When a student asks what they should purchase for Indoor Cycling Shoes, what do you recommend? Do you have a place to send them? Does your club sell Indoor Cycling Shoes?
If you're only using them for Indoor Cycling classes, then a shoe with a recessed SPD cleat is the best choice. Often refered to as Mountain Bike shoes, you'll find they are easy to walk on and won't scratch the floor. Every pedal you will find and a studio these days will have a SPD on one side.
Here are links to a number of suggestions at Amazon.com which has as good a pricing as anyone and you can't beat Amazon's easy return policies.
I ride a lot outdoors and prefer a conventional “Cycling Shoe” that has an exposed cleat – I have used Look cleats on all of my road bikes. My feet are very wide and flat. After suffering with ill fitting shoes in a “regular” width for years, I finally broke down and purchased a pair of Sidi Mega Road Cycling Shoes. Yes I know they are expensive. I've had mine for at least ten years and other than looking a bit faded, they are as comfy as ever.
I should add that I wear my Sidi's with Superfeet supportive insoles that prevent my feet from rolling inward, which takes a lot of stress off my knees.
I'm a big Shazamer (not sure if that's a real word) cause I'm constantly Shazaming music I hear throughout my day. Watching TV, in the car, during other Instructor's class – pretty much anywhere. I've even looked into finding a way to create a “hot button” on my iPhone so I could quicken the process of having Shazam start listening with just a single action. I don't use Siri and would love to be able to just press and hold the “Home” button and have it launch Shazam.
But all of this Shazaming created some frustration for me. Once Shazam has identified a track, I still needed to type the name / artist into Spotify search to listen to it or add it to my Future to use playlist.
So I consulted the all-knowing Google and found that Shazam Encore, the premium version of Shazam, offers the option to open a track in Spotify!
Encore has the option to purchase the App for a year ($4.99) or lifetime ($6.99) – I opted for one year plan but that link takes you to the lifetime page – scroll down for options.
Once you have updated to Encore here's how to get a tagged track into Spotify:
Start by creating a special playlist in Spotify for your Shazamed tracks so you have a place for them.
Shazam a song.
Scroll down to see the Spotify option and select it.
Spotify will open in search, so it may gave you multiple choices – Shazam isn't telling Spotify the exact song, just the track name.
To the right of the track name is a circle with ***
Select it and then Add to Playlist > choose your playlist 🙂
There are other advantages to Encore:
No more advertising
It appears to run quicker / answers come much faster – I'm willing to bet Shazam purposely delays it's response so the advertisements are displayed longer.
I want everyone to meet Steve Frank – Master Instructor with the Indoor Cycling Group/LIVESTONG Fitness.
Steve and I met in Chicago last month at club industry. I knew instantly he would be someone you'd enjoy meeting and a wonderful addition to our ICI/PRO Team.
Why?
I meet a lot of people in the fitness business. Don't get me wrong, many are wonderful people, with impressive titles and accomplishments… it's just that many tend to spend all their time talking about how cool or important they feel they are 🙁
But when I met Steve, his first concern was; “how can I help?” When (in my interviewer mode) I asked to know more about him, he instead talked about his team at ICG – LIVESTRONG. I pushed him further; “what else do you do, besides your roll as a MI?” “I help people become more successful in their personal and business lives”. Steve has a personal & professional coaching business – like many fitness professionals, Steve has more than just one occupation.
I need to tell you how refreshing it is to work with people who are committed to helping other people and not just interested in promoting themselves.
In the course of conducting 140 or so interviews I've learned that finding where someone's passions lie is really important to an entertaining and interesting interview. To find out I typically have a sort of pre-interview with new guests. It's during this time that I'm listening for clues that I will use to steer the conversation.
Listen to this interview I recorded last month with Steve. See if you can tell what where his passion lies.
I'll give you a hint – beyond being part of ICG/LIVESTRONG, it's being part of this Team
I've always wanted to use this picture – Yes, he landed it
New Audio PROfile from MI Tom Scotto
DESCRIPTION
This class targets the high-end fitness of your riders including their aerobic, anaerobic and muscular capacity — their upmost limits. Although all of their limits are challenged, the greater focus is placed on anaerobic endurance. Specifically, how long can a rider last at an intensity when a great amount of energy must be produced and sustained anaerobically (with insufficient oxygen supply).
Tom is using some custom length songs that prevent a complete Spotify Playlist. Here's a partial list in Spotify and Deezer – you can supplement some short tracks from your library.
Occasionally I'll see stories pop up where a class participant writes a review of an Indoor Cycling class he or she took. What makes this review noteworthy is that Bryan Ganey, the writer of this review, has lost an incredible 400 pounds and has written a book about his surgery-free, weight loss journey.
First Bryan's review of CHS Revolution and then more about Bryan below.
Review: The CHS Revolution indoor cycling studio in Charleston, SC
Tired of the same boring workout on the treadmill or the elliptical at the gym? Well read on, my friends.
I had the pleasure today of visiting the CHS Revolution indoor cycling studio in downtown Charleston, SC. I was contacted by their fantastic PR person Demi Bean and asked to bring my friends to try out their studio and write a review. This is my review.
… My group was 8 people strong, including my friends, myself, Demi and Katie. We were all set. They took us into the workout room where all the spin bikes were. Katie [Instructor Katie Blaylock] took her place up on the platform in front of the room with her headset and tablet, which appeared to control the music and lights. It's all very state-of-the-art. Katie explained how everything worked and Demi helped me set the height on my spin bike. We were off and running.
Once the music started and the workout began, it became clear that I was going to sweat – a lot. You want a full body workout? This is it. Katie had us speed up, slow down, increase the resistance using the knob on the bike (“a quarter turn!”) Stand up. Sit down. Katie worked us hard and I loved it.
Then she had us do push-ups of sorts on the bikes as we were pedaling. I love this. Make it harder! The 45 minutes went by in a flash and then, near the end, something I loved: resistance training. They had 2 small weights (5 pounds maybe?) sitting on the bike to use. You can get an incredible workout lifting small weights repeatedly and Katie worked us out good.
The whole workout was a real rush. In addition to revving up your metabolism, you're getting an intense cardio workout as well as arms, legs and upper body. I've never sweat so much during a workout in my life.
I find reviews like this very refreshing. It doesn't sound like he has had much exposure to Indoor Cycling. I'm guessing Bryan was completely sold on CHS Revolution and Instructor Katie Blaylock, by the end of class.
This 4:28 minute video about Brian overcoming his lifelong struggle with his weight is very inspiring.
If you're interested in learning more about his book; IMPOSSIBLE: How I Lost Nearly 400 Pounds Without Surgeryhere's the link to his page at Amazon.com
When a student asks what they should purchase for Indoor Cycling Shoes, what do you recommend? Do you have a place to send them? Does your club sell Indoor Cycling Shoes?
