by John | Sep 24, 2014 | Health and Wellness, Instructor Tech Help, Your Fitness Business, Zone based Heart Rate Training
The Scosche armband heart rate strap uses optical sensors to “see” the pulses of blood flow in the blood vessels in your arm. Groundbreaking technology and pretty cool stuff if you ask me. Anything to get rid of those monitor chest straps will be an improvement. I feel this will result in a greater number of people training more effectively. You can read an earlier post where I describe the Scosche as possibly the best heart rate monitor strap option for participants in our classes that include any of the new Indoor Cycles with power consoles – except the Keiser M3 or M3i.
The new Apple iWatch uses the same optical sensor technology and it will be interesting to see how the two match up.
Jon Ham is a fitness consultant to Scosche and has written a detailed comparison between what he sees as the differences between the Scosche and the iWatch. You can read it here. [Understand that Jon's comments about the iWatch are based on information provided by Apple – the iWatch isn't available for purchase yet.]
As a side note, I've been trading emails with a former Schwinn Master Trainer who's involved in the iWatch project and (fingers crossed) I hope to interview him about the fitness applications of the iWatch once it's released.
The part I found most interesting in Jon's article was the part about data collection
Is the Apple Watch Designed to be a Continuous Heart Rate Monitor for intense exercise?
The way I saw it, In Tim Cook’s presentation, the Apple Watch was shown to be an excellent Activity/Life monitor, where movement, lifestyle, and general health were emphasized, and not heart rate training. I could be wrong, but I think Apple knows heart rate is not going to be super accurate during exercise with the Apple Watch, therefore they built the Watch around making a great interface for activity monitoring – IE: how often you stand up throughout the day, pedometer information, etc. This will surely play out to be a thorn in the side of FitBit and other activity monitors, but I don’t think it poses a threat to serious heart rate training athletes.
Data Centralization
I think Apple knows their job is to centralize the data collected from accurate sensors, not to necessarily create the sensor itself – except for activity monitoring. For example, Health Kit will allow all connected apps to push data that has been collected from different sensors directly into Apple’s Health App. I don’t see Apple getting into the Blood Pressure monitor or blood glucose monitor business any time soon, but apps that monitor blood pressure and blood glucose can push their data to Apple Health. I DO like the way the Apple Health App will centralize that information into one health app, along with other health related metrics. It makes sense to have all that data in one centralized location. The bottom line is that you should be able to use other heart rate sensors to do your workout and gather accurate data, you won’t be confined to only using the Apple Watch to collect accurate heart rate data.
Time will tell if Jon is accurate about this and if so, there's a chance we'll want to be wearing both an iWatch and a Scosche armband when we exercise.
by John | Sep 23, 2014 | Latest News
David Bowie is my favorite artist of all time and I'm going to be in Chicago next month. There's no way I will miss this!
It’s David Bowie Day In Chicago
Last week, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel declared September 23rd (today) “David Bowie Day” in honor of the city’s connection with David Bowie Is, a career retrospective that is making its U.S. debut at the Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago. The exhibition has already been displayed in London, Berlin, Sao Paulo, and Toronto, and will open in Chicago today.
You can read the official proclamation here.
I read about the David Bowie Is exhibit when it was in London and now it's at the Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago
David Bowie Is presents the first retrospective of the extraordinary career of David Bowie–one of the most pioneering and influential performers of our time. More than 400 objects, most from the David Bowie Archive–including handwritten lyrics, original costumes, photography, set designs, album artwork, and rare performance material from the past five decades–are brought together for the first time.
If you're a Bowie fan, and plan to attend Club Industry next month, you just might want to plan an extra day to see this 🙂
Link to more information.
And to get you in the mood – you can check out this playlist on Spotify David Bowie — Best Of Bowie.
Looking for something more current? This is an awesome cover of Ziggy Stardust – a little faster ( 92 RPM) than the original's 80 RPM. Enjoy!
by John | Sep 22, 2014 | Best Practices, Instructor Training
Found this great graphic at http://cooperandkid.com
We published the first 7 challenges yesterday and thought it would be fun to share my thoughts about each as daily posts.
By the way, you can still join the ICI/PRO 28 day Challenge – click here to request admission to our Facebook Group.
Challenge #1
We all have areas where we know we could improve. Today's challenge is to publicly commit to one tangible improvement at least for the next 27 days of the challenge (e.g.: start your class on time, spend more time helping new students, not be in a hurry to leave, build in more warm-up into your profile, etc..)
I'll often begin my class with this statement:
I walked in here believing all of you are capable of successfully completing everything I throw at you… it will be up to each of you, to prove me wrong.
This challenge is based on the same perception in your capabilities as an Instructor – actually all of the the challenges start from our belief that you can successfully complete all of the challenges. That's not to say that they're easy. Many will be truly challenging, but Lena and I feel you're up to all 28 of them.
We all have areas where we know we could improve. You don't need anyone to tell you; you need to get to class on time, or be better prepared. You already know your own flaws and weaknesses. But for some reason we don't choose to correct them; we're perpetually late, wing the class because we forgot to prepare, etc…
It becomes our little secret; I know. I know. I'm late to my class again.
Maybe no one will notice – they will and they do 🙁
I'll try to do better next week – but you don't…
Keeping your secret is easy, you just don't tell anyone. But something very important happens when you disclose your behavioral flaw to others – you might feel the need to correct it, because there's a chance the person you told may ask you again.
That's the purpose of the public statement. When said aloud; “I will not be late to class this month” you are giving the person/people you say it to permission to hold you accountable. Most of your class doesn't have trouble getting there on time – and they, in turn, believe you are just as capable as they are… now it's up to you to prove them wrong.
by John | Sep 21, 2014 | Latest News
The ICI/PRO 28 Day Challenge started 8 minutes ago!
I'm really stoked to see the results from each challenge as they filter in.
- Who'll be all over this? Drop out – or never start?
- What crazy stories will we read?
- Who's going to win?
Challenge #1 is the longest and for some, will be the most difficult.
There's still time to join the others who've committed to the ICI/PRO 28 Day Challenge.
by John | Sep 19, 2014 | Music, Training With Power
I'm a huge believer in the concept of including a “Best Effort” in every class I teach. “Best Effort” as in; what is your sustainable power over 3-4 minutes? The reason is simple – I want every participant, in every class I teach, to have an understanding of their estimated threshold wattage. Why? Because when I teach with power (always) I feel knowing where you should be is super important. It makes my cuing much more understandable to even the first-timer. I can then ask for efforts Below/@/Above threshold and there's no confusion.
And I'm not the only one doing this. In his upcoming Audio Class Profile, Master Educator Dennis Mellon uses these “Best Efforts” for exactly the same reason 🙂
But my regulars would get a bit bored if I did the same class every week, so I mix up how we do these… Climbing, Fast Flats and occasionally we'll even do them out of the saddle! Regardless of the cadence or position, these are very popular (OK, sometimes I get a few groans) with my class. Throw one in at around the 20 mark, and then as the “Big Finish” at the end of class – except during round two your expectations are for even a BIGGER “Best Effort” as a close.
A fun “Best Effort” takes the right music and I'm providing a few remixes from Instructor/DJ Peter Gonzalez, better known as Peter G, that should work nicely for you to add in to your next playlist.
65 RPM “Best Effort” track – at 4:37 you'll start with the first spoken lyric and ride for 4 minutes.
https://soundcloud.com/peter-g-rewerks/seven-nation-army-woah-oh-oh-oh-kill-mr-dj-remix-peter-g-rewerk
Seated or standing, your choice at 77 RPM
https://soundcloud.com/peter-g-rewerks/bang-bang-bang-bang-werk-peter-g-rewerk
100 RPM “Best Effort track – lots of leg speed and 54 seconds to connect your legs to the tempo.
https://soundcloud.com/peter-g-rewerks/this-is-the-beat-dj-tofman-peter-g-rewerk
