next buy a HRM.0 -
Mike, I reckon a cadence and rear wheel speed computer is a better tool on a turbo than an HRM. Plus its cheaper.0
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So, there has been mention of indoor trainers a few times. What's better, turbo or rollers?0
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LizPirrie wrote:I'm a 34 year old woman who cycles small distances fairly regularly. My goal is to increase my fitness and do some longer rides. I'd like to get a century under my belt next year and one year I'd like to do LEJOG and L'Etape.
I have about £100 to spend and was thinking about buying a heart rate monitor.
Is this the best thing to spend my money on? If so, which one is best? If not, what should I be spending it on to help acheive my goal? Indoor trainer, lighter helmet, shoes? All suggestions would be gratefully received.
Cheers.
Hi Liz, I've got a turbo trainer but find it quite boring, even though it is a virtual reality jobby. I will definitely use it at some point when it gets icy etc but for the moment, I go out in the evenings. I invested in good lights/hi-vis stuff so I feel comfortable that I can been seen and can cycle safely. I do have a HRM but rarely wear it now unless I'm doing a test of some sort.
Good luck with meeting your goals - you can do it. I'm 33, cycling for 9 months, did my first century at 6 months and doing the Etape next year. Enjoying every minute of it.0 -
As others have said, I think using the money on anything that will see you train more would be a better investment. That could be more comfortable clothing, indoor training aid, lights etc but another to consider is joining a cycling club so you have some buddies to ride/train with and who can encourage you to push further and, at times, harder.
And when you train more, you'll need the cash for the bike consumables you'll begin to use up.0 -
I'm just about 2 years into "serious" cycling and in that time have bought most stuff that might (or might not) be useful for training.
Based on this my three pence worth of advice on what to spend £100 on would be rollers (assuming you have somewhere to use them) + a cheap HR monitor (which is doable on Wiggle right now)
Reason is this will help develop two things that will be very helpful if you want to train for longer distances:
> Rollers take a bit of practice and confidence to use them but once you do they will help develop a fluid efficient cycling style and confident bike handling that will be invaluable. (it will also give you a bit of cred if you join a cycle club (which I would definitely recommend))
> You can use the HR monitor to experiment on the rollers and start getting used to the idea of finding training zones and measuring your improvement. Different people have different ways of training. Using HR may or may not be for you. If you find yourself getting interested on how your HR changes as you speed up/slow down on the rollers or see how long you can ride at a given HR then it probably is.Martin S. Newbury RC0 -
Hee-hee! Membership of my local club only costs £23!!!
Think I'm going to get a cheap HRM, then if I find it useless, I wont have wasted too much money. Already have the gloves, waterproofs etc. so going to buy some extra lights and then maybe a set of rollers for when the weather is really bad.
Can't do wiggle though, last time I looked, they thought that where I stay, Aberdeen, is in the remote highlands and so charge extra postage. Wont use them out of princinple for that. Even if my club membership is cheaper.
Thanks for all the advice, can't wait to get stuck into the training now!!!0
