by John | Aug 17, 2021 | Instructor Training, Zone based Heart Rate Training
Thank You to the 354 of you who have completed our survey!
It is greatly appreciated. Because I chose to keep the survey anonymous, if you asked me to contact you I don't know who's who. Please contact me directly.
My goal is to collect 1,000 responses. If you haven't yet, so please take two minutes to share your experiences. Click here to take the survey
This jumped out at me right away. 61% of respondents are reporting that the primary reason people aren't riding and training with heart rate monitors is that they don't see or understand the value.
Click image to enlarge
Which begs the questions; why not? and as Instructors and Studio Owners is there anything we can do to correct or effect this in a positive way?
My Grandfather loved this quote from Albert Einstein: The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them. John Sr. (I'm actually the third John in my family) would typically remind me of this concept when I would come to him with some problem I had identified. I was interested in his ideas for creating an “Invention” that would be seen as the ultimate solution.
Back in the 90s I was coaching my daughters youth soccer teams. I, like most of the other dad-coaches, was going crazy trying to coordinate which player on the team played when, at what position and for how long. The basic requirement was each kid get equal playing time. With some help from another Dad, I had devised a rather complicated spread sheet at home. I was so proud of my solution 🙂 Now I'm prepared I thought. But when I would get to the game, someone would always be late, or wouldn't show up at all, messing up spreadsheet to the point of being useless. I then resorted to just randomly assigning players during the game. Inevitably some player (or parent) would feel that they weren't treated fairly… not good. I needed a solution and went to John Sr. looking for help.
After discussing and brainstorming solutions, we applied Einstein's thinking; where was my current thinking possibly preventing me from finding a solution to this problem? My desire to treat all the kids on my team fairly made sense and it was the leagues policy that each player receive equal playing time. So we decided that wasn't it. Maybe I could demand that parents have their kids there on time? I'd already tried that without success. How about my need to be prepared before the game? What if I could find a way to create the spread sheet a few minutes before the game actually started? No way. This was years before laptops were popular. What we decided I needed was some type of chart, where I could add the names of the players who were there on time, right before game time. It would also be necessary for me to adjust for players who showed up late or needed to leave early. The end result was the FairTurn Coaching Tool U.S Patent #6,260,845 which I have since sold to another company.
My goal with this survey was to begin applying this process of creative problem solving to the issue of why our students don't see the value of wearing a Heart Rate Monitor. The first step is understanding what we and our club's are doing now. Then we can step back to see if there is anything we are or are not doing currently, that could be contributing to this problem. The next step will be to think differently, in search of some potential solutions. Stay tuned.
Originally posted 2011-05-25 10:14:33.
by John | Aug 14, 2021 | Instructor Training
One of the questions we asked in our latest survey asked; would you be interested in a transcription of our Podcasts? Based on a 87% result in the affirmative, my assistant Laura and I have been busy creating transcripts of our most educational episodes. Not an easy task as accurately “taking dictation” is a real skill – way behind my pathetic typing skills and Laura has a life and two children to care for beyond her commitments helping me.
So we have been auditioning services that offer this service and we have found one that is uncanny in their accuracy 🙂
Now we've got over a dozen in the pipeline and will be notifying you once they're done.
So far we have these three ready for you.
icipro-podcast-206-understanding-ftp-functional-threshold-power-with-cameron-chinatti/
ici-podcast-212-jim-karanas-has-news-and-a-warning-about-bicycle-safety/
ici-podcast-222-larry-link-russell-makes-500-in-a-blink-and-so-can-you/
Originally posted 2012-09-30 18:06:24.
by John | Aug 11, 2021 | Best Practices, Zone based Heart Rate Training
Recommended by ACE – The American Council on Exercise
In Part 1 and Part 2 of Is a 20 Minute Threshold Field Test realistic for your class? I was trying to make the point that although completely appropriate for Endurance Athletes, these 20 minute assessments aren't really appropriate for the typical students in our Indoor Cycling classes.
So if the old 220 – your age is a waste of time, Metabolic Testing is unavailable / too expensive, RPE scales are too subjective and a 20 Minute Field Test isn't practical, what should we use to establish a students Heart Rate Training Zones? And then how do we communicate training intensities in our classes?
I suggest that WE look very strongly at what The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is now recommending with their ACE Integrated Fitness TrainingTM (ACE IFTTM) Model. Follow that link to an exhaustive article on the Two Threshold / Three Zone ACE IFT Model for Cardiorespiratory Training.
Watch this video and then let me know what you think.
A few things that I feel are important to note:
– After watching the video, do you see how you could be conducting a VT1 (Low Threshold) assessment as part of every class you teach?
– This Two Threshold / Three Zone system and the Talk Test method of determining VT1 & VT2 is based on research by Dr. Carl Foster who is presenting at this years conference. Dr. Foster is lecturing on this exact subject 🙂
– The Zoning Blink Heart Rate monitor, with it's Blue – Yellow – Red lights, is based on this same Two Threshold / Three Zone system.
Originally posted 2011-06-25 15:33:38.
by John | Aug 8, 2021 | Free Podcasts
Monday's I'm up at 4:30 to teach my 5:45am cycling class. Many mornings the last thing I want to do is eat something, although I know I probably should. My club has a lot of smart people so I asked our nutritionist, Tyler Young, her thoughts on what all us early spinners should be eating before, during and after our Indoor cycling classes…
If you have additional questions, post a comment and I'll have Tyler respond.
Listen to it here or click the iTunes button to the right to subscribe.
Listen to the show below
We are trying something a little different; the music plays in the background for the whole Podcast. Do you like it this way? Post a comment and let me know.
Originally posted 2019-01-05 07:49:52.
by John | Jul 30, 2021 | iTunes & Spotify Training, Spotify
A member called to my attention that per their Terms and Conditions, Spotify is only permitted for personal use.
Meaning that you agree not to use it in commercial applications.
“That's not good” I thought and I immediately went to read what he was referring to. Here's the T&C page that includes this from Spotify:
3. Grant of license
You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to make personal non-commercial use of the Spotify Software Application (including a right to download said application) and the Spotify Service and to receive by stream (and, where you have purchased the Premium Service or the Mobile Service, by conditional download), and in the case of the purchase of A-La Carte Downloads or Download Bundles, to receive Permanent Downloads of the media content made available through the Spotify Service in your home country. You do not have a right to transfer or sublicense your rights under this Agreement.
Before I got too excited, I decided to check what other Terms and Conditions I have agreed to – who reads those things anyway? It turns out that every music service or music software I use is restricted to Personal Use Only. Let's go down the list:
- iTunes has a similar restriction – (i) You shall be authorized to use iTunes Products only for personal, noncommercial use.
- Windows Media Player from Microsoft – Unless otherwise specified, the Services are for your personal and non-commercial use.
- My copy of MixMeister Express (no link) says: You may only use the MixMeister Software for Your private, non-commercial use.
So am I screwed? Do I need to learn how to perform as a one-man-band?
No
Are you prevented from using Spotify, iTunes, Windows Media Player or MixMeister to produce and deliver music for your class tomorrow?
I'm not an Attorney, so that's going to be your choice. I certainly don't want to be advocating you do something that's potentially in conflict with something you have agreed not to do… but I personally don't see this as comparable with using music that's been illegally downloaded in some fashion. Actually just the opposite 🙂
You've heard me state on this recent Podcast about music licensing that; as a content creator, I'm very much against the distribution of copyrighted materials without due compensation given to the creators.
My feeling is that as long as the studio is properly licensed for playing music, this won't be seen as much of an issue. Music labels are already dealing with the enormous amount of illegal file sharing that happens every day. iTunes changed how many people acquired music by creating a service that's so convenient (and secure) that millions of people would rather pay a $0.99 than waste their time going elsewhere.
Like iTunes, I believe that Spotify can actually reduce the amount of sharing that ends in no revenue for the record labels by offering a convenient method of finding and accessing music.
That said, I want to offer this disclaimer: Links to Spotify playlists you find here are intended for your personal use only.
What do you think about this?
Originally posted 2011-08-22 05:57:40.
