TESTIMONIALS
For me, what separates Athlete Lab from other gyms or cycling coaching options is the people. The coaches at the Lab are both knowledgeable and personable. They go the extra mile to answer questions and help you work towards your goals. Working with a coach at the Lab has really helped me improve and fine tune my training. Like most things in life, you get what you put into it, but the Lab has given me the tools to work towards my goals.
A referral from a friend who knew the Lab in Singapore; it came just as I was trying to prepare for a long event. I struggle to find the time at the weekends to fit long rides in with running around after children so the Lab seemed like a good opportunity.
Initially, I benefited just from the additional practice but then I realised the benefits of more targeted training, i.e., using the right sessions at the right time. Then I moved onto some coaching and, more recently, onto more coaching focusing on specific technique and bike fit. I have also enjoyed to opportunities for some ‘cross-training’, e.g., Strength & Conditioning, Bikoga, etc.
Athlete Lab is the best place in London for focused cycle performance training - it offers much more than just bike based fitness and has so many options for you to tailor your training based on what type of riding you want to focus on and your specific goals.
Within the first few weeks at Athlete Lab my bike fitness improved dramatically. With the help of the experienced coaches, I’ve been able to optimise my training, identify my weaknesses and get lots of advice on the side on everything from racing tactics to bike maintenance! With the support of the team, I’ve started racing and hope to continue to improve on the trajectory that I’ve started. One of the greatest benefits is the community that exists at the Lab. It’s been so valuable to be able to connect with and pick the brains of like-minded athletes.
The breadth of training at the Lab means you’ll have all your training needs covered, including strength work, and the vast number of sessions make it easy to fit around even the most chaotic of schedules. The team do all the hard work in terms of calibrating each session to your specific level to ensure you’re training well. And having the team on hand to provide support and advice alone makes this a superb investment in your future as an athlete. AND it’s really fun
I first attended Athlete Lab for a free Haute Route training event. I decided to become a member after seeing how it could add intensity and structure to my training in a safe and fun environment. I’ve been a member for a couple of years now and see it as a core part of my training.
My fitness has significantly improved as a result of the structured and efficient approach to training at Athlete Lab. On a normal gym bike, or even riding outdoors, it can be tempting to do fairly slow and unproductive training sessions but that never happens at Athlete Lab. The wide variety of session types, from Ironmania to Threshold Booster, means there’s always something to pick from. I also find the information on display during the sessions (watts, heart rate, cadence etc) to be very helpful.
I would encourage them to just go and try it out for a couple of sessions. Some people instinctively don’t like the idea of training indoors but, once they try it, they’ll see the benefits mentioned above. Chiefly, the opportunity to train at a high intensity in a motivating, safe and controlled environment that enables goals and progress to be recorded and closely monitored.
PUBLICITY AND REVIEWS
Athlete Lab: the cycling gym that’s leaving its rivals in a spin
Athlete Lab’s bikes are fully adjustable, so you can walk in and get on a bike pretty quickly – it’s certainly much easier than hooking your own bike up to a turbo trainer. That means people have to overcome the desire to ride their own machines – not necessarily an easy task in a sport where amateur athletes are prone to fetishising equipment. Flynn is confident that the data produced by riding the Lab’s bikes makes it worthwhile. “We provide data that covers your heart rate, watts, watts per kilo, average watts, peak watts, pedal stroke efficiency, speed, distance and time. It is extremely accurate. Any differences from our hardware to correctly calibrated Garmin/PowerTap/Quark equipment is minuscule. Plus, we also provide some more technical training data you can dip into if you want to.”
You instantly notice the difference between the Athlete Lab’s ‘adjustabikes’ and those in any other indoor training facility. Spin bikes tend to encourage a wider stance, placing the rider in quite a different position to that of a road bike. Instead, the adjustabikes make use of a regular bottom bracket and cranks and, in replicating the position used on a normal road bike, encourage you to use your hip flexors – the same muscles you would outside of the lab – instead of your hamstrings, as is the case with standard spin bikes. Athlete Lab say the flywheel of a spin bike makes your hamstrings work harder to slow the pedals as they come around, while on a road bike you use your hip flexors and quadriceps more to pedal against the friction of road and wind resistance.
“If you enjoy cycling this is the one. Different atmosphere to spin class. Everyone there was extremely welcoming for a non cyclist on my first go”
“If you are a cycling enthusiast, then this place is for you! None of that clapping crap and pushups on a bike.”
“Great studio, really effectively set up to help you work towards realistic goals”
“I’m really impressed! Had not heard of anything like it. At first it felt like I was in a tv game, then I was learning and then it became challenging. The name says it all, didn’t feel like a class at all but felt like being in a lab!”
“Really scientific - i could monitor my progress. ”
“If you are a cycling enthusiast, then this place is for you! None of that clapping crap and pushups on a bike.”
“Great studio, really effectively set up to help you work towards realistic goals”
“I’m really impressed! Had not heard of anything like it. At first it felt like I was in a tv game, then I was learning and then it became challenging. The name says it all, didn’t feel like a class at all but felt like being in a lab!”
“Really scientific - i could monitor my progress”
“Very helpful and attentive staff and excellent facilities make the punishment less terrible. Bikes are setup to mimic feel of real road bikes, with working gearing. Training program is very intuitive and motivating — no shouting to be your epic self.”
“Love this place! My only regret is not joining sooner. Awesome team with great setup.”
“Love this place. They brilliant. Very professional. Best place in London if you want to train for cycling, indoors to structured workouts. Sure you can get Zwift and a indoor trainer but some of us just don’t have the space or the family would be a huge distraction while you pounding away. Sweating and grunting. Love the social element. Even if you not talking to people there is camaraderie in the mutual suffering together. Oh and if you think you tough, try the power house or HIIT session. Go on give it go”
“Great place for anyone looking to either improve or kick-start their cycling ability.”