Interval training has been a key part of elite training programmes for numerous years, as many sports require short, fast spurts of movement at high intensities. Recently this has been more widely recognised, and in 2014 high intensity interval training (HIIT) made its first appearance in the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends, topping the list.

HIIT gets heart rates high and maintains this level, resulting in burning more fat, improved cardio health, accelerated metabolism and greater muscle mass, all in less time than steady state exercise. The body’s repair cycle is pushed, meaning that between sessions and for 24 hours after, the body is still burning fat and calories.

The Wattbike is one of the few pieces of equipment that can deliver the most effective, accurate and reliable HIIT sessions. Adam Daniel, Wattbike master trainer and owner of Life:Lab – a London-based, results-driven performance hub – explains....

SELF-POWERED
The Wattbike allows a user to go from zero to maximum effort immediately, which you can’t do with other equipment which has a lag, or an intensity tail-off.

From the first revolution on the pedal, you are creating power: thousands of Watts in seconds, and the ability to hit high levels repeatedly with numbers that you can monitor and benchmark.

Being self-powered, the Wattbike doesn’t dictate what the body does. Instead, it’s down to the individual to power the machine. The free-wheel – it isn’t fixed – means that as soon as a person stops pedalling, their numbers hit zero again. There’s no continuous spinning, which means there’s no hiding. The intensity starts and stops with the individual – fantastic when monitoring a HIIT session.

INTENSITY AND ACCURACY
The Wattbike has an inbuilt 30-second test in its monitor. It’s the perfect benchmark recording for HIIT as it has a fatigue factor. It’s a form of reliable data, to repeatedly use over time to track the increase in maximum efforts.

Meanwhile the six-second test is also a great, short burst at maximal effort to create a baseline fitness measure.

Coaches and PTs deliver HIIT training but are often unable to manage intensity, or tailor sessions to the specifics of an individual. Exercise repetitions often start at maximal output, then tail off to become almost non-existent by the final repetition.

Using the Wattbike, a person can perform the submaximal ramp test first, designed to scale a level of fitness and to estimate maximum minute power (MMP) and maximum heart rate (MHR). From these, specifics to the session can be set so the workout is effective and accurate to the individual’s ability, rather than relying on the inaccuracies of perceived effort.

USING VISUALS
HIIT training is all about knowing your numbers. There should be no guesswork, or estimating perceived effort. The best way to engage the user with this is to create visuals and cues so they know instantly when to increase intensity.

To aid this, Wattbike launched the Wattbike Hub app to provide everything a fitness consumer now demands: tests, workout and plans, as well as feedback and workout analysis. The new workouts are standalone sessions which the user can select and ride against. They are based on the results from the tests performed on the Wattbike and use motivational ‘traffic light’ colour-coded dials to show whether the user is hitting their targets.

VISCERAL EXPERIENCE
Sounds can be just as much of a motivator in fitness as visuals, if not more so.

Due to the air resistance, when people are working hard and cycling at a high wattage on the Wattbike, there is a big sound to match the effort. Feedback has told us that within a gym, studio or HIIT setting, this can be an incredibly motivating visceral experience.

The sound of someone working really hard can encourage and push everyone else to work harder, ensuring that HIIT sessions stay at a sprint, rather than falling into a slog.

The Wattbike is in its natural form of training during a HIIT session. It can easily be combined with other forms of training within a circuit setting as you can ‘hop on and off’ the Wattbike and be instantly working at high intensities.

The bike can be used by all, regardless of abilities or goals, as its measures can provide a baseline fitness measure that can be used consistently to show adaptations and performance over time.