When I fired up Spotify this morning I was taken to a “this is new” screen and I knew I was hosed. Played a track and sure enough the track length timer disappears after a few seconds. Oh, sure, you can touch the album art and the numbers will reappear, only to fade away. Frustrating.
So I checked to see; how did this happen? Did I do something incorrectly in my settings that would have prevented this? Turns out no. Opening the App I see that Spotify is waiting for me to click update, along with all the others. So Spotify updated without my approval 🙁
So what to do?
I'm not seeing any option on my iPhone other than frequently tapping the screen.
Taking one for the ICI/PRO team, I crossed my fingers and updated Spotify on my iPad. That works! The playlist timer remains on. So that's going to be my device until if/when Spotify changes the iPhone version.
Beyond that, I suppose we'll have to wait a few weeks and – I hate to even consider this – and switch to Apple Music 🙁 Then of course there's the issue with the hundreds of playlists many of us have built. Will there be a way to convert a Spotify music playlist to an Apple Music playlist? We have a tool here to convert music playlists from Spotify to Deezer. I'll have to get cracking on that ASAP.
OK, I was wrong when I said last week that Apple doesn't do “Me Too!” products and services. I just sat through the live presentation and didn't see anything that would persuade me to switch from Spotify. They made a bunch of noise about “connecting” with artists, but nothing about sharing or connecting with other users. From what I could see there isn't anything that will improve how you deliver your class music. Even Apple's playlist timer fonts are tiny 🙁
I'll still try it at the end of the month when it's released as an iOS 8.4 update. It sounded like Apple Music will be built into iTunes… or the other way round, so every iPhone/iPad will automatically get it.
Pricing
Apple Music will offer a free 3 month trial, then it's $10.00 a month. There is no free option like Spotify. If you have a bunch of users in your house, the family share plan (up to six users) for $15 a month might be of interest. It could help me and Amy save $60 a year.
What's it going to be? iTunes or Spotify in the future?
Apple's big announcement is supposed to be tomorrow – when they launch the iTunes (or whatever they decide to call it) streaming service! I can't wait to see what they're offering and learn if I'll be switching away from Spotify anytime soon.
There's a bunch of industry press asking if there is anything Apple could offer in an App, that would be an improvement over the Spotify App so many of us enjoy. Tweek this or that feature maybe, but there are many who feel Spotify has broken the code on streaming music.
Could Apple improve how we deliver music in our classes?
Apple doesn't do “Me Too” products or services. If you'll excuse the pun here. They do Apple… or they go home 🙂 Seeing how dominate Spotify has become in streaming – the company is valued at $8 Billion – I have a hard time believing Apple would make a half hearted attempt to compete.
Then there's the pride issue here. Apple revolutionized the digital music industry back in the 2000's. They've sat on their hands while Spotify, Deezer and Pandora are taking serious bites out of Apple's revenues. My prognostication is that Apple will roll out something very cool tomorrow. I can't wait to try it, learn it and then teach everyone how to use it in their classes!
Now that it's summer, I like to transition from serious > to fun classes. Not sure exactly why… maybe because when it's cold and dark in the morning, I tend to think if we can't be outdoors we might as well be training with focus.
Summer, on the other hand, causes me to lighten up and try to be more entertaining and fun. Here's a few tracks that I'll be using in the coming weeks.[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']
Not sure where I found this but I remember I Shazamed it the instant I heard it. There's a nice 30 second finish you might use as a final sprint.
I know I heard T-Shirt Weather when I was at American Eagle Outfitters last week.
I'm going to set the mood for my next class with this fun remix – I can't help smiling listening to it 🙂 Doesn't this sound free and easy? You might also use it as an aerobic transition between a pair of intervals.
Here's the MP3 to download Right Click > Save As.[/wlm_private]
The more I teach the more I find that the simplest profiles are the most popular. I often put together simple profiles and I'm always worried that my participants are going to be bored, but the longer the intervals and the more I repeat each set the more they love it. This gives participants more and more opportunities to understand the set and perfect how they perform it. When you combine a simple set with the science of anchoring time and effort, the shorter the interval the higher the output or the longer the interval the lower the output, it makes for a challenging and very personalized workout. I have also found the if I'm not taking the class on a “journey”, but just doing an interval based class my playlist only needs to be a mix of high energy songs, there is no need to try to match riding position or RPM with the music, just rock it!
This week I'm sharing with you a profile I used this week in most of my classes. It starts with a 5 minute warmup where I increased the intensity, wattage or HR ever minute. After a minute of recovery we did a 6 minute interval where we rode seated with a RPM of 80-110. If we were riding on bikes with wattage we remembered our average wattage at the end of the interval. If wattage wasn't available but participants had HR monitors I had them take note of either their average HR for the interval. If average HR wasn't available I asked them to take their best guess at their average HR. If the only option was perceived exertion I had riders remember the gear or resistance they were were working with and the feelings in their body like their breathing and burning sensation in their legs. After a minute recovery we rode for 4 minutes but this time we rode with an RPM of 60-80 and at a higher wattage, gear, HR and/or perceived exertion. After a 1 minute recovery we rode for 2 minutes while standing at an rpm of 60-80 and an even higher wattage, gear, HR and/or perceived exertion. After a 1 minute recovery we repeated the 6,4,2 minute set again, taking a 1 minute recovery after each interval, but this time we rode the 6 minute interval in a seated position with a RPM of 60-80, the 4 minute interval standing at 60-80rpm and for the 2 minute interval we sat between 80-110prm. After another 1 minute recovery we we rode for 6,4,2 minute interval for a final time. This time the 6 minute interval was ridden in a standing position at 60-80rpm, the 4 minute interval was ridden seated between 80-110prm and the 2 minute interval was ridden seated between 60-80rpm, taking 1 minute off between each interval and trying to increase the wattage, gear, HR and/or perceived exertion with each interval.
Finally I finished with a tabata interval of 8 X 20 seconds at max effort and 10 seconds recovery. If done properly output, wattage, gear and/or rpm will drop throughout the interval. I tell my class the output will drop but effort should not.
New Power of 3 Mix, Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download on PC or Download Linked File As on Mac. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
Recently, a client who very seldom gets sick and who is typically quite vigilant about her nutrition told me she got a respiratory infection. This brief post describes what she learned from not sticking with her nutrition guidelines and is meant to be a caution for anyone who finds value in it.
Apparently, while the client was feeling quite under the weather, she simply stopped paying attention to her usual, healthful diet. One evening, after a day of less attentive eating — nothing actually junky — she noticed that she felt, in her words, “absolutely terrible.” She assumed that her health had taken a turn for the worse, until she reflected on how her “food day” had gone.
Throughout that day, she had eaten almost no protein and lots of starchy carbs. It was then that she remembered how insulin-triggering carbs affect inflammation: they trigger series 2 prostaglandins.
What Are Prostaglandins?
As outlined in a previous post, prostaglandins are short-lived, hormone-like chemicals. They’re released by cells and travel through the interstitial fluid to neighboring target cells. Prostaglandins regulate many cellular functions and come in 3 types. All types are derived from foods (specific fatty acids), and depend on enzymes for their formation.
What Insulin Does
Insulin changes the enzymes that act on the fats we eat. When we eat high quantities of insulin-triggering foods (usually carbs) — or when we eat insulin-triggering carbs by themselves — the enzymes shift in the direction that brings on series 2 prostaglandin formation.
Type 2 prostaglandins promote pain and inflammation, while types 1 and 3 work in the opposite direction and can reduce both pain and inflammation.
We Can Fix Things With Food
Fortunately, the client was pro-active enough to go back to her usual diet of mostly vegetables, along with protein and moderate quantities of complex carbs and healthful fats. She started noticing that she felt better within several hours.
This advice could fit right in with the “No Days Off” message from several months ago. Mainly, I hope it serves as a helpful message for your students, if they ever get sick.
