Sometimes it's about taking a deep breath, hunkering down into the bars, focusing and seeing what we can do. Today's music is exactly what that's about. At 94 rpm's, this very chill tune lends itself towards self reflection and deep intense work, with great opportunity for coaching.
Have you noticed often our participants equate hills with intensity and flats with easier work? I wonder when that happened? Oh contraire! This song is a ‘sleeper', as I ask them to add 10 watts (from base) each 30 seconds (total 8 times), holding cadence at 94. Wow are we pushing by 4:00, ending at 4:28.
No power? No problem! Just pedal away in time to the music at 94 rpm's and add load as described above. Before we had power meters, I would have the group look in the mirror and compare their leg speed to mine as a cadence meter if they couldn't hear it in the music.
Enjoy “All I Need” from the French Electronica band- Air.
Now that StarTrac is shipping Spinner® Blade Ion Indoor Cycles with Power, there's a bunch of Instructors who need to be educated on how to effectively use this new training “tool” in their classes.
Spinning's new education program is called the SpinPowerâ„¢ program. It was developed by well known Power Training expert Angie Sturtevant who's the Director of Power-Based Training.
When ICI/PRO member Dennis Mellon told me that his club in Greenwood Village Colorado would be hosting a SpinPower training, I asked if he would be willing to share his experiences with our listeners.
Dennis Mellon is one of those smart, talented people we love to have on the Podcast. Here's his bio…
Dennis Mellon has been working in the Fitness Industry since 1992. He's a Certified Personal Trainer/Performance Enhancement Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine as well as being a certified Spinning, Energy Zone and Indo-Row Instructor. He has a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education and a Minor in Coaching from the State University of New York College at Cortland. He spends most of his time at Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club in Greenwood Village Colorado where he is a Personal Trainer, Masters Swim Team Coach, Indoor Cycling and CardioVascular Intervals instructor. Dennis was voted the Mountain West's top Spinning Instructor by Competitor Magazine in 2012. He has completed 8 Ironman distance triathlons, ultra distance mountain bike events, marathons and numerous shorter distance events.
Listen to the Podcast below or to subscribe to the free show in iTunes.
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Do any of you remember Sudden Tan by Coppertone? Research shows it was the cosmetic industry's first attempt at self tanner. And a failed attempt it was…orange and streaky and so obviously fake! I think I could still name a few people that used it in high school!
So, natural sun it was for me my whole life…until I took my daughter, at age 5, to the dermatologist to get a suspicious looking mole checked out. The mole was not good and neither was the look the derm gave me about my skin. Many biopsies and scars later, I no longer seek the sun for anything other than a little warmth after a long MN winter.
Good thing self tanners have come a long way baby! Because, even though I know tan skin is ‘damaged skin', I still love the look. I feel better when I have a little color, especially in my bike shorts in front of my class.
Since that fateful day at the dermatologist with Abby, I have tried so many self tanners I can't even begin to count them.
Instructors often ask me for tips on how to best apply self tanners and which ones I like best. I'll even include some that I think are awful :).
How to best apply self tanners:
1.Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate…everywhere, but especially elbows, knees and tops of feet where skin is ignored and tends to get rough. Otherwise, the self tanner tends to “gather” in these spots and get quite dark in comparison with other areas of our body.
2.I've found it helps to apply a small amount of lotion on each side of my ankles and on the tops of my feet down to my toes, so that the self tanner doesn't over-gather there.
3. I like to start with my arms and the tops of my hands. That way the self tanner can ‘take' on the tops of my hands a bit before I wash them.
4. End with your legs and blend downward to your feet, trying not to add too much product toward your feet, as it will get dark there very quickly.
5. Wash your hands well, especially nail beds and in between fingers. Another place self tanner lingers is on the inside of wrists, so be sure to wash well there.
6. If you want to add additional self tanner to the top of your hands, a make up brush works very well. Just apply a small amount of self tanner to the brush and pop on your hand tops.
7. I like to apply self tanner at night, mostly because of the smell. Color develops in 3-4 hours. A shower in the morning and some moisturizer leaves a nice looking tan, and no smell.
Self Tanners I like:
–Alba Botanica: Alba smells decent, is super emollient and gives great color. I love the price too at $10.99.
-Quick Tan: probably my all time favorite. It actually smells good, the color is great and the spray bottle allows me to tan my back without calling John for assistance. My daughter, Carly, and I order 6 at a time from Amazon for a great price break.
-Lancome Flash Bronzer Tinted Self-Tanning Body Gel: minimal smell, great color, no streaking. Do not get the Leg Gel though! The Leg Gel has a very pungent smell. It also seems to come off in water, even after drying and ‘curing' for 3-4 hours.
-Clarins Self Tanning Instant Gel: this is the very first self tanning product I used (long before I worked for them) and I still like it today. Minimal smell, no streaking and good color.
Self Tanners I ‘kind of' like, especially for the price:
-Banana Boat, Neutrogena, L'Oreal, Olay, Aveeno, Coppertone, Dove- all seem to work medium well for me as far as the tan achieved. However, the biggest difference between the products I like and these is how my tan wears. With these products, my tan tends to gets scaly. With those above, it stays even until I re-apply 3-4 days later.
Products I haven't liked:
-Jergens Natural Glow. It smells bad, doesn't give great moisture, and my skin got a scaly look the next day.
-Ulta brand self tanner. I couldn't seem to ever get it to absorb, let alone blend. It stayed sticky and ended up very streaky. It also smells horrible.
-Victoria's Secret. Same problems as Ulta brand.
Why DO self tanners smell?
The ingredient responsible for turning the top layer of our skin ‘tan' is DHA- dihydroxyacetone. It's a colorless sugar (often from sugar cane or beets, just like sugar in the store) that works with the amino acids in our skin. This very reaction is what smells. The masking fragrance can make this reaction smell better or worse!
Do you use a self tanner you love? Please let us know!
Anything you want to talk about here at PRO/STYLE? Let me know! I would enjoy hearing from you.
Comments or questions? You can reach me: amyjo@groupfitnessradio.com
I receive no compensation for writing PRO/STYLE. If I ever do, I will happily let you know.
By Jennifer Lintz, Registered Dietitian and ICI/PRO Member Soigneur
As a kid, I remember watching MTV with my older brother quite often after school. For the most part, we were only interested in one show: Total Request Live. We liked it because we felt invested in it. All week long, we voted for our favorite music videos, and then every afternoon, we were glued to the TV to see if any of our picks made it to the live show. I'm sure our mom was very proud ;-).
All kidding aside, I have often toyed with taking a “total request” approach to an indoor cycling class, even if it was once every couple of months or once or twice per year. During the weeks – or even days – prior to the ride, I would leave a decked-out box at the front of the studio where members could drop their requests. If that didn't work, I would hand out little slips of paper to students the class or two before to get a little input. While the concept could certainly flop, there are a few reasons why I think it might work.
1. Builds excitement. This type of ride may not have the same impact as a “Race Day” ride, but chances are, there are some participants who will come because they knew it was “Total Request Tuesday.” I remember doing a “Rolling through the Decades” ride a few months back, and I made a point to tell my participants about it two days before. Sure enough, there were a couple women who said “I almost didn't get up this morning, but then I remembered we were doing ‘Rolling through the Decades'!” I almost couldn't believe it.
2. Provides variety. Barbara Hoots has said many times that the trick to keeping your classes full is variety. There are two ways that this type of class would mix things up. First, it is a specialty – or themed – ride, which will stand out in students' minds as being different. Additionally, it will likely give a little twist to your playlist. Some of your students may request songs that you don't regularly play, or better yet, they may have suggestions that are completely new to you and fit well in cycle.
3. Gives them buy-in. Coming up with a playlist that pleases a majority of the participants is a tall order. Why not let your students help? I know several women who could listen to the song “Titanium” week after week without getting tired of it, and others who have disliked it from the time it was released. Allowing participants to contribute to song lists can make them feel like they own a piece of the pie.
4. Creates opportunities for conversation. Without having to say “turn to your neighbor and introduce yourself,” sharing songs and their requester can be a way to foster connections in the room. For instance, imagine saying “Our next request is from Annie. She wanted to hear Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult, so we are going to climb to it.” Wouldn't it be neat if, after class, Becky went up to Annie and said “Loved your song suggestion today!” Maybe they know each other already, but what if they don't?
With the intention of making the ride a positive experience, it may not be a bad idea to lay out some ground rules. For instance: “Sorry folks, but if you request something with foul language, it probably won't make it into our ride.” or “We received a lot of suggestions, so I am breaking it into two classes. We'll do part 1 today, and part 2 next week.”
Have any of you done something similar in your classes before? We would love to hear about it along with tips and tricks you discovered in the process. And, if I do this anytime soon, I'll be sure to let you know the outcome :-).
Spinning® Instructor and Zoning Specialist Kay Mamo presents our latest class profile; Just The Ride I Needed.
I’m a personal trainer (ISSA) and group exercise instructor. I’m certified to teach more than a half dozen indoor cycling methodologies as well as certified to teach Heart Zones® and the new 3-zone system, ZONING â„¢ fitness, created by Sally Edwards.
I’ve found that introducing my riders to ZONING and offering the use of BLINK heart rate monitors, provided by our facility (purchased from ZONING fitness), simplifies tracking the intensity of a workout. The Blink monitors have LED lights that flash BLUE, YELLOW or RED. In a class, we can run through a couple of easy field tests and determine how to set each person’s 3 zones. The Blue zone intensity is a heart rate that is below T1 (The first ventilatory threshold). The Yellow zone is the range of heart rates between T1 and T2 (The second ventilatory threshold). The Red zone is above T2. Details can be found at www.ZONINGfitess.com.
” Do you believe in what you see? ” A line taken from today's Free Friday tune. It's a downtempo 80 rpm song with a cool vibe. At 4:32, it's nicely placed in a profile coming out of a climb.
An interesting fact: this British duo named themselves after a night club in Honduras!
Enjoy ‘In the Waiting Line' from the Simple Things album by Zero 7:
And here's a fun remix for your free soundcloud download:
