I was teaching a class early this morning in a studio that's about 35 by 20 feet, has eight ceiling fans as well as two oscillating floor fans. This morning it was not particularly hot, and I didn't feel the need to turn on both of the oscillating floor fans, that was a mistake! I did turn on the eight ceiling fans and one of the oscillating floor fans for a total of nine fans. About 10 minutes into class I hear a shout from a rider who is about 30 feet away from the ONE fan that's not spinning asking to turn it on. As usual, this outburst came in the middle of my detailed explanation of the upcoming set. Annoyed, I took a deep breath, finished my set description and asked, “That fan all the way across the room?” I admit, this wasn't the best way to handle this request. But what I wanted to say was “THAT fan, that's 30 feet away from you and has to push air through 15 other riders for you to have any chance of feeling any additional air flow on top of the other nine fans that are already circulating air in this room. What about the people who are riding next to that fan, what if they don't want it blowing on them and is that tiny itty bit of additional air flow worth interrupting me in the middle of my set description?” I didn't say all that; I waited until I got everyone started in the next set and quietly made my way over to the one out of ten fans that wasn't running, asked everyone in the area if they were okay with me turning it on. Most of these riders asked if I could adjust the fan so it wouldn't blow directly on them, so I ended up facing it in a direction where there was no way the person who requested it be turned on could feel it.
What is it with some people and fans? It's a workout and when you workout you may get hot and sweat. All the facilities where I work are equipped with full locker rooms and have showers. Don't get me wrong; I believe cycling studios should be properly cooled with adequate circulation, but it's impossible to find the perfect temperature and perfect amount of circulation for everyone. Sometimes people simply need to work through their discomfort.
What do these people do when they spend time outside and conditions aren't perfect, do they pray?
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Lately I've been all about the remixes. Remixes are so great because it's like taking a song you've heard a million times before and making it brand new. Sometimes I find that I like the remixes even better than the original. Sometimes the bpm becomes faster or slower, which is great if you've been wanting to use a song but have not been able to fit it in because it was just too slow or too fast. So here are a few remixes of newer songs that I've been using lately. I hope you enjoy them!
Only a few days ago, I learned that July 21 is National Junk Food Day. Really. Did you even know there was one?
Research revealed a disappointing body of information. Neither the creator nor the origin of National Junk Food Day is known. The day is “dedicated” to the snacks “everyone loves.” Those foods are, by definition, high in fats, sugars, salt and calories, with little or no nutritional value.
Celebrating National Junk Food Day involves consuming your favorite guilty pleasures. And, of course, posting on social media using #NationalJunkFoodDay. (Yawn.) Yes, I’m old, but really?
Believe it or not, several Junk Food Day websites exist. One explained the day as a reaction to the unappealing routine of “being healthy, preparing a balanced meal, and snacking on carrot sticks.” The Junk Food celebration satisfies cravings for something “naughtier, greasier” and more fattening than the unexciting meal you know you should eat instead.
How To Minimize the Damage
Another website suggested taking a walk or doing yard work to burn off the extra calories. As if it’s only about calories.
My field is psychoactive nutrition, so I think about what a day of junk food can do to the brain: the food hangover that gives you brain fog and makes you feel as if you’ve been run over by a truck, for instance.
Or the cravings that will occur for up to a week and make it difficult to get back on track.
Or the results that never happen. I’m currently working with a client who, per her doctor’s instructions, is on a food plan that doesn’t permit starches. But she takes 2 days off every week and isn’t losing weight. Yard work won’t change that; she’s a runner. My theory is her 5 “on” days are probably just detoxing her from the 2 days of damage.
Why Must Days Off Be an Accident?
A woman in the weight-loss program I ran for many years actually complained that I never got sick.
She wasn’t envious of my good health. She told me how nice it would be to come in for the day’s training — and find I wasn’t there because I was out sick.
Okay, first: Why not work out on your own if the instructor’s sick, instead of leaving the gym? The gym equipment still functions when the instructor’s out. So … really?
Second: Gee, thanks for wishing sickness upon me. What unpleasantries may I wish upon you? Yikes.
Days Off can take place anytime and for any reason. If you want one, don’t go to the gym. Ah, but that means taking responsibility.
Apparently, It’s About Lack Of Guilt
It seems the idea of Nat’l Junk Food Day is to eat those favorite junk foods — just that day — without guilt.
Many years ago, I was a fitness instructor for a one-week, residential seminar on weight loss. The other fitness instructor and I had no control over the nutrition guidelines, the seminar format — or the announcement of a Day Off at the mid-week mark.
I objected. Why did we need a day off in a one-week program? Why were we teaching people who were just getting started to take a day off every week? Did anyone besides me see the self-sabotage flaw in that plan? Had anyone besides me ever dealt with nutrition clients who couldn’t lose weight due to a weekly day off that turned into a free-for-all?
The answers were unsatisfactory, but it wasn’t my call. It was about lack of guilt.
If you eat healthfully the other 364 days a year, then by all means celebrate National Junk Food Day and enjoy it.
If you eat well 95% of the time and have a solid plan for dealing with life’s inevitable nutrition interruptions — parties, weddings, and so on — you don’t need a guilt-free Junk Food Day. You’re already taking responsibility — even for your off-days.
Much brilliant work has been written about responsibility, so it would be foolish to discuss the topic here. But maybe the conversation comes down to a difference between external and internal motivation.
Once we’ve decided how we want to eat, why surrender motivation and responsibility for our food choices to a holiday — any holiday? Why not stay internally motivated and take responsibility for both on-days and off-days?
My advice is to stick with your healthful food plan no matter what. Find other ways to enjoy holidays and parties — the company, the conversation, the laughter.
Find the food plan that makes you feel great throughout the day, and eat that way throughout the year.
Why give it up for an anonymously invented occasion that provides a trivial external excuse to avoid responsibility?
Maybe I’m just a party-pooper, but I’ll toss in a quote on responsibility that made me grin when I read it the very first time. It’s by Theodore Roosevelt:
“If you could kick in the pants the person responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.”
Let’s end with the reaction of the strength-training coach in my long-running (13 years!) weight-loss program. When participants complained about not having days off, his very annoyed reply was, “There are no days off! This is it — the way you eat, the way you train — all the time.”
Good point, and I second the motion, National Junk Food Day or not.
Meet Stephanie (Steph) Cohen – owner of Ride Revolution Cycling Studios in Northvale, NJ!
Steph is a member of our Cycling Studio Owners Advisory Group. In this episode of the Podcast, we discuss some of her most valuable lessons learned from running her successful studio for three years.
Name of Studio: Ride Revolution Cycling Studios, LLC Location of Studio: Northvale, NJ Phone: 201-259-7221 email: Steph@Ride-Revolution.com Owner Name: Steph Cohen Owner Title: Owner Years in Operation: 3 Years Size of studio: 2,000 Sq. Feet Number of members/clients: 2,400 Unique Visitors since opening
If you were advising somebody whose dream is to open a fitness studio — what would be your primary nuggets of advice?
Make sure the financial picture makes sense. The market where you are may not actually be able to hold your initial price per session. What are your earning projections if the price per session is a lower amount than originally offered?
Ensure you have a strong marketing budget. Too many studios forget this part or put it last on their budget list. While you are building your new place you need to begin the online and print advertising so that once you open locals will already recognize your name.
Have a clear mission — the “why” you opened your studio — and have that set the tone for all of your marketing and outreach. Make sure that your employees have the same vision in mind at all times as well.
In addition to having great instructors playing fabulous music, learn your client’s names and remember their unique stories. That is what will make them want to come back again and again.
Be prepared to do EVERYTHING yourself for the first few years. I am the front desk, marketing coordinator, instructor manager AND I wash the towels every few days! No task is too big or too small for the owner to actually do for the studio.
Download all 16 of Steph Cohen's Most Valuable Lessons Learned here – right click > save as.
Today is the official release day of both the new Ghostbusters movie and the Ghostbusters soundtrack. Elle King's Good Girls was released back in June and is the lead single to the soundtrack which also includes songs by Fall Out Boy with Missy Elliot, Walk the Moon and Pentatonix. I'll be using this as a flat road (88 rpm) and I like it every bit as much as Ex's and Oh's and America's Sweetheart.
