Exercise guidance
- Recommended levels of physical activity for adults aged 18 - 64 years
- World Health Organisation
- USA Department of Health
- UK National Health Service
- An excellent evidence based nutrition focused website.
- Another great evidence based nutrition focused website
- A website with excellent evidence based sports science blogs.
- A blog site with a strength / resistance exercise focus with lots of well written scientifically referenced exercise focused articles.
- A blog site with a nutrition / diet focus with lots of detailed well written scientifically referenced nutrition / diet focused articles.
- A health news site which has a comprehensive review of different diets which can be accessed via the following link:
- A site with a diet / nutrition coaching focus with lots of detailed well written scientifically referenced nutrition / diet focused articles in the Free Articles section.
- A site with a hydration / nutrition focus with well written scientifically referenced articles in the Blog section.
- The Health + Medicine section of a site with lots of concise evidence based articles who most of the time meet their strap line of "Academic rigour, journalistic flair".
- A health and medical media coverage fact checking organisation:
- A site with information about medical devices and medications that have serious complications provided by a USA based law firm with litigation experience in the field.
Specific fitness technology focused links
- A site with a fitness technology focus with lots of detailed well written technology reviews.
- www.dcrainmaker.com
- The associated YouTube channel
- A YouTube channel which provides scientific reviews of wearable devices.
- A fitness technology software supplier used by many consumer fitness technology suppliers.
- Software features and supported products
- White Papers and Publications
Medical education video channel links
- https://www.youtube.com/@PeterAttiaMD
- https://www.youtube.com/c/NinjaNerdScience
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFPvnkCZbHfBvV8ApBBE0vA
- https://www.youtube.com/c/DirtyMedicine
Books
- Bad Science
- Author: Ben Goldacre
- Publisher: Fourth Estate
- The Norm Chronicles: Stories and numbers about danger
- Authors: Michael Blastland and David Spiegelhalter
- Publisher: Profile Books
- ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription
- Author: American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
- Publisher: Wolters Kluwer
- ACSM's position stand referenced in the book
- Spoon-Fed Why Almost Everything We've Been Told About Food is Wrong
- Tim Spector
- Publisher: Jonathan Cape
- The Rapid Fatloss Handbook A Scientific Approach to Crash Dieting
- Lyle McDonald
- Publisher: bodyrecomposition.com
Exercise Machines
- A good value / quality indoor rowing machine.
- A hardtail (front suspension only) electric mountain bike (eMTB) which manages most terrains and gradients and enables the management of exercise intensity (manually) when required which is particularly useful in hilly areas (Haibike SDURO HardSeven). Later generation eBikes (e.g. Specialized; Levo and Kenevo models) can even be set to automatically manage the amount of assistance provided to keep you in a specified target heart rate zone (see the following link to a Youtube video about a mobile phone app called Blevo that makes use of this functionality https://youtu.be/WWDJzwaN7vw ).
- Tips:
- Keep the drive sprocket clean to avoid chain suck back.
- See the following link for a tool I find particularly useful to do this:
- Keep the rear wheel freewheel ratchet mechanism clean to avoid failure.
- Fit tubeless tyres to greatly reduce the risk of flat tyres.
- I use Schwalbe Big Betty and Magic Mary tyres which you can find the details of via the following links:
- I also use Tannus Tubeless Armour tyre inserts to support lower tyre pressures and provide an improved ride:
- Consider fitting a Cane Creek Thudbuster seat post for a more comfortable ride. This moves the bike in the direction of being a full suspension bike which would typically be more expensive and heavier (albeit much more capable downhill).
- Use Outdooractive on your mobile to help with navigation.
- https://www.outdooractive.com/en/
- I find a waterproof case for your mobile that fits to your handlebar makes navigating easiest.
- In addition or alternatively (as it has a stanadalone operation mode) you could try the Outdooractive watch app that works with Android Wear OS watches although you may find watch screen size is an issue. The mobvoi Ticwatch E3 works well.
- To hear voice route guidance instructions if you do not like wearing on ear or in ear headphones you could try the Tribit Stormbox Micro portable speaker or bone conduction headphones, see the following links.
- A walking gaiter makes a pretty good cover for the battery and minimises dirt getting to the battery terminals particularly when riding in damp conditions.
- I have had Bosch motor reliability problems but their 2 year warranty has always come good.
- I also had a catastrophic manufacturing fault seat frame failure but as it occurred within the 5 year frame warranty period this was resolved by Haibike and I was able to replace it with a Haibike xDuro FatSix 9.0.
- Weight / cost / robustness are key considerations when choosing an eMTB. Weight particularly if you ever expect to have to lift one e.g. over a gate, onto a bike rack, etc. It is a good idea to demo before you buy and a local supplier makes servicing alot easier.
- For a video about weight versus cost considerations based around optimising a specific eMTB (I have upgraded to the entry level version of this bike the Merida eOne Sixty 300s) see the following link:
- This type of electric bike is termed a Pedelec and in most european countries is classified and regulated no differently than a standard bicycle. To be classified as a Pedelec it has to meet the following requirements:
- Power must only be made available when pedalled.
- Power must be automatically cut off above at speeds above 20 Km/hr.
- It must have a motor that has been certified to not provide more than 250W of continuous power output.
- This final element does not mean that it cannot supply more than 250W of power output and along with torque output and battery output and capacity differences means that each model of bike can vary quite significantly. If you imagined you had a good olympic cyclist (in all cycling classes) cycling with you, without the bulk and with only about 25% of their weight you'd probably get an idea of the type of assistance available. The only downside probably being refuelling (recharging) issues, such as, time to refuel, fuel availability/portability, etc.
- Pedelec bikes (alongside standard bicycles) are often supported by schemes that provide tax breaks to encourage cycling. This can provide a significant discount on the purchase of a new electric bike and equipment to help with their purchase. See the following link for details of the UK governments scheme.
- Comparison of the Shimano Steps e7000 and the Bosch Performance Line CX (third generation) motors from my riding experience:
- The Bosch has an automatic adaptive eMTB setting which automatically controls the motor output based on rear wheel feedback and pedalling input which makes it great on variable terrain and capable on slippy surfaces such as particularly wet grass ascents. The Shimano does not have a similar mode and is not very capable on wet grass ascents although is fine on firmer wet surface ascents.
- The Bosch has 4 assistance modes all of which work well but it has no user configurability. The Shimano has 3 assistance modes as standard and if you have a controller with Bluetooth output or utilise a Shimano Bluetooth dongle or have access to Shimano motor diagnostic tools these modes can be user configured. Multiple profiles with different assistance modes can also be setup but you'll probably need a controller that easily enables you to quickly change between profiles to make much use of this. Third party mobile apps are available to support configuration and use. I found the factory set assistance modes required changing to suit my particular riding needs whereas the Bosch setup has, fortunately, always been fine for me.
- The Bosch has 75N of maximum torque and the Shimano 60N but this difference is hardly noticeable.
- The Bosch has motor resistance when the power is off or when it cuts out at maximum assistance speed whereas the Shimano feels as though it has no motor resistance.
- The Bosch is quiet but the Shimano is quieter and only really noticeable when providing a reasonable level of assistance.
- The Bosch seems to have a bit better range on the same specification battery and the Bosch controller range estimator is better.
- For a range of good value electric mountain bikes to give you an indication of what is available at the value end of the market see the following link:
- https://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-811556-electric-bikes/N-382073-bike-type~electric-mountain-bike
- For a video that provides details of the value of their full suspension eMTB see the following link:
- For a great article about electric mountain bikes with a focus on motors see the following link:
- For a comprehensive video about electric mountain bike motors see the following link:
- For different peoples perspectives on why they started with electric bikes see the following link:
- For research comparing the physical activity of electric bicycle users to conventional bicycle users and non-cyclists see the following links:
- For some great anti-fog protective glasses for cycling see the following link:
- If when cycling sweating from your head mists up your protective glasses see the following link to a great sweat absorbing and evaporating headband:
- If you find looking behind you a pain see the following link to an eyeglass mirror you can connect to your protective glasses (use small size rubber grommets to connect the eyeglass mirror to your glasses):
- For some nice robust big grippy standard pedals see the following link:
- To protect your lower legs when cycling try cutting the feet off neoprene lined wellington boots to make leg protectors. Boots with side zips make getting them on and off easier.
- For a video camera specifically designed for cycling which can be used to record your ride / dangerous drivers see the following link:
- https://cycliq.com/bike-cameras/fly6ce/
- This camera is designed for rear use but if you disable the lights (which can be done in the mobile app that supports it) it can be fitted to the front of a helmet and makes a great headcam.
Weighing Scale
- An excellent body composition WiFi connected weighing scale.
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