Claire Steels is a professional duathlete and has a World Champion title to her name. She gives Sundried a snapshot of a training session along with all the stats and data so you can see what it's really like to train as a pro.

Training Session

2 x (10 x 10 seconds effort : 50 seconds recovery)

The majority of the training I have done on the bike is for TT (time trial) type efforts, however as I am looking to move into road racing I need to develop a bit more explosive power.

This sessions was aimed at developing such power and improving my sprint speed.

Short, sharp efforts with a longer recovery sounds okay, but by the end of the set the 50 seconds recovery feels far too short!

I did this session on the Wattbike and then uploaded the data to Strava.

The screenshots attached show my speed, heart rate and then the last shot shows speed, heart rate, power and cadence.

Speed, power and cadence are fairly consistent across all of the efforts, although they drop a little towards the end. Heart rate spikes for each of the efforts but also gradually increases across the whole session.

I find sessions like this challenging and frustrating but in a strange way it means I enjoy them more! Weird I know!

Fitness testing and assessment is an important part of training. There are many different ways of testing your fitness and strength, with some better than others. The dreaded bleep test at school is a classic example of a fitness test and is still used in policing today. Nowadays, chances are your smart watch can track your fitness for you, with many of the newer Garmin watches providing VO2 max testing as well as lactate threshold testing. But you don't need an expensive watch to track your fitness! We've put together some of the best fitness assessments around, why not give one a try and see if you're where you want to be?

VO2 Max

The VO2 Max test is a very popular fitness test among runners and triathletes as it is a universal indication of cardiovascular fitness. VO2 max is a rating of your body’s ability to consume oxygen. This is affected by factors such as how adapted your muscles are to exercise and how much blood your heart can pump.

This is the classic scene that you have probably seen in films and TV shows many times.The most accurate VO2 max tests take place in laboratories, whereby participants are given an oxygen mask to wear while running on a treadmill with their effort getting progressively more intense. Oxygen intake is monitored and VO2 max is the point at which oxygen uptake stops increasing. The units of oxygen are then measured per kg of bodyweight and a VO2 max score is calculated.

It is possible to do a VO2 Max test yourself outside of a laboratory. You can do this at the gym on a regular treadmill, all you will need is a stopwatch and a calculator. 

How To Perform A VO2 Max Test

• Warm up on the treadmill for 10 minutes by walking and jogging at a gentle speed.
• The test begins at a speed of 8km/h (5mph) and an incline of 0%.
• Start the stopwatch and begin jogging.
• After 3 minutes, adjust the treadmill incline to 2.5%, and then keep increasing by 2.5% every 2 minutes thereafter.
• When you are unable to continue, the test stops.
• Make a note of your time.
• Once you have your time, use the following equation to calculate your VO2 Max:

VO2 Max = (Time x 1.444) + 14.99

Time is calculated in minutes and fractions of minutes, so for example, 13 minutes and 15 seconds would be 13.25 minutes, 13 minutes and 30 seconds would be 13.5 minutes and so on.

Whilst many new smart watches provide VO2 max readings, these are only estimates, as they don’t take into account the measure of ventilation, oxygen and carbon dioxide concentration of the inhaled and exhaled air. While they may be a useful guess, don’t get caught up by the value you’ve been given.

What Does Your VO2 Max Score Mean?

Once you have your score, you'll want to know what it actually means. Use the table below to see how your score rates.

Female

Age	Very Poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Excellent	Superior
13-19	<25	25 - 30	31 - 34	35 - 38	39 - 41	>41
20-29	<24	24 - 28	29 - 32	33 - 36	37 - 41	>41
30-39	<23	23 - 27	28 - 31	32 - 36	37 - 40	>40
40-49	<21	21 - 24	25 - 28	29 - 32	33 - 36	>36
50-59	<20	20 - 22	23 - 26	27 - 31	32 - 35	>35
60+	<17	17 - 19	20 - 24	25 - 29	30 - 31	>31

 

Male

Age	Very Poor	Poor	Fair	Good	Excellent	Superior
13-19	<35	35 - 37	38 - 44	45 - 50	51 - 55	>55
20-29	<33	33 - 35	36 - 41	42 - 45	46 - 52	>52
30-39	<31	31 - 34	35 - 40	41 - 44	45 - 49	>49
40-49	<30	30 - 32	33 - 38	39 - 42	43 - 47	>48
50-59	<26	26 - 30	31 - 35	36 - 40	41 - 45	>45
60+	<20	20 - 25	26 - 31	32 - 35	36 - 44	>44

 

As you can see, the higher the reading, the better.

Top VO2 Max Scores

These athletes achieved the highest VO2 Max scores in the world. How does yours compare?

Athlete	Gender	Sport/Event	VO2 max (ml/kg/min)
Espen Harald Bjerke	Male	Cross Country Skiing	96.0
Bjorn Daehlie	Male	Cross Country Skiing	96.0
Greg LeMond	Male	Cycling	92.5
Matt Carpenter	Male	Marathon Runner	92.0
Tore Ruud Hofstad	Male	Cross Country Skiing	92.0
Harri Kirvesniem	Male	Cross Country Skiing	91.0
Miguel Indurain	Male	Cycling	88.0
Marius Bakken	Male	5K Runner	87.4
Dave Bedford	Male	10K Runner	85.0
John Ngugi	Male	Cross Country Runner	85.0
Greta Waitz	Female	Marathon runner	73.5
Ingrid Kristiansen	Female	Marathon Runner	71.2
Rosa Mota	Female	Marathon Runner	67.2

Sit and Reach

The sit and reach test uses flexibility as a basis for judging your level of fitness. The test measures the flexibility of the lower back and hamstrings. Tightness in this area is associated with lumbar lordosis, forward pelvic tilt, and lower back pain.

How To Perform A Sit and Reach Test

• Warm up for 10 minutes by doing dynamic stretches.
• You will need a box, a marker, and a ruler/tape measure.
• Sit with your legs outstretched and your feet flat against the front of the box.
• Place the marker (it can be anything, a rubber is probably best) on top of the box at the edge closest to you.
• Keeping your legs dead straight, lean forwards and push the marker along the box as far as you can using your fingertips.
• Once you have pushed the marker, measure how far it went.

What Does Your Sit and Reach Score Mean?

Rating	Males (cm)	Females (cm)
Excellent	>70	>60
Very good	61-70	51-60
Above average	51-60	41-50
Average	41-50	31-40
Below average	31-40	21-30
Poor	21-30	11-20
Very Poor	<21	<11

The Vertical Jump Test

The vertical jump is a measure of fitness through explosive power in the legs. The test is really simple to complete, to set up all you need is a wall and a tape measure. Start by getting the participant to stand next to the wall and stretch their closest hand up as far as they can and make a mark of this point. This is the standing height. The participant then leaps as high as they can in the air and touches the wall at the highest point of their jump. The distance from the start point to the highest point is then measure as your score. Take the test 3 times and take an average for the most accurate results.

What Does Your Vertical Jump Score Mean?

Rating	Males (height in cm)	Females (height in cm)
Excellent	>70	>60
Very good	61-70	51-60
Above average	51-60	41-50
Average	41-50	31-40
Below average	31-40	21-30
Poor	21-30	11-20
Very poor	<21	<11

Cooper Run Test

The Cooper run test is one of the most popular fitness tests used to determine aerobic endurance. It is also used as part of military training, with different scores being required to make the different role entry requirements. The test lasts just 12 minutes and participants are required to run as far as they can for the entire duration. The test can also be used to measure VO2 max using several equations (in ml/kg/min) from the distance score (a formula for either kms or miles):

VO2 max = (35.97 x miles) - 11.29

VO2 max = (22.35 x kilometers) - 11.29

What Does Your Cooper Run Score Mean?

Age	Very Good (metres)	Good (metres)	Average (metres)	Bad (metres)	Very Bad (metres)
13-14	Male: 2700m + Female:2000m+	2400-2700 1900-2000	2200-2399 1600-1899	2100-2199 1500-1599	2100- 1500-
15-16	Male: 2800+ Female: 2100+	2500-2800 2000-2100	2300-2499 1600-1899	2200-2289 1500-1599	2200 1600
17-20	Male: 3000+ Female: 2300+	2700-3000 2100-2300	2500-2699 1800-2099	2300-2499 1700-1799	2300- 1700-
20-29	Male: 2800 + Female: 2700+	2400-2800 2200-2700	2200-2399 1800-2199	1600-2199 1500-1799	1600- 1500-
30-39	Male: 2700+ Female: 2500+	2300-2700 2000-2500	1900-2299 1700-1999	1500-1899 1400-1699	1500- 1400-
40-49	Male: 2500+ Female: 2300+	2100-2500 1900-2300	1700-2099 1500-1899	1400-1699 1200-1499	1400- 1200-
50+	Male: 2400 + Female: 2200 +	2000-2400 1700-2200	1600-1999 1400-1699	1300-1599 1100-1399	1300- 1100

 

The Bleep Test

The bleep test is a classic and is often used in school lessons. The test involves 20m shuttle runs from two marked points. The aim is to reach the cone before you hear the bleep. As the test continues, the frequency of the bleeps increases, with the time between getting shorter and shorter. The test requires a recording of the bleep and the score is then measured depending on how many rounds you last.

What Does Your Bleep Test Score Mean?

	men	women
excellent	> 13	> 12
very good	11 - 13	10 - 12
good	9 - 11	8 - 10
average	7 - 9	6 - 8
poor	5 - 7	4 - 6
very poor	< 5	< 4

 

Whichever test you decide to do, don’t just do it once and leave it at that. In six weeks time, hit it again, and see if your score has improved. Fitness tests are a great way of monitoring your progress and seeing if your training is actually working. Fitness tests make goals measurable and give you a benchmark to aim for. Do you have any other fitness tests that you enjoy doing to measure your fitness?

If you dread your workout, chances are you're not going to do it. Slogging away on a treadmill for hours may be good for your body but it's not great for your mind. We've put together 5 awesome ways to get fit and burn calories without even realising it!

1. Gardening

Gardening is a great functional fitness workout as it will have you squatting down, stretching high, lifting your arms, and carrying heavy loads, all of which will challenge every muscle group in your body. A 140lb (10st) woman can expect to burn up to 300 calories from 1 hour of gardening!

This is a great way to keep fit as it is free, you don't have to leave the comfort of your home, and in the summer you will be exposed to revitalising vitamin D from the sunlight. Not only this, it's a great skill to develop and you will have a beautiful garden to show for your efforts!

2. Playing a musical instrument

It may not feel like it, but playing a musical instrument can be a very energetic activity. Especially instruments like the drums where you use your whole body to play, you can expect to burn between 100-300 calories in an hour!

Learning to play an instrument is an excellent skill to develop as it'll focus you mentally and this should help you in day-to-day life. Not only this, it can be very social as you can then join a band or orchestra to share your passion with others.

3. Playing with your children

It can sometimes feel difficult to exercise when you have kids as finding time can be almost impossible. Playing with your children by chasing after them in a park or playing football or another sport with them is an awesome way of getting fit yourself while also allowing your kids to expend all their pent up energy. Forget lifting weights, lifting your kids will give you a great workout without having to hit the gym!

Playing with your children gives you an opportunity to bond and you won't even notice how many calories you're burning. Another benefit is that you'll be helping your kids to get active from a young age which will really help them in the long run.

4. Walking the dog

If you have a furry friend or two, you can expect to burn up to 200 calories an hour by walking them. Depending on how energetic your dog is, you could even go jogging with them to help them exercise better. 

By having the company of your dog, you won't feel as self-conscious while out and about and knowing that you have to walk them will be all the motivation you need. 

5. Cleaning

Finally, spending time cleaning your house can be a great way of burning calories, toning up, and you'll have a beautiful sparkly house at the end of it! Just like with gardening, cleaning will act as a full body workout as you'll be squatting down to scrub low surfaces, reaching high, bending and twisting in all directions in order to clean. This will mean that all of your muscles are worked – even ones you may never have worked before!

If you're new to exercise, the fitness industry can seem daunting and impossibly complicated. Follow our 5 top tips so that you can wade through the misinformation and start getting fit the right way.

1. Consistency is more important than intensity

One of the most common trends for exercise beginners is to go in all guns blazing and then burn out because it's not sustainable. If you've never exercised before or you're coming back from a pregnancy or injury, you need to take it easy. Exercising as a complete beginner can be a big undertaking and you need to have a plan of action as well as realistic goals. 

Focus on keeping up the exercise consistently in a way that you can maintain for the long term. The secret to a lot of fitness professionals is that fitness is their way of life, so try to incorporate your exercise into your daily life. Walk to work or cycle to the shops and make sure you enjoy your workouts so that they aren't a chore. A small, short workout is better than no workout at all.

Read more: How To Set Fitness Goals

2. Talk to a fitness professional

When starting from scratch, it can be easy to make mistakes and believe fitness myths that could send you in the wrong direction. Before you embark on a new exercise regime, talk to a personal trainer or fitness instructor so that you can get some advice to get your started. A lot of personal trainers will offer a free taster session so make the most of this, especially as they may do a fitness assessment for you so that you can see where your starting point is relating to your fitness levels.

Additionally, most gyms will have personal trainers and fitness instructors wandering around the gym, so feel free to ask them for help if you're struggling with an exercise, they'll be more than happy to help you. If you're opting for a group fitness class, talk to the instructor either before or after the class so that they can give you advice and get you started.

3. Don't copy what other people are doing

This is a common mistake to make: you see someone doing something, it looks interesting, so you copy it. However, a lot of the time you will find that they are not doing it correctly or they are performing the exercise with bad form and therefore by copying them, you are picking up bad habits early on.

If you're going to copy someone, copy the exercises and movements that a personal trainer is doing with their client. People do all sorts of crazy and unusual exercises at the gym, some that they've just made up or some that they saw online. Not only this, they might be training for a specific sport or goal that is different from yours, and they may well have completely different experience to you. Avoid copying others and you'll avoid getting injured and picking up bad habits.

Don't copy crazy exercises like this just because you see someone else doing them!

4. Invest in your fitness clothing

If you're going to make fitness a part of your life and you want to get fit for good, it's definitely worth investing in good gym clothing and fitness wear. Seek out brands which are designed by and endorsed by athletes as this activewear will be intelligently designed with the wearer in mind so you know that the running leggings won't fall down as you run and the gym tops won't chafe or rub as you move. 

Trying to train in old cotton sweatshirts and worn out trainers may be fine to start, but you will soon find that you are uncomfortable and unable to reach your full potential at the gym. Invest in good quality gym wear and you'll be more motivated to train hard and consistently. 

5. Don't give up

Research shows that 43% of people expect to give up their New Year's resolutions by February. Fitness and exercise are easy things to give up on when they get hard and then you're back to square one. No matter what, you need to be dedicated. Follow the above 4 tips to set you up for success so that you're less likely to want to give up, and make sure you don't quit when it gets tough as that is when you will start to see results!

10,000 is the magic number for anyone with a fitness tracker, but why 10,000? What's the trick to this magical digit? With more and more people tracking their every move with fitness trackers, what can 10,000 steps really do?

History of 10,000 Steps

The recommended 10,000 steps that we see so regularly on our wrists today actually ventured over from Japan. In the 1960s, Japanese Doctor Yoshiro Hatano was concerned about the rising levels of obesity in the Japanese people and so began to research the activity of the people of his culture. The doctor and his team found that the average person walked 3,000 - 5,000 steps a day. His research found that in order to burn just 20% of their daily calorie intake, most people would need to walk at least 10,000 steps a day.

Dr Hatano then created a pedometer called the “Manpo-Kei” which translates as "10,000 steps meter".

The watch's motivation and simplicity made it become very popular in Japan and it remains popular to this day, so much so that the Japanese government have provided an accuracy measure of 3% which all pedometers must reach. of 3% accuracy for all pedometers sold in their country.

Fast forward to today and the 10,000 steps per day campaign is being backed by huge federations such as the NHS, World Health Organisation, American Heart Association and the US Centers for Disease Control.

Research supporting 10,000 Steps

Today, research has proven that tracking your steps can increase your daily activity and help to improve health. Research published in The American Journal of Preventative Medicine trialled the use of Fitbit as a physical fitness intervention in inactive, postmenopausal women. After 16 weeks of monitoring their activity with a Fitbit, those who wore a Fitbit were significantly more active than the control group.

A study by The American Stroke Association found that daily walking reduced the risk of stroke in men over the age of 60. Walking for at least an hour or two could cut a man’s stroke risk by as much as one-third, and it didn’t matter how brisk the pace was. Taking a three-hour walk each day slashed the risk of stroke by two-thirds.

How far is 10,000 steps?

The average person has a stride length of 2.1 ft, or around 60cm, meaning it takes around 2,000 steps to walk a mile, so 10,000 steps to walk about 5 miles. A brisk 10 minute walk? 1,000 steps. The average inactive person walks anywhere between 3,000 to 7,000 steps a day, so for most reaching 10,000 steps would involve adding a 30-60 minute walk to their daily routine.

How many calories will I burn if I walk 10,000 steps a day?

A person aged 45 and weighing 70kg (about 11 stone) can burn around 400 calories by walking 10,000 steps briskly. If you're trying to lose weight, walking is very low impact and the real difference will come from your nutrition, but adding a walk into your daily routine will definitely help.

10,000 steps helps reverse the dangers of sitting

Part of the 10,000 steps charm is that it gets you up and out of your chair, as sitting for too long has been found to increase your risk of death from multiple health issues such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Research has shown that sitting for more than 8 hours a day is associated with a 90% increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Aiming to reach 10,000 steps simply just by getting up and moving more can reduce your risk of these health issues. 

Research also studied the effect of lunchtime walks on the effectiveness of employees at work and found that lunchtime walks improved enthusiasm, relaxation, and nervousness at work.

Walking was also found to improve quality of life for depressed middle-aged women. Those who averaged at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise or just over 3.25 hours of walking each week reported feeling more energised and more social at their three-year follow ups.