How could anything on my iPhone be as entertaining as this?
Our lives are filled with technology that can be pretty addicting. I, for one, recognise that at times I'll let my devises get between me and the real world around me.
Does this video describe you – or maybe someone you know?
Amy and I were at the Jimmy Buffett concert a few weeks ago. They started playing an unfamiliar song and sure enough I'm digging in my pocket for an alternate form of entertainment… instead of enjoying what was very real (the live music) and very special (there are a lot of interesting Parrotheads at a Jimmy Buffett concert). What's up with that?
So this Holiday Season I'm committed to be present and not hide behind my iPhone.
Care to join me?
In case you're wondering, the women in the video is Alexa Fischer > Founder and Chief Communicator at 1000 Watt Presence. I found Alexa and her video, while researching information on improving my presentation skills.
We started watching “The Voice” because a friend of our daughter's got a ‘4 chair turn' in the auditions. (She didn't make it to the live shows). We continued watching “The Voice” because the talent was amazing.
The three finalists were all very different. My personal favorite, and the ultimate winner announced last night, is Tessanne Chin. Tessanne is from Jamaica. Jamaica is so loyal and devoted to their competitors. While John and I were there last week, we heard Tessanne's songs played over and over as the country cheered her on. We fell in love with her song ‘Hideaway' from the 2007 Reggae Gold album. Don't be fooled by the soft start and 86 bpm reggae jam, because this 5:00 flat road song really breaks out at 3:00. I'll be using this in the middle of my class as a break away flat.
She was a powerhouse then and is unstoppable now! Look for great things from Tessanne Chin.
My Colonoscopy is scheduled for February 27th > if you're over 50, have you had yours?
After some not-so-gentle prodding from the Senior Group Fitness Instructor in our family, I agreed to have a physical before we left for Jamaica. I'm in excellent health by the way. A note from the doctor expressed; “Your lipid panel shows a fabulous HDL!” I'll attribute that to all of the oatmeal I eat, nearly every day.
One of my “directives” was to schedule a (to use the euphemism) “procedure” – which I did. My “procedure” is scheduled for Thursday 2/27 @ 8:00 AM and I couldn't be more excited 🙂
Ok, I'm lying to you. I'm secretly dreading this. Not the actual “procedure” as much as the preparation that leads up to the “procedure”, which I've come to learn is a rather unpleasant experience. Kind of like making a major change to your website.
And no, I won't be recording a Podcast, Tweeting, or live blogging while experiencing my “procedure”.Â
That would be silly. Besides they told me that I get some of those “Happy Drugs”. There would be no telling what I would say or type.
Which ends my PSA for Men's health… speaking of which I also had one of those (very low #) so carry on unless you've been putting this off. In that case it's time to make the call.
Do you have a big day coming up? The kind of day you need your “A” game for.?
I like to call these game days. And a good rule of thumb to follow for game days is: Don't pull out a new play.
What I mean is, it's prudent to be your very best self on these days, without trying something new. Here's an example: I consult many brides regarding make up for their wedding. More often than not, they request false eyelashes for their wedding day. My very first question is, “Have you worn false eyelashes before?” and 99% of the time the answer is no. My advice to them is, wear false eyelashes at least 6 times before the wedding to see if they are something you can tolerate. False eyelashes are heavy, come un-glued easily, and the glue often causes an allergic reaction in the sensitive eye crowd. Can you imagine this happening throughout the wedding and in the pictures? It would ruin a very special day!
Job interview day? Not the best time to test out “I'm Not A Waitress Red” lipstick, or even nail polish, if you've never worn it before. You'll spend the entire interview worrying about lipstick on your teeth or in the corners of your mouth, rather than about the dreaded, “Tell me about your biggest weakness” question. You'll also be focused on how fabulous your nails look, instead of how fabulous the job sounds (or doesn't!) Also, a personal experience note here- test run new shoes prior to your game day. I had a great new pair of Calvin Klein pumps and wore them for the first time to a job interview that happened to be at a very funky cement floored office. As we were touring the office, they squeaked with EVERY step. Awkward! I finally acknowledged the squeaking elephant in the room and we went on, but I could have avoided the situation had I worn the pumps a bit first! Lesson learned, and no, I didn't get the job.
Wear make up and clothes you're completely comfortable with. If you feel like updating is in order, do it ahead of time and get comfortable with everything prior to game day.
Video taping for a review / photo shoot / demo, etc? If you're choosing your own clothes, and doing your own make up, be yourself. Make up is needed with camera lights, but usually not as much as you think. Take your natural lip shade and deepen it naturally (think mauve) two to three shades- without gloss. Save gloss and sparkle for non-camera events. Accentuate your eyes with some liner and remember to fill in your brows.
Test-run your clothes!!!! Bend over in front of a mirror and do everything you'll be doing in front of the camera. Is everything comfortable and can you move freely without concern? Are your revealing more than your gregarious teaching personality? Check out the rear view as well. I'll always remember the “Refrigerator repairman” view I got throughout one ENTIRE cycling class, as the instructor's tights were riding low and her top was riding high.
Have a great game everyone. Go and win it!
We'd love to hear your past game day / new play stories, or if you have questions, you can reach me: amyjo@groupfitnessradio.com
*I receive no compensation for writing PRO/STYLE. If I do in the future, I will happily let you know.
ICI/PRO contributor Dr. Melissa Marotta Houser is one of those people who ask; “Why?” and “What if?” a lot… and then sets off to answer her own questions. Back on Podcast #157 we discussed the research Melissa had done, trying to understand; Are There Psychological Effects of Heart Rate Monitor Use During Exercise? If you haven't heard this interview it's fascinating and it will give you additional benefits to training with HR that you can offer to your participants.
Building on her research, Melissa has found a population of people who could potentially benefit from monitoring heart rate, beyond exercise. She's published her findings the Journal of Family Medicine – a publications of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Rural patients with anxiety often lack access to traditional biofeedback modalities. Exercise heart rate monitors (HRMs) are tools used in the fitness industry to provide athletes with feedback on heart rate and regulatory breathing strategies. HRMs are inexpensive, discrete, and publicly accessible.
This randomized controlled pilot study explored whether use of HRMs for biofeedback during guided mindfulness, diaphragmatic breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation techniques could facilitate anxiety reduction as compared to these techniques alone.
METHODS: Fifty-three rural anxiety patients were randomized to HRM or control groups for four weekly 20-minute, scripted sessions with a non-behaviorist wherein they practiced these techniques; the HRM group received feedback on their heart rate response.
RESULTS: The HRM group had significantly greater improvement in state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and self-efficacy (General Self Efficacy Scale), and a greater percentage of the group indicated that they “felt in control of their anxiety.”
CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study demonstrates that this novel, inexpensive, and accessible tool may be a useful clinical intervention for anxiety and can be easily incorporated by both behaviorists and non-behaviorist primary care clinicians into individual or group biofeedback treatment for patients with anxiety. This tool has additional potential for patients to use for anxiety self-management.
Further study with a larger sample and blinded design is warranted.
Well done Doctor Melissa – I'm looking forward to what you come up with next!
Several months ago, John interviewed Micah Zuhl, doctoral candidate at UNM, for an ICI/PRO Podcast. Among the questions John asked was which Zuhl considered better — high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or endurance training.
Zuhl’s answer wasn’t entirely clear to me; he sounded somewhat back-and-forth. But he did emphasize the need to give cycling students some intensity, along with some variety. He used the well-known phrase “change it up.”
Let me make it clear that I have absolutely nothing against HIIT. I use it frequently in my own training and have used it when teaching, as well.
Virtually any vigorous exercise, including indoor cycling, will trigger the release of beta-endorphin. That’s neither good nor bad, just what is. The more intense the exercise, the greater the beta-endorphin release will be. No doubt that’s one reason cycling students enjoy — or even prefer — harder workouts.
When it comes to comparing HIIT to endurance training, though, I’ve noticed something interesting, and I’m definitely not including Micah Zuhl in this statement, because he was asked the question by John and didn’t bring it up himself.
Diehard HIIT advocates always seem to measure the benefits of HIIT against the lamest cardio they can find, then proudly proclaim that HIIT provides superior results. Have you noticed?
In reality, we don’t have to choose between long, slow nothing and HIIT. If you train right, and train hard, you can go hard AND long. HIIT alone won’t necessarily provide that training adaptation.
My background has taught me that progressive, periodized training can develop a power/endurance dyad, along with a mental discipline that short-duration bursts typically don’t. Jim Karanas posted much on this website on the mental, emotional, even spiritual, benefits of endurance training. I frequently use HIIT as part of a long, structured, “authentic” training.
Having said all of that, I’d like to switch directions. I also use HIIT when my day is slammed and I need to resort to my BTN Workout. (BTN means “better than nothing.”)
One of the convenient features of HIIT is how little time it takes. At this time of year, being able to fit in a short workout is very helpful.
Here’s an 11-minute format that I devised for the Stairmaster (I’m lucky enough to have one at home), but it can be done on any piece of cardio equipment. Set the timer, if you have one, for 11 minutes. On the Stairmaster, every workout is divided into 30 vertical rows of a duration that depends on the programmed time. An 11-minute workout yields 30 rows of 22 seconds each.
I warm up for 9 rows. That takes 3 minutes, 18 seconds. Every 3 rows, I increase the intensity by 1 MET. (Each vertical dot is another MET.) Then I begin my intervals.
The remaining time allows for 7 intervals total. The work segment is 2 rows (44 seconds), followed by a recovery of 1 row (22 seconds). The first work interval is moderately hard, a transition between the warm-up and the hard work to come. The other 6 intervals are done as high as the Stairmaster can go. I drop down in the recovery period to the level-3 warm-up intensity, but no lower.
If I find myself leaning on the Stairmaster during the work segment, I back off one vertical dot (1 MET) until I get back to good, disciplined form. It’s rare that I need to back off more than one, but I’ve dropped 2 METS once or twice. The goal is not to take extra recovery, just to regain good form and make it harder.
If you’re at all like me, you prefer a serious cycling training to something like this. Still, the BTN approach can be used so easily, and on anything. It’s gotten me through insane scheduling more than once. I’ve done it on my indoor cycle, too, and it works. This approach could help students who are over-scheduled and missing classes this season.
Sure, it’s just BTN for enthusiastic indoor cycling fans, but it’s HIIT, which we know is authentic training. Better than nothing when there’s no time for more, yes?
