Session Information | Cyclone 60
Cyclone 60 is a 1 hour indoor cycling session bought to you by Macclesfield Performance. Designed to complement our existing Cyclone 30 sessions held on Mondays and Fridays. Cyclone 60 is an endurance engine session.
The sessions work on an 8 week structured programme cycle, building muscular endurance, pedalling efficiency, developing your ability to produce force in an encouraging and enjoyable environment.
Led by MP coach Sam Yarwood. Sam is an all round bike-nut. Cyclone 60 sessions are without a doubt hard work, but Sam will make sure that you learn lots and make big gains in your endurance. Calories will be burned, technique will be improved, guidance and motivation will be provided and results will be seen!
Those who attended our regular indoor cycling sessions have seen measurable improvements in:
Cardiovascular fitness.
Reduced body fat.
Personal progression.
Improved power & performance.
Confidence and direction with their training.
Each session applies structure and teaches consistency, to gain the best possible results. Participants become efficient at tapping into different energy systems and maintaining power effectively as they work hard each week to meet their own benchmarks. At Cyclone you don’t just assume the workout is doing you good, you see yourself get better as the group regularly sets goals be be achieved.
We lead our Cyclone 60 sessions from Hulleys Spin Studio, Club AZ, AstraZeneca, Macclesfield. Tuesdays: 18.30-19.30
STARTING TUESDAY 1ST OCTOBER!
Testimonial | Client Cristy
I have always fancied myself as a mountain biker and a bit of an adventurer. I have big dreams and love a challenge.
When my friend coerced me into signing up for the Joberg2C, a 9 day 900km mountain bike race across South Africa, I had little hesitation in signing up. It was absolutely aligned with my dreams.
Fast forward a few months to September 2018. I had an impending sense of dread: “what I was thinking?”. I had been trying to follow an extremely complicated online training plan, with little improvement. My approach (just ride & ride) was not working, and… winter was coming! I was frustrated, unfit, overweight and totally overwhelmed. Self-doubt becomes a slippery-slope!
I had just started thinking that a cycling coach / trainer of sorts may be what I needed when I met Dom in her Cyclone class one Friday afternoon. I consider it a moment of divine intervention that our paths crossed and that I asked her if she knew of anyone who could help me to prepare for the event. That is how I ended up at Macclesfield Performance. At the risk of sounding dramatic, this was a turning point not only for my training, but emotionally and physically too.
It was very overwhelming for me (a “recreational cyclist”) to start a new training program with a completely different approach to anything that I had done before. I was strength training 2-3 times a week and following a bespoke cycling program that Natalie put together for me. The stress and chronic sense of failure I had endured while trying to follow the unmanageable online program disappeared as I started with their joined-up approach. They did the thinking and the planning, all I had to do was put in the time!
I was always dismissive about my status as a “Recreational Cyclist”, Dom and Nat made me feel like an “Elite” and were so committed to helping me smash my goals! Having this level of interest, care, support and, of course, challenge was something that I had not experienced before.
Encouragement for getting a squat right, or having a good Wattbike session, or improving on a Strava segment meant so much to me, at a time when I had been feeling so lost and low. Bit by bit, session by session, my strength, endurance and confidence grew. My countdown app to the event started to excite and no longer scare me.
In April I set off to South Africa to participate in the event. I was excited for it. I took a lot of confidence in the fact that my coaches were confident in me smashing it! Also, I had seen so much progress in my strength and endurance while on the program. Having cycled in snow, rain and mud (mostly on my own) I had built a good amount of mental resilience too. Somewhere along the way I started to believe in myself again.
The Joberg2C experience was incredible, and incredibly tough. Cyclists bikes and bodies take a massive hammering on the trails, some of which are very technical. 9 days and 65 odd hours in the saddle is significant, with little opportunity to recover in between. I was ready though. I can honestly say that I had been perfectly prepared for this kind of event!
Because of the strength training, I could keep form over hours on long smashing descents. Because of the bike sessions to specifically build endurance, I could get to the top of long climbs without my heart rate going out of control. Oh, there were plenty of them (a few days were in an area called “the valley of a 1000 hills”)!
I am deeply grateful to Dom and Nat for their help and thoughtful programming. I would never have managed this ambitious goal without them. As much as I loved the ride itself, it was the journey getting there that made it the so satisfying.
Session Information | Cyclone 30
Join in with one of our most popular weekly classes. Cyclone is a twice weekly progressive interval training programme on Keiser M3 Spin Bikes.
Attendees benefit from structured and challenging cardiovascular conditioning. This indoor cycling course is a fun and progressive course of sessions suitable for all abilities and people with all goals.
Cyclone, is led by MP coach Sam, with improved performance and health as the footstone of each session.
Unique in style, Cyclone is not your average “Spin” style session. Those who attended our regular sessions have seen measurable improvements in:
Cardiovascular fitness.
Reduced body fat.
Personal progression.
Improved performance.
Confidence and direction with their training.
Each session applies structure and teaches consistency, to gain the best possible results. Participants become efficient at tapping into different energy systems and maintaining power effectively as they work hard each week to meet their own benchmarks. At Cyclone you don’t just assume the workout is doing you good, you see yourself get better as the group regularly sets goals be be achieved.
We lead Cyclone 30 sessions from Hulleys Spin Studio, Club AZ, AstraZeneca, Macclesfield.
Mondays: 12.15-12.45 / Fridays: 16.30-17.00
Information | FTP at Macclesfield Performance
What is an FTP test?
Your “functional threshold power” (FTP) is the maximum power (Watts) that you can sustain on average, over a 60-minute time-trial effort ride.
The FTP test is a means of determining your functional threshold power in a controlled environment and over a shorter time frame, without the discomfort, risk and resulting fatigue of cycling hard for 60-minutes.
What are the benefits of doing an FTP test?
For any keen or competitive cyclist (or multi-sport athlete), training at the exact intensity necessary to develop the specific areas of fitness you need is not only essential in ensuring you reach your maximum potential throughout the season, but also critical to reducing your risk of injury and over training.
Training using “power zones” is the easiest and most accurate means of doing this, especially when training on an indoor bike (unless you have a power metre on your outdoor bike).
You may know of more commonly used methods such as rate of perceived exertion (RPE) a method used to determine exercise intensity levels based on how the athlete “feels”.
FTP helps you define power ranges to work in, relative to the purpose of any particular training session. Therefore your intensity is more accurately measured using the information gathered during the test.
The FTP test is not just for competitive cyclists!
No matter who you are the FTP test is a great way to measure fitness progress.
It’s a simple 20 minute test, that can be repeated at regular intervals and changes in power and heart rate can be great indicators as to how your fitness is changing and how your body is adapting and improving through your training.
What should you expect during an FTP test at Macclesfield Performance?
Prior to getting on the WattBike you’ll be introduced to a coach and have the opportunity to discuss your goals. We’ll get you set-up on the WattBike, your fitness devices connected (if you have them) and then we will take you through a functional warm-up both off and on the bike. You’ll be introduced to the data screens and the main FTP session explained.
You can choose whether to have a coach guide you through the main FTP session or be left to your own devices to get “in the zone” for the 20 minute session!
Once the test is completed, we’ll take you through a thorough cool down, both on and off the bike. Then we will finish with a review of your data and the opportunity to discuss next steps!
What information will the FTP test give me?
The two most valuable outputs from the FTP test are “functional threshold power” - total average watts sustained during the 20 minute test, and your “functional threshold heart rate”. From these two results your power and heart rate training zones can be calculated. These training zones can then be used to ensure your training and programming is correctly applied over future workouts or training sessions.
Completing an FTP test on the WattBike Trainer at Macclesfield Performance will provide you with numerous other data outputs aswell that can be used to evaluate your training. The Wattbike is even able to evaluate your pedalling efficiency and your power distribution. All of which will be accessible to you after the FTP test and can help identify other areas of your training that you need to work on for example your strength, muscular balance, proprioception and conditioning.
What do I need to bring?
As a minimum, you’ll need some suitable gym clothes, your trainers and a drink, we provide bottled water at MP for £1a bottle if you forget.
The WattBike Trainer is compatible with both MTB and SPD cleats, so bike shoes are a definite if you have them and feel free to wear your cycling shorts for extra comfort if you’d prefer.
In addition, the WattBike can be linked to many fitness apps so if you have a fitness watch e.g. Garmin, great, bring that with you too and if you have a HR monitor strap this can also be linked.
Finally we recommend that you ensure your smartphone is fully charged so you don’t have any frustrating battery charge let downs during the test.
Don’t worry if some of the above does not apply to you, the minimum requirements listed are fine in any instance.
How do I book?
Click on to our “Performance Assessments” tab on our booking system, there you will see some available dates and times for you to choose from.
MP Elite members get in touch before booking, we are offering this to you FREE as part of your membership package.
Equipment | Wattbike at Macclesfield Performance
At Macclesfield Performance we are proud to offer our clients use of a brand new top of the range WattBike Trainer.
“Engineered to enhance the performance of any athlete, the Wattbike can be used as an addition to your training as a complete beginner or elite athlete. Designed to perfectly replicate the sensation of riding on the road. WattBike has been created to be the ultimate indoor cycling experience.”
Watt bike isn’t just a bike. It’s a computer, created to compile accurate performance data alongside top of the range power gauge technology. For those wanting to increase power and performance in cycling Wattbike is the bike for you!
Specifically designed with performance in mind Wattbike gives you precise individualised data that can be used by professional athletes and beginners alike to get the best out of themselves in the gym which can be reflected out on the roads also.
Do you ride with a power meter attached to your bike? Use what bike to gauge your FTP and PES then translate that to your ride outside.
Do you want to lose fat, get fitter and in better shape? Use what bike as a low impact way to get high impact results.
Are you rehabilitating an injury? Use what bike to get accurate data on imbalances, strengths and progress post injury and during rehabilitation.
Are you training for an event or a challenge? Use what bike to track your training sessions and adapt your programming to you. Even allow it to create the program for you to follow, wattbike offers countless training plans inbuilt into the Wattbike Hub and onboard bike memory.
If you are keen to use Wattbike as part of your regular training routine, why not join our “Open Gym’ membership for just £25/month or Pay As You Go for just £5/gym pass.
Either way to guarantee the bike is available for you.
Make sure you book it out (this is free to do) via our booking page also once your visit/membership is confirmed, you can allocate time frames for you to use it, this is a way to ensure that when you arrive the bike is not already in use.