Author Archives: Tony Lowe

About Tony Lowe

The nerd behind the scenes who keeps the bytes moving that makes the BeFitApps programmes happen. A committed cyclist and climber Tony finds no shame in wearing lycra in public and is not embarrassed about the veins visible in his forearms!

How to train like a World Cup downhill skier

January 17, 2017 by Tony Lowe
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If you want to get psyched for skiing and training for skiing we suggest watching the ski documentary called “Streif” currently viewable on Redbull.tv. This is the story of the legendary Kitzbühel World Cup downhill event in 2013 and follows the 12 month build up of four of the competitors. Several sequences provide a fascinating and daunting insight into the incredible training routines endured by these athletes as part of their preparation. You may think that Neil Maclean-Martin is a sadist when you are following Continue reading →

Thinking about your knees when choosing a tech binding

October 14, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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How thinking about the safety of my knees has influenced my choice of a tech binding this winter… Now that I have a few years experience of the exciting world of ski touring using a “beginner’s” alpine “frame” binding (in my case Fritschi Freeride), this year feels like the right time to finally take the step up into the domain of more serious touring tech (or pin) bindings. Why? Because I have been listening for years to my more experienced friends extolling their benefits at Continue reading →

Lessons from my first Etape du Tour

August 9, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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9 pieces of advice for Etape du Tour riders learned the hard way! Well it certainly was an experience! Having now ridden a number of European cyclo sportives and Gran Fondos I thought I would be prepared for anything… but just as they say about the Tour de France, the Etape du Tour really does take the amateur cycle event experience to a whole new level. The enormous numbers of participants, the wide range in abilities, the mix of abilities on the road, the level Continue reading →

Play the Zwift game to overcome cycle training pain!

April 29, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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Get serious about your cycle training and have fun at the same time with Zwift! As most committed cyclists must now know, the most efficient way to build fitness for performance on the bike, particularly during the winter is to use an indoor turbo trainer and follow a power based structured training plan. However like many others the tedious and painful reality of suffering for hours, going nowhere has prevented me following this path to progress. In any one winter I probably would use my Continue reading →

Riding the Strade Bianche Gran Fondo

March 8, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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What it takes to “Ride into the legend” on the iconic dirt roads of Tuscany… There are a handful of professional cycling one day races that have become true legends of the sport. This is because of their history, their courses and their champions. The most recent event to gain this status is the relatively youthful Strade Bianche run each year in March in the world heritage setting of the medieval city of Siena and the surrounding Tuscan hills. This race involves a tough hilly Continue reading →

SkiFit is in the Easyjet Traveller Magazine!

February 1, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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You know you’ve made it when you open an inflight magazine and see your product! Mum will be pleased! While we do know its actually too late to get fit for skiing once you are sat on the plane flying out to start your skiing holiday, however it’s still great to get this recognition! Hopefully those skiers who happen to flick to page 48 of Traveller Magazine while munching on an easyjet sandwich daydreaming about the mountains, the snow, the food etc that they will Continue reading →

Cyclists, the wait is over – BikeFit is now available!

January 25, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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Get fit off the bike to perform better on the bike, with BikeFit guided video workouts developed specifically for cyclists! Based on the success of the SkiFit and TriFit programmes we have now developed and launched BikeFit, a programme designed by our own clinical human performance expert Neil Maclean-Martin to increase performance while also developing robustness against injury, especially for all cyclists. This four phase, 8 week programme adopts a similar incremental model to SkiFit with each 50 minute workout building on the last and Continue reading →

Help! I’m going skiing for the first time in 4 weeks!

January 14, 2016 by Tony Lowe
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Ski lessons will make or break your first ski experience – choose a excellent instructor such as the team at BASS St Gervis – Megeve HELP!! I am 52 and have never skied in my life! I am not really fit:( and have 4 weeks to at least make some effort. I also have a problem with one knee so shall have to work around that:( Where would you suggest I start? We recently received this question from a SkiFit user who faces the very Continue reading →

The perfect gift for the skiing fanatic this Christmas!

December 16, 2015 by Tony Lowe
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Give the gift of SkiFit this Christmas
SkiFit, the perfect gift for the skier who has nearly everything… Its that time of year again when we are rushing around in an Xmas party induced fog trying to find gifts for all the family. But what do you buy for that loved one who lives to ski but already has the gloves, the goggles, the socks, the hand warmers, the thermal underwear, the GoPro helmet mount etc? The answer is a simple and cheap gift that will improve their skiing holiday in ways Continue reading →

Learning with the Geeks – snow pits on an avalanche level 2 course

December 16, 2015 by Tony Lowe
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Learning to dig and interpret snow pits with the experts on the Avalanche Geeks level 2 course reveals the benefits and limitations of this technique. Following the great avalanche level 1 course we attended in 2014 with the Avalanche Geeks (AKA Bruce Goodlad and Mike Austin) we followed up this year with a level 2 course. This course over 3 days revisited the same topics of snow, terrain and the human element, but went deeper into more geekery including some very graphic and thought provoking Continue reading →