In the past, if you wanted to earn a Heart Zones Certification you needed to attend a live conference or workshop. Not any longer… now you can attend online đ
Cycling Fusion is hosting a live Heart Zones Level 2 Certification on September 22nd. The presenters of this training are Tom Scotto and Sally Edwards. CECs for most national certifications and you can petition Spinning for their acceptance You can learn more and reserve spot here.
Note: this event is long past, but you can earn your certification using the recorded educational content. Click here to learn more.
The beauty of participating in this certification online (and may make an online certification superior to a live event) is that everything will be recorded and available for you to review for up to 6 months.  Also, if you can't devote the entire day you can watch the recordings at a later date.
NOTE: If you are reading this after September 22nd 2012 you can earn this certification by reviewing all the recorded materials.
Tom and I discuss the specifics in this episode of the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast.
Are you going to be in Miami for WSSC? I'll be there all weekend and would love to meet you while I'm there.
There are a bunch of sessions that I'm excited to see:
On Friday our very own Barbara Hoots is giving a presentation: Studio Design: Empowering Emporiums to Increase ProfitsÂ
Presented by Barbara Hoots Whether opening a new studio or renovating an existing one, this lecture will offer new trends in studio design. Evaluate common design flaws that lead to lawsuits and slow growth, and explore the latest in sound systems, lighting, wall treatments and marketing.
I'm really excited to take these Ugi classes – from what I can see, Ugi could be a great strength compliment to any boutique Indoor Cycling Studio
UgiÂŽÂ Fit Presented by Sara Shears Undo your laces and strip off your socks! Join Ugi creator Sara Shears for the ultimate 30- minute barefoot workout. A series of 30 one-minute intervals combining strength, core and cardio are efficient enough to change your body completely. From warm-up to cool down Ugi is fun, challenging and makes U feel good about your body, energy and health.
U-SPIN Me Right Round Presented by Nadine Stewart âCombine the benefits of a high-cadence endurance ride with non-linear sculpting exercises using the UgiÂŽÂ ball. This well-rounded workout will cover your cardio and cross-training needs and give you new ideas to change up your SpinningÂŽÂ and resistance training classes.
My main focus will be the Spin Power sessions and there's a lot of them on the schedule! Especially those that are including a specially designed Performance IQ display system, customized for the Spin Power Program.
Team Time Trial with Performance IQ Presented by Angie Sturtevant In team time trials, riders take turns either at the front or âsitting inâ⏙ behind, conserving enough team energy for an all-out pull toward the finish. In this workout you will compete as part of a team, as accumulated power output is displayed on the big screen using Performance IQ. This gives all teams the energy to chase and spectators something to cheer about!
Spinpowerââ¢: Personal SpinningÂŽÂ Threshold Presented by Martin Timmerman The Personal Spinning Threshold (PST) is the key to Spinpower successâonce PST is determined, you have a baseline threshold marker that can be used to create a unique training program and track student progress. This workshop will teach you the protocol of the Personal Spinning Threshold test and how to administer this test to your students. You will establish your own Spinpower Zones and then experience a ride which will criss-cross these zones. WS NEW
Spinpowerâ⢠Race Day Winners Presented by Dino Pedras All athletes know that we must be efficient and well-organized to get the most out of our training, and a Race Day ride is how we see the results of that hard word. In this workshop, you will learn how to create a successful Race Day using Spinpower to help you determine what variables you should integrate into your training program and how to best periodize your time to reach your maximum potential and find the way to victory!
And that's just Friday's sessions – I'll be reporting more from WSSC as time permits. If you'll be there any of the three days, please text me so we can connect 612-868-0064!
This Podcast is was originally published on January 8, 2009, I have updated it with our new Podcast host information and I am representing it now. Note, the company is no longer in business, however there are pleanty of grips out there in the marketplace, so still a good listen. I hope you enjoy it, Joey.
Tell the truth, as you have fought with your towel, you have thought there needs to be a better way!
Well inventor and mother of two, Marilyn Tighe, has the solution for anyone bothered by having to move your towel all over the handle bars while you ride. She explains the process of how she invented Getta Grips and has a special offer for listeners to this Podcast.
As Marilyn explains; Getta Grips are made with velvety soft terry velour and feel like pillows for your hands. You won't believe how comfortable your ride can be.
So, Getta Grip and take them out for a spin! I know you're going to love them!
Click here Listen to the Podcast below or subscribe using iTunes or Zune.
Talking after class with members, is an infinite source of feedback for me. Today was a great example.
My friend Georgia Green and her friend Mark were in class this morning. You met Georgia and learned about her and Mark's plans to ride 10,000 miles this summer in Podcast 342.
After class Georgia commented; “how do you (meaning me) ride with such a stable upper body?” I don't see many Instructors, or participants who can do that. My response was that after 20 years riding and racing bicycles, my legs tend to work pretty well together đ Explaining more, I offered that excessive upper body movement is often the result of some muscular imbalance while pedaling = each leg's force is balanced by an equal, but opposite force from the other, throughout the pedal stroke.
While I appreciated her comment, on my way home it got me thinking:
Am I too solid/stable when I'm riding?
Should I move more? Perhaps even extenuate my movements, to communicate my effort using my body?
[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']Road cyclists have very little upper body movement while seated, even when they're producing crazy wattages. This video does a nice job demonstrating how stable these Pro's are when they ride. In the run up to the sprint finish they're probably going way over 30 MPH = a continuous 350 watts or more.
Switch now to this short video and you'll see where “if you don't do it outside, you don't do it inside” really doesn't apply.
Watch how SpinningÂŽ MI Mike Michaels moves side to side – a lot. I'll bet he doesn't do that on the road – it wastes too much energy. Here's another showing something similar, this time from Josh Taylor:
All that movement is show, right? Josh, as an experienced bicycle racer, wouldn't move like that in a race > the people he's riding with would think there's something wrong with him. I don't know about you, but watching Josh's movement has me wanting to move along with him. Which I guess is the point of this article; Just sitting there and pedaling smoothly may have you looking like a Pro out on the road, but you're riding inside.
How can you tell if you're moving?
Mike and Josh have an advantage over you and me > they have been filmed presenting multiple times. So they get to watch themselves and, seeing what they look like riding, they can visualise changes they can make to ride with additional… I think the word is flourish.
Have you ever filmed yourself? This could be another reason to rig up a simple stand for a cell phone and then watch how you move. Even if you don't go the video route, you might try adding or accentuating your upper body movement. Adding a little extra flourish just might give your class a reason to follow you.[/wlm_private]
I'm going to attempt to do this in my future classes. Are you willing to give it a try?
Last spring I was getting a flood of emails from hacked email accounts đ
Because we are regularly emailing close to 10,000 Instructors, my email address is in all those contact lists. When an account is compromised, the first thing the hackers do is send an email to everyone on your list. That email typically includes a nasty link that, when your mom/dad/babysitter or club department head clicks, could infect their computer with a virus or worse… like taking complete control of your computer.
It even happened to me – an old yahoo.com email I haven't used in years started sending out spam emails. Embarrassing to say the least.
I wrote two posts here & here about the importance of using a good/strong password to prevent this from happening to you. Here were my suggestions.
… take your existing password (if it has 8 or more letters) and add one capital letter and two special characters.
So âpasswordâ would be greatly improved by changing it to â@Password!â
Another option would be to combine three easy to remember words, separated by special characters. The three girls in my life are Amy, Abby and Carly so a reasonably secure password could be Amy&Abby&Carly. You can use your first name, your dogâ⏙s name and your city or any other three words and special character combination.
One more suggestion â You may have heard you should have a different password for every website â unrealistic. But I personally use a few different passwords, depending on the type of website where I have a user name.
One simple password for sites that donâ⏙t matter (No email or financial data) Hereâ⏙s where you can use âpasswordâÂ
One password for important sites (No financial data)
A complex password for each website that has financial, medical or credit data. Create a prefix password and add the name of the institution at the end like; @Password!=visa or @Password!=bank or @Password!=401k
To be clear, my example of @Password!=visa would in actuality be: @Password!=FirstBankVisa but please don't use “password”  instead use an easily remembered root word. Password is the number one, err – password and it's the very first word the hackers try.
But how do you know what you've created is really a good/strong password? This online password strength checking tool can tell you the relative security of any password you dream up. Suggest testing a slightly different version of your password – change one digit-just in case this site is an elaborate scam to actually steal passwords. It did come to me from a trusted source… but you never know.Â
So “password” (without the quote marks) returns:
Please don't use this password.
Which is pretty much like posting your password online, but @Password!
Much better
Is a big improvement, while @Password!=FirstBankVisa should be pretty secure.
Now you're talking đ
So until we all have the new iPhone 5S with fingerprint recognition, please protect yourself and change your passwords.
Are you going to be in Miami for WSSC? I'll be there all weekend and would love to meet you while I'm there.
