A Belgian producer of modern drum’ n’ bass gives us today’s Free Friday Favorite. The original version has a lovely soft 22 seconds in the beginning for us to cue an intense and driving flat road at 87 bpm and 4:10. The free Sound Cloud version is also 87 bpm but goes immediately into an intense and driving flat and is 2:56 long.
Choices abound- use the free track flat in your profile where you’ve already set the tone and expectations, and don’t need cueing time- just a driving and motivating force. If you want a little ‘talk time’ and then the force; go for the original version of ‘Come Alive’ by Netsky from his self-titled 2010 album.
Here is the original version:
Teach to a full house of 50 riders and expect to receive $500.00 for your efforts.This isn't a typo – this outfit is planning to compensate Indoor Cycling Instructors up to $500.00 a class. Teach a regular schedule of 13 packed classes a week and you'll be interviewing stock brokers for ideas where you should invest your $300,000 annual compensation.
Want to work for Peloton Cycling? Check to see if they're hiring here.
To that end, Peloton has borrowed a lot from boutique studios and what riders are addicted to, starting with the charismatic instructor. “Instructors who can command an audience and have great fitness knowledge are arguably like actors, they should be paid as such. We’re tripling what the going rate is to work at a studio,” says Foley, adding that with this platform, Peloton teachers will become “global celebrities, capable of reaching thousands of riders at a time, instead of 50.” (We’re expecting defections any second now.) – I'm assuming they're referring to defections from SoulCycle & Flywheel – John
Peloton's goal here, as I see it, is to recruit the very best 10 Instructors… not just the 10 best Instructors in New York, but the 10 best Instructors from anywhere on the planet. $300k should be enough of an incentive to motivate just about anyone to pack their bags, move to a new gig and start teaching in the Big Apple.
How can they afford to pay Instructors so much?
The financial “Holy Grail” for Peloton is delivering on-demand classes to home users riding their new Peloton Indoor Cycles. This bike looks very cool/well designed and they recently raised over $300,000 using Kick Starter to fund the design and early production.
Created by John Foley, the former president of Barnes & Noble eCommerce, Peloton has built a sexy at-home bike that won’t look out of place in your high-design living room. It comes with a 22-inch tablet-like, touch-screen monitor that allows you to ride along with live classes at Peloton’s 50-bike studio in New York City (opening in Chelsea in the fall), or stream one on-demand.
So your potential class size is limited only by the number of those new cycles they sell.
I'm dying to learn more about all of this; the new Indoor Cycle, the technology, their plans for the Peloton Studio… everything. I'm working on getting a representative on the Podcast ASAP.
By Jennifer Lintz, Registered Dietitian and ICI/PRO Member Soigneur
In every CPR/AED/Basic Life Saving training I have completed, I remember feeling like a sponge, trying to soak up as many details as possible. I wanted to be ready in the event I needed to put life-saving information to use, but at the same time, I remember thinking “I hope I don't need to apply these skills very often … if ever.”
Thankfully, in all the years that I've been teaching, I can recall very few instances in which someone needed medical attention. In fact, the most severe situation I can recall happened a few years ago, when a personal training client of mine sprained her ankle.
Recently, though, I received a real-life reminder that accidents and emergencies can and do happen in group fitness situations. Let me set the stage.
Prior to the start of a circuit-style class last week, a student approached me and identified herself as new. I welcomed her, explained the general format of the class, and informed her that I would offer modifications for exercises as often as possible. I asked her if she had any limitations, and she said “No.” She assured me she was comfortable with everything I had described. Happy to hear that she felt confident, I continued getting ready for class.
About 10 minutes into the workout, I noticed the new student sitting on her mat. Immediately, I pushed my microphone to the side, approached her, and asked if she was okay. She motioned me away with her hand and mouthed “I'm fine.” Thinking that perhaps she needed a moment to catch her breath, I continued teaching. Not long after, I noticed her putting away her equipment in the back of the room and assumed she decided to leave.
A minute or two later, while I was demonstrating a new exercise, one of the participants in class came up to me and informed me the new student was still in the back of the room, sitting on the floor behind a partition that prevented me from seeing her. The student volunteered to get one of our member services representatives (trained in CPR/AED) to attend to her. While she did that, I went to check on the new student, who again motioned me away and mouthed “I'm fine.” With some hesitation, I continued to teach. A member services representative came into the room soon after and eventually walked out of the room with the student.
After that incident, I immediately began to wonder:
“Is she OK?”
“Did I handle that properly?”
“What could I have done differently?”
“Should I have stopped teaching altogether and gotten help myself, even though she signaled to me that she was fine?”
After class, I talked to the staff member who came to assist. He said the woman in question told him she did not feel prepared for the intensity of the class, but added that, after resting for a bit, she left with a smile on her face. Though I found that somewhat comforting, I still had an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
Even though we practice tending to injuries and emergency situations in training, it felt different experiencing it in a live class. So different, that I felt a little stuck. I was torn between tending to the participant – even though she said she was OK – and continuing to teach my class.
Coincidentally, I ran into one if my colleagues on the way out and discussed what happened. I explained that I felt bad about the interruption of the class, but she assured me that it is 100% appropriate to tend to individuals in that type of situation and even said: “It is expected.” I needed to hear that.
Would I do anything differently in the future? Yes. I will not let myself feel rushed to get back to teaching and instead will take the time to assist individuals in need until I am certain they are safe.
How would you have responded in this situation? I welcome your insight, comments, and experiences that might allow us all to learn.
There is a limit to many things…but not this song!
In the last few weeks, I have been asking my class to bring themselves to the point where they are willing to work from, and then add 20 watts. We then hold those watts for the ENTIRE class, regardless of the terrain. It has proven to be quite a challenge and has eliminated any notions that consistent aerobic base work is ‘easy’!
This is a great medium grade climb that allows for reflection and hard, concentrated work. The original version by this English electronic music producer and singer-songwriter is 70 rpm’s and 4:37. Here is James Blake — Limit To Your Love from his self-titled album:
Because of the bad press carbs have received for a number of years — and the new gluten-free trend is only its most recent manifestation — many of your students may be avoiding carbs.
People who avoid “carbs” tend to define them as starches (bread, pasta, crackers, cereals, potatoes) and sugars (cakes, cookies, candy and syrups). I include agave in that last group, but few people want to acknowledge it as the sugar it is.
As indoor cycling instructors probably know, there are plenty of other carbs out there, such as vegetables, lentils, beans, sweet potatoes and more. Many of them are good for us, particularly as fuel for training.
It’s a bad idea for your students to avoid carbs, especially if they’re working out on a regular basis. Here are a few reasons for that, some of which you may already know.
Avoiding carbs doesn’t fit well with athletic training, especially tough training. In extreme cases, a low-carb diet could cause a full-fledged bonk. But even without that, low-carb eating can make it difficult, if not impossible, for the student to reach higher workloads in high-intensity classes.
A very low-carb diet can lead to cardiac arrhythmia, particularly in people who train hard. If you run hard workouts in your classes, you might need to remind your students to eat some starches both prior to, and following, a class. Fueling and refueling appropriately are important factors in fitness and health. In turn, the right carbs become an important factor in both.
Eating too few starches can increase appetite. This has to do with serotonin production, which involves carbs. Serotonin gives us a feeling of satiety, that we’ve had enough food and don’t need to seek more. Satiety caused by serotonin can be general, and its lack may lead to increased appetite. Satiety caused by serotonin can also be carb-specific, so a high-carb lunch might lead to a lower-carb dinner.
Someone who avoids starches as a general dietary strategy may not feel the satiety that starches (and serotonin) would produce. They may crave lots more food in general, and/or carbs in particular.
If your students avoid starches, the cravings could lead them to sugars. Because that general feeling of satiety might not be there, when they finally eat sugar, they’re likely to eat a lot of it. Sugar is dietary trouble, and health issues may ensue. (Don’t get me started.)
Eating too few starches can also lead to cravings for alcohol. See the preceding paragraphs for the mechanism of action; it’s the same for sugar and alcohol. I’ve seen this in many food logs submitted by clients — low starch intake, combined with substantial alcohol consumption. Alcohol can cause a host of heath, sleep and mood issues, as covered in previous post.
Less known is that the long-term effects of a low-carb diet can include an up-regulation of insulin receptors. Up-regulation is sometimes misunderstood. It takes place when the level of insulin is low, such as when the diet contains few insulin-triggering foods. In its ever-vigilant effort to maintain homeostasis, the body responds to the shortage of insulin-triggering foods by increasing both the number of insulin receptors and the sensitivity of the existing ones.
The result is that the body is ready to receive ANY insulin that’s triggered and respond vigorously to it. In someone who’s susceptible, that may translate to serious weight regain if and when the student returns to “normal” eating, even if only for a temporary period of time.
If your students need, or want, to avoid gluten, they can still consume healthful starches. Gluten-free starches include vegetables, lentils, various beans, sweet potatoes, yams, turnips and other root vegetables, squash, quinoa, and brown rice. These foods can help your students avoid the various health issues described above and keep them training well and often.
I love this funky band from Belgium. Their sound is a nice mixture of electronica/alternative and rock. The original version of this week’s FF is at 90 rpm’s and is 3:44. I also found a smooth re-mix for this week’s Free Friday Favorite that is 6:34.
You’ll have to let me know which one you like for your class. I‘ve been using the longer re-mix version as the last flat push before my cool down and a few members have asked what the song is (I always take that as a good sign).
Enjoy Hooverphonic’s ‘Mad About You’, from their The Magnificent Tree album:
