by Joan Kent | Jan 27, 2014 | Best Practices, Engage Your Students, Master Instructor Blog
By Joan Kent
The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail. — Charles Swindoll
Do you do any writing in your work — blogs, website copy, ads, emails, posts, salesletters? Do you have lots to say, but no confidence in your ability to write it?
Writing intimidates many people. As a result, they avoid it or feel a sense of dread whenever they’re stuck writing something. The result could be missed deadlines, or a stilted, awkward article, post, letter, whatever the occasion requires. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Investing in a good developmental editor and/or copywriter is as important for your business as any other expense you see fit to justify as essential.
Writing style, grammar, sentence structure, parallel structure. The very words sound quaint as I write them. Some people couldn’t even define that last phrase. But their absence simply reeks of slovenliness.
As we know, professionalism is a matter of details. Just think of how many details go into the teaching of a single indoor cycling class: room management, music selection and recording, video selection and use, your workout plan, your training concept, any exercise science you plan to teach, any philosophy of training that matches the day’s workout, personal anecdotes that illustrate the point behind the day’s class, creating the right atmosphere, motivational messages, and more.
If you took a class taught by an instructor who neglected these important details, what would you conclude? ‘Professionalism’ wouldn’t be in your description.
So why would written work be any less important? The written word lasts. If only for that reason, the details of written messaging should be given the time and attention they require. William Feather said, “Beware of the person who can’t be bothered by details.”
There are many reasons to pay attention to our writing. Making sure our meaning is clear comes first. That’s made possible by using the appropriate tone, whether it’s formal, academic, or casual and conversational. The first two are not the only ones that matter.
The power of any message also hinges on both clarity and brevity. Avoid rambling. Unless you’re writing your own blog and hunting daily for material, don’t waste time in your posts describing the clouds in the sky as you sip your coffee while thinking about the topic you’re about to cover for Cyclotronic Cecil’s Cyclo-sation website. Get to the content and make it clear.
Another important element is grammar. Sure, I’m dating myself, but I insist that good grammar matters. Don’t kid yourself. Your readers — and not just the old ones like me — are, in fact, cringing as they read those embarrassing mistakes.
My tip on this is to avoid language trends. They always go in the direction of worsening illiteracy. Just because everyone around you says, “I could care less,” doesn’t make it right. If you don’t care, it’s correct to say you “couldn’t care less.” Think about it for a moment.
But I digress.
The point of this post is that a good editor/copywriter is a wise investment. He or she can polish stale prose, make you sound even smarter than you feel(!) when putting your ideas in writing, and leave you with the confidence that you’ve done the job well.
The attention to detail will show in your growing reputation for professionalism. You deserve that. You spend that kind of time on your teaching. Don’t neglect your writing when help is easy to find.
Give attention to the details and excellence will come. — Perry Paxton
by Joan Kent | Jan 13, 2014 | Big Box Instructor, Master Instructor Blog
By Joan Kent
Johnny G, legendary creator of Spinning and all indoor cycling, as well as Kranking, teaches three elements of training — rhythm, timing and breathing. From him, I borrowed the idea of opening each quarter of training with these concepts, one each day.
Day 1 is about rhythm. This is not following a beat; that’s actually a matter of timing. It’s about feeling our own rhythm within, our sense of aliveness. That sense is always there but can be obscured by internal noise — thinking, unfocused attention, and so on. If you can quiet your mind enough to feel it, you’ll always train with peace and a sense of joy.
Day 2 is about timing. You can explain cadence and work on drills involving cadence changes. I added my own “spin” on it by teaching the close connection between timing and technique. Most mistakes in technique are mistakes in timing.
Technique is important for safety, efficiency (we waste less energy), and the optimal application of power. The mechanics of the pedal or Krank stroke stay essentially the same at any cadence, despite the change in timing. That’s where cadence work becomes essential. Beatmatch is a terrific tool in cadence drills.
Another timing element is more apparent in movement sequences than in continuous circles — summation of forces. Force summation requires correct timing and sequencing of body segments and muscles throughout the motion. As you may know, combining correct timing and sequencing from large muscles to smaller ones results in maximum force. Before energy is lost from the first — and largest — muscle group, force from the next largest is added to it, continuing through the sequence and creating max force.
Some of you may have analyzed the pedal stroke in such a way that you can give a perfect breakdown of each segment of the pedal stroke in terms of force summation. I’d love to hear from you on that.
Day 3 is about breathing. Sustained power depends, of course, on oxygen delivery to muscle, and hard training is made possible by efficient breathing. A basic drill is to inhale and exhale with a consistent rhythm, so that the number of breaths matches up with a specific number of pedal strokes in any given time (say, 1 minute). Focus on basic abdominal breathing. Participants have called it “yoga breathing” because inhaling and exhaling both start in the abdomen.
Then run a cadence ladder and note how the match-up of breathing and pedal stroke changes with the increase in power and heart rate.
Another “spin” on breathing comes from my martial arts background. Power is created when we exhale. In karate, the kiai is performed not to shout and make noise, but to generate a moment of great focus of power. In tennis matches, we hear the forceful sound of the players exhaling. Pedaling is continuous, so there’s no specific moment where we focus power. Instead, we can create one. It can be any part of the pedal stroke that feels like an application of power, but it should be at that same point on each exhalation.
The final breathing drill was another Johnny G technique: uneven breathing. The even rhythm the rider has established between pedal stroke and breathing now changes to make the exhale one pedal stroke shorter (and sharper) than the inhale. (Inhale for, say, 4 down-strokes. Exhale for 3.) This takes practice but is a fantastic way to focus. (I did it for 40 minutes one morning, and my very experienced core knew it had done some serious work.)
At any rate, it’s a new year. It seems that one great way to start January — even in a class that’s been running continuously since last year — could be to go back to the beginning of indoor cycling, back to the basics, back to the underlying factors behind the basics, and back to our IC roots.
Then take off from a solid foundation for a great year of training. Happy New Year.
by Joan Kent | Dec 30, 2013 | Health and Wellness, Master Instructor Blog
By Joan Kent, Ph.D.
I’ve posted recently about dietary influences on PMS, and thought it might also be appropriate to discuss menopause and how your older students can use food to help alleviate symptoms.
Brain chemical changes of menopause resemble those of PMS: reduced serotonin and beta-endorphin. So in a sense, menopause is almost permanent PMS. (No comment.)
The most common menopause sign is the occurrence of hot flashes. Hot flashes are best eliminated by limiting or avoiding dairy foods, animal fats, red meat, caffeine, white flour, alcohol, and fried foods. The most significant change you can make, however, is to eliminate sugar. That may need to include fruits. Sure, you’ve heard me rail against sugar before. But anecdotally, I can tell you that I had hot flashes only 3 times — always after I had indulged in fruit (beyond my usual apple or two per day).
Getting enough calcium is important for bone health. Nondairy sources of calcium include broccoli, kale, kelp, mustard greens, dandelion greens, turnip greens, collard greens, and sesame seeds.
Keeping insulin secretion low can help with calcium retention. Minimize insulin by limiting the foods in the “hot flash” list above. Eat only when you’re hungry. Eat smaller, more frequent meals. Avoid high-carb meals (or a high-carb diet generally). Make carbs COMPLEX (sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, etc.), and eat lean protein and unsaturated fats with every meal or snack.
Phytoestrogens are another good way to alleviate menopause discomfort. Celery, parsley, nuts, seeds are foods that contain phytoestrogens. Soy contains phytoestrogens, although soy is a somewhat controversial food. Let’s table that debate for now and include fermented soy (miso, tempeh, natto) in the phytoestrogen-containing group.
Eat an all-starch snack, such as brown rice or a potato, about an hour or so before bed. This is designed to shift brain chemistry and help the brain make serotonin, which has a relaxing effect and is also the precursor of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
Eat ½ to 1 teaspoon of acidophilus yogurt daily. Note the small amount. Even if you’re avoiding dairy, this won’t be enough to cause hot flashes, and the probiotic benefits are worth it. Other probiotic foods include real sauerkraut and kimchee.
Eat “good” fats to control cravings for sugar and other carbs. Examples are nuts, nut butters (unprocessed, without sugar), seeds, and avocados; also olive, canola, and walnut oils. More below.
Essential fatty acids are great to add to your diet. (Essential means we can’t make it in the body and have to get it from food.) Cold-water fish, ground flaxseed or flaxseed oil, and walnuts supply a good array of EFA. Another, somewhat surprising, way is to eat lots of leafy green vegetables, such as spinach and other greens in the nondairy calcium list above. We don’t think of leafy vegetables as containing fats — and they don’t contain much — but every bit of the fat in them is an essential fat, alpha-linolenic acid.
Stress management techniques can help. Chronic stress worsens symptoms, increases insulin secretion, decreases serotonin and beta-endorphin even more, induces depression, and increases appetite and food cravings. Stress management techniques can include meditation, acupuncture, and heat to raise body temperature (sauna, steam, whirlpool, hot bath or shower).
The #1 stress management technique is exercise! Exercise raises beta-endorphin and serotonin, minimizes insulin secretion by making muscle more sensitive to insulin (so we produce less), improves mood, and reduces insomnia, fatigue, and food cravings. Encourage students who have symptoms to use your classes to help manage them.
Here’s to eating right and regular indoor cycling classes as part of a lifelong health strategy, not just to combat menopause discomfort.
by Joan Kent | Dec 16, 2013 | Big Box Instructor, Health and Wellness, Master Instructor Blog
By Joan Kent.
Several months ago, John interviewed Micah Zuhl, doctoral candidate at UNM, for an ICI/PRO Podcast. Among the questions John asked was which Zuhl considered better — high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or endurance training.
Zuhl’s answer wasn’t entirely clear to me; he sounded somewhat back-and-forth. But he did emphasize the need to give cycling students some intensity, along with some variety. He used the well-known phrase “change it up.”
Let me make it clear that I have absolutely nothing against HIIT. I use it frequently in my own training and have used it when teaching, as well.
Virtually any vigorous exercise, including indoor cycling, will trigger the release of beta-endorphin. That’s neither good nor bad, just what is. The more intense the exercise, the greater the beta-endorphin release will be. No doubt that’s one reason cycling students enjoy — or even prefer — harder workouts.
When it comes to comparing HIIT to endurance training, though, I’ve noticed something interesting, and I’m definitely not including Micah Zuhl in this statement, because he was asked the question by John and didn’t bring it up himself.
Diehard HIIT advocates always seem to measure the benefits of HIIT against the lamest cardio they can find, then proudly proclaim that HIIT provides superior results. Have you noticed?
In reality, we don’t have to choose between long, slow nothing and HIIT. If you train right, and train hard, you can go hard AND long. HIIT alone won’t necessarily provide that training adaptation.
My background has taught me that progressive, periodized training can develop a power/endurance dyad, along with a mental discipline that short-duration bursts typically don’t. Jim Karanas posted much on this website on the mental, emotional, even spiritual, benefits of endurance training. I frequently use HIIT as part of a long, structured, “authentic” training.
Having said all of that, I’d like to switch directions. I also use HIIT when my day is slammed and I need to resort to my BTN Workout. (BTN means “better than nothing.”)
One of the convenient features of HIIT is how little time it takes. At this time of year, being able to fit in a short workout is very helpful.
Here’s an 11-minute format that I devised for the Stairmaster (I’m lucky enough to have one at home), but it can be done on any piece of cardio equipment. Set the timer, if you have one, for 11 minutes. On the Stairmaster, every workout is divided into 30 vertical rows of a duration that depends on the programmed time. An 11-minute workout yields 30 rows of 22 seconds each.
I warm up for 9 rows. That takes 3 minutes, 18 seconds. Every 3 rows, I increase the intensity by 1 MET. (Each vertical dot is another MET.) Then I begin my intervals.
The remaining time allows for 7 intervals total. The work segment is 2 rows (44 seconds), followed by a recovery of 1 row (22 seconds). The first work interval is moderately hard, a transition between the warm-up and the hard work to come. The other 6 intervals are done as high as the Stairmaster can go. I drop down in the recovery period to the level-3 warm-up intensity, but no lower.
If I find myself leaning on the Stairmaster during the work segment, I back off one vertical dot (1 MET) until I get back to good, disciplined form. It’s rare that I need to back off more than one, but I’ve dropped 2 METS once or twice. The goal is not to take extra recovery, just to regain good form and make it harder.
If you’re at all like me, you prefer a serious cycling training to something like this. Still, the BTN approach can be used so easily, and on anything. It’s gotten me through insane scheduling more than once. I’ve done it on my indoor cycle, too, and it works. This approach could help students who are over-scheduled and missing classes this season.
Sure, it’s just BTN for enthusiastic indoor cycling fans, but it’s HIIT, which we know is authentic training. Better than nothing when there’s no time for more, yes?
by Joan Kent | Dec 10, 2013 | Health and Wellness
By Joan Kent
B vitamins play an important role in several brain functions. Below are descriptions of some of those functions and lists of foods that contain the specific vitamin. A deficiency in one B vitamin is possible, but, as a rule, the deficiencies tend to occur in clusters.
Thiamin
You may know that thiamin deficiency leads to beriberi. Thiamin deficiency can change serotonin function. For example, it can increase serotonin in specific brain areas, changing sleep patterns for the worse. Thiamin deficiency may also cause behaviors associated with depression, and has been linked with dysfunction of two other important brain chemicals — dopamine and norepinephrine.
Good sources of thiamin include organ meats, pork, peas, beans, and unrefined grains. Deficiency can be caused by carb-heavy diets of refined foods (sugar, white flour, white rice).
Niacin
Niacin deficiency results in pellagra, associated with dermatitis, diarrhea and dementia. Niacin can be made from dietary tryptophan, an amino acid. Since protein-containing foods (eggs, meat, poultry, fish) are significant sources of both niacin and tryptophan, a low-protein diet could be a cause of niacin deficiency. Nuts and legumes are other sources of niacin.
Vitamin B6
B6 plays a significant role in protein, carb, and lipid metabolism and the formation of red blood cells. It’s also critical in brain chemical function.
The conversion of tryptophan to serotonin depends on B6. Low B6 may be involved in low serotonin levels, particularly in women, who have higher turnover rates of brain serotonin than men do.
PMS is associated with lowered serotonin. The most common type of PMS, involves anxiety, irritability and nervous tension. It’s found in women who consume excessive amounts of refined sugar and dairy products, both poor sources of B6. This type of PMS responds well to B6.
B6 deficiency is associated with psychological distress, depression, fatigue and confusion. Since B6 is necessary for the synthesis of serotonin, lower serotonin due to B6 deficiency is considered a primary factor. Administration of B6 has been shown to decrease psychological distress.
B6 deficiency may also reduce melatonin production because melatonin is synthesized from serotonin. Reduced melatonin, the “sleep hormone”, may disturb sleep patterns.
B6 is also important in the production of dopamine, norepinephrine, GABA and other neurotransmitters. Low levels of dopamine and norepinephrine are associated, respectively, with lack of pleasure (anhedonia) and depression.
B6 deficiency may cause neurological abnormalities in human infants and impaired immune function.
The richest sources of B6 tend to be chicken, fish, kidney, liver, pork, and eggs. Other good sources include lima beans, brown rice, whole grains, soy, peanuts, walnuts, avocados, and vegetables. Processed grains lose considerable B6. Alcohol destroys B6, reducing serotonin.
Folate
Folate deficiency occurs often in depression, and folate administration often reverses depressive symptoms. Low folate has been linked with poor response to certain antidepressants (SSRIs).
Good sources of folate are beef, lamb, pork, chicken liver, eggs, salmon, and green leafy vegetables. Alcohol consumption causes folate malabsorption. All folate is lost from refined foods, such as sugars.
As you can see, B vitamins are often found in protein foods, so keeping the protein content of your diet high can help maintain levels of several B vitamins.
Final point: B vitamins are the key players in the only Nutrition Magic I know. If you have a craving — for sugar, white flour, alcohol, nicotine, or almost anything — a teaspoon of liquid B-complex can take it away within minutes. It can truly feel like magic.
