My coach, Jim Karanas, used to say that athletic performance triggers the ego. It brings forward conflict, discomfort, anxiety, self-defeating thoughts, and doubts about what’s possible and what’s not.
In athletics, you do what’s necessary. You have the above thoughts without reacting to them — and stay with the event. The athletic objective is to learn to be nonreactive to distractions, including pain.
Giving up sugar can also bring forward discomforts — withdrawal symptoms, cravings — plus the anxiety, doubts, and self-defeating thoughts that may go with them. Like the athletic distractions, none of them is permanent.
You do what’s necessary to eliminate them and stay with the plan.
One difference is that, in athletics, it helps not to derive an identity from your performance. That identity, my coach said, is just ego.
In contrast, I say, what’s good about going through the process of quitting sugar is the sense of identity you develop when you do it. Your identity shifts.
You become The Person Who Doesn’t Eat Sugar, and things change.
– You stop finding sugary foods tempting. They’re Not Food.
– You consciously stop putting junk into your healthy body.
– People stop trying to persuade you to eat what you’d rather avoid.
– People stop giving you gifts of tempting sugary treats.
It’s not that the foods don’t look or smell appetizing. But they don’t bother us because we view them as something we simply don’t eat.
They’re no longer who we are.
Brain Chemistry Puts a Space Around Sugar
Eckhart Tolle, who wrote The Power of Now, talks about putting a space around pain, thoughts and memories — especially negative ones — by staying present in the moment.
Basically, that’s becoming nonreactive.
Once addictive foods — like sugar — have been removed from your diet, the right foods you’ve added along the way can, and will, enhance dopamine and improve your focus.
Meanwhile, serotonin will put a space around what’s happening — and make you less reactive — by literally increasing the time between thought and action.
The non-reactivity holds true whether the trigger is external — seeing chocolate cake, smelling freshly baked cinnamon buns — or internal — having a taste that triggers the desire for lots more.
I talk to my clients about stability, which applies to both brain chemistry and glucose.
When both are stable and even, my clients are able to make decisions about food, instead of reacting to every treat.
They make decisions, instead of succumbing to junk they know won’t do them good, just because they can’t resist or think they have “decision-making fatigue.”
Once my clients are stable, I know they’re on the ‘Zen path’ — as described in my last post — to making clear decisions about food and sugar.
A few weeks ago I noticed a new playlist along the left side of my main Spotify page titled Discover Weekly. I hadn’t put it there myself, so I clicked on it to see what it was all about and I was pleasantly surprised at the incredible mix of songs that it included. I investigated further and found that it’s a new feature that Spotify offers and it’s amazing! It’s like a fresh mix tape delivered to you every Monday.
According to Spotify, the songs included in your personal Discover Weekly playlist are based on your listening habits as well as what others are listening to. (Hint: Make sure you save your favorites because it will refresh every week! I created a new playlist called Discover Weekly Finds and then I will sort them out when I have more time.)
This week’s favorite song of the week is called Happy (no, not THAT Happy…) and it came straight from my personalized playlist. It’s from a group I’d never heard of called C2C (feat. Derek Martin) . Check out this video of them performing the song live. They’re using turntables to recreate the sounds of the drum and guitar and it’s pretty cool:
I used it as a climb, but it would certainly also make a great warm up or flat road.
Sometimes I need a cool video to play as a warm up song. This video is perfect! Beautiful scenery, classic rock song and a smooth flowing video that everyone can appreciate and “Get Lost in the Moment.”
The entire, full length, movie is available for download on iTunes.
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Below you'll find Week 2 of August's Keep it Simple and Progress indoor cycling profile.
When I started this progression last week I was VERY concerned that my classes were going to complaining about the significant recoveries, but after the first week my riders began to figure out just how hard they needed to work to make this workout effective. Not one person mentioned that they felt they were getting too much recovery, most of them were hoping for more. The beauty of training with power is that you can give REAL wattage goals for each interval. Exercise physiologists have proven that riders can hold wattages in the Anaerobic Capacity Zone, which is 121-150% of Functional Threshold Power for 30 seconds to 3 minutes. I set my wattage goals with these proven parameters in mind.
5 minute benchmark ride to find “Maximum Sustainable Wattage”
1 minute recovery
3 x 1 minute intervals
1 minute recovery after each
3 x 3 minute intervals
2 minute recovery after the first 2 intervals and only 1 minute after the third
5 minute interval
1 minute recovery
3 x 2 minute intervals
2 minute recovery after each
3 x 30 second intervals
30 second recovery after the first 2 intervals and 2 minutes after the third
3 x 30 second intervals
30 second recovery after each
5 minute cool down
5 minute “Maximum Sustainable Wattage” Test
Settle in to a 5 minute interval at 80-110 rpm.
This interval should be ridden at a maximum sustainable intensity.
if riders know their threshold they can spend this 5 minutes riding at it.
At the end of the interval take note of average wattage or HR or be aware of the RPE.
3 x 1 minute interval goals and specifics:
1st one minute interval should be ridden seated at 80-110 rpm at 140% of maximum sustainable wattage or threshold.
1 minute recovery or reset
2nd one minute interval should be ridden seated at 60-80 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 1st.
1 minute recovery or reset
3rd one minute interval should ridden standing at 60-70 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 2nd.
1 minute recovery or reset
3 x 3 minute interval goals and specifics:
1st 3 minute intervals should be ridden seated at 80-110 rpm at 120% of maximum sustainable wattage or threshold.
2 minute recovery or reset
2nd 3 minute interval should be ridden seated at 60-80 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 1st.
2 minute recovery or reset
3rd 3 minute interval should ridden standing at 60-70 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 2nd.
1 minute recovery or reset
5 minute “Threshold” interval goals and specifics:
Ride for 5 minute seated at 80-110 rpm and try match the output or wattage from the “Maximum Sustainable Wattage” test
1 minute recovery or reset
3 x 2 minute interval goals and specifics:
1st 2 minute intervals should be ridden seated at 80-110 rpm at 130% of maximum sustainable wattage or threshold.
2 minute recovery or reset
2nd 2 minute interval should be ridden seated at 60-80 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 1st.
2 minute recovery or reset
3rd 2 minute interval should ridden standing at 60-70 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 2nd.
2 minute recovery or reset
3 x 30 second interval goals and specifics:
1st 30 second intervals should be ridden seated at 80-110 rpm at 150% of maximum sustainable wattage or threshold.
30 second recovery or reset
2nd 30 second interval should be ridden seated at 60-80 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 1st.
30 second recovery or reset
3rd 30 second interval should ridden standing at 60-70 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 2nd.
2 minute recovery or rest
3 x 30 second interval goals and specifics:
1st 30 second intervals should be ridden seated at 80-110 rpm at 150% of maximum sustainable wattage or threshold.
30 second recovery or reset
2nd 30 second interval should be ridden seated at 60-80 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 1st.
30 second recovery or reset
3rd 30 second interval should ridden standing at 60-70 rpm at the same wattage or intensity as the 2nd.
4 minute cool down
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Trainer Road Profile (If you're Trainer Road Member join my Team to get this and all profiles)
The music industry is figuring out that a great Indoor Cycling class is built on a fabulous playlist. Now they're making noises that they feel they should be charging fitness studios a higher rate for their commercial performance licenses…
By Andrew Sparkler, Vice President, Business Affairs & Operations
At this year’s SXSW, SoulCycle teamed up with Spotify and some of their favorite DJs at what was dubbed as “an epic music and movement experience.” While the popular fitness club’s trip to Austin underscores the importance of music to its business, it is unclear if the music business is spinning to the same beat.
SoulCycle, launched in 2006, is now filing for an IPO. Its business is primarily based on offering a high intensity spin class led by an instructor who also serves as a DJ. Take a class, glance at their website or read their S-1 filing and it is clear that music is perhaps as essential to their business as the bikes themselves.
SoulCycle’s SEC filing characterizes its product as a “carefully curated ‘cardio party’ [that] is fueled by the personalities of our instructors, their uniquely crafted musical playlists and the energy of the room” and says that “[w]ith inspirational coaching and high-energy music, SoulCycle was created to strengthen both the mind and the body.” Their instructors go as far as to claim that music “is the most important part of what we do at SoulCycle.”
Performing rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI are on constant lookout for ways to generate royalties for their songwriters and rights holders, but one publishing exec (and former ASCAP vp) argues they need to look harder — maybe even break a sweat — when dealing with your favorite fitness center.
In an op-ed for Medium, Downtown Publishing vp of business affairs Andrew Sparkler said PROs are dropping the proverbial medicine ball by classifying certain gyms under “general” licenses — the same umbrella as restaurants, bars and concert/sports venues — when music has become such an ubiquitous and personalized part of the workout experience.
To make his point, Sparkler cites the popular SoulCycle chain of spin classes, who in a recent SEC filing for an IPO called their product a “carefully curated ‘cardio party' [that] is fueled by the personalities of our instructors, their uniquely crafted musical playlists and the energy of the room.”
In its SEC filing, SoulCycle projects 2015 revenue to be around $140 million and said it hopes to expand to 250 locations (up from 36 in 2014) in the near future.
Sparkler figures each SoulCycle is currently bringing in about $3.1 million apiece for the company, but is only paying a tiny fraction of that to PROs under the “general” licenses for the music it plays. BMI, for example, charges fitness clubs a maximum of $2,123 per year per location — which would amount to .01 percent of what Sparkler estimates each SoulCycle makes. ASCAP also has a flat fee per location, but it slides depending on inflation.
According to his calculations, fitness center revenue increased over 104 percent in the U.S. between 2000 and 2014, and SoulCycle jumped 108 percent from 2012 to 2013 alone.
While noting that SoulCycle is doing nothing wrong — they’re simply paying the bills sent by PROs — it’s those rights groups that should tap into “this cultural phenomenon and increase their rates accordingly.”
So where does this lead? My guess is that ASCAP and BMI will be looking for ways to monetize (make more money) off the excitement surrounding SoulCycle/Indoor Cycling and the ease of music delivery from Spotify/iTunes Music = they'll be contacting clubs and studios with “revised” (read more expensive) license agreements.
As someone who prefers to maintain a level of fair exchange, I can't begrudge them for asking a higher rate than a sports bar or restaurant would pay. My only hope is that club/studio owners/managers recognise the value great music brings to our classes and not follow the LA Fitness path that pretends to save money by enforcing canned Muzac use by their Instructors 🙁
This week I was asked by a class participant to NOT play “Stairway to Heaven” in a class she was planning on attending. I was shocked that someone would ask me NOT to play what many people still consider the greatest song of all time. If any of you have ever been to a video class of mine I sometimes play Heart's cover of Stairway.
Here it is:
That's AWESOME! Would you ever ask someone NOT to play THAT?
or THIS:
I was so shocked by this request that I decided to ask the “experts” at the Indoor Cycling Instructors Facebook Group how they would respond. I was even more surprised by some of the comments:
“I would stop playing STH. It's 2015, save that for a classic rock playlist. As a rider, I too would be annoyed hearing Stairway if you play it so often. Or maybe try to find some remixes of it if you love it so much.”
“my surprise is that anyone would use STH for a song in Spin Class!!”
There were some great comments and advice given but these two really stuck out. Stairway is timeless and I'm sorry that I sometimes like to play music that was created with real instruments.
Ok, enough ranting. As anyone who has followed me here at ICI/Pro, listened to one of my recorded classes or taken a live class from knows, I play music from all genres. This week I put together a 3 song mix from some more “current” artists.
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Right Click on the blue underlined link
Select “Download Linked File As”
Select a download location
Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library
To download the above media on a PC:
Right Click on the blue underlined link
Select “Save Link As”
Select a download location
Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library Click here to watch a video on how to download media files from ICI/Pro.
