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!
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.
I love helping startup companies like Kalara Kelly by promoting their products! Amy loves these non-slip headbands and wears the samples she was sent in every class she teaches.
Owner/entrepreneur Melissa Sherwood emailed me about a new Brand Clan Ambassador program. They are hoping to outfit some influential Instructors to show off their headbands. Click that link for more details.
They offer Indoor Cycling Studio Owners a wholesale program so you can offer these at retail to your participants. You can request details here.
Hey [wlm_firstname] how hard should I be working to; get faster, lose weight, build endurance, ect…
Answering that is the age old dilemma many of us face when questioned by our riders. We try to be helpful by offering subjective descriptions of what both thresholds should feel like. We give breathing cues, run special FTP classes and/or include Best Effort intervals into our class. They're all designed to help our participants discover (for themselves) their threshold hearts rates and/or threshold wattages. We can get close… but at the end of the day they're still subjective measurements = not always as accurate as we would like.
Breathing gas exchange monitors can scientifically measure the two thresholds. Systems like those from New Leaf and Korr can objectively measure the changes in our breathing levels of O2 and CO2. They work well, but are very expensive to own (you can no longer purchase a New Leaf cart, now that they were purchased by Life Time Fitness) and individual metabolic testing can run to $200.00 or more. The actual tests are rather unpleasant, requiring you to wear a very uncomfortable mask – trust me on this > I've had over a dozen tests and would dread doing another.
The only other option was blood lactate testing during a graded exercise test at a university or sports performance center. Here they prick your finger every two or three minutes, while you work to failure during the assessment. I haven't done one of these personally, but it sounds equally unpleasant.
Enter the new BSXinsight – a wearable device that optically measures your O2 levels = this could be exactly what all of us training athletes were looking for. Pictured above, the BSXinsight is positioned on your calf using a compression sleeve. It wirelessly communicates with a smart phone and the data is displayed by (you guessed it) their special app.
Don't just listen to your body, look inside it.
Data and gear are only as good as their ability to improve your riding. Now you can access the most powerful training metric in endurance sports, making every mile more effective and putting every piece of technology you already use into valuable perspective.
BSXinsight uses revolutionary technology that allows you to see inside your muscle, measuring your lactate threshold and generating personalized training zones. Stop trying to “feel” whether you’re pushing too hard or leaving too much in the tank and let the science of your body speak to you.
Clearly identifying LT2 threshold
I just finished a fascinating conversation with one of the principals of the company. They have offered to send me a demo BSXinsight to experiment with. When I'm done I'll be sending it to Dennis Mellon for his feedback. Once we are done accurately learning our own LT and overlaying it with our Heart Rates and wattages, we will record an episode with the company spokesperson so we can share what we've learned with all of you.
1/19/2015 In celebration of Martin Luther King Day – I thought it appropriate to re-run this podcast about Major Taylor!
Minnesota author and cycling historian Terry Kerber joins me on this episode of the Podcast to discuss his book; Major Taylor: The Inspiring Story of a Black Cyclist and the Men Who Helped Him Achieve Worldwide Fame.
About Major Taylor
In 1907, amid a time of unspeakable racial cruelty, the world’s most popular athlete was not pitcher Cy Young or center fielder Ty Cobb. During the height of the Jim Crow era, the world’s most popular athlete wasn’t even white. He was an oft-persecuted black bicycle racer who was denied meals, kicked out of hotels, forced to sleep in horse stables, trained by a washed-up former racer, and managed by a pugnacious Irish sports promoter and Broadway producer.
This is the Inspiring story of Major Taylor and the men who helped him achieve worldwide fame…
There are so many lessons in the pages of this epic story, but perhaps none are nobler than Taylor’s transcendent ability to forgive those who tormented him on and off bike tracks. That is why I was honored to speak at the unveiling of the Major Taylor statue at the Worcester Public Library, to stand in the very city that sheltered him from the racial storms a century before. I am equally honored to write the Foreword to this engrossing book, written by two gifted writers and passionate cycling fans that just happen to live near my suburban twin cities home. As the sport of bike racing and our nation attempt to transition to a new and refreshing era of transparency, we would all be well-served to seek wisdom and guidance from the lessons left behind by this remarkable sportsman.
After listening to my interview with Terry you may feel as I do, that this could be an awesome movie. If you know anyone in the business please pass this along to them.
