This report is a part of the master thesis from Architecture & Design at University of Aalborg, written as a solo project, without a collaboration partner.
The project and this report is about the improvement of the fitness concept of spinning. The project started out in collaboration with the indoor cycle manufacturer Body Bike, which is situated in Frederikshavn. Body Bike started out by giving a project pitch, explaining they wanted a product which would give the spinning participant impressions from sound, lights and videos.
In the research phase of the project it was clear, this type of product would not give the participants a better training. The participants explained too many impressions would only confuse instead of optimizing, the best workout conditions would be a room with loud music and toned down lights. This resulted in the project turned down a path which Body Bike was not pleased with and it was decided the project would go on without them.
It was investigated which kind of spinning concepts were on the market and it was discovered most of the indoor cycles had not evolved since the first indoor cycle was designed. In an electronic time age only few did make an indoor cycle with a gadget to keep track of the workout, but in most spinning concepts the participants are riding with blinkers. The participants have no way of monitoring their workout, and no way of knowing how much they improve over time, because they do not know how many calories they have used in the spinning class.
Research on what motivates athletes and people in general was done, which showed, putting the workout into system helped to motivate people.
It was decided to develop a product supported by a system which will keep track of the workout both in the workout situation and after the workout, with an online log to overview the improvement. The product will be an add-on product to install on the indoor cycles which already stand in the fitness centers. The product originates in the indoor cycles manufactured by Body Bike, but in the sense all indoor cycles work in the same way with a screw which drives a brake down to the flywheel it will be adaptable to cycles manufactured by others.
The product is an automated brake system which is controlled by a programme the spinning instructor has made before the spinning class begin. The brake system will then adjust the load on the flywheel accordingly to the programme so the participant do not need to adjust the load by a screw. The reason the adjustment is taken away from the participant, is the uncertainty in adjusting the load yourself, some participants can turn up the load too much in the beginning and run out of stamina before the class is over. The system will ensure the participant will get the right challenge accordingly to his physical condition by the handicap system. The handicap system will give every participant an individual handicap generated from a fitness test done in the spinning introduction class. As the participant complete spinning classes the handicap will slowly decrease, and the challenge will follow the participant as he improves his stamina. The participant will be able to adjust the load by +- 5% if he has a bad day, or feeling very confident and energetic.
The participant can follow the workout during the spinning class with the display console on the handlebars. The console gives a roadmap of the intensity of the given programme, by displaying a graph, so the participant can see how far along he is and when the next rise in intensity will come. On the same screen as the graph is also a cadence meter which easily show if the participant drive with the right cadence according to the programme or if it is too fast or too slow. At the screen the last gauge is showing the average wattage produced as the participant goes through the spinning class.
After the spinning class is over the participant can log in to his profile and see all the classes he has completed individually. The participant can also see an overview of all the classes and how he has improved over time.