Santa Says; “It’s time you had a Blink Heart Rate Monitor of your own.”
Today’s PRO/Deal of the Week is the perfect Christmas gift for yourself, your family members or friends planning to start a work out program in 2012.
Sally Edwards says, “The joy of working out to blue, yellow or red cannot be understated,” “it takes the ‘work’ out of heart rate training, is simple to use and gives the user tremendous instant feedback.” A perfect compliment to any weight loss program.
This Blink records all time in zone, calories and works perfectly with the latest two threshold, three zone training system popularized by ZONING’s program in a Can. ZONING is a division of Heart Zones USA.
50% off the Retail price of $84.99. There are only 50 available at this price.
With your Blink heart rate monitor you also get instructions on how to perform the The ‘Can You Speak Comfortably’ Foster Threshold Field Test.
Known as the ‘Gold Standard of Field tests, this assessment will help you discover your (or your students) T1 & T2 thresholds to accurately set when the LED changes colors.
Do (or would) Personal Trainers make good Indoor Cycling Instructors? I say yes, the coaching style of a Personal Trainer would work very well in an Indoor Cycling 2.0 classâ„¢. A Personal Trainer at my club says no, Personal Trainers should focus on individuals and leave the groups to us Instructors.
My PT friend and I were discussing what we both agree is an invisible wall that separates Group Fitness & Cycling from Personal Training. It maybe different where you teach, but I don't see very many Personal Trainers teaching Aerobics classes or leading cycling classes. Other than small group /boot camp classes, I don't see much group interaction at all.
Why is that? Rather than guess I have an optional question on the survey where you can let me know your thoughts.
Tuesday has been reserved as Technology day here at ICI/PRO and this new iDJ – Numark app for iphones and iPads certainly fits this category. I've been playing with this new app from the MixMeister folks for a while and thought I would give you my initial thoughts on it's suitability as a tool you could use to create a seamless playlist for your class.
But first I need to vent a bit. I've attempted to contact Numark – the company that creates and sells MixMeister and this new iDJ software multiple times without success. Questions about the use of their software and requests for interviews have been ignored. Now I realize that being the independent resource for Indoor Cycling Instructors may not mean that much, but really… does anyone even look at your “Contact Us” emails?
The iDJ iPhone app is actually pretty cool… if you are willing to fight through the learning process with no manual or tutorials to help you along. There is a tutorial for iPad owners – but it doesn't translate well for the iPhone user.
Once you figure out how to import your desired tracks from iTunes (as far as I can tell you can't import a whole playlist – and no it doesn't work with Spotify) iDJ will go through and find the BPM for each song. Next it will create a Beatmix transition for each track. Great if you have a playlist of dance music all at 120 – 130 BMP. Not so good if you're trying to use one song at 180 BPM which blends into the next at 128 BPM. The effect is as if the 180 BPM song gets stuck in a tar pit and slows down to very slow.
Play with iDJ a little longer and you may/may not discover that you can change the default Beat Mix to a simple cross fade – which is the only transition that will work with songs with big BPM differences.
In fairness to Numark, iDJ (like MixMeister) is really designed for club DJs, not Spinning instructors like us. Dance music falls within a very narrow BPM range.
If I have the time I may look to creating a video tutorial for using iDJ in the near future. iDJ – Numark
To perform at your best, your equipment must be at its best. Cleatskins Bikeskins and ProBikeskins were developed specifically for road cyclists who have to dismount and walk for any period of time in their cycling shoes. They were also designed for people who spin and need to travel to and from the gym/class in their bike shoes.
Cleatskins Bikeskins provide traction, comfort and ease of movement without heel-walking. It's the perfect bike cleat protector for you, your cycling shoes and the surface you walk on.
The traditional Bikeskins slips on easily and covers both the entire toe. Perfect for the cyclist returning from a ride and jumping in the car or an indoor cyclist.
ProBikeskins offers the same heel toe walking but nestles underneath your cycling shoe while riding. Great for rides with stops and eliminates extra weight in your jersey.
Don’t take our word. See what Gary Khol – Hincapie/Green Creation Elite Cycling Team Manager has to say.
Cleatskins help our team whether it is in training or on race day. On training rides, the Pro-Bike Skins slip down for easy use when taking a break, refueling or making that “store stop”. It is very nice to be able to walk around while out and about and not worry about damaging the carbon soles on our shoes. The fact that they are already on the shoe makes them perfect, so we don't have to stuff them in our pockets. They also provide a soft, stable gripping surface to walk on.
Take advantage of this great deal to protect your shoes, save your floor and look great! Use coupon code cycle to save 30% today at www.cleatskins.com/shop
Shopping for others? Cleatskins offers coverage for all cleated sports including golf, baseball, softball, track, soccer and more. Coupon can be applied to all products.
No quantity limits – if you own a studio with nice floors you may want to consider reselling these to your students > John
His, Hers & Ours – Epic Red Wing is an Endurance profile where you and your Tandem partner are leading a group of cyclists over the next 60 minutes. The two of you are committed to pulling your group at a fast, yet maintainable pace – with your primary objective being to demonstrate your fitness to those behind you. To do this you will want to keep your intensity at the level where you are challenged, yet confident, all the way to the end.
This video features yours truly and my faithful Stoker (it’s not Stroker) Amy Macgowan riding our Tandem (we call it the Bus) along the Mississippi river, which is the east west boundary of Minnesota and Wisconsin.The title of this Audio PROfile; His, Hers & Ours, comes from how Amy and I have very different preferred cadences and yet our pedals are locked together, forcing us to pedal at the same speed. As a considerate Tandem Captain I will make continuously gearing changes in the attempt to satisfy both of us. In our case I switch between:
His — 80ish RPM 15 years as a cyclist has me preferring to spin a small gear in the high 80’s.
Hers — 70ish RPM Amy is very strong and after 18 years as the Senior Group Fitness Instructor in our family she’s very aerobically fit. She prefers to push a big gear at a cadence around 70 RPM.
Ours — 60ish RPM Riding a Tandem has you seated for long periods of time and a saddle break on level ground requires some additional coordination to smoothly get up and out. We’ve found that a very big gear @ ~60 RPM will give us something to stand on and have us looking like we are the matched pair that we truly are when we come up and out.
The challenge of this ride is in maintaining a consistent ground speed – which is an indication of Power Output, while making the frequent changes to your cadence. If your pedal speed slows your load has to increase and visa versa.
To perform at your best, your equipment must be at its best. Cleatskins Bikeskins and ProBikeskins were developed specifically for road cyclists who have to dismount and walk for any period of time in their cycling shoes. They were also designed for people who spin and need to travel to and from the gym/class in their bike shoes.