by John | Jul 7, 2015 | Best Practices, Engage Your Students, Latest News
Not sure how I feel about this new show shot in an Indoor Cycling studio in LA. I've had a few regulars mention it to me at the club. One told me that she's excited to learn more about the sex and drama filled life I lead as an Instructor 🙂
Hollywood Cycle episode #1 is tonight on E! Entertainment Television
You may have already seen the trailer
https://youtu.be/e6h3rQlZUzI
Now you can also get some advice on what not to do in a cycling class >
“Hollywood Cycle” stars Nick Hounslow, Nichelle Hines and Aaron Hines give the down-low on what to avoid during their intense spinning sessions. Listen in!
There's more here in these interviews from USA Today.
by Sally Edwards | Jul 6, 2015 | Engage Your Students, Master Instructor Blog, Zone based Heart Rate Training
The USA Women won the World Cup finals in soccer yesterday!
The US team coaches are using heart rate training, aka Heart Zones Training, extensively in their preparation for what lead to this victory.
I wanted to share with you an article released yesterday about how that training is accomplished using training load points and player position specificity – and comments that I made in that regard in the article. You can read it here.
While members of the U.S. team will no doubt play their hearts out during the Women's World Cup final against Japan, a coach on the sideline will be receiving real-time data about their actual hearts.
Credit forward-thinking coaches who embraced sport science to improve performance: Each U.S. player wears a heart rate monitor — not unlike one you'd find at your local sporting goods store — when she trains and plays games.
But what makes these special is where the information goes and how it's used.
Whereas a commercial monitor (or “wearable”) is designed for information to go to a wrist unit, an iPhone or iPad, and be used by the individual, for the U.S. women, there is a receiver that simultaneously collects the heart rates of 28 athletes to be analyzed by a coach.
[That “receiver” is the same as what's used to connect participants to the Display Training systems in cycling studios – John]Â
“What evolved [with the technology] was the ability for coaches to not only record the data, but be able to see it live,” says Josh Simonsen, a training specialist for Polar, the company that supplies the U.S. team with its heart rate system.
The data shows how hard a player is working, and can help a fitness coach determine everything from individualized training programs to deciding how much rest a player needs after a tough game. “If you take the women's national team, they're all fit. But it comes down to what type of fitness each player has,” Simonsen says.
What type of position an athlete plays also makes a difference, explains Sally Edwards, a heart rate expert and founder and CEO of Heart Zones, a fitness technology company. “In team sports, each player's position has unique physiological requirements, so the forward on a soccer team has to have different training than a defender,” says Edwards. “Some positions might need quick acceleration. Others might need endurance late in the game.”
With the use of sensor technology, a training program can be tailored to each player to make the fit even fitter.
If you'd like to learn more about this technology and how it could improve your team's performance, Use this contact form to request more information.
Sally
Sally Edwards, Founder and Head Heart
Heart Zones, Inc.
by John | Jun 29, 2015 | Audio PROfiles, Instructor Training, Latest News
We just completed an update of the ICI/PRO feed to make it more user friendly.
ICI/PRO members get access to a special “Super Secret iTunes Feed” that will deliver a condensed listing of all of our downloadable Audio Profile Podcasts + full class mixed .mp3 playlists to iTunes or the Podcast App on your phone.
This latest update striped out everything but the important bits = now you'll easily find the audio profiles and mixed mp3s in iTunes or your favorite RSS feed reader.
To take advantage of this update you'll want to delete your old ICI/PRO feed and then re-subscribe using the RSS link shown below if you're logged in.
[wlm_loginform]
NOTE: This is a separate Podcast feed from the free Podcast. So you'll want both 🙂
If you need some help > here's a tutorial for iTunes or you can quickly setup your iPhone /iPad using this method.
Another way to access this RSS feed is directly through your browser. I know that Firefox will display the feed if you click the RSS link above – not sure about Safari. Chrome will work after you install this free plugin.
by John | Jun 27, 2015 | Instructor Resources, Latest News, Your Fitness Business
SoulCycle is preparing to go public with an IPO later this year.
Indoor cycling fitness chain SoulCycle Holdings LLC has hired investment banks for a U.S. initial public offering expected to come later this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
SoulCycle's IPO preparations underscore the growing popularity of boutique chains that cater to specific workout methods such as spinning, yoga and barre. The chains, which often charge per class rather than a monthly membership fee, have been taking market share from traditional big-box gyms.
SoulCycle has more than 42 U.S. locations, and plans to open 50 to 60 studios worldwide by next year, according to its website.
So would you purchase shares in SoulCycle?
After watching SoulCycle for years and seeing what a money machine they've become, I'm thinking I will. In fact I'm going to compare them to Starbucks and predict that SoulCycle will make investors a lot of money for the same reason Starbucks has been such a solid investment* > both their customers admit to being addicted to their products.
WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE $16,000-A-YEAR ADDICTED TO BOUTIQUE FITNESS
A few weeks ago, while mindlessly trolling Instagram, something stopped me in my tracks: My friend from high school, Michaela Miller, who is currently working on a master's degree in public administration from NYU, had screenshot her upcoming SoulCycle schedule. “475 rides in 365,” she boasted of her “SOULiversary,” the birthday of her inaugural class. “Stepping it up with an even STRONGER starting lineup.” After gawking at the fact that she was planning a Wednesday triple–as in three, 45-minute classes in a single day–I shamelessly pulled up my calculator app. Some quick math revealed that my friend's dedication to cult-loved $34 spin sessions (before the price of shoe rentals and water) could easily run her $16,000 in a single year.
Despite all the negativeness directed at SoulCycle, they have shown the rest of the Indoor Cycling industry how to be successful. Not to mention positively changing the lives of thousands of participants…
For Miller, the benefits of being die-hard include daily clear-headedness, a built-in support system, and being held accountable. “I'm definitely less flaky as a person,” she says of committing to ten or more classes a week all over Manhattan, New Jersey, and Brooklyn. “I used to be notorious for missing trains, planes, parties, dinners, but since I started doing Soul, I'm early to things. I show up on time. It sounds silly, because we all should do that, but I was late a lot.” To minimize the financial impact (she says she's only on the hook for half of the classes she takes), Miller buys packages and nabs free rides via a group of instructors who now make up her inner circle. She even gave up a pack-a-day habit. “I would never have quit smoking if it wasn't for Soul,” she says with a laugh. “It was between SoulCycle and the cigarettes.”
NOTE: This is not intended as financial advice, only to alert you to this future opportunity.
by John | Jun 23, 2015 | Instructor Training, Your Fitness Business
I'm a huge fan of Amazon Prime because it makes me feel super productive and efficient. When I realise I need something, rather then adding the item to a shopping list (I'll probably forget to bring to the store), I take 30 seconds to order it on Amazon. Then I hear my dog Maxx bark when the UPS guy delivers the package two days later.
Now they're offering business owners a similar service called Amazon Business. Similar that it offers free two day shipping… different because it's free to qualified business owners!
About Amazon Business
Amazon Business is a new marketplace on Amazon .com that gives businesses of all sizes access to hundreds of millions of products in a shopping experience built for businesses. New features include FREE Two-Day Shipping on orders of $49 or more, business-pricing on select items, multi-user accounts, and approval workflows. Businesses can now shop on Amazon and use purchase orders to improve recordkeeping. Amazon Business also makes it easy for businesses to compare multiple offers on products, and is integrated and certified for punchout with leading purchasing systems.
You can apply here for your Amazon Business account. To qualify you need a Fed ID number, which you should already have as a business owner.
There's options to establish a line of credit directly with Amazon. Your Amex card doesn't offer 55 day net billing… but Amazon does 🙂 Why can they offer this “free” money? You're aware that credit card companies charge fees, right? By bypassing Amex, MC or Visa, Amazon's costs are lower = they'll pass on the savings to you! If you prefer to pay over time the revolving rate looks competitive to any other business card and Amazon doesn't charge any annual fees. Â
So, what can you purchase? Just about anything, except they don't appear to have actual IC repair parts. Here's a few that came to mind.
by John | Jun 20, 2015 | Latest News, Promote and Build Your Class
I'm seeing that E! Entertainment Television has released a couple of trailers for their upcoming show about Indoor cycling Instructors > Hollywood Cycle. Looks like your garden variety fitness studio drama. Nothing different than what we experience every week at Life Time. Does this look like your studio as well?
The show is scheduled to begin July 7th 10/9 central on E!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
