E bikes as a training aid

[Theolegit]

Hi all, just a thought but I believe my levo is the best training aid I’ve ever had.
Up until now I’ve been unable to ride in the heart rate zones that basic base training requires, ie zones 2/3.
Every ride on my other bikes pushed me into the 4,5 and more zones, not good for endurance and stamina training I’m lead to believe.
Since I’ve had my ebike riding in the prescribed zone has been sooo easy.
My fault I suppose for being a 16.5 stone old git!!
Thank you ebike.

 

[Kernow]

I feel the ebike is helping fitness , which surprises me , as I was sceptical , not sure why , I do make myself work on it and use eco lots but Iam not grinding low gears killing the legs on climbs and reaching that have to stop moment at the top .
When I get on the normal bike I feel very good .

 

[Theolegit]

I feel the ebike is helping fitness , which surprises me , as I was sceptical , not sure why , I do make myself work on it and use eco lots but Iam not grinding low gears killing the legs on climbs and reaching that have to stop moment at the top .
When I get on the normal bike I feel very good .

The beauty of it is you can choose which heart rate zone you work in depending on the type of training you want to do that day, brill!!!

 

[Doomanic]

I used a HRM all the time when I first got the bike and was pretty sure from the traces that I was working hard but my first clockwork road ride seemed to tell a different story so now I'm not so sure. To be honest, I didn't buy the eBike to improve my fitness, I bought it bring some fun back into my riding which it has done in spades. If it does improve then that's a bonus.

 

[Theolegit]

it's not so much that it's not good for endurance. it's not good for recovery.
If you are strapped for time and want to train to become fitter, faster and gain stamina but already have a decent base fitness. High intensities are the way to go.
If you have loads of time on your hands. long low HR zone training will improve endurance and get your body working more efficiently. but with no high intensity you're basically training yourself to ride slowly rather than fast. To improve properly you have to train in the top end zones aswell.

Agreed Gary but at my age it allows me to regulate the zones I wish to work in, with my normal bikes for some reason I didn’t seem to have that choice because I was always riding in zone 4/5 no matter how I rode, with the ebike I can Taylor the assist so Taylor my heart rate zones, this is unique in my experience.

 

[Theolegit]

mtb is rubbish for low intensity. Road is the one. But even then you need to have a flat route and low wind conditions or it's abysmally slow feeling.
I rode 10miles with my (unfit) mate on his fatbike yesterday and had we not been blethering the entire ride I'd have been bored out of my mind at the intensity (No HRM on but level1/2) . in comparison an hour and a half at that intensity on the roadbike on the flat would be averaging 16mph+
Pretty comparible (for me) really in the boredom stakes if both had been done solo. But yes. it's nce to have the choice. Thing is. The Emtbs 15mph limit when on the flat kinda forces me to make the choice of low intensity and bored out my mind or work like fuck to maintain a decent pace above the assistance. I'm struggling to get my head round this if I'm honest.
How old are you (if you don't mind me asking)?

I’m 60 mate put 2 stone on after busting my ankle quite badly doing wheelies a couple of years back now have a couple of titanium plates in it, just sold my yt Capra and my plus bike, still got a couple of road bikes at the mo, I traded my fat bike in for the levo must say I’m loving it ride mainly in eco mode though as that give me proper bike feel.

 

[Theolegit]

Injuries suck. I'm a bit of a mess myself.

Take care wheelying the E-bike it's a new learning curve isn't it? Still haven't quite nailed it myself.

Not attempted yet, seem to wanna get in the air though even on small tables

 

[Tori]

I don't have a HR monitor (yet), but I think I might purchase one. I've taken my heart rate (manually) at various points on rides on my Levo and I am definitely able to get a good workout. None of my riding buddies have E-MTB's yet . . . so I just set the assist level down on Eco and I can ride with them and still feel it. I save boosting up steep hills for solo rides.

 

[Theolegit]

I don't have a HR monitor (yet), but I think I might purchase one. I've taken my heart rate (manually) at various points on rides on my Levo and I am definitely able to get a good workout. None of my riding buddies have E-MTB's yet . . . so I just set the assist level down on Eco and I can ride with them and still feel it. I save boosting up steep hills for solo rides.

That’s exactly how I like to ride with my mates eco all the way ??

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Definitely a good workout. I can easily hit 2k+ calories used on a good ride (using a HRM). In fact, the opposite of what many people consider ‘lazy’ riding an EMTB!

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

How does your HRM estimate calories used from your heartrate data?

Via an app on the phone.

 

[Doomanic]

Does it know you are cheating?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

is it a secret App?
I'm interested in how an App is able to estimate the calories you're using from Heartrate data alone.

Sorry Gary, I thought that you’d already know this! Pretty much any fitness app can do this. Something like Wahoo, Runkeeper, etc etc They use a “heart rate based caloric expenditure calculator”. It is not 100% accurate and will never be, but a good guide.

You fill out your weight, age and a few other factors and it will take the active heart rate into account.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Does it know you are cheating?

No need, as long as you’re completing an activity and raising your heart rate its all good

 

[knut7]

And the fact you're riding an E-bike while doing the exercise just makes it even less likely to be anywhere close to accurate. Sorry.

Hmm, why is that?

 

[knut7]

Hehe, thanks for a lengthy reply, and for your time. I have used devices with this function before and agree that the quality of the data is questionable. But I guess the data could say something about the intensity of the ride, a bit more than an average heartrate will tell.

Unfortunately, I as the submitter of the question, or the receiver, failed here. I intended to ask why riding an ebike would make the result less accurate. If you do less work on an ebike then that would be reflected in the heartrate, and the activity-clock-thingy would esimate less calories.

 

[knut7]

Yeah, I read that sentence, but that wasn't really an answer either?

I'm not totally sure I get what you're saying. I'm still left with the original question. Why is the calorie estimate worse on an ebike than on regular bike? I totally agree that the calorie data is likely to be off, so this discussion might not be that relevant...

The calorie counter doesn't care how fast or long you go. It cares about how much time you spend in different heartrates/zones. If you ride downhill and stop at the bottom with 85% HR, then the calorie counter don't care how much you pedaled or how much the bike weigh. It "knows" (or guesses) how hard you worked based on HR. You could say that on certain types of riding an emtb will result in a higher percentage of input from the riders upper body, and riding the mtb will have a higher percentage from the legs. But you already got that variation riding a regular mtb uphill vs downhill. The variation in how you ride a regular mtb is so huge that the emtb doesn't add much variation. You could pedal hard for the entire trip, or hardly pedal, or anything in between. Sure, it's probably most accurate for roadbiking. But riding an mtb or emtb like a roadbike shouldn't give you any less valuable calorie count compared to roadbike? The muscular activity is the same, the intensity is known thanks to HR.

 

[ccrdave]

the BLevo app for the turbo levo/kenevo along with a HRM gives pretty accurate results as it knows not only your heart rate but how many watts you are generating and how many watts the bike is generating. im no expert in this but it looks a more realistic figure than say a stand a lone garmin

 

[knut7]

Yeah, adding Watt data should help a lot. And listing data from rider and bike separately sounds cool. Hopefully I'll check out a Spesh this summer.

 

[Gary]

Why is the calorie estimate worse on an ebike than on regular bike?

Because 20lb more frame weight is a massive amount. the more dynamic a rider you are. The more you're going to have to work every single time you move that weight around. That's pumping, manualling, hopping, jumping, changing direction, leaning the bike over, turning, accelerating, decelerating etc. The fatigue difference between my DH bike and E-mtb is massive. So much so I have to ride the E-bike differently. the weight difference between those is only 12lb.
No HRM on its own has any idea what has is causing your HR to be at the rate it is. For example a fairly large difference in HR can be due to Caffeine, fatigue or because you are working certain muscle groups more. As I already explained Calories are not burned at the same rate or in the same quantity by each individual effort your muscles make. eg. MAX HR on an indoor roadbike can be over 10bpm lower than when running.

There's little point trying to explain anything else to you if you are going to remain stuck on the assumption that calorie burn is directly proportional to heart rate zone. It is not. The two are associated but in no way directly related.

 

[knut7]

"we conclude that it is possible to estimate physical activity energy expenditure from heart rate in a group of individuals with a great deal of accuracy, after adjusting for age, gender, body mass and fitness."
Prediction of energy expenditure from heart rate monitoring during submaximal exercise. - PubMed - NCBI

Yeah, I believe calories burned are mainly calculated from HR. But things may have changed since then.

 

[Pottsy]

A lot of science talk here.
Keep it simple and use the tried and tested method of knowing if your burning calories.

Run a tape measure round your belly and see if it's reducing over time.

Works for me. I'm not burning enough.


Pottsy