I've been getting much of musical inspiration from Movie soundtracks as of late. I'm still digging Zack Hemsey — Vengeance that I first heard used in the movie The Equalizer.
The beauty of the Internet (at leased for now) is how easy it is to find best soundtracks, from movies I'll probably never see. This website has a fun list that I've been working off of. Reviews of Wish I Was Here weren't very good, but it did include this gem. [wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
Brandon Boyd — Runaway Train is a very complex track. It's in 4/6 time (a waltz) so it's counted out as; one, two, three, four, five, six – or more simply; one, two, three, one, two, three. Waltzes are very helpful for the rhythmically challenged (primarily men) and (being a man) I know this irregular pattern is easier to catch and pedal to 🙂
Add in all of the stereo effects and powerful drums, this track could reach some folks that your normal mix doesn't.
Epic Planet just released a new DVD/Video you can use in your classes!
The Tour of the West – Volume 1 – Intervals
[They are also offering a 30% discount on all digital downloads – the company is based in Florida and the producer is feeling a little sorry for all of us stuck in the cold/snow & ice]
Just enter Coupon Code BIGFREEZE at checkout to get 30% off on downloads.
An interesting concept – take the best segments, from your most popular full length videos and string them together as a FUN series of intervals.
Take your class to 10 amazing locations all over the U.S. West, including:
Sedona, AZ
Wine Country, Napa, Ca
Saguaro East National Park, Tucson, AZ
Mt. Lemmon, Tucson, AZ
Monument Valley, UT
Beartooth Pass, Red Lodge, MT
Great Western Loop, San Diego, CA
Mt. Baldy, Glendora, CA
The Maroon Bells, Aspen, CO
Mt. Evans, Idaho Falls, CO
This epicRIDE has it all: flats, rolling country, and BIG hills!
As a training tool – running a PTP test/assessment is invaluable!
We had some excellent questions from Studio Owners this past weekend during our Full Psycle/PRO PIQ workshop. Paul Harmeling addressed these two related questions during the Q&A – I wanted to offer my thoughts on it here:
When, or how often, should we be using using the PTP (Personal Threshold Power) mode screen?
What exactly should we have our riders doing, during the PTP (Calc) test/assessment?
First, for those currently not using a Display System in your studio, let me explain what we're talking about. NOTE: I'll focus on Performance IQ because I know it much better – all of this has similar application with Spivi.
On a related note, I learned a little known trick that could potentially save a new studio enough money to pay for PIQ or Spivi – contact me if you're interested in learning more.
The PTP (Personal Threshold Power) mode screen in PIQ offers a quick (just three minutes) and simple tool to give your riders an approximate understanding of their maximum sustainable power wattage. Then through the wonders of technology, PIQ creates 5 power zones and displays them as different colors. The system calculates PTP as 90% of the highest sustainable power each rider can sustain for the length of the three minute test.
Is PTP as accurate as a 20 Threshold assessment? It doesn't matter to ~98.5% of your riders. What is important is that PTP answers the question that I've heard over and over the past 3 years I've been teaching with power: how hard should I be working… when you ask me to work hard?
So on to the questions:
When, or how often, should we be using using the PTP (Personal Threshold Power) mode screen?
Paul and I are in agreement here – we both feel you should be including PTP in most, if not all classes. There are of course exceptions. You may have a teams challenge scheduled or focus on a class that's directed toward handicapping everyone based on watts/pound.
What exactly should we have our riders doing, during the PTP (Calc) test/assessment?
Here's where Paul and I diverge in our thinking. I see this as a time for a focused effort in the saddle with a consistent cadence, where Paul was saying (and he demonstrated during the Master Class) that he's open to varying position and/or cadence. So who's right? I feel we both are 🙂
You see we each teach very different classes. Mine are typically focused efforts in the saddle = how I would run my PTP tests. Paul's classes are much more frenetic, with frequent changes = that's how he conducts his PTP segments.
Here's mine:
Running a PTP test isn't any different from the Best Effort intervals we suggest you use in a power class that doesn't have a Display Training system. Here's one I included in a recent Performance Cycle class.
Track #2 — the first PTP track is important. We’ll use this average wattage for each of the four PTP efforts to follow. Everyone seemed to enjoy Billy Idol — Rebel Yell — 1999 — Remaster — maybe suffered a bit as well. At 4:47 there’s plenty of time to explore PTP.
We use the Stage button to reset the averages at the beginning of what I describe as; Your Best Sustainable Effort. It’s normal for riders to miss-judge where they should be, so I’ll often have everyone make needed adjustments and hit the Stage button again to reset the averages.
My experience is that everyone will benefit from from a few mini (30-60 secs) PTP efforts to figure out where you should be. On any of the magnetic bikes I like to have find a reasonably challenging climb at around 65 RPM and then have riders accelerate to over 80RPM and observe what it feels like (RPE) and the wattage.
Two or three of these short intervals should give your peeps a watts window they can shoot for during the actual 3 minute PTP test.
I ask everyone to stand and walk, without touching the resistance, for a minute recovery.
To start the PTP test, I'll cue up a track like 83RPM Billy Idol — Rebel Yell and cue finding the cadence. Ten seconds to get everyone there and I will click Calc PTP. Encourage everyone to do whatever it takes to complete the assessment and let the technology work it's magic, figuring everyone's training zones.
Personal Trainer Stacie Clark was the first “Next Fitness Star” chosen by Women’s Health magazine – are you next?
I love helping Instructors become more successful – in fact my whole business plan is based on providing the platform Smart & Talented Instructors need to launch their careers 🙂
I was contacted today with another opportunity for you…
Women’s Health is launching its 3rd annual search for The Next Fitness Star. Year one winner Stacie Clark and year two winner Emily Schromm have had their careers transform and takeoff after taking the win and we are opening up auditions for 2015 now. I wanted to see if you'd like to share this information with your network of trainers.
Five finalists will be chosen to compete for the winning slot. They will appear on the July/August flip cover of Women’s Health (as well as a beautiful feature inside the issue) and much, much more. The winner will receive their own DVD contract, marketing plan and a huge feature in the January 2016 issue, plus a full scale marketing plan to help their business. This is an amazing opportunity and we are looking to have fitness trainers (of all levels and types) to apply. NOTE: You need to apply before February 27th 2015 to be considered.
Not being a reader of Womens Health – I wasn't previously aware of this contest or how Stacie Clark, a local personal trainer here in Minnesota, was the winner of the first Next Fitness Star.
Clark was recently crowned the “Next Fitness Star” by Women’s Health magazine. In the latest issue, her workout secrets are featured in a six-page spread. She beat out thousands of applicants to win the title. One of the spoils of her victory: a starring role in a new DVD fitness series called “The Women’s Health Power Sculpt Series with Stacie Clark DVD” ($28, available atwww.thenextfitnessstar.com/jan).
Clark comes from humble roots, a farm kid from Indiana. She led an active life growing up, but hit a wall in college. Forty pounds later, she walked into a gym and took a job there – so she could get fit for free. “I got in the best shape of my life,” Clark said. “That’s when I lost the weight, and then I never let it go.”
Today, she’s a certified trainer and co-owner of Tiger Fit Studio in Plymouth. For Clark, fitness is more than a profession: “This is my lifestyle.”
All I ask in exchange… is that you don't forget me when you're famous 🙂
I had an awesome phone call from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) today. The nice man told me that because of our sterling (we've never had a complaint) reputation, the BBB had upgraded our company's rating to A+… their highest rating 🙂
Like many other business, our actual name (Deep Breath In, LLC) is different from how we are known publicly – indoorcycleinstructor.com and ICI/PRO. The only place you'd see our name is on your credit card statement – which has to be listed as Deep Breath In, LLC vs. ICI/PRO. This has, at times, created some confusion; “honey, what's this charge on our credit card from Deep Breath In, LLC?”
Of course that wasn't the only reason why he called – the BBB offers a special “Accreditation” (which would remove the “This Business is not BBB Accredited” notification) for an annual fee of $490.00. I thanked him for recognising that we take very good care of our ICI/PRO members, but I would pass on the additional expense.
Is your business BBB Accredited? I don't know for sure, but I'll bet that it's more important for higher ticket products or services. I am curious to know if you feel it's worth the $500.00 a year cost.
