On October 10th my sons, Christian and Seth, and I participated in an indoor cycling charity ride called The Roadless Ride which benefits a local charity named Brent's Place. This event consists of 12 one hour indoor cycling classes where participants donate $45 or more for each class they choose to participate in. There is also a group of “Century Riders” who ride all 12 hours. Christian, Seth and I joined 22 other endurance junkies for this challenge. It was an awesome day! Most of the classes sold out and all the Century Riders completed their 12 hour endurance journey. The event organizers are predicting we raised over $100,000!
I participated in 9 classes and led 3. For the final 2 hours I team taught with fellow instructor, Collin Catel. Colin and alternately taught 3 song sets. We have different teaching and music styles, but when we were organizing our playlist I fell in love with this set that Colin put together, so I thought I would share it with you.
I also included the video we used with this 3 song set. I hope you enjoy it!
3 song harmonically mixed track, to download Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
Not only do I think there's something special about 3 song mixes I also think there is something powerful about 3 interval sets. One of my favorite 3 interval sets is to go HARD, HARDER, HARDEST. This teaches pace and control but also forces riders to “dig deep” on the third interval. If you are lucky enough to have bikes with power these sets are easy to teach, simply finish each interval with a higher average wattage. If you do not have wattage you can use more gear\resistance and the same cadence or the same gear\resistance and a faster cadence for each interval.
This 3 song mix is perfect for this type of interval set. All 3 songs are about 4 minutes long so you can simply have the riders go hard for 3 minutes and recover for 1 minute and repeat 3 times. This HARD, HARDER, HARDEST interval can be done in a variety of ways. I sometimes teach it in the same position for all three intervals, other times I teach it: seated with a fast cadence, seated with a slow cadence followed by standing. Other times I let the riders choose their position, but I remind them that each interval has to be harder than the previous one.
These types of intervals are both fun and challenging. Let me know how it goes.
I'm not kidding. On the first day of Registered Dietitian School, I think every RD student must be taught to recommend the Registered Dietitian Breakfast: orange juice, yogurt and granola, often with berries.
I wish I could tell you this is a joke, but over many years, I've heard this recommendation from virtually every RD I've known or heard speak to groups. (And I've known a bunch. It's my business.) I'm suspicious when a group espouses exactly the same thing.
It has always driven me crazy, and still does. For one thing, they consider yogurt protein.
If you're thinking that yogurt IS protein, please understand they've been making this ridiculous recommendation for decades — long before the recent Greek yogurt trend started. That's important to keep in mind.
Before the craze, all yogurt – even the unflavored, unsweetened kind – was mostly carb with only a smidgen of protein. No yogurt had enough protein to compensate for the sugar in the OJ, the berries and the granola, especially when combined with the lactose in the yogurt. Yet RDs were blithely, shamelessly recommending it.
Even since the popularity of Greek yogurt, though, it's a bad recommendation because it's made with no specifications, no qualifiers. Sure, SOME Greek yogurts actually have enough protein to be considered protein food, but many do not. They're called Greek only because they've been created to feature that creamy texture that's considered characteristic of Greek-style yogurts. People really like them, but their protein content is relatively low.
And after all these years, non-Greek varieties of yogurt don't have much protein. They never did.
None of these food facts, however, has stopped RDs from recommending this infamous breakfast. Consistently, too, even though it's basically sugar, sugar, sugar and sugar. I even see it recommended in articles that offer breakfast suggestions for both regular folks and athletes. Some of the articles display pretty color photos of the breakfast.
In my humble opinion, the pretty picture doesn't make the sugar go away. It doesn't increase the protein content of the meal.
Again, the type of yogurt is almost never specified or clarified. But even telling the reader or the listener that it should be “Greek” won't fully help. Not when there are too many Greek-style yogurts available – and when, as previously mentioned, many of them have very little protein.
So which recommendation would make me stop ranting about, and railing against, the Registered Dietitian Breakfast? RDs could tell clients who want to try that meal to look for yogurt brands that contain between 18 and 22 grams of protein per serving. And lose the OJ.
How simple is that?
Okay, I freely admit RDs know some important stuff for sure, and many have their clients' welfare in mind at all times. Nevertheless, I'd give anything to meet even one who doesn't recommend this same breakfast. It absolutely has to be the first lesson they ever learn in RD school. How else could you explain such a bizarre phenomenon?
If it weren't part of the RD curriculum, why would they all say the same thing? Why would they have recommended it years before any yogurt, anywhere, had much protein?
You have to wonder, though: why would any curriculum include granola?
Avoiding unnecessary sugar and getting enough protein are only two keys to a healthy lifestyle. I help people conquer food addictions so they can keep moving forward (no matter what) with their goals to lose weight, improve their heath dramatically, transform their relationship with food, and stay that way. I'm available for coaching, lectures, workshops. Please visit http://www.foodaddictionsolutions.com.
Have ever asked your class; what do you want from me?
It's a very different question than; do you like my class? or; do you like my music? or; what could I do better/different?
Challenge #6, of the ICI/PRO 28 Day Instructor Challenge, was pretty simple:
#6 Ask some of your participants to fill out the feedback form after your class.
The PDF download we provided asked just one question:
Getting honest feedback from people can be maddeningly difficult. Mostly it's because people will often lie to you when they are concerned the truth could hurt your feelings. So we designed this question to get a response that indicates a preference vs. a response that would be a critique. Consider how you would respond to these two questions, asked from your mother when you still lived at home:
#1 – What would you like for dinner?
Vs.
#2 – Would you like my meatloaf for dinner?
Question #1 asks for your preference and you wouldn't feel a bit concerned by responding honestly with; I'd like your lasagna tonight Mom.
But question #2 is very different and most of us (if Mom's meatloaf is better used as a doorstop) might have a difficult time answering honestly 🙁
So if Mom's intent is to cook a meal that pleases you, she'll take your suggestion and do what she can to make you lasagna for dinner tonight. Then you'll be happy (you feel valued as a son or daughter) because Mom delivered based on your preference. And, because pleasing you makes her feel like she's a good Mother, Mom's happy as well!
But consider what happens when Mom asks question #2 (or doesn't ask either question) and just decides what you want/need for dinner… you show up for dinner and your first thought is; doesn't she know how much I dislike her meatloaf? Followed with; I love her lasagna, why doesn't she just ask me what I would like for dinner and I would tell her.
Now I realise that this is a pretty simplistic illustration, but does that sound anything like your role as an Instructor?
So what happened? What were the responses our challenge participants received from their classes? Here's a few:
Would your class respond differently? Or similarly? Click to download the survey PDF.
You probably know how I came up with the title of this article. Several years ago, a popular book advocated chocolate consumption based on various factors, some of them unique to women. Hormone changes during PMS, menopause and stress were given as examples. Trust the body and give in to your cravings, the author told us! Indulging is better than depriving ourselves. Fat and carbs like bread and chocolate are the body’s natural feel-goods. (Yes, it really says that.)
Where are the anti-gluten, anti-processed food champions when we need them?
The good thing about the book was the extensive bibliography. I researched, read and cited a few of the references in my dissertation. Still, the author’s conclusions are flawed. For instance, she says cravings reflect the body’s needs. It’s a common theory, but it’s just not the case with processed, addictive foods.
So I hope you haven’t been recommending chocolate for your students, even if it’s PMS time!
Why talk about this not-so-new book? Because cocoa is news. No doubt you’ve read about, heard about, and talked about the benefits of cocoa, particularly dark, unsweetened, 70% cacao. They’re everywhere lately: the antioxidant benefits due to the specific flavonoids in cocoa, called polyphenols.
A quick summary of the benefits includes decreases in all of these: blood pressure, insulin resistance, excess clotting, diabetes risk factors, and the risk of cancer, stroke, and coronary heart disease.
In addition, cocoa promotes increased HDL (good) cholesterol and improvements in vascular health and gut bacteria, which thrive on the polyphenols. Cocoa can prevent oxidation of LDL, which contributes to arterial disease when unchecked. It even seems to inhibit fluid secretion in the small intestine, so research may soon show it to be effective in treating diarrhea.
Other health benefits are reduced fatigue and improved mood, both due to cocoa’s natural theobromine (similar to caffeine). Another mood-elevating chemical in cocoa is phenylethylamine, sometimes likened to the feeling of being in love.
What I won’t do — send me your hate mail now — is what the book’s author did, namely recommend chocolate. Even 70% dark chocolate.
Why not? The drawbacks of sugar are too great. In fact, sugar can singlehandedly reverse almost every one of the benefits of cocoa listed above.
But there’s not much sugar in 70% chocolate, you say.
I specialize in sugar addiction, so I look at sugar’s consequences differently. Recently, at someone else’s seminar, a participant offered her opinion that “sugar is bad in large quantities.” You’ll never hear me argue with that! Yet sugar can be bad even in small quantities because of its sneaky effects.
One sneaky effect of sugar is to increase appetite. Another sneaky effect is to change food preferences. Both of these are due to endorphins, which are often overlooked when people talk about health or food.
And what then? Your students may eat an “innocent” amount of chocolate and find themselves wanting more food in general AND more endorphin-triggering foods — such as sugar of all types.
This is how the quantity of sugar can go way up when students eat chocolate for its “health” benefits. Health becomes the excuse for eating sugar. And that’s why I won’t recommend it (no matter who does).
But I will — and do — strongly recommend cocoa. Dark, unsweetened, 70% cacao will let you reap the benefits of cocoa without the drawbacks of sugar. Please tell your students.
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.
Lena's first step was saying it out loud – where others would hear her.
Making public commitments can be very powerful – especially when told to people who will hold you accountable. Which got me thinking; “wouldn't it be cool to use social media to give Instructors a place to post their commitments to change/growth/improvement and then other Instructors could hold them accountable?”
So I told Lena about my idea. Not only was she excited about developing the concept, she wanted to see it become real. Not wanting to disappoint her forced me into action – which I did by agreeing to collaborate with her until we had completed this task. Here's the result:
28 unique challenges, to be completed over 28 days. Are you willing to do the work required to become a better Indoor Cycling Instructor?
Nothing impossible (teach 10 classes back-to-back & non stop) or dangerous (base jumping). Each challenge is designed to help you grow as a person and as an Indoor Cycling Instructor. Some might be easy for you… others you’ll want to skip when you read them – but you won’t because you made the commitment and you're going to keep it.
The group's privacy settings are set so your posts and comments are not visible to non-members of the group and none of your comments should show up in your newsfeed.
Make a public commitment to complete Challenge #1 before you know what it is (or any of the others are) on the post we’ve provided. Don’t ask for more information before 9/21 – our lips are sealed until…
On the morning of Sunday September 21st we’ll reveal the first seven challenges for you to complete.
You'll have one week to complete the challenges.
The next seven challenges will follow on Sunday 28th, October 5th and 12th.
Four weeks x seven challenges each week = 28 total.
There will be a post for each of the 28 challenges in the FB group where you'll note your completion and leave a comment about what happened/what you learned/what you experienced during that challenge.
We will tell you this much:
None of the challenges are particularly time consuming, but some may require planning on your part.
A number of challenges are focused on Teamwork — assisting and supporting other Instructors you work with and participants in the group.
Other challenges are about stepping out of your comfortable cocoon and doing those things you know you should do, but for whatever reason (fear, insecurity, procrastination, etc..) you choose not to.
Prizes
First of all, the real reward will hopefully be a better you at the end of this ☺
But I love offering prizes so here they are! Season pass to ICI/PRO – Complete all 28 challenges to the best of your ability and earn a six month subscription to ICI/PRO, a $60.00 value.
The winners of the ICI/PRO challenge – will be the two Instructors we feel best exemplify the spirit and intent of this personal growth exercise. We realize that this is hard to define, but we feel we’ll know who wins when we see it.
If we can't decide we'll be asking the group who they feel should win.
And what do they win? My friends at Fit Bodies Inc are providing the top 2 instructors with vouchers for a free (agent fee is normally $400-$550) one week fitness vacation for two adults (+ two kids* under 12) at any of 60 Caribbean all-inclusive resorts.
Many of you have heard me talk about my wife Amy and I have taken dozens of these trips — everyone was fabulous. They are the absolute best deal for a fitness Instructor to spend a romantic week at a gorgeous resort in Jamaica, Mexico and other exotic locations.
These are 4/5 star resorts where couples pay $3-5,000 per week + Air. You are treated as a full guest… except that you’re also the 9:30 cycling Instructor.
Travel (air-fare) is not included and some resorts do require a Group Fitness or Mind-Body certification.
More information here http://www.workingfitnessvacation.com/about/
* There are multiple resorts that are kid friendly, but all of them require you to be a Group Fitness instructor.
The Power of “3”
$550) one week fitness