From Sedentary To Strong: Ross Kirkwood's Journey To Restore His Fitness With Wattbike

Discovering Wattbike: A Turning Point in Ross Kirkwood's Fitness Journey

Ross Kirkwood, a previous medical student at University of Edinburgh discovered the Wattbike at the University of Edinburgh's gym to find his way back to health and fitness.

Here is his story and how one bike changed his life!

Growing up, I was always involved in sports. Highlights were competing at the Scotland National Open Swimming Championships during high school, and representing Scotland under 20s for Volleyball at university, along with back-to-back third place finishes at British University and College Sport finals.

In my mid twenties I started to really struggle with my mental health, becoming very sedentary and regularly overeating. By the summer of 2021 I peaked at 155kg – at 6’1, that gave me a BMI of around 45, putting my health at a high risk.

Realising I desperately needed to make a change, I began working on my fitness again, first with short walks then slowly building from there. A few months in, I got a gym membership and regularly did sessions on exercise bikes in order to push myself. Then in January of 2022, a member of staff – Neil MacCuish at the University of Edinburgh - Sport & Exercise gym – noticed I’d been using the bike regularly and very kindly gave me an induction on the Wattbike. After enduring my first FTP test, I was hooked.

Breaking Through: How Structured Workouts on Wattbike App Transformed Ross' Training

The first thing that appealed to me about the Wattbike was the app. It felt great having a record of your previous workouts and test scores as it gives a perspective of your improvement over time. It’s incredibly motivating.

The Power of Progress:

I also love having the option of picking a workout based on what I am trying to improve – and how fatigued I feel – before starting. Feeling like I’m making progress with my fitness has helped build my confidence in everyday life too.  Having so many workouts to choose from prevents training from feeling repetitive.

Beforehand, I had been training consistently but without any real goal besides weight loss. Those sessions had been unstructured, typically consisting of me holding as good a pace as I could manage for 40-60 mins which could get quite boring. But having an app full of structured workouts created by cycling experts, that are tailored to your fitness levels makes sessions feel so much more productive.

My first 20 minute test gave me an FTP of 231, and my latest was 324. Each retest and subsequent rise in FTP has been so motivating – it feels like validation for the sessions you have completed in the weeks and months leading up to it.

Ross' Favorites Session:

Up and Under 10s. In his words,

“it feels like you are really pushing a good pace during the intervals, and there’s a great sense of accomplishment after completing them.” 

Sustaining Success: How Wattbike Helped Ross Maintain Weight Loss and a Passion for Exercise

I have also completed a couple of longer rides, with my best time being 2 hours and 36 minutes for 100km. Training on the Wattbike has helped me lose weight, but more importantly it’s helped to keep it off.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Wattbike has turned exercising from something I felt like I should be doing into something I am passionate about.

Why not take a leaf out of Ross' book and transform your fitness with the Wattbike?