https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/2018-holiday-ride/pl.u-1Bj1tABz9LEWelcome to the The Weekly Ride by Cycling Fusion
Originally posted 2018-12-18 21:31:33.
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
My thanks to everyone for the numerous responses to my post last week on the Commoditization of Indoor Cycling. As captured by those responses (Chuck’s in particular), differentiation is the strategy necessary for dealing with the commoditized product of indoor cycling.
Through differentiation — or the possibility of it — boutique studios may provide the example for the industry to start caring more about, and again raising the standards of, indoor cycling. Commoditization can thus be seen not as negative, but as a good push, giving the indoor cycling industry a second beginning.
ICG® Academy has just opened at the OMpower Cycle/Yoga Studio in San Francisco (www.ompowersf.com). OMpower, a boutique studio, will be the North American headquarters of the Indoorcycling Group (ICG®) and its premiere showcase facility and training hub on the West Coast of the U.S.
With the opening of ICG® Academy and its newest product, Myride®+, ICG® is differentiating itself in the indoor cycling market. The OMpower studio features an impressive cinematic stage to display ICG’s exciting video-cycling product, designed for use in live and virtual classes. All cycling instructors at OMpower are Team ICG®, certified by ICG, despite other certifications they may have. They are all trained in the use of Myride®+ and teaching classes with video.
The Myride®+ training modules are currently available, free of charge, on the ICG® website. This is an opportunity for any indoor-cycling instructor to differentiate him-/herself from the commoditized market. If Myride®+ successfully integrates into clubs, there will be a demand for instructors who can operate a Myride®+ console and teach with video.
In earlier posts, I’ve written about technological advancements that will happen in 2012, regarding the use of video in indoor-cycling classes: specialized filming, post-production editing, high-def displays, big-screen projection, media consoles that make video flexible and easy to use, compelling “virtual rides” with voiceovers by top instructors. That technology is here and needs to be seriously considered by all indoor-cycling instructors.
View a sample of this breathtaking new technology at: Watch Movie
The two elements that I believe will have the greatest impact on indoor cycling today are power and video. With the steady development of power-based computers, the indoor-cycling community has been buzzing about the benefits of training with watts. I have been a “watts advocate” for many years. However, I think few understand the benefit of this type of training.
Video, on the other hand, is understood by many. Video is slick and exciting, markets well, and offers stronger differentiation in the eyes of the general public than watts. If we want to get the big-box club operators excited about something, I feel they will “get” movies more than power. I also think club members will feel the same way.
Teaching next to the Myride®+ console
What if you could…
So differentiation may apply to us, not just to clubs and products. To stay competitive, we may need to differentiate ourselves by learning the skills that cover the greatest number of possibilities and can adapt to the greatest number of situations.
Teaching with video takes just as much training as teaching with watts, maybe more. As an instructor who can teach with video, you’ll differentiate yourself from the commoditized market. The cool thing is you can even add power-based training to a video class once the video technology is in place. That gives video more possibilities.
If you haven’t considered it, I strongly encourage you to learn to teach with video. In a choice between science only and Hollywood dazzle with infinite potential, Hollywood seems to win. That dazzle and potential are what virtual cycling and Myride®+ represent.
Originally posted 2012-03-05 14:50:27.
Welcome to the The Weekly Ride by Cycling Fusion:
Originally posted 2018-02-13 09:00:43.
Welcome to the The Weekly Ride by Cycling Fusion:
Originally posted 2018-03-13 15:36:45.
Welcome to the The Weekly Ride by Cycling Fusion
Originally posted 2018-12-23 09:34:42.
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Joan Kent
It’s possible, even likely, that you have cycling class members with hypertension. It’s possible that they’ve been told by their doctors to cut back on salt in their diets. If not, it’s still possible that they’re cutting back on salt because that’s the prevailing wisdom for controlling blood pressure.
As we all know, sodium is loss in sweat. The more we sweat, the more we lose. Long and/or intense trainings or hot environments result in greater sweat production and greater sodium loss. Symptoms of low sodium can include disorientation, nausea, fatigue, even seizures or collapse. Even in a controlled indoor environment, warm outdoor temperatures can increase sweating.
As important as sodium levels are, it’s obviously not a good idea for our students to cut back on salt intake without letting the prescribing M.D. know that they take cycling classes and often sweat profusely in them. In warmer weather, this becomes even more important.
But this post isn’t just about salt. High-carb diets may raise blood pressure because of the increased insulin they trigger. There are several mechanisms by which high levels of insulin can raise blood pressure.
High insulin levels increase sympathetic nervous system activity, leading to vasoconstriction. That increases both heart rate and blood pressure.
Insulin also stimulates the proliferation/multiplication of the smooth muscle cells lining the arteries. That may narrow the size of the arterial opening (lumen) and increase blood pressure, sort of in the same way that a narrower hose can increase water pressure.
Insulin promotes the production of serotonin, a brain chemical that’s also a vasoconstrictor. Vasoconstriction can raise blood pressure. The relationship between insulin levels and serotonin production is pretty much linear, so the more insulin secreted — say, in response to a high-carb diet — the more serotonin is produced. The more serotonin, the more vasoconstriction, and so on.
As mentioned in a previous post, high insulin levels can increase production of series 2 prostaglandins, which are hormones that control cellular functions. Among their numerous negative health consequences, Series 2 prostaglandins cause inflammation and increase blood pressure.
So what should we recommend for our cycling students?
First, it’s always a good idea to stay away from simple (or as I like to call them, junky) carbs and limit alcohol. That can help to keep insulin levels from skyrocketing.
Second, avoiding all-carb meals/snacks is another good idea. Meals and snacks that include protein and healthful, unsaturated fats have less impact on insulin levels.
Third, avoid processed (also junky) foods that are loaded with sodium that we consumers can’t control.
Fourth, modify — but don’t eliminate — salt. We need it to replace what we lose in a cycling class. The upper limit is 2300 mg, or 1500 mg for older or hypertension-prone individuals. But for someone who sweats profusely, it might be possible to exceed those limits safely to a degree. It’s also possible to go too low, and one way of gauging that is by urine production. If you feel you can’t hold 50% of your water intake, that’s a sign that you could need more salt.
As some of you may be aware, there’s a long-standing table salt/sea salt debate raging. Some sources maintain that the natural minerals in sea salt reduce the overall sodium content. Or that the larger size of sea salt crystals reduces the amount of salt in a teaspoon. Or that the more intense flavor of some sea salts encourages reduced consumption. These factors are said to make sea salt more healthful, but arguments appear to be inconclusive. One suggestion for sea salt users might be to take a kelp tablet daily to compensate for the absence of iodine that’s typically added to table salt. Or to buy sea salt with added iodine. Iodine’s necessary to prevent goiter.
Rather than join the Great Salt Debate, my point in this post is to encourage moderate consumption of salt among our cycling participants concerned with sodium and hypertension, primarily to avoid the negative consequences of low sodium.
Even more importantly, I’d encourage smart consumption of the best carbs to avoid the various mechanisms — related to insulin secretion — that can and DO cause hypertension, even with a low-sodium diet.
Originally posted 2013-07-01 08:22:47.