Ben-efit cycling bike fit / general setup check

daniel_b

Hi guys,

I've booked a session with this chap for mid April:https://www.ben-efit.com/https://ben-efit.com/

Spent a good half hour chatting to him one evening this week, and seems very knowledgable, so I decided to take the plunge.
Also watched some of his vids on facebook about the work he has done, which I think is where I stumbled on him actually.

The key one for me I think he may well be able to make a big difference on, is my breathing technique - I'm very aware when working hard, I pretty much have zero technique, so that's the aspect I am hoping for the biggest improvement.

I'll go in with an open mind, not expecting miracles, but will try and remember to report back, as it's not for another 8 weeks.

imposter2.0

No idea what you mean by 'breathing technique'. Never heard of that before. Generally speaking, breathing is taken care of by the autonomic nervous system, without any particular need for intervention. Possibly a red herring, although it sounds good.

Edit: just had a look at the website, and he also talks about Wattbike's 'pedal stroke analysis', which is also a bit of a red herring as well.

Longshot

imposter2.0 said:

No idea what you mean by 'breathing technique'. Never heard of that before. Generally speaking, breathing is taken care of by the autonomic nervous system, without any particular need for intervention.

This reminds me of an underhanded tactic used to put off an opponent during a matchplay game of golf.

"Do you breathe in or out at the top of your swing?"

daniel_b

lol, well I will let you know what transpires

As I understand it, by breathing technique, I mean finding a more efficient way of getting air in and out of ones lungs, and or perhaps simply utilising the capacity more effectively.
I know that personally when I am near my limit, my breathing becomes quite ragged.

As I say, I am going in with an open mind, and have committed the funds, so will be interested to see what he makes of the fit, and whether he can coax any more watts out of me - which is what I am hoping for.

Looking up 'technique' online gave me this definition:

"a skilful or efficient way of doing or achieving something."

wongataa

imposter2.0 said:

No idea what you mean by 'breathing technique'. Never heard of that before. Generally speaking, breathing is taken care of by the autonomic nervous system, without any particular need for intervention.

It is probably making sure you belly breathe which will get more air into the lungs. It can take some concentration to do it if you don't already.

imposter2.0

daniel_b said:

As I understand it, by breathing technique, I mean finding a more efficient way of getting air in and out of ones lungs, and or perhaps simply utilising the capacity more effectively.
I know that personally when I am near my limit, my breathing becomes quite ragged.

I can't think of a way of getting air in and out of your lungs more efficiently than the way that you already have. 'Technique' implies that there is some way of improving this natural process that the body has not yet discovered through evolution. Unless you are thinking of having some kind of augmentation surgery, or becoming a cyborg, then that's different.

Most people's breathing gets a bit 'ragged' (whatever that means) when they're on the limit anyway. I'd be interested to hear what the fella suggests, either way. We might all be missing something..

daniel_b

My theory, is that it's about how you breathe.

For example, musicians who play brass instruments, have learnt to take a REALLY deep breath, utilising more of their lungs capacity than I currently do. I may be off the mark.

By 'ragged' I mean varied in depth, and mostly short sharp breaths that are not in anyway as efficient as they perhaps could be.

I've 2 ftp tests between now and when I visit him, and will be due a 3rd approx a week after seeing him, so should be apparent, what if anything, his approach will yield for me.

I think it's the full package that will potentially lead to wattage gains, pedalling technique and cleat position, plus the bike fit element.

tonysj

I always thought good breathing technique was simply exhaling fully as breathing in is usually taken care of automatically. It's the emptying of the lungs fully that's the key.
Could be totally wrong mind lol.
Good luck and post up your experience/findings 👍
T.

imposter2.0

daniel_b said:

My theory, is that it's about how you breathe.

For example, musicians who play brass instruments, have learnt to take a REALLY deep breath, utilising more of their lungs capacity than I currently do. I may be off the mark.

I think you are off the mark. Musicians have to breathe in time with whatever the music requires them to do. Long notes, multiple short notes, etc. Cyclists have no such restriction, so the comparison is not reasonable.

As I mentioned before, the pedalling technique thing - in Wattbike terms - is a red herring.

yellowv2

I think what you are referring to is called diaphragmatic breathing and yes musicians who play wind instruments are very proficient at it. It has nothing to do with being in time with the music but the lung capacity to blow wind instruments correctly.
Yoga also teaches you to breath in this way, however when you are at 10/10ths you’re breathing may well still be ragged as you describe it.

photonic69

Take up swimming and learn to front crawl properly. That will sort out any breathing technique issues you might have and it excellent cardio vascular exercise. Also helps to keep the upper body toned and trim.

yellowv2

Hi Daniel, have you managed to have your fitting session yet?

daniel_b

yellowv2 said:

Hi Daniel, have you managed to have your fitting session yet?

SPOOKY! It's tomorrow!

yellowv2

Spooky indeed!
I’d be interested in your thoughts after as I’m thinking of booking a session myself. Especially now he has moved to 5 minutes from me.

daniel_b

yellowv2 said:

Spooky indeed!
I’d be interested in your thoughts after as I’m thinking of booking a session myself. Especially now he has moved to 5 minutes from me.

I will certainly let you know - wow that is convenient, I'm travelling for around 2 hours each way!

I'm taking the Alu Synapse with me, and the CR1 - I'll probably give immediate feedback, and then subsequent on what differences (if any) I notice out on the bike / turbo, and if there is any change in the power figures.

yellowv2

That’s a reasonable distance, I hope it’s worth it. I’ll await your thoughts.

yellowv2

Any thoughts yet?

daniel_b

Sorry, work has been hectic!

Journey there was fine, circa 90 minutes.

Location was fine, toilet is outside, and there's no shower, although you're not working incredibly hard to be fair, so no bother for me.

I was there for 8 hours all in, including a lunch break, and we went through breathing techniques, plus some exercises I should try and do to loosen some of my tight muscles up, and he tweaked my seatpost up a little bit, and also forward a small amount.
My Synapse we didn't touch at all, as when we moved those measurements across it all fitted.

We also spent a fair bit of time on the watt bike looking at pedalling technique and the PES score - started in the forties, ended up at 60 I think.
Need to put that into practice out on the road though.

He also moved my cleats back on the shoe, and canted them sightly to more match the natiral position of my feet.

It's the first bike fit I have been to, and I suspect because I have spent a fair amount of time researching various aspects, and have been riding seriously for 14 years, I didn't get as much out of it as someone who is newer to the sport, or maybe not as obsessed with it as I am.

I had no complaints about the actual fit, or the various bits I have to take away to work on, and will be interesting to see if the exercises do make a difference in the months to come.

DeVlaeminck

I actually do think there may be some people who do need to work on their breathing technique but I doubt it's a majority or even a sizeable minority.

It's only really my daughter having exercise induced asthma but when she got an inhaler she had real problems using it - inhaling deeply. I remember thinking how hard is it to breath in deeply, hold it, then exhale.

It made me think that maybe the way she breathes is part of the asthma problem and maybe linked to speech problems she had when she was younger too. I used to do chinese martial arts and we did breathing and meditation as part of that - whether it is that or not I've always found taking a deep breath using the diaphragm rather than the chest was something everyone did but my daughter really had to learn this.

yellowv2

Thanks Daniel.
I actually spoke to Ben and following our chat he offered to help me with recovery from an injury. So popped in to see him last Friday and spent nearly two hours chatting and doing some rehab work.
Really nice bloke and I shall be booking in a bike fit with him, especially as I can easily take advantage of his unlimited Re tweaks.