You don't find opportunities to ride and learn from the experts everyday, let alone for FREE!
Join Stages Indoor Cycling, Director of Education, Cameron Chinatti and Master Educator, Dennis Mellon and learn…
Best Power Practices
Video Rides to remember
Stages Special Edition of Performance IQ
Power zone training
and more!
Here are the descriptions and form links to register for each:
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8:30-10:00 – Oh no! Not the Power Police – Led by Cameron Chinatti: It’s official: consoles and power measurement for indoor cycling are here to stay. But with every new piece of equipment comes ‘creative’ misuses and abuses. Avoid getting caught by never committing a crime in the first place! You’ll learn the most common crimes against consoles, then get ready to ride as we explore our top-ten best power practices. These Simple Setsâ„¢ will give you hours of new ride content and provide priceless aha! moments for your participants. Join Stages® Indoor Cycling to see how easy it is to use today’s data to achieve tomorrow’s goals.
11:00-12:00 -Head Up to Get Down! – Led by Cameron + Dennis Do you want to know that you’re doing exactly the right amount of effort? Join Stages® Indoor Cycling for a ride with our Special Edition version of Performance IQ Heads Up Display, better known as Stages IQ. A quick 3-minute assessment is all you need to determine your Power Rx – the most important piece of ride data you’ll ever need! For the first time ever your entire class is doing exactly what they need to get better and see the results they’ve always wanted.
1:30-2:30 -Show Me – Led by Dennis Mellon:If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million! Since the inception of indoor cycling, instructors have been talking and talking in an attempt to set the scene for their riders' indoor journey. Let’s stop talking and start showing! What is the speed of a sprint finish or the increased pulse of an epic ski run? Let’s dance to the beat of your favorite artist and experience the POWER of your favorite band playing a live concert. Through the use of video and the new Stages SC3 Eco Screen there is no course that cannot be ridden and no metric that cannot be evaluated to take your riders on the most epic fitness journey ever!
3:30-5:00 – Oh No! Not the Power Police + SIQ – Led By Cameron Chinatti:It’s official: consoles and power measurement for indoor cycling are here to stay. But with every new piece of equipment comes ‘creative’ misuses and abuses. Avoid getting caught by never committing a crime in the first place! You’ll learn the most common crimes against consoles, then get ready to ride as we explore our top-ten best power practices. These Simple Setsâ„¢ will give you hours of new ride content and provide priceless aha! moments for your participants. Join Stages® Indoor Cycling to see how easy it is to use today’s data to achieve tomorrow’s goals.
Fresh off the split between Mad Dogg Athletics and Core Health & Fitness – Star Trac, I received this press release promoting their new (?) lineup of Indoor Cycles…
Core Health & Fitness To Introduce New Indoor Group Cycles
VANCOUVER, WA. September 29, 2015 — Core Health & Fitness, an industry leader in the manufacture
and distribution of commercial fitness products, announced today plans to introduce three new indoor
cycling bikes. The bikes will be marketed under Core Health & Fitness’s Star Trac brand and will debut
this Fall as the Studio 7â„¢, Studio 5â„¢ and Studio 3â„¢.
“Our new bikes are a winning combination of features and price points that customers will love”, said
Dustin Grosz, President of Core Health & Fitness. “We have been the number one seller of group cycle
bikes for over a decade and have over fifteen years of experience in engineering, design, manufacturing
and distribution of indoor cycling bikes. The design of our new line of bikes draws on that wealth of
experience and reputation for producing the highest quality indoor cycling bikes, while answering our
customers’ requests for a newly designed, more flexible and more affordable offering in the indoor
cycling space. The new bikes have a superior look and feel and are offered at a more attractive price
point than Star Trac’s prior product offerings in this space,” Grosz added.
Jeff Dilts, Vice President of Product Management and Innovation at Core Health & Fitness said,
“Although the bikes will vary in regards to frame and drivetrain, all three will utilize the popular perimeter weighted flywheel and a direct pressure brake system.
The top-of-the-line Star Trac Studio 7â„¢ will feature an aluminum frame, a field-tested Poly V belt and ship with pedals featuring both toe cages and SPD clips.
The Star Trac Studio 5â„¢ will have these same popular features, but will do so on the steel
frame structure. Both bikes incorporate the Star Trac patent pending, durable Morse Taper design that
delivers unmatched performance, safety and durability”.
The Star Trac Studio 3â„¢ launches with a steel frame, a traditional chain drive and direct pressure brake
system.
“The Star Trac Studio Series indoor cycling bikes provide a perfect complement to our Schwinn AC
series”, added Grosz. “No matter what frame, drivetrain, brake or console system a club wants, we’ve
got a bike that fits the need.”
I've requested pictures and will be posting them as soon as I receive them. Based on these very basic descriptions, (and no mention of Power) I'm going out on a limb and guessing that these will be rebranded versions of the Star Trac Indoor Cycles that you're already familiar with. Studios who are interested in magnetic resistance and power indication will probably be steered toward the Schwinn AC line by the Core Health & Fitness sales reps.
I've been in my share of Indoor Cycling studios where, by the end of class, the air is so thick with humidity that you can no longer see yourself in the mirrors. The room stinks and every breath feels like you're riding at 10,000 feet – your lungs starving for oxygen.
Are your experiences similar to mine?
I'm discovering that there's a very simple cause for poor/bad indoor air quality; insufficient ventilation that is the result of a HVAC (Heating,Ventilation & Air Conditioning) system that wasn't designed for the occupancy and activity levels of the rooms inhabitants.
Typically new small/boutique fitness studios are opening in retail spaces with HVAC designed for sedentary office workers – not 30 athletes riding below/@/above threshold for 60 minutes 🙁
The lead author of the study is PhD student Carla Alexandra Ramos from the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Carla agreed to join me to discuss her findings and offer suggestions to improving the quality indoor air in your club or studio on this addition of the Podcast.
Carla has published a number of research papers on indoor air polution that you can find them here at researchgate.net
Are you committed to the health & wellness of your participants?
Then shouldn't we all be doing something to improve the air we're breathing in class?
A good start would be completing this short survey on the quality of the air in your club or studio. Create your own user feedback survey
Image of Dr. Suzuki and her team from suzukilab.com/
Here's a creative exercise for you to try.
Imagine that tomorrow you begin marketing your Indoor Cycling classes differently… Instead of focussing on physical benefits of increased strength, endurance or weight management/loss, what would happen if your marketing was directed at cerebral benefits instead?
Do you feel you could possibly attract a new/unique group of participants? Maybe those people who aren't necessarily interested in physical improvements. Computer types (geeks) come to mind. They are rarely seen in your studio, unless they're there to fix your computer of course 🙂
But what if you were able to show the Geek Squad technician that your special classes could actually improve their troubleshooting, problem solving or coding skills… things he/she might really be interested in improving?
Or how about that advertising firm officing across the street? Do you think they would be interested in a brainstorming class where their entire team could spark some additional creativity?
There's a lot of scientific research that is proving the link between exercise and improvements in the brain in the form of enhanced memory and creativity. I posted a fascinating Ted Talk video presentation last month on the subject and the presenter is my guest for this episode – neuroscientist/group fitness instructor Dr. Wendy Suzuki.
Dr. Wendy A. Suzuki is a Professor of Neural Science and Psychology in the Center for Neural Science at New York University. She received her undergraduate degree in Physiology and Human Anatomy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1987, studying with Prof. Marion C. Diamond, a leader in the field of brain plasticity. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from U.C. San Diego in 1993 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health before accepting her faculty position at New York University in 1998.
Listen to this episode below.
Near the end of the interview, Dr. Suzuki describes a clinical trial she running on the effects Indoor Cycling has on cognitive abilities. Participants are riding three time a week at Swerve Fitness in NYC and she says that their study results should be completed by the end of the year.
I thought I would break from the routine just a bit, and rather that share a “story” this week, I would share some of the fun metaphors I use during my sprints with class.
SPRINT DRILL #1
Many years ago I saw a T-shirt for a Track and field team and on the back of it it had the words “If you can read this, then I'm winning.” I always loved that quote and so I made a fun game of it. Since almost all of my sprint songs (and most songs for that matter) have 3 choruses in them, I find two other quotes and run the drill this way.
*Describe the race any way you like (A marathon, a Cycling race, even a car race) and tell them they are behind someone and as they get closer, they see on the back of their shirt (insert your favorite quote) and in an explosive voice tell them to pass. Do it again with a second quote, and then use the “If you can read this……” quote last. Works every time.
SPRINT DRILL #2
Tell them they are either in a car or on a bike on a two lane highway. THIS Highway is the “Highway of Life.” They are in the right lane and in the left lane is fast moving on coming traffic wizzing by. Again, using a typical 3 chorus sprint song. At first chorus tell them the left lane oipens up and they have to take the left lane and sprint like hell before the left lane fills back up with on coming traffic. Do the same thing for the second on. But on the third one tell them it doesn't look like “life” is gonna open up that lane and that when “Life” throws you this challenge, you do what winners do and create your OWN opening by using the breakdown lane and sprint like hell.
RUN DRILL
Play a typical Run song with a steady temp. Tell them they are on a log like the old time loggers wearing those spiked shoes and they are competing against someone else. Remember when those lumber jack games used to play on TV ?? So they have to run without bouncing imagining they are on this log, trying to knock off the opponent.
HILL DRILL
One of my favorite things to say during a hill climb is to imagine they are walking in waste deep snow, climbing a hill. Increasing the resistance means the hill incline is getting steeper and steeper. And then when you think you have them close to their limit, Tell them you just hooked a sled to the back of their belt and on that sled is everyone and everything that means anything to them and that they MUST get them to the top of the hill !!
This might be a perfect space for a 25 bike cycling studio – except the HVAC system was designed to supply air for a three person travel agency.
I'm learning that many small/boutique fitness studios are located in spaces designed as offices or small retailers. Businesses with a handful of sedentary people, sitting at a desk. The building's HVAC system isn't typically optimised for all the CO2 and moisture created by a room full of heavy breathing participants = poor air quality, especially at the end of class 🙁
Does this describe your studio? Should we be looking for solutions to improve your studio's air quality, while keeping energy costs to a minimum?
