If you're looking to add to your Instructor education resume, Schwinn Indoor Cycling and RealRyder Indoor Cycling are offering Instructor certifications at the IDEA World Fitness Conference in Anaheim, California. Both are running pre-convention, 8 hour live certifications on Wednesday, August 13.
Schwinn® Cycling: Instructor Certification LECTURE/WORKSHOP
9:00am—7:00pm (1-hour lunch is on your own)
Master Trainers are Julz Arney and Jeffrey Scott
Here's the link to register for the Schwinn certification and for more information.
RealRyder® Indoor Cycling: Certified Instructor Training WORKSHOP
8:00am—5:00pm (1-hour lunch is on your own)
Douglas Brooks, MS, and Adam Reid
Here's the link to register for the RealRyder certification and for more information.
I'm going to be there Thursday – Sunday > if you're planning to as well please shoot me a note. I would love to meet you while I'm there.
Cyclist Darin Letzring contacted me about the Indoor Cycling videos he has made in Yellowstone National Park. They look like they could provide an awesome backdrop for a class.
Yellowstone Time Trials
These videos showcase the flat and fast areas of Yellowstone National Park. Most of the video is spent right next to one of the many beautiful rivers in the park. Enjoy the spectacular scenery and maybe a few animals as you journey through the park. A high energy soundtrack keeps you moving along.
The full workout video is based on a 3×20 minute workout with a warmup session, breaks between hard efforts, and a cooldown. Below is the breakdown of the video with specific times and sections.
I use a lot of structured videos in my classes – videos with on-screen profiles and timers like what's available from EpicPlanet.tv. I will frequently ride along in those classes so I can watch along and cue and comment about what's happening on the video.
There are other times where I'm just looking for pretty pictures and/or video that I can play as a distraction = Yellowstone Time Trials could make a good choice for these type of classes.
You can find all of Darin's videos and purchase / download information here. You'll note that they are offering a video rental option through Amazon… interesting concept.
At WSSC I had the opportunity to complete a PST (Personal Spinning® Threshold) test – which is (their words) the key to Spinpower success. I couldn't agree more as knowing your maximum sustainable power or Heart Rate, and then building training zones around a known metric BPM/Watts is crucial to effective training. Here's some notes on this session and the discovery process MI Janet Toussaint lead us through to determine our Personal Spinning® Threshold.
PST is something we can change
Janet's session included a lecture period before we climbed on the Blade Ions for the PST test. During her presentation she made three very profound points that I feel are important for anyone teaching with power, to convey to their participants…
It is possible to change/raise/improve your PST. You maybe familiar with the statement; if you can test it you can improve it. In the past the Spinning program was based on Maximum Heart Rate – a number that doesn't change no matter how hard you train. Yes you can become more efficient at Fat utilization, except that's difficult to measure without a metabolic cart. Sustainable power at threshold (PST) is something you can easily see changing and that can be very motivating.
PST is based on Maximal Efficient Effort – key word being efficient, as in where efficiency drops off during the graded intensity ramp test. This isn't a test where COME HELL OR HIGH WATER I'M GOING TO PUT UP THIS HUGE WATTAGE NUMBER!!! Janet made the point a number of times that you have to be careful not to let these assessments become a competition, where people are trying to prove something.
Your PST is specific to this sport – actually Angie Sturtevant made similar statements. The wattage you see as a PST only applies to a Spinning class – not your road bike with a power meter. I would add that it also only applies to the specific brand of Indoor Cycle.
I snapped this picture showing the ramp test protocol used to asses the PST used to create the 6 power zones in the SpinPower program.
Constants and Variables
The constant during this test is cadence/RPM which doesn't change during the test. Janet suggests you not mandate a cadence, instead ask every one find “where they hang out” = natural cadence. What will vary will be the amount of resistance, and the resulting changes in HR and perceived exertion/RPE.
Start everyone warming up in zone one, finding that natural cadence for 10 or more minutes. Include a few brief accelerations – but not too intense or long.
Every two minutes you'll add resistance / ramp up. How much? Janet recommends 10-20 watts from women and 15-30 watts for men.
After you've added the new ramp, push the reset button to record your average for that ramp – remembering the previous ramp's wattage.
When you can't maintain your cadence, for the whole two minutes, you're done. Your PST is the watts from the last fully completed ramp.
How many ramps is the right amount? Janet explained that there is no “right amount”. You need to run the assessment until everyone has completed the test. There were some questions about this and it sounds like you should see at least 4 ramps until failure. Less than that probably means that the rider is adding too many watts with each ramp.
My experience during the test was as I got closer to PST, I wanted to reduce the size of each ramp's increase. I also knew very quickly when I wouldn't be able to finish a ramp. My numbers are in the image above. I couldn't complete my last ramp of 240 watts, which actually isn't that far off what I'm used to seeing as my threshold on the FreeMotion bikes I teach on at Life Time.
Thinking about conducting an assessment like this in your class? I would suggest that you practice on yourself first, so you understand what your riders will be experiencing.
If you are teaching on Spinner Blade Ions I would love to talk to you. Please contact me.
Over the past month or so we're published multiple posts related to the accuracy and consistency of the indoor cycles in our studios. Gene Nacey chronicled his experiments toward finding a method of handicapping his cycles, in the hope of addressing the differences in wattage he is seeing between bikes and my series on the results from our survey both pointed to the same conclusion; Indoor Cycle manufactures have work to do to ensure a level of consistency that will give both Instructors and participants the confidence we need to really use power as a training tool in our classes.
Last week at IHRSA, Amy and I had the chance to sit down with Keiser founder Dennis Keiser, before he formally announced that his engineering team had secured the first European EN-ISO 20957-1 accreditation for an Indoor Cycle that displays power – the new Keiser M3i.
The Keiser M3 group fitness cycle has been the first product of its kind to receive prestigious EN-ISO 20957-1 recognition for the accuracy of its power display.
“This is a big step. Our industry needs to validate the numbers that our users are seeing,” said Keiser founder and President Dennis Keiser. “This gives our customers a level of comfort at what they are seeing in our display.” The accuracy certification represents the first time that TUV Product Services, a European safety organization, has tested for accuracy in a data reporting system on an indoor group exercise cycle. To achieve EN-ISO 20957-1 recognition, TUV requires a group fitness cycle consistently perform within plus or minus 10% of accuracy. “To be the first in our industry to receive this is a great achievement and an honor,” expressed Keiser Vice President-Europe Alastair Watson. “It is important to everyone at Keiser that our customers know they are getting the best bike in the industry and the most accurate reporting system as this designation confirms.” Keiser has been the undisputed industry leader, the first to employ magnetic resistance, introduce power, and now the first to receive accuracy certification. “It’s very easy for someone to talk about the accuracy of power but this test is very difficult. To achieve what we have is significant,” explained Dennis Keiser. “We have been the leader and intend to remain the leader in indoor group cycling.”
Dennis explained to us that the primary focus of EN-ISO 20957-1 (ISO is the International Organization for Standardization) is safety. Passing is required to sell new fitness equipment in many European countries. The certification of any power displayed is a sub-category of EN-ISO 20957-1 that's been initiated to bring more consistency to our industry – something Dennis expressed is long overdue and I completely agree.
Now while a +-10% accuracy may not sound all that impressive in these days of super accurate (and expensive) bicycle power meters, that's the maximum allowable variation from any randomly sampled production M3i. To achieve that level of accuracy, while making allowances for production tolerances, Keiser's engineers designed the M3i to have single digit accuracy.
Upgrade for older Keiser M3s
So why would this be important to a club or studio who own the older versions of the Keiser M3? My understanding is that Keiser will be offering retrofit kits for older M3's. By replacing the console, a small circuit board near the magnet carrier and the magnet carrier you'll be able to bring your M3s up to this new certification's level of accuracy. Included with the kit will be the new power console that incorporates BLE Bluetooth Low Energy which will easily pair with an iPhone/Android phone + work with the new Keiser GX group exercise projection system for on-screen power and heart rate display in class. More about that soon.
Both are supposed to be available later this summer – I'll be posting the details on cost and how to order once it's been finalized.
That's Coach Robin Robinson in the pink jersey at IHRSA
There's talk of a new YouTube Streaming Music service, similar to what many of us enjoy with Spotify & Deezer for delivering our class music. Imagine a service where you could create a playlist of music videos, add them to your portable device and then make them available for off line use 🙂
The alleged on-demand music service would be geared towards mobile use, and offer a free tier that lets you select songs from a large catalog of tracks, in addition to music videos supported by advertisements. A paid version of the service, which will cost $10 per month, will reportedly remove ads and offer the ability to save music offline on your device.
Word is that YouTube's service will be launched in the first quarter of 2014 – possibly as part of the Google All Access Music service.
I can't wait to see this because I've discovered something…
We've refrained in the past from advocating the use of YouTube music videos here at ICI/PRO in the past. My understanding was that the terms and conditions used by YouTube expressly prohibit playing their videos in a commercial setting.
Now I'm not an attorney, but it appears that this is another misconception from those “They Say” people. I just spent an hour researching this and can't find anywhere where YouTube prohibits the commercial use of their videos.
What is (has always been) prohibited is the playing of copyrighted music (audio only or music video) in a commercial setting = your club or studio, unless you're paying the appropriate fees to the music licensing authority where you're located.
Actually projecting the videos off your iPhone using this new service will of course create some new technical hurdles for many of us Instructors and studio owners. When YouTube's new service gets more real, I have an audio & video technology expert standing by to help us integrate this new video option into our classes.
If you're getting bored with your old Indoor Cycling DVDs and want to avoid the aggressive crowds at the mall, these two companies are offering special discounts this weekend. You can shop from the safety of your own home.
epicPLANET.tv is offering a 25% discount on all their titles through Dec 1st- use coupon code EPIC13 here. Epic RACE Day is awesome if you don't own it yet 🙂
Cycling Fusion has a bunch of deals you can access between Friday 11/29 morning and Sunday 12/2 night. Discounts include 20%-25% off individual DVDs and boxed sets + free shipping on orders over $100.00. No coupon code required. Just visit Cyclingfusion.com between Black Friday and Monday Dec 12th.
At WSSC I had the opportunity to complete a PST (Personal Spinning® Threshold) test – which is (their words) the key to Spinpower success. I couldn't agree more as knowing your maximum sustainable power or Heart Rate, and then building training zones around a known metric BPM/Watts is crucial to effective training. Here's some notes on this session and the discovery process MI Janet Toussaint lead us through to determine our Personal Spinning® Threshold.
