The Power of 3 – “”My Body Tells Me “NO” But I Won't Quit Cuz I Want More”
“Turn The Levels” by DJ Lobersterdust
“Part of Me” by Katy Perry
“My Body” by Young the Giant
There has been a lot of talk lately about the proper range of RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) in indoor cycling classes. The general range that most indoor cycling certifications recommend is 60-110rpm. That doesn’t mean that going a little faster or slower is going immediately cause injury, it means that this range can be ridden effectively by most people in the population.
When I started teaching with power, about 2 years ago, the first thing I discovered was how a high RPM and lower resistance could elevate the HR (Heart Rate) as well as RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) without the associated increase in power or output. The “fast spinners”, who for years were considered the “stars” of class, were shocked at how low their power numbers were. Many of them complained that the power meters must not be working properly or were broken. I tried to calm them and explained that they were beautifully athletic riders but they may have never trained with the appropriate resistance while riding at a high cadence. I asked them to be patient and to use this new found knowledge and tool to help them reach fitness levels they had only dreamed of. By finding their most efficient cadence, that RPM where the body can produce the most power at the lowest HR or RPE, and progressively increasing cadence and maintaining power, over time, many of these riders are now able to ride at a fast cadence and maintain a high power output.
Interval sets like the one below are how I coach riders to slowly but steadily increase their most efficient cadence over time.
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.
Do you have this problem? Click image to see this adapter at Amazon
I never expected this problem
Amy and I both updated our iPhones last week. She got a new iPhone 6 and I went with a 5s. Both are lighter and thinner than the iPhone 4s' we replaced. Thin is great, until you add a case to them. Now the club's connection cord to the stereo is too thick to fit into the iPhone cases' female jack = neither of us can use our phones to teach without; A. removing the case or B. use a bluetooth receiver to connect wirelessly.
So to fix this I ordered two very inexpensive 3.5mm adapters today from Amazon – $4.99 each with free Prime* shipping. One for each of us. I'm tempted to tape it securely to the existing cord at the one LifeTime where I teach, but inevitably it will disappear and then I'll be stuck with nothing.
*I'm two years with Amazon Prime and without a doubt it's been worth every penny. I cannot begin to tell you how much stress and anxiety this service has saved me. Whenever I think; I need to remember to get some more AA batteries (or whatever) the next time I'm at Target I break into a cold sweat. There never is a “next time” because I never just go “shopping.” So either I'll forget to plan a special trip to Target – or worse – on the off chance I'm ever at Target, I will forget to buy batteries.
Now when I notice I need more readers, batteries, headphone jacks or more Chef Jays bars – I jump on Amazon, hit a few keys and in two days they'll be at my door. No wondering how much shipping will be on a $10 item – it's free 🙂
Now if I could just think of something to get Amy for Christmas…
(Indoor cycling instructors probably have their holiday eating under control, so this post is for your participants. I hope the information helps them.)
Quite a few years ago, I was on staff at a 10-day seminar on nutrition and eating behaviors. We lived at the ranch where it was held. Staff and participants alike followed the same mealtime rules.
Frankly, the seminar wasn’t particularly good. But we did one great exercise that helps me to this day.
The Standing Ovation
In the dining hall, we had to stand and announce that we were going back to the buffet to take seconds. At that point, everyone in the room gave us a standing ovation.
The reason behind this is simple. Some people tend to pile food on their plates when they go through the buffet line. It prevents the embarrassment of returning for more. The problem is, once the food is on the plate, it’s easy to keep eating, even when we don’t want it.
Giving yourself permission to get seconds eliminates the need to pile extra on the plate. Start with a small portion, and get more only if you really need and want it.
A Better Standing Ovation
The other part of the exercise was this: We had to stand and announce whenever we were throwing away food. Again, everyone in the room gave us a standing ovation.
I’m convinced this is one of the most valuable exercises anyone with food issues can try.
Most of us grew up learning that it’s a sin to throw away food. Didn’t you? Because of the starving children, right? Where were they starving when you learned it? We all heard different countries, different locations, but the sin was the same.
Kids immediately see through this nonsense and say, “So send it to them.” No one can convince kids that shoveling food that they don’t want or need into their mouths will help starving children anywhere. And yet this “teaching” persists and its negative lesson lingers into adulthood.
U.S. Food Production
Meanwhile, the U.S. produces 3950 calories worth of food for every man, woman and child (even infants) in the U.S., each and every day. 3950 calories is far more than most adult men need, and certainly more than women and children need.
So much of the food the U.S. produces is excess. There’s almost no way to prevent wasting of food.
Under circumstances like those, throwing away food isn’t a sin. It’s survival. And learning to be 100% okay with doing it is the smartest strategy.
Convincing My Clients To Get Rid Of Trouble Food
It isn’t easy to convince my clients of that. One client bought a giant tub of dates at Costco. Even though the date sugar kept triggering binges and her weight was creeping up, she kept eating them daily. When we talked about it, she said, “They’re almost gone.”
Perfect. Don’t put the dates in the garbage. Treat your body like a garbage can and put the dates in there. Yikes.
Another client had dinner with her parents at their home twice a week and couldn’t refuse the giant portions her mother served her. She had a problem with the sin of throwing away food. I wish she’d learn to use plastic containers for the purpose for which they’re intended.
Seminar Benefits You Can Use
After the seminar at the ranch — and all those standing ovations! — I can throw away any food. Now, I’m definitely NOT telling you to buy good food and throw it away for no reason.
But if a food — especially sugar — is making it difficult or impossible to stick with your eating plan, it needs to go. Not when it runs out, but now.
The impact of the sugar you can’t stay away from is huge. It goes beyond the “empty calories” most people talk about when discussing sugar. (Does that phrase bore you as much as it bores me?)
Toss That Sugar
Sugar increases appetite by inhibiting your satiety center. It changes your food preferences and makes you want more junk and fewer vegetables. It can make your eating feel out of control. As all of that happens, it affects your self-esteem, and not in a positive way.
And sugar will — as always — be everywhere this holiday season, along with holiday buffets.
Stop treating your body like a garbage can. Throw junk in the real garbage can, where it belongs. If you need to ruin the food first, do it. (Dishwashing liquid is handy for that!) Dump it and move on.
Your body deserves better. So does your brain, and your self-esteem. Can you hear the standing ovation?
I just saw this announcement about a Immersive Fitness Studio that is opening at the 24 Hour Fitness in Santa Monica, CA. It included the picture at the top of this post – which I think was taken at a different location as the Indoor Cycles pictured are BodyBikes, not the NXT's cited in the article.
Les Mills is teaming up with 24 Hour Fitness to open the world’s first permanent Immersive Fitness studio in Los Angeles.
Located within the 24 Hour Fitness Super Sport club in Santa Monica at 2929 31st Street, the studio is the first permanent location globally and will open to the public today, Nov. 22.
The newly installed Spinner NXT Black Belt Bikes will prove their workhorse abilities as the immersive cycling experience is launched.
Les Mills will open additional Immersive Fitness studios in 2015 in partnership with other global fitness leaders including CMG Sports (France) and Pure Fitness (Hong Kong), with other locations to be announced in the coming weeks.
Immersive Fitness adds a rich visual layer to music and group exercise.
Cinema quality video content is projected onto the screen of a purpose-built studio, while an instructor cues exercise moves that synchronise perfectly with music and graphics.
Riders in a cycle class get the sensation of ascending steep glaciers, sprinting around digital velodromes or cruising into a peaceful sunset.
The immersive experience creates a heightened sense of anticipation and reward for participants that leads to increased motivation and energy.
This sounds like a fancy version of Team ICG's MyRide+ system. My question is why the Black Belt* version of the Spinner® NXTs and not the Blade Ion's? Why no power? I'll be digging into that more and if I can get some answers I'll let you know.
*This reminded me that I never shared my thoughts on the belt version of the NXT – not much to say really. I'm not hearing of any major Big Box or small boutique studio who's purchasing any non-power indoor cycle, except for a few Schwinn AC's. I also don't agree with their choice of a high tension flat belt, which I feel is inferior to the Gates toothed belt offered on the FreeMotion S11.9 and Schwinn AC.
It's been really fun lately. As I've been introducing work at higher rpm's, for longer periods of time, my classes are seeing improvement and having fun with it. Just this week, a few people have said they are noticing they're getting more efficient at higher cadences. 🙂
Right-o! It's so important for those of us that love to ‘grind it out' to work at higher speeds….like cross training in the middle of a cycle class!
We all know great music helps us push ourselves and our classes, and in light of that, here is another great FREE DJ remix at 96 rpm's and 3:45. With a driving and intense beat, I've been using it successfully right after warm up and getting us out of the saddle for 30 second intervals.
Enjoy this free remix of Evanescence and Andru Donalds by Kill Mr DJ:
This isn't good… I had two Oh Shit “senior moments” in the same week 🙁
The first was when I arrived at the Laguardia airport on Friday, only to discover I had left my wallet and ID back in the safe at the hotel where I had stayed in NYC. So I missed my flight back to Minneapolis and made another loop back into the city to retrieve my forgotten items. Thankfully USAirways has some compassion for people like me and they placed me on a later flight back home
But this morning was actually worse. It was 5:45 am. I was parked at the club, collecting my stuff to teach. I said outloud (to myself) “Where's my iPhone?” And then remembered (or is it realised?) that I had left it back home on the kitchen counter. “Now what do I do?”
And then I remembered, you have the rescue CD that you created for just such an occasion. I relaxed a bit, as I thought about where I would retrieve my CD.
It's in my employee folder…
In the steel cabinet…
Which is in the Group Fitness Dept Head's office…
AT A CLUB WHERE I NO LONGER TEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OH CRAP – now what am I going to do?
During the short run accross the parking lot and into the club, I came up with a plan. “we will be riding to the sounds of riding outdoors!” So as soon as I was dressed and in the studio, I announced just that and we all rode along to the Epic Planet DVD Epic Race Day. This DVD is complete with all of the sounds of riding a road bike during a criterium – including the cheers of all of your adoring fans!
Actually this was an inexcusable, rookie mistake that should have never happened. I know better than to not have a second option for music. I had gotten lazy and too confident that my trusty iPhone would always be there for me. Until I forgot to bring it.
So while I'm typing this post, I'm burning a few CDs that I will stash in my car, as well as in the cycling studio. Here's to having a backup plan!
