It's that time of year again – IHRSA, the big fitness equipment show starts on Tuesday next week March 22nd and 23rd. This year the expo is in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center. Sweet for me as it's an easy 90 minute drive from my new home in Tampa 🙂
Last year all the buzz was centered on the new Stages SC3 – which was a total surprise to me when I saw it. The buzz IMO was well deserved after I had the chance to ride it multiple times during the show. You can read my review here.
Monday afternoon I'm meeting with Josh Leve with AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) along with the other advisory board members. AFS is really catching on with studio owners and I'm looking forward to helping them become more beneficial to all of the new studios popping up across the USA.
Not having a crystal ball to peer into, I reached out to my friends at the various brands, asking for a heads-up on what I can look forward to seeing this year. Here's their responses:
RealRyder has added POWER!
Last year Adam Reid hinted that they were working at adding POWER indication to their Indoor Cycle. What they're calling WATTPRO1 is a pedal crank arm power meter – I can't tell if it's just one, or both arms… I'll let you know next week. Jackie Mendes who's a Director at RealRyder® International LLC added the following:
The same company that evolved the traditional stationary indoor cycle design by introducing the first and only multi-planar indoor riding experience now offers a new standard in indoor cycle power measurement–introducing the RealRyder® WattPRO1. This revolutionary direct power measurement technology provides our customers with the most accurate and reliable power data available on the market. The RealRyder WattPro1 is now available to elite athletes training indoors, or anyone seeking to gain a training advantage in their group cycling classes.
I can't wait to ride it + learn from Adam and Douglas Brooks what education they have planned. I'm also curious to find out if existing RealRyder cycles can be retrofitted with power?
Free Epic Planet Virtual Ride DVDs!
Be sure to stop by the Stages Booth when you're there at IHRSA. Allen Jones from Epic Planet supplied me with a few hundred DVDs that Dennis Mellon will be giving away during the show.
Join me Wednesday morning for a Stages early workout. You can reserve a bike here – I'm slotted for the 7:00 class. Stages will be demonstrating a display training system called VISMOX. I don't know anything more it, but plan to 🙂
I'm hearing more about Fitmetrix – the display training system that's also a complete backend solution for managing an Indoor Cycling Studio. Is it a worthy competitor to Mindbody? I plan to find out.
Core Health and Fitness AKA Star Trac and Schwinn Indoor Cycles
Core Health and Fitness will be featuring our Schwinn line up of bikes and the Echelon2 consoles. We will have Performance IQ in our booth demonstrating the connectivity with the Schwinn Echelon2. We're also excited to have Schwinn Master trainers Jeffrey Scott and Markus Mengert in our booth doing demo classes during the early morning workout and during the show.
Core Health and Fitness will also be showing our new line of Star Trac Studio bikes. The Studio Series bikes–built upon Star Trac’s heritage as one of the first and best manufacturers of indoor group cycling bikes–consists of three new models of bikes with improved looks, improved features, and a lower price point than our previous offerings in this space.
Performance IQ says:
At IHRSA, we’re introducing a new version of the PIQ software which is has additional modes, new functionalities and include different display theme options. We’ll also showcase our integration with different apps. You can find one of us in the Stages and Schwinn booth.
Not to forget my friends at Keiser – Darrin Pelkey supplied the following.
John
We are introducing some new accessories to our bikes. A new pedal, New Tablet holder and new stretch pads. I asked marketing and they would rather give detailed information and images after the show. I hope that works and I hope things are going well!!
My guess is that there will be other surprises and I'll be reporting on what I see/find/experience later next week.
I've been doing a lot of things lately to help with my Health and Fitness (both mental and physical health) and today had an epiphany………at least for me lol
I happen to put on the Secret in the background while I worked. If you read earlier posts, I have given up listening to conspiracy documentaries and so I need something to replace that with. haha And although I have watched or listened to the secret 50 times, I can honestly say I have never watched it with this same insight and understanding of my current situation and so I feel as though this time I may get something new from the experience =)
So it gets to the part where Jack Canfield mentions his $100,000 check that he manifests and how he “had the idea while getting out of the shower.” This time though, that part of the movie spoke to me. And so I want to describe why and then attempt to tie it into being an instructor.
One of my big “Musts” for this year and all future years is to create a lifestyle of less financial stress, a more youthful energy and healthier body, and to find a way to spend more time with my kids and doing what I love. I know, I know, that's EVERY BODIES musts haha Maybe so, but I really think that as I have aged, my definition of all those things differ greatly from what I used to think and probably even MORE from what most people (especially younger) would say to define the things on my list. With age comes experience and with experience comes knowledge. If only it was reversed haha
Anyway, back to what happened for me when I heard him describe that “Out of shower experience.” It hit me that what I am going through in this very moment is what can (and Will) propel me to the things that I want, or will at least help me attain them. You see, I have wanted to be a public speaker for over 25 years. I literally would attend work conferences over a weekend and when most people skipped most speakers, I went out of my way to sit thru half of one, just so I could catch the second half of another. I would study them and how they spoke. I'd look for what worked for them and when people became engaged, AS WELL AS when they dis-engaged. I was convinced that it was my path !! But at the age of 45, the only speaking I get to do is to my kids when doing story time, OR to my class when I teach. Very fulfilling, but not ultimately what I think of when I dream of being a speaker.
One of the things, if not THE thing that has stopped me from going out and doing this is complete lack of confidence in this area. NOT lack of confidence in speaking, not at all. All I do is talk and I have a million stories and ideas !!! It's the lack of confidence in my ability to convince someone that I know what the hell I am taking about !! Why would someone listen to me and believe I have the answer to anything (is the words that echo in my head when I think of trying to visualize this as a career for me). And for YEARS I would tell myself “Jay you just need a story. Something bad has to happen to you that you overcome and THEN people will believe you have a clue.” Thoughts of getting cancer and beating it, or surviving a Plane crash, or even a hostage situation is ALL that I need to get peoples attention !!! I know, CRAZZZZZZYYYY !! lol
Then in 2008 the financial meltdown happened and I lost everything. Suddenly almost overnight everything I believed about my ability to be successful in business was gone. I tried for years to get hired back at what I used to do before starting my business but no one would hire me. Gained weight, stopped putting myself out there, and pretty much stopped believing I could recover. The “Motivational Speaker” dream suffered it's first serious blow.
Flash forward to two years ago and without wasting time on the details, let's just say that when I was FINALLY getting my feet back under me and starting to believe I could recapture the person I once thought I could be, life dealt me another major blow and this one was worse. My whole belief system on trust and love and commitment completely imploded and this turned me into someone who literally found myself saying “What's the fucking point??” DO NOT mis-read that !! I wasn't suicidal, not even close !! I was more of the feeling that why build up too many hopes and dreams because the Universe is gonna dish up whatever it dishes up and you just got to sit there and eat it. I mean when the person you gave everything to and who you trusted more than anyone ever on this earth shows you that you DO NOT matter overnight, it's kind of hard to look at the people around you that didn't play nearly as crucial a role in your life and assume they are going to do any better at being a true friend/partner/spouse, etc. So basically I have been fighting my way back for almost two years to a place where I want to believe that anything is STILL possible and want to give up on the negative baggage that I have carried for WAY too long !!
So now that you know the back story, I can tell you my “Big Epiphany” haha I have decided that my Journey, or my ROAD TO RECOVERY, is going to be my story !!! In a way, killing two birds with one big ass stone !!! I am going to take everything I am doing over the last month (You have to go read earlier posts if you want to know what I'm doing) and I am going to get myself to a place SO SUCCESSFUL that someone is going to ask how I did that and THEN not only will have have the end result to show them, I will ALSO have the road map I took to get there ! So NOW I will have the story to present to people, NOW I will have the story to write in books, NOW I will have the proof that I not only believed in the things that I read and practiced but I also DID those things and THAT is how and why I am happier, healthier, and have MY KIND of wealth which oddly enough doesn't consist of airplanes and yachts but instead looks more like a family life where we all go to bed with a warm blanket, full bellies, all bills being paid, and 3 to 4 weeks of family vacation. That is wealth to me these days.
The reason this whole plan speaks to me in conjunction with us as instructors is that we all teach or instruct based mostly on whatever format we were trained. We all use charts for Zone, BPM for heart rate, and so on. I would also bet that we all throw in a little of our own nuggets of knowledge too. If you're a triathlete or professional cyclist on the side than maybe what you add is something technical. If you're a story teller like me than maybe you add a quote that inspires someone to sprint harder. Who knows. But I ask you this……….are you sharing enough “nuggets” ?? Think outside the box on that one. Do you finish class and over hear someone telling their friend about an issue that you have been through and one which you could provide insight ? I mean, sure we always get the person asking “what do I do if my calf cramps up” and we have to answer those. But how many missed opportunities are there each class where you could spot something you have experience in and solve that problem just by showing this person “you've been there and this is how I fixed it.” ?????? It could be something in how they peddle, something in how they breath, or maybe even something more personal like parenting or spousal issues. I'm not sure when we gave up the reigns to facebook for solving every ones problems but I can tell you from experience that the best advise is hearing it face to face from someone who has been there and has the scars to prove it. Now go give out some NUGGETS !! Peace.
In a previous post that I co-wrote with Jim Karanas, we described specific physiological adaptations of aerobic — aka cardio or endurance — training.
As you may recall, they include increases in blood volume, tidal volume, and stroke volume. The capillary network increases, as well, as do the size and number of mitochondria. Other changes also occur, but these are the ones that move oxygen to the working muscle.
Recent research has shown that endurance/cardio exercise — not strength work or interval training — can make rodent brains bigger.
Okay, forget how much that last part sounds like the plot of a 1950 sci-fi film. Let’s look at other research.
A long-term study followed 1,583 middle-aged men and women with no personal history of either dementia or heart disease over 2 decades. Before-and-after tests done 20 years apart showed that the ones who had kept in shape tended to have larger brains, while the poorly conditioned participants had lost gray matter.
Holding on to gray matter prevents cognitive decline and decreases the risk for dementia. No specific type of exercise was explored in that study, however.
And that leads us to the long-raging debate over Cardio and High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
HIIT Advocates Always Stack the Deck
Let me be clear: I have absolutely nothing against high-intensity intervals. I use them often in my own workouts and when teaching.
But something interesting occurs when staunch advocates of HIIT compare the relative benefits of HIIT with those of standard cardio.
They tend to cheat.
In the hands of the die-hard HIIT fan, the word “cardio” has become code for lame-o exercise at the lowest levels of intensity. It should come as no surprise that the benefits — if any — of such lame workouts would fall far short of the benefits of HIIT.
And no one challenges the criteria. So let’s challenge them.
You Can Go Hard AND Long
It’s simply not true that intense training must involve short intervals of, say, 20 to 60 seconds. If you train well aerobically — and train seriously enough to achieve the aerobic benefits above — you can maintain a high level of work for a pretty long time.
HIIT advocates seem to ignore the fact that elite marathon runners, for example, run faster than 5-minute-mile pace for 26.2 miles. Most people would find it difficult, if not impossible, to run a single 5-minute mile. It’s a fast pace. Elite marathoners go faster than that for a couple of hours.
As Matt Fitzgerald — well-known marathoner, trainer, and author of several books and many articles — states, “well-trained endurance athletes really don’t have to slow down much as they increase the duration of their efforts. We are not the folks reading magazines on elliptical trainers.”
I’m the furthest thing from an elite athlete you can find, but even I have done a couple of cycling time-trials on Mt. Diablo. The first one took me 44 minutes at a consistent heart rate of 173 — quite high for me, making the climb a combination of hard and long. (Okay, I told you I’m no elite athlete.)
The training combination that appeals to me most is to fit a set of about 8 intense intervals into a long training of moderate or moderately high intensity.
It’s not just my personal preference, though. Evolutionary evidence suggests that this way of training is precisely what we were always meant to do.
(Part 2 will explore the evolutionary reasons that this is what we’re meant to do.)
I teach indoor cycling at multiple facilities in the Denver area but I spend most of my work week at Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club. Â Greenwood is my “home club”. Â This is where I'm a personal trainer, teach indoor cycling, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) classes, CVI (Cardio Vascular Interval Training) classes, I've been a Master Swim Team coach, a Triathlon Team coach, Â I'm one of the Race Directors for the annual Tri-Our-Village Kids Triathlon and the Roadless Century Coach and Lead for the annual Roadless Ride fundraiser to benefit Brent's Place.
Greenwood is considered one of the best athletic clubs in the country. Â They do a lot of things VERY well. Â The facility is kept immaculately clean, they have the latest and greatest equipment and vast and diverse group exercise program with some of the best instructors in the Denver area. Â I could go on and on about what they do well, but there are plenty of facilities that are clean, big and have plenty of offerings, let's talk about something they do differently.
Greenwood is the only facility that I have every worked in that has, PAID, semi annual ALL STAFF meetings. There are some things that cannot be expressed in an e-mail or newsletter. Â There is something powerful and unifying about the ENTIRE staff gathering TOGETHER hearing the EXACT SAME message coming directly from the facility owner and general manger.
Our first All Staff meeting of 2016 took place last Thursday.  The most exciting announcement, for me, was replacement of  our Spinner Blade Ion indoor cycling bikes with the new Stages SC3 bike.  This will take our, already stellar, indoor cycling program to a whole new level!!!!!!!  I felt the most memorable segment of this meeting was when the video I've posted below was played.  Watch, listen and know that your actions are powerful.
Here's the week 2 profile for the month of March 2016.
3, 2, 1 Blast off!!!! Â As the intervals get shorter the intensity gets HOTTER and more POWERFUL!!!! Â But you'll need to cruise into orbit in the middle.
Below, Premium Members can read a detailed description of this Class Profile, download a printable Class Profile that can be used in class, read a detailed description of the Power Based Training Zones and download a printable Power Postcard.
[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
This week's favorite track is from Swedish indie pop band Miike Snow's new album iii.  It was the second single released from the album back in December.  I've used it a few times and then sort of forgot about it until I heard it play on the radio last week.  At around 95 rpm's, it makes for a great flat road.  Last time I used it, we did pick ups on the chorus.
