If your objective is to communicate (sell) the value of either Training With Heart Rate – or – Training With Power, teaching your class using Three Zones will be the most easily understood, accepted and remembered… here's why.
The Rule of Three
It's no accident that throughout history – thousands of years in fact – three (3) is the magic number in many, memorable fairy tales, myths and marketing campaigns. They're easily remembered and shared because they follow The Rule of Three…
There were three little pigs, three blind mice, Goldilocks and the three bears, Three Musketeers, three wise men and the Three Stooges.
1st, 2nd, 3rd – who ever remembers (or cares) who came next?
This copy writing blog explains the Rule of Three very well in the context of effectively communicating ideas.
It all comes down to the way we humans process information. We have become proficient at pattern recognition by necessity, and three is the smallest number of elements required to create a pattern. This combination of pattern and brevity results in memorable content, and that’s why the Rule of Three will make you a more engaging writer.
Sticky Ideas
You see the Rule of Three used all the time across diverse areas of life. Why?
Because information presented in groups of three sticks in our heads better than other clusters of items. For example:
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
“Government of the people, by the people, for the people”
“Friends, Romans, Countrymen”
“Blood, sweat and tears”
“Location, location, location”
“Father, Son and Holy Spirit”
“Faith, Hope and Charity”
“Mind, body, spirit”
“Stop, Look and Listen”
“Sex, Lies and Videotape”
“I came, I saw, I conquered”
I'm confident you can add a bunch more to this list, which kind of makes my point. All of our brains are hard wired to create and retain patterns of three concepts… not four, five, six or seven – three is the magic number.
Sally Edwards understood The Rule of Three. Her three heart rate training zones concept called Zoning is designed to appeal to as many people as possible.
Please note that I didn't ask; What's the most accurate/precise/correct number of HR or Power zones? My question was; What's the best number of Heart Rate and/or Power Zones in our classes?
Cameron Chinatti with Stages Indoor Cycling says the answer is 7 Power zones. So does Joe Friel, Dr. Andrew Coggan. Chris Carmichael appears to use five. All super smart and knowledgeable people to be sure. Administered properly to a committed endurance athlete, 7 power zones is probably the most accurate/precise/correct number of HR or Power zones for them to train with.
But 7 Power training zones is too many IMO for our classes filled with Club Athletes.
The ICI/PRO Power Training Zones follow The Rule of Three.
Protein Power: It’s Not Just for Muscles (Part 2 — Appetite Control)
By Joan Kent, PhD, and Shawn Bevington
Protein is used to make hormones, which are messengers in the body. They’re produced in one part of the body and then distributed — through blood, interstitial or other body fluid — to other organs or tissues. There they modify activity and function.
This brief post will focus on just a few hormones and how they affect appetite.
*CCK (Cholecystokinin) – Satiety is the feeling that you don’t need another meal because you’re still satisfied from the last one.
CCK is arguably the most powerful satiety hormone in the body. It reduces appetite by stimulating the function of the brain’s key satiety center, the VMH (ventromedial hypothalamus).
CCK is released when we eat protein and fats. It affects our food preferences by reducing the desire for carbs.
Anyone who suffers from an exaggerated desire for carbs probably needs to eat more protein. Vegans, for example, may experience strong cravings for carbs, including sugars. Finding a true protein source is a key factor in reducing vegans’ cravings. More on that in Part 3.
Eating adequate protein can also be key in conquering sugar addiction for this same reason.
*Ghrelin – Ghrelin increases appetite by stimulating the brain’s lateral hypothalamus. The LH can be seen as a ‘feeding’ center.
Eating protein can help to reduce ghrelin release. In healthy men, a high-protein breakfast decreased post-meal ghrelin levels more than a high-carb breakfast. The high-protein meal also slowed gastric emptying. Researchers attributed both effects to the secretion of CCK and glucagon, both triggered by protein.
*Glucagon – Glucagon is a hormone made in the pancreas. Insulin is, as well, but the functions of the two hormones are oppositional and work to balance glucose levels.
Insulin also tends to be a fat-storage hormone, while glucagon moves fats out of storage and into the blood stream so they can be utilized as fuel, rather than stored.
While many foods trigger the release of insulin, only protein foods trigger glucagon. Glucagon is also secreted when we exercise.
As mentioned above, glucagon and CCK seem to control appetite by modifying ghrelin levels.
Don’t miss protein and brain chemistry, age, and the vegan solution in Part 3, right here this week!
Shawn Bevington is a holistic health coach, certified by the National College of Exercise Professionals (NCEP). He has been a fitness trainer for six years, and boasts another seven years of activity in various programs, including football, shot-put, pro wrestling and other strenuous sports. Self-motivated, Shawn has spent years researching on his own – and putting that information into practice with his clients. His knowledge, skill and experience have made him a sought-after fitness trainer, both by clients and by colleagues who bring questions to him.
Dr. Joan Kent has a PhD in Psychoactive Nutrition. She was the first to document the brain chemical pathways of sugar addiction and to explain the sugar/fat seesaw hormonally and chemically. Joan has helped hundreds and hundreds of clients with metabolic conditions — diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer — as well as clients with inflammation and mood disorders. Joan has written 2 best-selling books: Stronger Than Sugar, on conquering sugar addiction, and The Sugar-Free Workout, on fueling before, during and after training for optimal performance. Visit www.LastResortNutrition.com and grab your free gifts.
How much planning did you do (or should you do), before launching your new cycling studio?
What research did you complete to understand the difference between successful studios and those that are struggling?
Fitness entrepreneur Callie Bowling has completed an exhaustive planning process in anticipation of opening a new Indoor Cycling Studio in Boise Idaho next fall. Callie interviewed over a dozen studio owners and she shares what's working… what's not and what she sees as the future of boutique Indoor Cycling studios.
This interview is an hour long, and needed to be to record much of what Callie has learned.
If you own a studio, or are considering opening one, I suggest grabbing a pen and paper, find a quiet spot (maybe with a hot tea) and listen to the podcast below in it's entirety, while taking notes – I consider this one of my top five episodes ever, it's that good 🙂
[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']
Update: This episode wasn't showing up in the podcast feed = I republished it and it appears fixed 🙂
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I was originally alerted to Callie Bowling by Amy – she had talked with her and was very impressed by how thorough she was in her business planning and the amount of research she had done via interviews with other studio owners.
So I reached out to Callie about possibly appearing on the show. This was her response 🙂
Let me give you a little background, so you can be thinking of questions on your end:
I have learned quite a bit actually, so much that just when my business plan and financials were all buttoned-up and ready to go – I was literally sitting across the table from my lender – I decided to go back to the drawing board to lay some more ground work (A MUST) and further examine my goals for my business and a smarter implementation strategy solely based on the experiences I obtained from interviewing eight indoor cycling studios across the nation. I learned a lot, the owners of these businesses were extremely generous with their time and the truly sensitive information they were divulging (the scary icky stuff like money)… lol, perhaps it's my degree in Psychology, but I've usually never had a problem getting people to open up around me… it's a double-edged sword 😉
I've learned this “dream” for us who wish to open these studios is always opened with the best intentions and out of a passion for the “sport”; we're all fitness enthusiasts who wanted to bring our passion to our communities and also make a fortune at it! I mean why not, the preliminary financials reflect success, which is a super simple function of attendance… it seems like a no-brainer right!? Get people in the door and become profitable… minimal overhead, no accounts receivables, cash based service industry, no inventory, etc. … the business model is set up for instant success! I'm sure you see I'm being simplistic and sarcastic, because nothing in life is ever that easy, and if it looks easy… take a deeper look, because you're probably missing something 🙂
With that said, there have definitely been some strong and shared commonalities amongst the failures and the successes amongst studio owners that can't be ignored… but, they're probably taboo to talk about so no one ever does, because no one likes to admit they've failed or fallen flat on their face… but, the truth is the truth, and in the same token no wants to invest their life's savings or nest egg into a business that might be doomed from the get-go, so we need to talk about it.
I will say, I don't know what came over me, but I emailed studios in XX, YY, ZZ, BB, NN, RR, and FF (on the podcast I won't disclose which states though to respect and maintain the anonymity of these studios, because in some states there is literally just one studio, so that would probably give it away, and the information they shared is certainly sensitive – we can just accurately say I reached out to studio owners across the nation) and I didn't know what to expect. I was equipped with my generic list of questions, but those soon fell to the wayside and the conversation became personal and very much a theoretical conversation about what it takes to survive as an entrepreneur in our industry and what those basic principles are.
Alas, we can go over all of this & more on the podcast, I'm loaded with info, lol, and honestly I think the things I am ready to touch on will be useful information not just for others in the “pre-startup” phase, but also for any studio owner in general that is perhaps struggling or “hemorrhaging” (as one studio owner stated) and can draw even the smallest parallels in their own business with what I have understood has also been choke holding others.
What do you think!??! 🙂
P.S. Here's the juiciest part… I think I see the future of our industry!!! lol… that may be a bit pompous for me to predict, but I've done a lot of research and there are signs and clues I'd love to cover!
Callie Kelley Bowling
Founder & CEO
CKB Fitness, Inc.
How cool would it be if your insurance company paid for indoor cycling classes?
A national policy of Prescriptive Exercise would be the holy grail* for small studio owners.
Imagine; A new client walks in with her doctor specified exercise regimen for you to “fill”, just like at a pharmacy. As an approved provider, you and your studio would provide the required exercise and then bill the clients insurance company… and not at your normal class rate – at a much higher rate in recognition of your fitness expertise.
A fantasy? Nope**, not if you're near The Wellness Institute in Winnipeg Canada. Doctors there are actually writing detailed prescriptions for exercise. How cool is that?
Doctors at a unique medical facility in Winnipeg are starting to write some unusual prescriptions.
“A lap a day keeps the doctor away” is one of the mottos at the Seven Oaks Wellness Institute (SOWI), a fitness facility attached to the Seven Oaks General Hospital on Leila Avenue, where doctors have started prescribing exercise instead of pills.
Dr. Kevin Saunders is one of the founders of the SOWI and the medical director. He said exercise is an effective treatment for all kinds of illnesses, including hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and even some forms of cancer.
The facility offers clients a more holistic approach to fitness, helping people from all walks of life to understand what kinds of exercise they should be doing, and what they need to avoid if it puts their health in jeopardy.
You'll note that what Dr. Sanders is targeting with this program are Special Populations of people who would benefit from physical activity. I'm guessing you'd have a little trouble getting a prescription for a USAT Triathlon coach to get you ready for your next Ironman 🙂
What has me most excited here is the potential for prescriptive exercise for people suffering from Parkinson's Disease. It's been shown repeatedly that people of all ages with PD respond well to Indoor Cycling classes. Especially classes that are designed and taught by a Parkinson's Cycling Coach. Indoor Cycling studios already have the necessary tools to conduct this hugely beneficial classes. They're best held around 10:30 – 11:30 in the morning, which is normally a time without a scheduled class
I did some research and found an excellent article here at emedicine.medscape.com that explains in detail what Perscriptive Exercise is (different from physical rehab) and includes a number of areas where exercise is typically prescribed by a physiian.
Background
Exercise prescription commonly refers to the specific plan of fitness-related activities that are designed for a specified purpose, which is often developed by a fitness or rehabilitation specialist for the client or patient. Due to the specific and unique needs and interests of the client/patient, the goal of exercise prescription should be successful integration of exercise principles and behavioral techniques that motivates the participant to be compliant, thus achieving their goals.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
Components of exercise prescription
An exercise prescription generally includes the following specific recommendations:
Type of exercise or activity (eg, walking, swimming, cycling)
Specific workloads (eg, watts, walking speed)
Duration and frequency of the activity or exercise session
Intensity guidelines — Target heart rate (THR) range and estimated rate of perceived exertion (RPE)
Precautions regarding certain orthopedic (or other) concerns or related comments
Note that a properly structured, Power based Indoor Cycling class would easily include all of the stated components.
Consider this simple prescription:
Type of exercise or activity – Indoor Cycling class.
Specific workloads – Below, @ and Above riders observed 4 minute Best Effort PTP Watts or FTP if known
Duration and frequency of the activity or exercise session – 3 x 60 min classes weekly
Intensity guidelines — each 60 class to include: 5 x 5 min intervals @ PTP, 3 x 1 min intervals Above PTP, that remainder of class Below PTP and Above VT1 (staying aerobic) + adequate recovery after each @/Above interval.
Precautions – None
What you'd have is essentially an endurance training program, written by an MD.
Taking this further. If you were to incorporate the rider's performance data capture, from a Display Training system like Performance IQ or Spivi, your doctor could review your progress = make informed recommendations for future exercise prescriptions. Wouldn't that be awesome?
If you can offer any additional information about prescriptive exercise, I'd love to hear from you!
*Yes, I'm aware that many insurance programs offer a discount/rebate for club dues – if you attend a speciaf number of days a month. This is very different.
** I don't know the specifics of Canada's reimbursement system, but I'm looking into it. I have asked for a representative join me on the Podcast to discuss all of this.
I love discovering smart, talented people who are passionate about Indoor Cycling and Lena Hershey is someone I feel you should get to know. Lena is a brand new (she started in May) Spinning® Instructor at the Carlisle Family YMCA in Carlisle, PA.
Lena's journey to become a Spinning Instructor began with a pretty large life event – moving from her native Russia to the United States three years ago. While you listen keep in mind that English is her second language 🙂
She describes what happens next at her blog LeanLena.com
My name is Lena. This blog is mostly about my way to my personal transformation — from the body I have been abusing and neglecting for the most of my life, to the body I always wanted to have — fit, strong and beautiful.
I am not there yet, but you can see the progress
I write about my exercise program/routines and my meals, share healthy recipes, health tips, etc. etc.
I have started this journey on an ordinary day in February 2013. I was in the car with my husband and two step-kids, driving home from somewhere when I said: “I will go and work out at the YMCA every day for a month starting today”. Just like that — out of the blue. I can’t even remember why I said that or what prompted that decision. I just said that and once I did, I had to do it. So I did.
Once I was done with one month, I just couldn’t stop. I did adjust my exercise program by now and I am not working out every single day, but I am doing so much more for myself thanks to that decision in February of 2013.
Results — I’ve lost almost 20 pounds (9 kg) and counting, I am 2 sizes down in clothes, and I feel lighter, better, healthier and happier than ever.
A previous post covered ways that sugar can increase fat consumption. One way is that fat makes sugary foods taste sweeter. That may mean a sugar/fat combination tastes preferable to a sugar-only food, such as hard candy.
Clients have told me that, when they eliminate sugar from their diets, they can actually enjoy snacking on a brown rice cake topped with a slice of tomato or sprouts.
When they’ve been eating sugary foods, though, such a snack seems unappealing and unpalatable. At those sugar-laden times, they find themselves wanting different things: bologna or salami sandwiches, for example, or other heavy foods.
Those heavier foods have more fat in them than the first snack, so the clients are consuming extra fat — even though they weren’t necessarily seeking high-fat foods in the first place.
In my dissertation, I named this “secondary fat consumption.”
Secondary fat consumption can occur in several different ways:[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|PRO-Studio|28 Day Challenge]
– We eat more of a fatty food (like peanut butter) when we have sugar (jelly) to eat with it and make it taste better.
– We eat sugar, which triggers endorphins, as explained above. That shifts our preferences to other foods that trigger endorphins — to more sugar or to high-fat foods, or both.
– We crave something sweet and want the sweetest taste we can get — so we instinctively choose a sugar/fat combination, instead of, say, a hard candy with sugar only.
Unfortunately, that’s not the worst of it. High-fat foods we eat trigger the hormone ghrelin. To me, it always seemed like a Monster Hormone.
For one thing, ghrelin slows metabolism. Who wants that?
At the same time, ghrelin stimulates the part of the brain that increases appetite (the lateral hypothalamus). That gives “secondary fat” a chance to increase calories — not only through the secondary fat calories themselves, but also through all the other foods we might suddenly want to eat simply because that secondary fat has triggered ghrelin and our appetite.
It’s obvious that there’s potential for a self-perpetuating cycle in this, and that it can toboggan its way down a slippery slope and pick up speed.
It also seems obvious that — bottom line — sugar is the culprit in this metabolic mess.
Avoiding sugar is one important factor in transforming your health, increasing your energy, and feeling great. Heart disease, the #1 cause of death in the U.S., has been linked with inflammation. So have diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and more.
Inflammation is strongly affected by nutrition, and sugar’s effect on insulin and hormones makes it a strong contributor to inflammation. Dare I advise, yet again, not to eat it?[/private]
