A talk given by Paul Abramson MD at the UCSF Mini Medical School on the Medicine of Cycling, March 21, 2013. He reviews some of the latest metrics and technology used in cycling training for an audience of recreational and competitive cyclists, with a nod to the Quantified Self movement, and then discusses his experience using a medically-supervised Quant Coach model to conduct self-tracking projects and experiments to optimize results.

1. Self Tracking and
Gadgets
in Cycling Training
Paul Abramson MD
My Doctor Medical Group
UCSF Clinical Instructor
UCSF Mini Medical School
Medicine of Cycling March 21, 2013

2. Why Gather Data?
• Engineers: Tight feedback is important to
get a system to converge
• Psychologists: Seeing your progress will
motivate behavior
• Coaches: I want to know what’s going on
so I can help
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

3. Self Tracking is Hot
• The Quantified Self movement has taken
off since 2010
• Wearable sensors and gadgets have
proliferated into the popular consciousness
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

4. Non-Cycling Sensors
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

5. Cyclists Already
Do This
• The cycling computer is not a new concept
• Then: Cadence, heart rate, speed, distance
• Now: Power output and heart rate
variability (HRV)
• Helps to quantify workouts and guide
training.
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

6. Cycling Computers
Leikr Wahoo RFLKT
Garmin Edge510
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

7. Power Tracking
• Power combines cadence and torque
• Reflects muscle activity, not just
cardiovascular effort
• Not affected by the environment and other
confounding variables
(temperature, excitement, altitude,
stimulants, hangover status)
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

8. Measuring Power
Output
Cyclops PowerBeam Pro:
Indoor trainer
PowerTap hub
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

9. Measuring Power
Output
iBike Newton
SRAM RED
Quarq
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

10. Indoor Trainers
+ Power
+ Virtual Ride
Wahoo KICKR
CycleOps Virtual Training with KinoMap
with Powerbeam Pro
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

11. Relative Perceived
Exertion (RPE)
• Subjective self rating of
exertional effort
• 1 = Easy
• 10 = Eyes are bleeding
• Some prefer this instead
of objective measures
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

12. Heart Rate Variability
Helps guide recovery
• CardioSport Smart HR
• Wahoo BLUEHR
• Polar H7
• Zephyr HxM SMART
• iThlete app
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

13. Zephyr BioHarness
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

14. Commercial Data
Platforms & Sharing
• Strava
• Endomondo
• MapMyRide
• TrainingPeaks
• Runkeeper
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

15. Exercise Metabolic Testing

16. Body Composition
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

17. LifeBeam
Smart Bike Helmet
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

18. Withings Wireless Scale
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

19. Withings BP Cuff
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

20. Sleep Tracking - Zeo (R.I.P.)
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

21. Lumoback
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

22. Putting it all together..
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

23. The Quant Coach
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

24. Doctor
Patient Quant Coach
Dietitian
Medically-Supervised
Quant Coaching
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

25. Team Trainer
Cyclist Quant Coach
Dietitian
Trainer-Supervised
Quant Coaching
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

26. The Quant Coach
• Designs self-tracking program with
participant, trainer, dietitian
• Implements monitoring tech
• Reviews data with participant
• Gives concise feedback to
participant, trainer, dietitian Quant Coach
• Team adjusts training program
dynamically
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

27. Active Tracking
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

28. Data Review
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

29. Why Quant Coaching?
(medical)
• Figure out odd symptoms
• Identify environmental, dietary, emotional
triggers
• Conduct controlled personal experiments
of potential treatments
• Achieve goals, enhance motivation
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

30. Why Quant Coaching?
(cycling)
• Enhance and speed up training feedback
loop using standard metrics
• Identify other factors affecting training
• Experiments with food, environment,
hydration, sleep, mental training
• Identify overtraining, stress, burnout
• Help implement changes, enhance
motivation
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

31. It’s not just the data..
• Data serves to trigger memory
• Dynamic narrative builds motivation
• Iterate - iterate - iterate
(c) 2013 Paul Abramson MD

32. Contact
Paul Abramson MD
My Doctor Medical Group
San Francisco
office@mydoctorsf.com
www.mydoctorsf.com
Twitter: @paulabramsonmd