So What's the Big Deal About a CompuTrainer?

For my entire professional triathlon career, I trained on various types of wind trainers and rollers during the long winter months we have here in Canada. I typically went through a set of rollers every one- to two-years thanks to the number of hours I spent riding away, watching one television show or movie after another.

You can, without a doubt, achieve some amazing results that way. I worked on my pedalling technique by doing one-legged drills. I created a myriad of different workouts to increase my strength and my cardiovascular efficiency. In fact, I soon realized that the riding my rollers or a wind trainer helped my cycling so much, my best rides were coming at the beginning of the race season - only after 

The first time I saw a CompuTrainer, I wanted to cry. Here was a device that took indoor training to a whole new level - it simulated the outdoor riding experience, and at the same time, allowed you to analyze your pedaling stroke, ensuring you were getting the best of all possible worlds.

Over the last five years, I have ridden a CompuTrainer roughly three- to five-times a week with athletes that I coach. One family I work with has set two trainers up in their training room so we can ride together, all-the-while watching ourselves cruise through a variety of courses from around the world on a big screen television.

Sure, I would prefer to be outside feeling the wind and sunshine, but if I have to ride inside, riding on the CompuTrainer makes life a lot easier.

In the first of this CompuTrainer series, I pointed out that eight of the top 15 men and women at the Ironman Triathlon World Championship last year were CompuTrainer users. So what, specifically, are these athletes doing on their trainers that they're not able to do on other types of equipment?

One of the most important features that you get when using a CompuTrainer is the "Spin Scan." By measuring the efficiency of your pedal stroke, the Spin Scan helps you pedal correctly - keeping an even amount of pressure on the pedals at all times, and using all of the muscles in your legs optimally to generate the most power.

The folks at CompuTrainer are so sure that the Spin Scan will help your cycling that they actually guarantee your improvement if you use it!

The benefits of the CompuTrainer Spin Scan analysis really hit home to me earlier this year. I was testing Canadian Olympic cyclist Sue Palmer, and was shocked to see that her pedal stroke wasn't as efficient as many of the age-group triathletes I coach. This is a woman who, at one point, had broken away from the worlds best cyclists at the Olympic Games in Athens last year! After the test, and coming up with some ways she can become more efficient on the bike, I have totally confused her - she was planning on retiring at the end of this year, and I'm now telling her that she'd be crazy to do that - we have the opportunity to see her get even better results in the future!

While the Spin Scan is a great feature, things get really fun when you combine the Spin Scan and your power output to figure out your optimal cadence. A few years ago I had an athlete who was preparing for the World Duathlon Championships. The course was dead flat, so we were able to use the CompuTrainer to figure out his optimal cadence and gear choice for him to generate the most speed for the 40 kilometer ride.

As a coach, one of the best ways to gauge the effectiveness of an athlete's training is through various tests. I will often use the "Power Test" offered on the CompuTrainer with athletes I work with to make sure the strength component of their training is working. I routinely check their anaerobic thresholds to ensure that I have them working in the correct heart rate zones.

The simplest test you can do on a CompuTrainer, though, is to race yourself! By saving a previous performance, you can set your previous performance up as a pacer, who will then race you through the course. How much simpler could it get - you were either faster than a month ago, or you weren't!

In line with that is the ability to test your self on specific courses. One of the athletes I coach has been coming in to our testing center every month to ride parts of the Ironman Canada course she'll be racing on this August. We've actually been able to figure out what gear ratios she'll need for the climb, which will ensure we won't have any surprises come race day.

Try doing all that on a regular wind trainer!

The next story in this series will focus on some of the latest additions to the CompuTrainer line-up - the multi-rider software, and their impressive Velotron trainer.

Kevin Mackinnon is a former professional triathlete who now spends his time as the managing editor of ironmanlive.com, coaching, race-announcing, and trying to keep up with his wife (a member of Canada's age-group triathlon team) and three busy children. He was named the Ontario Association of Triathletes' Coach of the year in 2003. For more information on Kevin's training programs and camps, check out his website at www.mackatak.com