Indoor triathlon training, especially Ironman distance training, is increasingly present in the life of athletes, amateurs and professionals. If before “smart training” was considered an option for a few, today it is becoming an integral part of a training strategy aimed at optimizing the performance for many. A multipurpose tool like MagneticDays JARVIS smart trainer allows the coach (and the athlete) to introduce specific quality indoor cycling sessions within a weekly schedule.

The use of MD JARVIS smart trainer in weekly indoor training: when and why.

For an athlete, the first three months of each new triathlon season are the most important ones because they test the results of all the hard work carried out during the off season. Once you get to the race, finding the right rhythm, the right pace is key. To do this you need to build endurance, which is gradually developed during each training session. In any triathlon race, especially on Ironman distance, the cycling segment represents a crucial part, certainly the longest portion, and this is why it is fundamental to train it at best without loading the body with exhausting workouts that, in the long run, can only worsen the performance.

“The functional evaluation test with JARVIS – says MD Coach Luca Bianchini – has a dual purpose. It serves both as a verification of the work done during winter and as a starting point for preparing a set of workouts aimed at optimizing the physical condition in progress, and therefore, performance. At first, the new threshold and the respective training zones are identified, both in terms of Watt and heart rate. Then, we analyze the characteristics of the cadence and the over-the-threshold capacity to understand how you can intervene to improve performance. All this keeping in mind that during the first three months of the season the athlete, and his/her body, needs to get used to a more constant pace of physical and mental effort.”

The advantages of a MagneticDays personalized training program

A personalized training program must necessarily start from good planning. The underlying concept of the HTT methodology is to follow the polarized method. This training method consists in investing about 75-80% of the training volume in the aerobic zone, while the remaining is at high intensity. Considering that an amateur athlete spends approximately 10 hours of training for the cycling part (cycling and triathlon), about 7-8 are typically performed on the weekend with long rides. The remaining 2 hours of training should be done at high intensity. These two hours of high intensity training can be carried on MagneticDays JARVIS smart trainer to perform HTT workouts and thus optimize the indoor training program.

“The concept behind every workout – continues Coach MD Luca Bianchini – is to increase and improve performance which, in the case of cycling, translates into the supply of more watt at the same heart rate. Using the heart rate (internal load) as an absolute reference can sometimes be misleading. In case of fatigue, the heart struggles to rise and to modulate based on the watt delivered, while the watt (external load) are always the same and do not take into account the physical state of the athlete. With MD JARVIS smart trainer, the heart can be seen as an internal state control system which follows an external load that the coach is able to verify together with the athlete’s feedback. Increasing the threshold watts is not enough for excellent performance. Theoretically the threshold is the power that we can maintain for about 60 minutes, but not everybody can do this, sometimes because those watts have not been consolidated.”

In this time of the year (from March to June), when the Ironman triathlon season has not yet started, we are in the optimal period to consolidate the performance improved during the winter. The first races will serve as a test to see if the programming has had its effects. Each athlete’s goals are different. There are those who want to compete a race for the pleasure of doing it, and those who want to achieve important goals (from the podium to the Italian sprint triathlon Championship to the final of the Ironman in Hawaii). What unites all these athletes and the variety of their goals is to perform at their top during the competition. The best training for a race is the race itself, but you obviously cannot compete every week and expect a perfect performance every competition. Furthermore, to train for triathlon, where the effort is 100%, you need to follow an even more focused program.

If we are only talking about one of the three disciplines in triathlon (cycling) programming is quite simple, but being able to perfectly modulate all three disciplines is complex. There are some factors that must be taken into account:

• number of days until the target race
• time available for training
• load capacity of the athlete
• alternation between days of high intensity and low intensity
• training insertion of combined workouts (generally cycling-running)
• interpretation of the performance model
• enhancement of the deficient discipline

These are just a few points a coach needs to keep in mind to optimize the annual schedule. In the second part of this article we will analyze how to optimize the performance in triathlon.

With the coming of new road and mtb bycicle frames with thru-axle, MagneticDays meets this additional need that, however, must necessarily justify a slight price increase. From 2019, March 1st, the price of JARVIS will increase from € 1900 to € 1990. The new MD Kit for ROAD BIKE and MTB bycicle frames with thru-axle will be inclused in the package and 12 workouts of HTT Methodology are included in the purchase price as always.

New MD Kit are already available in the accessories section of our website, for all of those who have already purchased JARVIS also and are thinking about buying a new bycicle frame with thru-axle.

MagneticDays offers the chance to purchase worldwide JARVIS scientific smart trainer, under time payment by Credit Card (without interest)! The mandatory condition is to buy 1 training pack of HTT methodology that varies according to the length of the payment.

Time payment by Credit Card | Terms and Conditions

• JARVIS (12 HTT workouts are included)
• 1 Training Pack of HTT methodology in addition
• Time payment offer is valid for the redemption at the end of the rental period also

 

Time payment by Credit Card | Online wizard

The procedure for accessing to time (without interest) payment by Credit Card is entirely online through XPay platform by Nexi®. It allows to pay by Credit/Debit Card of the most important international networks, established by convention or PayPal.

• STEP 1 – MagneticDays sends an email to client including: 1) authorization form for the automatic charge of each payment; 2) invoice of advance payment; 3) PDF document containing the directions of online wizard

What does the customer do? Client must respond to the email sending the authorization form (item 1) complited and signed in its entirety.

 

• STEP 2 – MagneticDays sends an email to client including a link to access to XPay platform by Nexi®

What does the customer do? Client must select his own favorite payment method (international networks established by convention or PayPal), concluding the online procedure with the advance payment as indicated on the invoice (item 2, STEP 1).

This procedure allows the automatic payment on Credit Card.

 

Time payment by Credit Card | Accepted Payment Methods

• Visa
• Visa Electron
• V-Pay
• Mastercard
• Maestro
• American Express
• Diners
• PayPal – allows to use all the available networks (those established by convention are included) without the transmission of sensitive card data related to the account

J-BIKE is one of the latest innovations by MagneticDays. It was launched for the first time on the Asiatic marketplace in 2017, and includes all the high performance technology of JARVIS. J-BIKE is more than a traditional indoor bike. It’s a complete and high performance indoor training system for high quality training, created to meet the needs of fitness and wellness centers that always required a specific product.

The 2018 Italian Rowing Champion Chiara Sacco of Rowing Master Italian Team, is one of the athlete who has chosen to train with J-BIKE. The futuristic design was made by the Tuscan architect Gianfranco Caprai, who is specialized in product design. J-BIKE is programmable to work in multi session also, an additional plus for all the fitness and wellness centers which can monitor the personal improvements of their customers in real time, through real and reproducible data, thanks to the high quality and one-of-a-kind product able to “build” specific trainings for all the people in every moment (depending on their needs).

The world of indoor training is changing. The pace of innovation is accelerating exponentially and MagneticDays is always in front. Day by day.

The mission of POR CREO 2014-2020 – sponsored by the Region of Tuscany, the Regional Operational Program (ROP) of the European Regional Development Fund – is to contribute to the implementation of European Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion.

MagneticDays has been selected to participate in this project, with its biomedical project named Bio MagneticDays – developed in R.T.I. (Temporary grouping of companies). The goal is to bring a five-year experience in the world of indoor training for cycling through the use of the one and only indoor training system based on a scientific approach in the field of medical rehabilitation.

“Our goal – said the CEO of MagneticDays – is to improve what is already on the market by developing technological models suitable for use in the field of medical rehabilitation, through the trial of two prototypes of indoor training systems in water. We are very proud and honored that the high quality of MagneticDays – which has always distinguished itself from the research, experimentation and innovation point of view – has also been recognized at the European level.”

 

The Bio MagneticDays Project

The project is the result of a partnership amongst companies from different trades (precision mechanics, aerospace and railway mechanics, electronics and medicine) with the active collaboration of two important Italian Universities: University of Pisa – Faculty of Medicine and Department of Cardiology (incremental test protocols, collection of data and its scientific validation), and University of Verona – Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Science of Exercise  (rehabilitation).

Bio MagneticDays Project is the result of experience and enthusiasm of many users and people who believe in a unique indoor cycling training system based on a scientific approach, and who understand that this approach can be expanded in areas other than sports.

Heart patients, diabetics, traumatized patients and obese persons, are just some of the subjects interested in exploiting the full potential of an indoor training system like MD that allows you to control the pedaling movement accurately, in order of 0.5 Newton.

 

The highest technology in the simplest gesture in the world

“The Bio MagneticDays Project will see the JARVIS become an instrument able to satisfy both the needs of scientific research and medical rehabilitation – MD CEO Marco Sbragi said – starting from the study of water mechanics, and implementing prototypes which are being tested by our company.”

The highest technology in the simplest gesture in the world – as the pedaling movement – and all the best strategies to obtain a targeted outcome. This is a revolution and innovation for our company (like the one started a few years ago with the launch of a new innovative product for cycling – the JARVIS) that looks with enthusiasm and expertise at the world of medical rehabilitation. And this is just the beginning, an amazing research and experimentation opportunity, thanks to the POR CREO by the Tuscany Region.

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It’s possible to save a workout made as FIT extension and upload it on platforms like Strava or TrainingPeaks? Yes! MagneticDays offers you this opportunity also! You can download your workout from the personal MD account as .FIT extension (section “workout completed”). In addition, is possible also to import a workout (in the personal MD account) as .FIT extension and ride it on Jarvis:

1. YOU CAN import only file .FIT to do made with platforms like TrainingPeaks or similar;
2. YOU CAN NOT import file .FIT done made by Garmin or similar.

Don’t worry! You can ride on MagneticDays your favorite routes – using the button named UPLOAD FILE – where you can import .TCX or .GPX files.

Joule incremental test by MagneticDays represents a new version of Conconi test, that intended to measure an individual’s maximum anaerobic and aerobic threshold heart rates. The test measures a person’s heart rates at different loads (e.g. faster speeds on a treadmill). The points are plotted on a graph with heart rate on one axis and power (or some correlated measurement such as running speed) on the other axis; the graph’s deflection point indicates the aerobic threshold. The heart rate increases (approximately) linearly up to the deflection point, where the heart rate reaches AT (also known as LT, lactate threshold, in more modern nomenclature). The test continues for a while, under increasing load, until the subject has gone well past the anaerobic threshold.

And the same thing happens in the Joule incremental test by MagneticDays. Currently, our incremental test protocol (made in collaboration with a few Italian Universities) starts from a value in the amount of 50% of own reference value. MD System improves the Power of 1 Watt per 6 seconds with RPM free. This test ends when the user/athlete has reached maximum effort and therefore cannot proceed further with the test. However, this protocol entails a work that grows step by step, considering that the Power data and time are unvaried.

Joule incremental test: the protocol by MagneticDays

The new incremental protocol (we are the one and only to make it) was realized and based on the previous protocol, with the goal to show overlapping data values. The most important difference lies in the workout, expressed in Joule (and agreed upon with the MD Coach), and fact that the it is kept constant during the test. Therefore, we have choosed a value in the amount of 2700 Joule as “indicative value” that represents in general the most common phisyological condition for the users/athletes. Every step of each workout  improves the Power of 2 Watt.

EXAMPLE: 150 Watt for 18 seconds, 300 Watt for 9 seconds

The Joule value is kept constant, whereas is the value of time to adapt to keep Joule constant, so with a variation in terms of time we have a variation in terms of Watt (expressed). If the Watt value increase, less time is necessary to keep the workout to that value, and balance the same result in Joule. Considering that the Watt value is not fixed (the incremental test protocol is based on an increase of the Watt value), Time is the value that must change.

Joule incremental test will be a variable test and JARVIS will control all the workout automatically, increasing the Watt value gradually and reducing the exposure time to that value, in order to balance the same result in Joule. In the Joule test (real Conconi) the workout don’t change during the time and every step at high wattage of each workout has a lower exposure (in terms of time) compared with the precedents.

It has to be said: MagneticDays is more than a smart trainer!

After having developed the first Indoor Training System based on scientific approach (which is improved and increasingly accurate with the rapid progress of technology), we are happy to introduce the new release (2.1.1) of MD WiFi App (available for iOS and Android) that allows to satisfy the playful aspect of Indoor Cycling also, improving a unique offer from a technical and qualitative point of view (HTT Methodology) and mixing our high quality workouts with fun.

This release offers to all of users/athletes the real possibility to “replicate the effort” (Watt) required in a specific part of any cycle route. The necessary Data needed for work costantly into the “Phisical formula” (that calculates the effort) are: Rider and Bicycle Weight, Cogset, Cassette and Wheel Circumference. These values must be insert in the section named Settings – My Account of MD WiFi App, before to start the workout.

Virtual Gear by MagneticDays

Here’s a focus on 2 important values of the Virtual Gear.

Rider and Bicycle Weight ? This value is different from that used for HTT and it’s not important for the purposes of HTT Methodology, but all the users/athletes can be change this value as they like, pedalling in different physical conditions compared to the current one and imagining how the sensations and efforts would be different in terms of Weight.

Personalization of Cogset and Cassette ? All the users/athletes will can choose their favorite virtual gear ratio selecting the buttons +/- for chainring (to the left) and cog (to the right), the real innovation of the release. It will also possible to control the virtual gear throught the dual optical remote control.

This amazing innovation (the first in the world of Indoor Cycling) allows to the JARVIS System to have at disposal the right Data in order to supply the exact physiological response (in terms of Watt) to the technical gesture conducted by the user/athlete in real time. Furthermore, it is also possible to set the value of Slope (%) of the route/workout (RED for climb and GREEN for downhill).

Zwift Compatibility

Zwift is a massively multiplayer online cycling and running game and training program that enables users to interact, train and compete in a virtual world. With the new release 2.1.1 of MD WiFi App, MagneticDays becomes the first Indoor Training System able to mix a high quality workout with fun. JARVIS System already communicate directly with Zwift, and from today the connection is in a new way if Track Resistance mode is on. The best condition is that to use Zwift with your PC (JARVIS have the ANT+ aerial for PC as standard equipment) and the MD WiFi App installed on your tablet or smartphone.

And last but not least, the possibility to “ride” on JARVIS System the most famous cycle route in the world (or your personal cycle route) as .tcx or .gpx file imported on own personal profile of our Website www.magneticdays.com. These cycle routes will be available to the MD users/athletes in the near future and published on our Website (section named Self Managed Workouts and Routes) where are already available a few cycle routes (free download). The Virtual Gear Handbook MD WiFi App 2.1.1 is available as .pdf file here.