5 Reasons Our CompuTrainer is Da Bomb...

Now, before I get to my reasons why I *heart* our Computrainer, lemme just say this relationship took years to cultivate. I'm not a techy sorta gal, and the Computrainer is a tech-freak's Nirvanna. So while we've had this device for oh..about 3 years, it's only been in the last where I experienced and appreciated the benefits of this pricey contraption. 


So, I show you via my 20 min time trial bike spin I did last week, why I've come around and truly feel lucky to have this trainer to work with...(caveat...the chart below is not from my trial spin, but from my warm up 30 sec's in)

1. (Aside from the graph just looking cool), it shows you your pedal efficiency. See in orange up top where it says, LEFT and RIGHT? That's the efficiency of my stroke. I've been told that anything above ~70 is good. 


2. It shows your LEFT and RIGHT foot watt (power) distribution. You see in orange where it shows %WAtts and 50 in white? That's good. That means each foot had equal distribution. That's what you're aiming for. However, as you start to fatigue, so does your technique and you'll often find your right foot doing more of the work.


3. It shows your current MPH, Avg MPH, Current Watts, and RPM. All at the same time.

4. From the information, can also use your heart rate monitor to figure out your training zones. From my time trial test, I have these zones to help me know what watts I should be pushing for my different spins:

#	ZONES			MIN	MAX
7/8	SPEED			390	536
6	ABOVE THRESHOLD			185	195
5	THRESHOLD			165	185
4	SUB THRESHOLD			135	165
3	STEADY PACE			95	135
2	HIGH ENDURANCE			45	95
1	LOW ENDURANCE			-15	45

5. It just makes ya look pretty hard core!;-) HA! The (closed) black computer is where we set up the programs to see the cool graph shown above (this pic is post spin, hence why it's all steamy, foggy):

So there ya have it. My newfound appreciation and love for the Computrainer. Now, my question for you? Do you use a computrainer or ever used one? Do you think you'll ever get one down the road in your bike/tri life? Now, I'm off to sneak in a sub threshold spin before kid drop off...peace out friends!