When Biokineticist Luan Smit and Chris Norton invited Seamus Allardice for a bicycle fitment at BMT in Stellenbosch he thought it would be just that, moving contact points around until he was more comfortable. But once seated on the SRM indoor trainer it became clear that what Luan was really concerned about was power, efficiency and injury prevention.
The session began with a flexibility and physical assessment, before the bike fit was administered by BMT’s fit guru Guy Smith. Guy has great bike knowledge and easily rattled off standard measurements for all the major brands as he set the SRM indoor trainer up to mimic the neutral position of my normal ride, a Specialized Camber. He then got me on the trainer, took a few measurements, made me pedal a bit and made a few adjustments. Within minutes he had the setup spot on, which was quite a trick because my bike was in for a service at another store at the time.
With the trainer personalised to my set-up Luan started to explain the ins and outs of the SRM system. For someone who has never ridden with a power meter but loves technology it was both slightly overwhelming and instantly appealing. Overwhelming because there is just so much data. And appealing because there is just so much data.
While I pedalled at between 90 and 100 revolutions per minute the SRM power meter measured my output and upped the resistance every 60 seconds in what’s known as a Ramp Test. For athletes this is a great way to determine Maximal Aerobic Power but under Luan’s watchful eye it’s used to check for imbalances in my pedalling action. The screen ahead of me was projecting a series of graphs marching across the screen in waves. Luan explained that the smoother the wave form the better, and that he was looking for major issues where blips in the smooth flow occurred. To my untrained eye my waves looked pretty good especially as the resistance increased and I became less aware of my form and more concerned about maintaining the target cadence.
With my ramp test done I hopped off the bike and Luan left to see his next client, promising to send me his full Biokinetics report. And that’s for me where the real strength of the BMT bike fit set-up lies. Guy will get you set up comfortably on your bike and the SRM Indoor Trainer is an amazing tool – you can go ride any route in the world, as long as you have the GPX file. Some of the Stellenbosch based pros are training for the Rio Olympics using it. Vicky van der Merwe and Mari Rabie are familiarising themselves with the triathlon’s bike leg, while Matt Lombardi has had a roll our two ? around the Rio XCO course. Local residents are using it to train rather than heading out onto the roads when the weather isn’t great for training. But the real benefit in my books is the combination between the data the SRM system generates and Luan’s Biokinetics skills.
His report came in with a list of areas I need to focus on. To improve my riding I need to strengthen my multifidus (deep back muscles) that form part of my core, along with my abdominals and my Gluteus Medius muscles. As any of you who read Joëlle’s Yoga Columns will know core strength is essential to avoiding injuries and I’ve definitely felt my back getting tight after long rides recently.
Included in Luan’s report were a few exercises for me to do in order to strengthen those vulnerable muscle groups. He also performed a torque analysis which indicated that the right side of my body was performing more work, but said that I should come back again once I’d been doing the prescribed exercises for a while and see if that hadn’t evened it up a bit.
So for once I’m actually going to try to listen to the advice of a medical professional and do the exercises Luan prescribed. Hopefully that’ll improve my power output on the bike and keep me injury free. Sounds like a good deal.
What is SRM?
SRM is reportedly the most accurate power meter on the market and you’ll spot them on many World Tour bikes on the road and on the bikes of quite a few pro mountain bikers too. SRM measures the force coming from the rider with strain gauges mounted inside the spider of the crank set, which provides a stiff and accurate measuring platform. Find out more at www.srm.de.
SRM Analysis
If you’re interested in the analysis of my data which Luan performed and the exercises he prescribed, you can download the PDF by scanning this QR Code.
Bio:
Luan Smit’s tennis skills took him to Europe and Australia where he coached at top academies before returning to study Biokinetics at Stellenbosch University. He now focuses on analysing movement patterns and specialized in the rehab of sporting and orthopaedic injuries from a practice in Techopark and at BMT.
