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Try Something New
With summer signing off and the cold, dark nights of autumn approaching, many sports enthusiasts find their motivation and activity levels hitting a real low. Here @ Wiggle HQ, we’re full of beans all year round and thought we’d share the secrets of our success with you.
The key to keeping active through the autumn and winter is by trying something new – be it a new sport, a new gadget or a new training partner. Unfortunately we can’t send you a new training partner in the post (we’re good, but not that good – yet) but we stock a wide range of products from the likes of Garmin, Suunto, Timex, Polar and CycleOps which are almost as good.
Autumn and winter are the perfect time to experiment in training and try such products. Have you been enviously watching a training partner enjoy using his/her Garmin all season? Are you tempted to start riding with a power meter? Have you always wondered how much you might improve if you trained with a heart rate monitor? You’ll be surprised at how much gadgets and gizmos can add a new dimension to your training and really help boost your motivation.
The Garmin Edge 500 with Heart Rate and Cadence can certainly do that: it’s one of the smartest pieces of cycling kit available and can help transform your riding. As well as the standard speed and distance, it will also give you information such as gradient, altitude, ascent/descent, temperature, heart rate and calorie count. If using it with an ANT+ enabled power meter you will also be able to monitor power output. Although this could sound like information overload, the Edge 500 is actually simple to use and easy to set up and customise.
Riding to power has revolutionised the way cyclists train, so why not add a new dimension to your training this autumn and winter? CycleOps PowerTap is one of the market leaders in power training and removes all the guess work from training rides. Its range begins with the Elite+, a PowerTap hub which is built on Mavic’s Open Pro black 32 hole rim in either Shimano or Campagnolo configurations. It delivers data on power, cadence, speed, energy, ride distance and time (and heart rate if used with optional heart rate strap).
Next up is the Pro+, which boasts additional features such as peak power readings and records time spent in customised power zones for optimal post-ride analysis. As it is ANT+ enabled, it can be used in tandem with a GPS device.
The daddy of the PowerTap range is the SL+ with its carbon/alloy hubshell, stiffer axle and ultra lightweight hub tipping the scales at a skimpy 412 grams. It is perfect for those who want the ultimate level of performance and accurate feedback from every ride.
If your exercise is usually on two feet rather than two wheels, then take a closer look at the Garmin Forerunner 110 GPS Sportswatch with Heart Rate Monitor. There’s virtually no set up required: you can take it out of its box and take it running. Its data-friendly display makes it simple to read as you run with the time, distance and average pace available at a glance. It will automatically show your current mile pace and display split times for every mile you run (or kilometre, if you prefer). Heart rate is shown in beats per minute – a useful tool if you are starting to run in certain heart rate zones. This can transform your training: you will know exactly how hard your body is working and can vary training accordingly.
The Suunto t3d Heart Rate Monitor is also worth checking out: it shows real-time heart rate, calorie consumption and training effect (a quick and accurate measurement of how hard your body’s working at any given moment so you can easily find that sweet spot for getting the most out of each workout). It can also be combined with a Suunto Foot POD (to show speed, distance and cadence) or various sports specific Suunto Performance Packs for cycling, running or triathlon.
If you’d prefer to keep things simple, then try the Timex Target Fitness Heart Rate Monitor. Ideal for newcomers to training by heart rate, it displays heart rate as beats per minute or as a percentage of your maximum heart rate and can be set up with customised target heart rate zones. It has 27-lap memory recall and also displays calorie expenditure.
So what are you waiting for? Turn yourself into a training geek this autumn and winter with Wiggle’s wide range of gadgets and gizmos. Your fitness will reap the benefits.
Keep on training!
The Wiggle Team
