I find it fascinating to watch all the posturing going on in the digital music delivery business. It all started with iTunes – who ruled the legal, digital download space for years. Multiple services (ZUNE, Rhapsody, Napster, etc…) have tried, and failed to take more than a tiny amount of market share from Apple.
But that's all changing because of Spotify, Deezer and a little company called Google. The article below opened my eyes to why.
In an interesting turn of events, Apple is reportedly considering opening up and launching their own streaming music service to compete with the likes of similar services like Spotify and the newly released Beats music. In addition to this they are apparently considering launching an Android app for the streaming service to go along with the launch of the service itself, all in an effort to attack the declining sales of US iTunes music downloads according to sources that are close to the matter. People still use iTunes? All jokes aside, it has been difficult for apple to compete with services that offer streaming music at a low price, as the music libraries are competitively similar in size, and listening is unlimited, all for a small monthly fee. Downloading the same number of songs through iTunes that you would have at your disposal with a service like Spotify would take massive amounts of money, even with most songs on iTunes being available as singles with most as low as $0.99 a hit.
It’s interesting to hear these possibilities as Apple and iTunes have always been known to be a partnered exclusive company and service. While Google’s popular Google Play Music is available on multiple platforms including Mac, Windows, Android and iOS, Apple’s iTunes is only accessible to those who use iOS devices or Mac computers. They have effectively closed themselves off from other possibilities for quite some time, and it used to work for them when they were the dominating force in digital music. With the iPod reaching its end of life though, and a myriad of subscription based music services available on virtually any platform you can think of, Apple will have to find a way to take the once reigning king of music services and transform it if they want to compete.
So I did some quick research to see how Apple's iOS competes with Google's Android market share for portable device sales.
… If you look at the raw numbers for sales market share between Android and iOS devices, Google seems to be dominating the space. In Q4 2013, Gartner reported that Android had 77.8% worldwide market share while iOS had only 17.8% share. One quarter prior, Android had 81.9% and iOS took second place with 12.1%. It is worth noting that, according to ComScore, iOS market share in the lucrative US market is about 40%, while Android accounts for around 50% of US sales. The problem with these numbers is that the do not take into account the fragmentation that Google has allowed with the Android platform.
What goes around…comes around
One of the legacies of Steve Jobs was his/Apple's decision to keep iTunes exclusive to iDevices (there is no iTunes App for an Android phone). While this worked to Apple's advantage for years, they now find themselves becoming uncompetitive now that Spotify and Deezer have Apps for both iOS and Android phones.
So what does this mean for you?
Choices, lots of choices for digital music coming with fewer restrictions on how you'll be able to build, share and then deliver great music to your classes. Many of us found Spotify to be revolutionary – it completely changed my views about renting vs. buying music. But now Spotify is SOP (standard operating procedure). I'm guessing that a few years from now we'll be using a music service that doesn't even exist today and we will access it using a device none of us has even seen.
And we can't wait to help you understand how you'll use it in your class 🙂
By Jennifer Lintz, Registered Dietitian and ICI/PRO Contributor
If you strive to bring variety to your classes, consider using your personal workouts for inspiration. Certainly, going to other instructors' classes and perusing the web can be a great way to pick up new ideas, but so can your own workouts. I run quite a bit when I'm not on the bike and have found it to be a gold mine for fresh routines, coaching cues, and new music.
Fresh Routines
Whether you swim, bike, run, row, do the elliptical or something else on your own for cardio, you can likely pull bits and pieces into your classes. Here are some examples.
Speed Workouts: These provide plenty of options for a ride. Whether I am doing 200s, 400s, or mile repeats, I can apply some of the same time frames and techniques to cycle. For instance, if I was doing timed miles, that might look like 3 long (6-10 minutes) efforts spaced throughout a cycle class. For shorter bursts of hard effort, I might take a sandwich approach and squeeze in 8-10 minutes of high intensity intervals at the beginning and end of the ride, or perhaps just the middle. There are many ways to create an interval-based ride.
Hills: After doing a hilly run or ride, I'm instantly armed with great content for my next class. Here are some ideas:
– Pyramid of Hills: Start and finish with short hills and build a longer hill in between.
– Progressive Hills: Make each hill either progressively longer at the same intensity or progressively harder for the same amount of time.
– Hill Sandwich: Do flat roads at the beginning and end of class with a long hill in the middle.
– Flat Sandwich: Do hills at the beginning and end of the ride and a flat road in between.
Other Ideas:
– Tempo Ride: Begin at a very comfortable intensity, progress to more challenging work in the middle and end of the ride, and finish with 5-10 minutes of moderate work before cool down.
– Out and Back: Do the same drills on the way out that you do on the way back.
– Loop: Terrain here should vary. If there is a big hill at the beginning of your ride or run, a couple of short ones in the middle, and a flat finish, create something similar for class.
Coaching Cues
Just as yoga instructors are encouraged to have a solid personal practice, I think we could argue that cycle instructors would also benefit fromba dedicated personal workout once or twice a week. If our goal is to challenge participants and help them sustain an uncomfortable effort for a set period of time, it is important that we know what that feels like. As instructors, we can view the challenging parts of our own exercise sessions as opportunities to become a better coach.
Let me give you an example.
My husband and I essentially live on a plateau in Rochester, MN. The only way out of our neighborhood is down. That means – whether we are on the bike or on our feet – the start of the workout is a cinch, but the end is always another story; that's where my coaching nuggets come from. One route has a gradual 2 mile hill at the finish, and the other is very steep but only 3/4 of a mile. Yesterday, I ran the 3/4 of a mile hill four times as part of a workout. Guess what we are doing in cycle this week? Hill repeats 🙂 They will thank me later!
In all seriousness, I walked away from my run with a handful of coaching strategies that I will sprinkle into the classes I teach in the coming days. Instead of becoming overwhelmed with the incline and the number of times I commited to running up it, I took a step-wise approach. First, I focused on making it to the sign; then, to the tree; next, to the stick lying on the ground; and finally, to the top. It helped me to break each of the hills up into segments, so it's likely I will apply that same strategy to my coaching in class.
New Music
Finally, consider using your workout time to snag some new songs. Regardless of your stance on multitasking, Pandora, Spotify, and iTunes Radio make it possible to find new, motivating tunes while you exercise. If you have a smart phone or access to any of these apps, pay attention to the music that comes on as you move. If something pumps you up, chances are it might have a similar impact on your riders.
I've been having fun with the Lazify music discovery App for Spotify. Here's a few of my recent favorites including a resource for free, hour long DJ mixes:
This track Nothing Matters from the artist Tricky makes for a powerful tempo/FTP efforts @ 95RPM. Tricky was an early member of Massive Attack and I found this track in a Lazify playlist built from a Massive Attack song.
Next up is this track from artist/DJ Morgan Page — Fight For You which is an awesome climb @ 64RPM. The song has some great lyrics that you can incorporate into your cuing. I found this in a lazify playlist I started using another Morgan Page track The Longest Road – Deadmau5 Remix Radio Edit which I've used in the past.
You can download the original here if you don't see the download link in the player.
I'm hearing more and more how studios are bringing in live DJ's to supply the music for special events. If you ever wondered what it would be like to teach where someone else is controlling the music – Morgan Page has hundreds of 60 minute mixed MP3's that you could use for a private class… or maybe you're looking for something completely different. Check out a few and let me know if you'd ever consider using them in a class.
I know it's summer. I also know that this warm, beautiful weather is going to end long before I'm ready. When it does I'll want to escape to a warm beach, even if only for a week. Past experience tells me that there are limited opportunities to travel where Amy and I can teach fitness, in exchange for an all-inclusive vacation at a resort in the Caribbean.
This morning, Amy and I booked our week in the sun! We're traveling the week of December 7th – 14th and we'll be teaching at the Secrets St James resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica 🙂
We were there a few years ago. This resort is awesome and only a 15 minute cab ride (on the wrong side of the road) from MBJ – the Montego Bay, Jamaica airport. Here's a short video we made explaining what happens when no one shows up for your class – which is not uncommon and is nothing to be concerned about.
Teaching opportunities at Secrets are for Group Fitness and Mind Body certified Instructors = this will be an easy week for me as I'm neither. But I will help out. Many resorts schedule an early AM fitness walk, which I'll do, so Amy can sleep in.
Amy's teaching schedule will include a couple of Pilates classes each day. That's it, unless we work a trade with the other Instructor to cover each other's their classes one day, so we both have a full day off to explore Jamaica if we choose.
The company that makes these trips possible is FitBodiesInc. Amy and I have traveled with them for close to 20 years (has it really been that long?) and we have always enjoyed working with their president Suzelle Snowden. Suzelle was actually my very first guest on the Podcast and we have encouraged hundreds of other instructors over the years to take advantage of these very low cost vacations.
Suzelle and I recorded an interview back in 2009 that explains everything and how they added a few resorts where you can teach if you're not a Group Fitness/Mind Body Instructor – you're only certified as an Indoor Cycling Instructor.
Are you as particular about the songs you play as I am? Now I know that sometimes my choice in music may not appeal to you… or everyone in my class for that matter.
I like the music… that I like 🙂
Do you have this same problem? How can I easily find music that I like, without spending a huge amount of time sampling hundreds of songs?
Occasionally I'll like a track that was suggested on Facebook, or one that's included in a playlist from another Instructor I follow on Spotify. But I don't find either method very efficient.
Lazify is a tool for Spotify (they call it an App) that creates a playlist of complimentary tracks, based on one “root” / “seed” song. I've been playing with it and have already discovered a bunch of songs that I've added to my Future to Use playlist, where I keep all of my new music ideas.
It's really easy to use:
In Spotify > RH side bar click App Finder.
Scroll down and select Lazify.
You'll now have a Lazify link added the side bar.
To create a new playlist, drag any track up to the Lazify link > the main window will display your new playlist. The drop-down offers options for the number of tracks. There are options to drag the whole playlist into another of your playlists, or select Save and Lazify will add this playlist to you others.
Here's the results for a playlist based on Heart — Barracuda as the root track. I'll let these tracks play in the background, until I hear something I like…
Paul Swift from BikeFit sent out another infographic showing proper wrist alignment, this time for road bikes. We published his previous email that highlighted proper wrist alignment on a mountain bike. Notice in the image above how the curve of the handlebar drops matches the natural, straight wrist position?
I see this problem a lot on our group rides… Set up incorrectly (bars rotated down too far) causes the hinged wrist shown above, left. Where this becomes obvious is the additional arm movement needed to grasp the brake levers – there shouldn't be any 🙁
With your hands on the brake hoods, your wrists should be straight for best comfort and control. In this position you should be able to rest your fingers on the brake levers. Rotating the handlebars and/or brake hoods upwards helps improve alignment for more comfort and better control.
Cuing wrist position in class, or on the road, will be appreciated by your participants.
Remember bike fit is not about the bike, but where you touch the bike.
Paul Swift from 
