A recently published survey by ACSM about trends in fitness has spawned a number of articles; here, here and here. ACSM's top 20 fitness trends makes no mention of Indoor Cycling – going so far as to suggest its inevitable demise. My review of the survey finds it wanting > no, actually I see it as utter nonsense BS based on both sample size and respondents.
Pilates, indoor cycling, stability ball, and balance training again failed to appear on the list of top 20 trends in the health and fitness industry, which supports the theory that these were fads and not trends. [Really? 20 years of Spinning® is just a fad?]
Some of the survey respondents still argue that the persistent sluggish economy has influenced the results of this survey and that training programs requiring expensive equipment or technical instruction are not supported because of the increased cost. Still others argue that Zumba®, indoor cycling, and Pilates have run their useful course.
Where do I even begin?
The purpose of this survey is to: guide health fitness programming efforts for 2015 – and – developed a systematic way to predict health and fitness trends
During the last 8 years, the editors of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal® have disseminated this electronic survey to thousands of professionals worldwide to determine health and fitness trends. The survey in this issue of the Journal helps to guide health fitness programming efforts for 2015. The first survey (1), conducted in 2006 (for predictions in 2007), developed a systematic way to predict health and fitness trends, and surveys have been done annually since that time (2—8) using the same methodology. As this was a survey of trends, respondents were asked to first make the very important distinction between a “fad” and a “trend.”
The potential benefit to commercial health clubs (those that are for-profit) is the establishment (or maybe the justification) of new markets, which could result in a potential for increased and more sustainable revenue. Community-based programs (typically not-for-profit) can use the results to continue to justify an investment in their own markets by providing expanded programs serving families and children. Corporate wellness programs and medical fitness centers may find these results useful through an increased service to their members and to their patients. The health and fitness industry should apply this information to its own unique settings.
OK, So exactly who, and how many did they survey?
Using Survey Monkey ( www.surveymonkey.com), the online survey was sent to 28,426 health fitness professionals….
After 3 weeks and 2 additional notices, 3,403 responses were received, which represents an excellent return rate of 12%, which is very similar to previous surveys.
While 3,400 isn't a small number, I don't know that I would be too proud of a 12% return rate. I get that people are busy. That often means that the people who do respond could have some additional time on their hands.
Here's the breakdown of survey participants. Notice anything strange?
If you thought (as I did); that's a lot of personal trainers (23%) – I wonder if they could have skewed the results to personal trainer-ish activities?
I added the red “X” next to each “trend” that would apply to personal training. Twelve of the twenty “trends” identified are what I would expect a personal trainer to list. Really?
The summary of the survey includes this observation:
Pilates, indoor cycling, balance training, and use of the stability ball continue to exist in the health and fitness industry but with not as much popularity according to the ACSM trends survey.
I'll leave you with this pearl of wisdom from one of ACSM's INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS
Yves Vanlandewijck, Ph.D., professor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences and program director of the Education Board of the Erasmus Mundus Masters in Adapted Physical Activity, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
During the last 9 years, the ACSM Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends has been established as the primary mechanism by which the fitness industry has set its standard for the coming year. Around the globe, owners of clubs look forward to the survey to have a better understanding of market direction and emerging trends. That was true in the past, and it continues to be that way today. The survey was sent to thousands of health fitness professions, with 12% responding. That is a remarkable return rate for a survey of this type, demonstrating beyond any doubt that it reflects an accurate picture of the industry. Owners, operators, fitness staff, and sales professionals should pay attention to the results of the survey.
Good Grief… the only thing beyond a doubt is that you're clueless 🙁
No Ms. Vanlandewijck, owners, operators, fitness staff, and sales professionals should pay attention to what the 75 million participant/users of the MyFitnessPal App are doing for exercise.
We were curious to see what fitness trends we could see among the 75 million MyFitnessPal users, so we sat down with our fitness and nutrition experts to take a look at the hot workouts from 2014. The mission: to predict what 2015’s hottest workouts will be.
We took the total number of minutes logged for each of these activities and divided by the number of active users on the app over the period of Jan-Nov of 2013 vs. Jan- Nov 2014. We did have a growth in our database over that time, so we corrected for the number of daily active users.
Here’s what MyFitnessPal’s coaching lead, Glennis Coursey, and our Registered Dietician, Elle Penner, have deemed the workouts to watch in 2015:
Although there are fewer than 40 studios in the US, it’s undeniable that there’s a tremendous buzz around SoulCycle. We anticipate this class (and cycling workouts inspired by it) will be in big demand in 2015. The celeb fave is up 78.3% since 2013.
So to answer ACSM's question; What’s Driving the Market? Participants are, not Personal Trainers.
2014 was another great year for music. Many of the songs that made my list this year dropped in the second half of the year and a few actually came out in 2013 with remixes that dropped in 2014. And I may have cheated here or there with songs that came out in late 2013 and didn’t fall on my radar until this year. Regardless, I’m sure you’ll find something you can use in this list. Maybe you’ll even find something new to you, or a song you had used earlier in the year but had forgotten about. You might even consider putting together a playlist including some of these favorites for your class to ring in 2015.
This year, I’m sharing with you how I used each song in my class. Feel free to use them in the same way or share how you use them in the comment section.
Here are my top 20 Indoor Cycling Songs of 2014 (in no particular order):
1.Lips Are Movin’ by Meghan Trainor: I like this one (at least for cycling) so much better than All About That Bass. They’re both fun, light songs that can always elicit smiles. How I used it: standing climb, warm up
2.Geronimo by Sheppard: There’s nothing NOT to love about this totally catchy tune. How I used it: standing climb, seated climb, warm up
3.Shot Me Down-feat.Skylar Grey by David Guetta: I love this adaptation of Nancy Sinatra’s ‘Bang Bang’ featuring Skylar Grey. It starts out slow and then builds, slows again and finishes with a strong beat. How I used it: alternating seated/standing climb
4.I Bet My Life by Imagine Dragons: This single was released on October 27 to promote their upcoming album Smoke and Mirrors. A big contender for my favorite song of the year. How I used it: standing climb with standing accelerations on the chorus
5.Turn Down For What by DJ Snake, Lil Jon: Technically, this song came out at the very end of 2013, but I didn’t start using it until 2014. Rolling Stone voted it as the 2nd best song of 2014 and I have to agree. How I used it: seated flat with accelerations on the chorus
6.Love Runs Out by OneRepublic: This song was supposed to be the first single from OneRepublic’s album Native, but apparently it wasn’t finished in time. It came out in 2014 with the re-release of the album, and it’s just as amazing as the rest of the songs on Native. How I used it: seated or standing climb/ warm up *Check out the remixes.
7.Fireball by Pitbull, John Ryan: My classes can’t get enough Pitbull, so I was so excited when this song was released in July. The horn melody at the end of each chorus sounds a lot like the Champ’s ‘Tequila’. It’s just a fun song with a ton of great Pitbull energy. How I used it: standing climb
8.All of Me-Tiesto’s Birthday Treatment Remix-Radio Edit by John Legend : All of Me, the original, came out in 2013, and this remix dropped in early 2014. While remixes don’t always work for me, this one really did and I love using it in my classes. How I used it: standing or seated climb
9.Animals by Martin Garrix: Another song that officially dropped in 2013, but I didn’t really start using it until 2014 so it’s going on the list. How I used it: alternating seated/standing climb *Check out the remixes.
10.Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars: This single was just released in November. I love the guest vocals by Bruno Mars and the retro sound. How I used it: This is a tough one at just under 60 RPMs, but we don’t always pedal to the beat. I’ve used this one as both a standing climb and a warm up.
11.Come With Me Now by KONGOS : This song by South African band KONGOS was initially released in 2011 but just found commercial success in the US this year. I’m voting for this one as my favorite of 2014. How I used it: seated fast flat road
12.Delirious (Boneless) by Steve Aoki, Chris Lake, Tujarr : This is one of those songs that has a great beat and just keeps your pedals moving. There are several different remixes to choose from as well. How I used it: standing climb *Check out the remixes.
13.Raging Fire by Phillip Phillips: I would definitely say this song is every bit as good as his previously released Home. How I used it: jumps on a hill, seated accelerations on the chorus
14.Sing by Ed Sheeran: This song was written by Sheeran and Pharrell Williams. Williams also provides uncredited background vocals. How I used it: alternating seated/standing climb
15.Centuries by Fall Out Boy: This song was released in September as a lead single for their upcoming album American Beauty/American Psycho. How I used it: seated flat road
16. Maroon 5: I’ve actually chosen two favorites from their most recent album V. The first is Maps, which was the lead single for the album. How I used it: standing climb. The second is Animals, which was the second single from the same album. How I used it: seated flat road
17. Hoochie Coochie by Band of Skulls: At 2 minutes and 40 seconds, it’s short and sweet. It’s around 75 RPMs, so it’s just between a seated flat and seated climb-your choice.
18. Shut up And Dance by Walk the Moon: Another very recent release that I’ve loved using lately. It has a catchy beat and it’s just fun and lively. How I used it: seated or standing climb
19.Come Get It Bae by Pharrell Williams : Pharrell pretty much became a household name this year. How could I not use one of his songs? How I used it: seated or standing climb, warm up
20. Take Me To Church by Hozier: This song has been on my repeat radar since I discovered it. Apparently I’m not the only one because it has received a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year! I will definitely be rooting for this one to win. How I used it: cool down
There you have it. My top 20 of 2014. It was so hard to decide which ones would make the list and if you asked me on a different day, the list might look completely different. I know there are so many great songs that didn’t quite make it, so here’s a list of honorable mentions:
Blame by Calvin Harris, John Newman (check out the remixes)
Peace by O.A.R
All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor
The Days by Avicii
The Nights by Avicii
Stolen Dance by Milky Chance
Am I Wrong by Nico & Vinz
A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay
Problem Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea
Angel in Blue Jeans by Train
Cadillac, Cadillac by Train
Feet Don’t Fail Me Now by NEEDTOBREATHE
Bang Bang by Macy Gray
The Man By Aloe Blacc
Ticking Bomb by Aloe Blacc
Can You Do This by Aloe Blacc
Summer by Calvin Harris
Ten Feet Tall by Afrojack, Wrabel (check out the remixes)
The Soundmaker by Rodrigo y Gabriela
Budapest by George Ezra
Fever by The Black Keys
Here’s the Spotify playlist which includes all of the songs mentioned:
What do you think? Did I get it right? Did I miss any? I welcome your comments and music suggestions. 🙂 Here’s to a happy and healthy new year filled with some great new music!
With over 1800 articles in our archives there's a good chance that our ICI/PRO members may have missed some of our best stuff. So every Wednesday we are republishing some of our favorite articles and podcasts – enjoy!
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
I love looking for music for my class. I’ll spend hours searching. When I find a good song, I’m ecstatic. I’ve always loved listening to, hearing and feeling certain rhythms. There’s even a hierarchy in my appreciation of a song: first, listening to it; second, riding my bike to it. But the absolute best is leading a class to it. It’s an awesome feeling.
I’m not the only one. Many indoor-cycling instructors feel the same way.
If you teach indoor cycling, you’re an Exercise to Music (ETM) instructor. ETM instructors work in fitness centers, health clubs, community centers, church halls, schools — in fact, wherever there's a suitable space and some sort of sound system. Most of us work freelance, delivering several classes a week and enjoying the flexibility of working around our existing lifestyle. Some teach full-time and often become involved in running a club as studio coordinators. Wherever ETM instructors go career-wise, however, they share a love of teaching to music.
Music influences us so deeply that the body reacts. Our pupils dilate, our pulse and blood pressure rise, the electrical conductance of our skin drops, and the cerebellum, a brain region associated with bodily movement, becomes more active. Blood is even re-directed to the leg muscles. Some speculate that this is why we tap our feet (or ride harder). It’s obvious that music evokes emotion, but it’s still not clearly understood why.
Recently, a team of Montreal researchers screened 217 respondents to ads seeking people who experience “chills to instrumental music.” The researchers asked the subjects to bring in a playlist of favorite songs and monitored their brain activity while the music played.
The music triggered the release of dopamine in the dorsal and ventral striatum. No surprise. Those regions have long been associated with response to pleasurable stimuli. The more interesting finding emerged from a close study of the timing of this response, what happened seconds before the subjects got the chills.
Just before the participants’ favorite moments in the music, dopamine activity increased in a different portion of the brain called the caudate. Researchers called this the “anticipatory phase” and suggested that it signals the coming of a pleasurable auditory sequence, triggering expectation of euphoria, a “reward prediction.” The reward was the sense of resolution — hearing what they expected to hear.
We typically associate surges of dopamine with the processing of actual rewards. And yet, in the caudate, while listening to music, dopamine release is most active when the chills have yet to arrive, when the melodic pattern is still unresolved.
This is why musicians sometimes introduce a theme or note in the beginning of a song and then avoid it. The longer we’re denied the pattern we expect, the greater the emotional release when the pattern returns. That’s when we get the chills.
But that’s just listening to music. Why is teaching to it even more pleasurable? When we know a song really well, it becomes more predictable. Yet, when we teach to it, that doesn’t seem to matter. Or maybe we like teaching to music we love because it’s familiar, not despite that. We’re anticipating our favorite parts and getting the reward when we ride as they play.
There’s no research that explains this phenomenon in ETM instructors, so I tried to think of a similar situation.
Teaching indoor-cycling to music is not unlike a musician’s performance. I’m not creating the music, but I’m channeling my feelings for it into classes. I build and repeat patterns. They’re biomechanical, but they’re still patterns.
So I checked the forums and found statements on why musicians like to play and perform. These were some of the accounts I found:
I play simply because it brings me a kind of enjoyment that I can’t find anywhere else.
There’s no better feeling than creating something that cannot be recreated.
Because I have ideas and feelings that I can't express any other way.
To bring an audience into the moment is satisfying.
It's like a body part. I was just born with it. I can try to ignore it, but it will always be there. I can enjoy myself and do what I was born to do and love to do, or I can stop doing it and be miserable.
By the pure manipulation of sound, you can bring out emotion in yourself and others and express yourself when words fail. Well, that, and chicks.
For me, playing music reaffirms that there is magic and wonder in this world.
To end war and poverty, to align the planets and bring universal harmony and contact with all life forms from aliens to household pets.
Every one of the above statements describes my feeling about teaching indoor cycling to music. The last one is my favorite because the musician can’t identify why he/she loves to play. People ask me why I’ve taught exercise to music for over 30 years, why I spend hours looking for the right song to create what I hope will be a good ride. I can’t quite explain it, either.
Becoming a good indoor-cycling instructor requires an incredible amount of work, and having a passion for music helps to motivate us to put in the many required hours. Studying music, staying open to sources of new music (e.g., a movie soundtrack), learning to play an instrument, or just listening to musicians perform are powerful ways to improve our craft.
Essax is a brand of bicycle saddles located in the province of Alicante (Spain). Our company has over 25 years experience in the manufacturing of technical products in polyurethane foam and leather, which assures our knowledge and experience.
Above all, we are cyclists who manufacture for cyclist, which means that we make from our passion our work. Therefore we know from first hand what users needs and what the requirements of the sector are.
http://youtu.be/f6gnUTNbaWQ
What is the fin for?
This is the key to this whole Bike Fitters ensemble. Its position indicates the rider how to place his sit bones so that they are well supported in the seat. It interacts with the user giving information how to be seated on the saddle. In the hundreds of biomechanical studies for the development of this product, the result of them told us that the vast majority of riders had sensory perception being well positioned on their saddle as where reality showed they were rotated or only supported one of the two Ischia
So the purpose of the fin is to locate you and your sit bones correctly, fore/aft on the saddle. This, Essax is saying, is super critical on multiple levels; comfort over time, pedal force imbalances, hip stability and overall power development. That sounded really familiar…
There are multiple factors that affect how you produce power and what ultimately gets displayed by the console. A few months ago I wouldn’t have believed you, if you tried to convince me that (beyond the level of comfort you feel) a bike’s saddle design could add or subtract to the power I could create.
I believe it now.
Back in March I had a professional bike fitting on my new VeloVie with none other than the Bike Fit Guru Chris Balser. I figured that I had a few dollars left because of the incredible deal I got and, with one kid graduating for college this Friday, why the heck not?
I was a bit naive about what all was entailed in a 2 hour fitting. I thought Chris would be super focused on getting my seat height exactly right, maybe futz with the tilt of the handlebars. Stuff like that. Nope. For close to an hour we tried out different saddles, 11 in total. That’s right, Chris had me ride on a trainer, trying 11 different saddles, to find the perfect saddle that (his words) your ass can find easily. Here’s what we finally decided on… a Fizik Kurve.
As a sidenote – I have two years/~6500 miles on my Fizik Kurve Chameleon Saddle and absolutely love it. Chris was exactly right to choose it for me > Everytime I sit on it my butt finds exactly where it belongs.
Can you effectively cue proper saddle position?
Short answer IMO is you can try, but my personal feelings are that most Indoor Cycle saddles are too big (FreeMotion being the exception) and too soft, to be really “findable” for most people's derrieres. That doesn't mean you shouldn't make the suggestion to move around and see if you're in the best position.
Just don't cue this once, early in the class and then forget about it. Give everyone time to settle into their positions and then ask everyone to reacquaint themselves with the saddle. If you've taught for any length of time (and you're paying attention to small details) you have seen how many of your riders visually appear to relax at some point in class. For me, I notice it during the first welcomed recovery I give them > typically following the first “Best Effort” interval they've completed.
Like everything else you do as an Instructor, you should be experimenting on yourself and then decide what & when makes the most sense.
I'm loving my iPad to pass the time during long flights. I download a few movies from iTunes or Amazon, cue them up on the plane and before I know it I've arrived at my destination.
My younger daughter Carly came along with me to Naples this week and we watched The Equalizer. I'm a Denzel Washington fan (and a fan of the old TV show) so this was an easy choice for our return flight on Wednesday.
There's a big fight scene in a Home Depot like place. Lots of action to be sure and this weeks free track is Zack Hemsey — Vengeance > the awesome music that perfectly supported all the drama and emotion that accompanied the visuals.
If you're looking to add some emotion into your class… this maybe a good choice. Vengeance is very dark and the lyrics a bit disturbing. The first 2:45 is a gradual build up at 83 RPM to a massive 1:30 surge. Then there's about 30 seconds where, if you weren't watching the progress bar, you'd think the song was over. But it's not. You'll want the volume LOUD because @ 4:45 there an very abrupt explosion of sound for another 1:30 and doesn't end until the final 18 seconds. I'm going to use this in my New Years day class as a pair of attacks for the BIG FINISH.
I'm tempted to use Zack Hemsey — Graven Image as a runup to Vengeance to really set up the mood of this climb.
I suggest closing your eyes and listen to this all the way through a few times. My guess is that you'll figure out exactly what you should be doing, and when you would do it 🙂
“Bone Thugs-N-Chili Peppers” by The Melker Project
“Vertigo (Redanka Power Mix” by Peter G ReWerk
As many of you know, I live in Colorado and skiing is one of my family's favorite winter activities. Every year we used to look forward to the release of the latest Warren Miller ski movie as the unofficial start of ski season. It became a family tradition to get tickets to the Friday or Saturday night showing at the Paramount Theater in downtown Denver. The later the show the rowdier the crowd, everyone was so amped to get the ski season started. I also knew that the new release meant fresh ski footage and music for my video cycling class. Over the years the footage has remained top notch, but the music has gotten worse and worse, it has gotten so bad that we stopped attending the show two years ago. That year the music was so bad that I wished I had brought my ear buds so I could have put together my own playlist, on my phone, while watching the movie.
[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 got my sons, Seth and Christian, and I thinking that we should start using the awesome ski footage that is available on the internet and put it together with music that people actually listen too. Over the years we have created quite a library of ski videos, many that I use in my indoor cycling classes, that we believe is like Warren Miller, only better. I hope you enjoy the work we have done and let me know what you think.
3 song harmonically mixed track, to download Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
