While the CAROL appears to be a basic spin bike, it’s actually enhanced by AI (Artificial Intelligence) to create a workout that is optimized to be the most absolutely effective it can be for you and your body at that moment in time. The CAROL bike derives its name from what it uses to power your workouts: Cardiovascular Optimization Logic. According to their website, the CAROL bike offers, “AI-powered workouts proven to give you the benefits of a 45-minute run in as little as 5 minutes.”
Sounds pretty cool, right? But how does CAROL do what initially sounds like the impossible? Like the rest of the equipment at the Smart Fit Method, it does this by using constant measurement and adjustment to adapt so that you do not overwork and do not underwork at any point throughout your workout. This all happens behind the scenes as CAROL harnesses a thousand different resistance points and, based on your actual fitness level combined with your wattage on the machine and your heart rate as you go, adjusts your workout accordingly.
To better understand why this translates into such fast results, take a look at the CAROL workout we ask you to do here at Smart Fit. The protocol happens in two phases:
PROTOCOL 1: The REHIT Ride
In the first phase of your workout, CAROL asks you to begin with a REHIT (Reduced Exertion High-intensity Interval Training) protocol. This is a new, improved form of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) that allows you to achieve what is known as “super maximal effort” in just two 20-second sprints, separated by a short recovery. The whole workout lasts as little as just under 9 minutes, whereas a typical HIIT program lasts about 30 minutes and is extremely difficult for most of us.
Where HIIT offers high-intensity training, REHIT offers maximum intensity training. This pushes your body to new limits, making you much stronger and fitter in two, very precisely calibrated sprints. This time of two 20-second sprints, by the way, is exactly what has been found to be the maximum amount of effort you can put on the bike for the exact amount of time to achieve maximum results in a very short period. Think you can increase results by bumping up time or number of intervals? Don’t do it. This is the winning combo of reps and time to get the kind of results that would otherwise take you five or six times longer and a whole lot more work.
An awesome side note: one of the best things about this protocol, in addition to being short and sweet, is that research shows that it depletes your glycogen levels very quickly. By doing this, it puts you in a fat-burning state for the rest of the day. The ripple effect, therefore, is pretty miraculous.
PROTOCOL 2: The Fat Burn 30
The second phase of your CAROL workout at Smart Fit, the Fatburn 30, burns nine times more fat than a typical 45-minute run or jog! By constantly measuring heart rate and keeping you in your “fat burn zone” (80 – 85% of your maximum heart rate) throughout the entire ride, the machine allows you to burn fat without burning unnecessary glycogen. This can also be more beneficial when it comes to building cardiovascular strength.
This kind of heart rate training is becoming the new standard to determine when the body is burning fat versus carbohydrates– sometimes referred to as aerobic versus anaerobic. Working out at our maximum aerobic function (MAF) allows the body to oxidize fat for energy. In this way, CAROL is a perfect tool to both optimize our cardio, as well as to burn fat.
CAROL AND THE SMART FIT METHOD
The beauty of the CAROL at Smart Fit is that it allows us to simultaneously optimize your cardio and help you burn fat, all while tracking your cardiovascular improvement over time…and boy is it improving. On average with our clients, we’ve seen an 18% improvement in their octane score, which is an 18% improvement in their fitness level overall. Your octane score is 98% equivalent to one’s VO2max, which is the most popular way of testing one’s cardiovascular strength—a huge marker for increased longevity.
The fact that our clients see an 18% jump in their octane score is really cause for celebration as we see it, because the implications for improving your longevity is by boosting cardiovascular health is well-researched and encouraging. In fact, many longevity doctors will use VO2max improvements as the sole main benchmark for measuring longevity overall. While we at Smart Fit believes in multiple benchmarks, VO2max is certainly a very important one.
In summary, the CAROL workout will make you fitter, faster, leaner, and what’s more, you’re going to live longer using the CAROL bike on a regular basis. Oh, and by the way, these two protocols combined only take a mere 23 minutes of your day, so CAROL saves you time as well. Ready to jump on one? Stop on by!