I'm not aware of a more true statement than “you can't be half pregnant” – which is typically used to admonish someone who appears to be doing something half way, while expressing the desire for complete results. It's becoming clear to me that many Club / Studio Owners (and Instructors for that matter) think they can successfully be “half pregnant” when it comes to offering and/or teaching virtual Indoor Cycling classes.
Lots of businesses try to be “half pregnant” and I've worked for a number of them 🙁 It may be caused by a lack of capital, human resources or a simple failure of leadership. In any event, the business in question decides to begin dabbling in some new product or service offering, rather than fully commit the time and resources needed to be successful. It rarely works out well.
My taxidermy business is getting a little slow… I know what to do… I'll start making cheese!
Customers are smart. They'll see through (or are confused by) these halfhearted attempts at pretending to offer a service, when you really don't – or only do so at a very minimal level.
If you offer virtual ride videos in your studio [wlm_firstname], I'd like you to ask yourself this question; are my students truly engaged by the virtual ride videos I show, or do they simply act as another distraction in your studio?
There are two distinct components that affect whether your students are engaged by virtual rides or are only distracted by them…
Does the studio layout/design minimize distractions, while focusing your student's attention on the video?
Does your teaching/coaching engage your student's in the video?
This post is getting long, so I'm only going to focus on the layout/design question for now.
I've been frustrated for years by one of the Life Time Fitness studios where I teach. Don't get me wrong, these studios are beautiful and are a real joy to teach in. I use virtual rides in most of my classes. But because of how studio is laid out, the video screens compete for attention with the multiple distractions shown here:
Many of our participants come to our classes looking for a mental break from the real world. They're inundated with thousands of visual images every day. Now consider the participant who's riding with me in this studio and all the different competing images she needs to ignore to stay focused on any-one-thing:
1) The basketball game being played outside the studio.
2) Me – the Instructor up front.
3) The clock
4) The actual video screen
5) The refection of the cute guy in the front row
6) The endless stream of people walking to adjacent studios
7) The reflection, of an endless stream of people walking to adjacent studios
Another studio where I teach has a similar problem, except it isn't the side wall that's glass, it's the back wall. I'm frequently competing for the attention of my (male) student's with the reflection of some attractive gal, doing bent-over-rows, on the gym floor outside the studio.
Now compare that studio with this Virgin Active studio in London:
Can you see how captivating it would be to have one large screen, with no mirrors and placing the Instructor off to the side? This studio becomes more like a theater. Calm, with no unwelcome distractions. With its dominate screen and black borders (no mirrors) riders can immerse themselves in the visuals, while you provide the additional context and coaching of a compelling virtual ride, that all will enjoy.
My point here is that if you're considering adding virtual cycling video capability to your studio, don't try to be “half pregnant”. Consider the space you have to work with and decide if it really makes sense to add video, without some major changes. As tempting as it may seem, adding a couple of flat screen TVs, to an existing studio with mirrored walls, may not create the effect you were hoping for.
You may have heard this recent storyabout Triathlete Leah Shianne Prudhomme who was attacked by an otter, while on a training swim in Northern Minnesota. The theory is that Leah swam a little too close to this mother otter's pups and she (the otter) bit Leah 25 times in her zeal to protect her young.
A Minnesota swimmer had to get rabies shots after she was bitten 25 times by an otter while training for a triathlon in a lake near Duluth.
The Duluth News Tribune reports 33-year-old Leah Prudhomme had just finished swimming around an island and was heading back to shore when she felt fangs pierce her leg.
She struggled to get away as the mystery attacker bit her 25 times, leaving puncture wounds as deep as two inches on her legs, arms and back.
“It just kept coming after me,” Prudhomme told The Duluth News Tribune. “You never knew where it was going to bite next.”
Prudhomme told the paper she was shocked when the animal's head popped out the water and she realized she was being attacked by an otter.
“I couldn’t believe Duluth had an otter,” she said.
I had heard the story but hadn't paid much attention to it. But today, while I was researching a new company who provides virtual training systems, Leah's name popped up. Digging a little deeper, I realized that she's one of us 🙂
I found her Blog and she has an amazing life story; battling both cancer and Malaria, while being a mother to her two kids + competing as a professional cyclist and Ironman Triathlete.
I've reached out to her and with any luck I'll have her on the Podcast to tell her story.
Sometimes, something old, but updated becomes something new and cool. That’s what this week’s FF is all about…our 21 year old daughter loved it and so does my class, so hopefully you and your class will too. A perfectly orchestrated flat at 90 rpm’s, and I really do mean fully “orchestrated”, this English singer, songwriter and flautist released this album of previously recorded songs in 2011. The fun thing is, “In Your Eyes”, by Peter Gabriel from his New Blood CD, is recognizable, both in tune and vocals, but also different because of the orchestration and idiosyncrasies he introduces. At 7:14 with intermittent quiet periods, it works well as the first song out of the gate for an intro, or as a flat in the middle section of a ride, where our riders can get a bit introspective. There is a nice build at 4:45. I hope you like it. Happy weekend everyone!
The next facet of preparing to launch our study is the issue of sample size & composition. We need a suitable sample size (the number of test subjects or participants) and composition (the demographics and/or physical attributes or “profile”) of the subjects involved in the test to represent a cross section of the population with which you hope to apply these results.
In academia, the university environment and access to talent can often give them pro or elite athletes to work with as subjects of the study. When this is the case, I must confess to wondering if their results and conclusions are more a factor of “good genetics” or of the principles being studied. In other words, would the same sort of results be rendered, perhaps differing in only the degree or amount of the effect, if it had been conducted with subjects that would fall under the average individual type profile.
Subjects Size
While having 10 subjects is one of those nice round numbers that would also help us achieve a cross section within the “normal people” population, we don’t always have the luxury of that many participants, and so rather than linger in the “no-mans land” of inaction, you take what you can get in order to get the study off the ground. However, that being said, the results will also have to then be taken with a grain of salt. Those scrutinizing the end results or findings will examine not only the assumptions and methodologies the study has employed, but the composition and size of the subject group conducting the trials.
Impact on Interpretation
We not only must be cognizant of the subject’s profile, but also how homogeneous that sample group is within itself. We don’t want to miss this detail since we can expect our conclusions ultimately rendered to be interpreted in the light of who completed our trials. This is the test bed of our study.
Sometimes the emphasis on this fact is disproportionate to its impact on the overall results, and can be offered up to explain away unexpected results. In other instances, this impact is clearer and even profound, and consequently may be the most salient insight gained as a result of the research. When either of these positions are offered as qualifying factors of interpretation, I believe the research group is then compelled to repeat the research with a distinctly different, yet also homogenous group; at least once or even twice. These repeated trials should serve to validate or invalidate the relative impact of the subject’s profile and/or sample size on the final results.
In some cases, this repeating and more detailed analysis of the subject group can lead to more accuracy overall to the concepts and principles involved in the research; which is of course one of the best outcomes any researcher can hope for anyway. Better yet, when this repeating of the research is done by a completely different research group, say at another university, the full picture and analysis of the results can become more and more robust.
Start Recruiting!
Getting back to our own “backyard research” (hey, I like that phrase — what think ye — maybe this is the less pretentious way of saying “Evidence Based Cycling”). But yet again I digress…
In our situation today, we will endeavor to use real, ordinary people in our study, and thus we should ultimately be able to establish real, ordinary comparisons and conclusions. While we can debate the word “ordinary” for more time and paper than the subject is worth, we can also just trust our good judgment to recruit and include those subjects whom seem to make up what most people would consider the “general population”.
Bottom line though at this point is that we must recruit individuals willing to be included in the study, and perform the trials we ask them to do, in the frequency and specificity as we dictate. This is no small task, so we better get busy. Once I wrangle enough participants, I’ll return with the next steps to take.
Which heart rate monitor is best for you — digital or analog?
One Button Analog Blink Heart Rate Monitor
As a heart rate monitor, i.e. ZONING fitness enthusiast, you can now choose between two different types of heart rate monitors — digital or analog. But, what is the difference between a digital and an analog heart rate monitor? And which of the two is best for you? The answer lies in the transmission of the heart rate number, the bpm or beats-per-minute. And that transmission — that wave or that binary code — can make all of the differences to you.
First, both digital and analog heart rate monitor transmitter belts detect the same electrical activity of the heart’s contraction using sensors. The sensor in your transmitter belt can be viewed by looking at the back side of the belt which goes next to your skin. On each side of the elastic strap there is a soft and black rubber-like material that is usually oval in shape. There are always two the sensors — one on each side of the transmitter — that detect the electrical changes in the heart beat by using the amplitude of the EKG wave of the heart muscle.
Both digital and analog transmitter belts and watches are equally accurate. What is different is how they transmit the beats-per-minute of the heartbeat to the wrist top watch. And, that watch must either have a digital or an analog receiver that can accept that signal and convert it to a number that displays on our wrist or on your forearm or on your mobile device like an iPhone.
Analog transmission uses signals to the watch that are exact replicas of a sound wave. Analog signals can interfere with other nearby signals and this challenge is called the “cross talk” of two signals. The main advantages of analog heart rate monitors are the following:
Compatible with most, now about 99%, of the cardio machines at the gym,
Analog transmitters and receivers in the watch are less expensive
The signal is carried through water so swimmers and those doing water activities can use a heart rate monitor.
The disadvantage of analog heart rate monitors is that if you are within 3 feet of another analog wave transmitter which can be another person wearing a transmitter belt or another source of an analog signal you will experience “cross talk”. In this case, the receiver in the heart watch will accept both signal sources and add them together and you will get an incorrect number until there is only one signal for the receiver to sense.
Two Button Blink Digital Heart Rate Monitor
Digital transmission converts the heart’s EKG activity into a digital signal using binary code which is made up of 0s and 1s. Digital transmission is a clearer signal because it is impossible with packets of data rather than analog wave signals for interference. Digital heart rate monitors are more expensive yet have the following advantages:
The technology is newer
Digital signals do not interfere or “cross talk with other users or other signals.
Digital signals can be used with Bluetooth and ANT+ receivers in mobile devices like iPhones and others tools.
Digital heart rate monitors will not work for most swimmers because digital signals do not transmit from the transmitter to the watch under water. Here’s an example for you. If you are working out with another person who is using a heart rate monitor, the digital monitor is better because it will not receive both watches data and hence cross talk or allow interference.
What’s the best heart rate monitor for you — digital or analog? The answer is simple: it depends. It depends on price with analog less expensive, it depends if you are working out with others, digital is better because there is no cross talk, and if you are a triathlete or a swimmer — well — it depends because you cannot use it for swimming. My answer — just get a digital and get a less expensive analog and you have the best of both worlds.
OK, it’s mean for sure. But when researchers want to stress mice, they pinch their tails. The first thing the mice do? Run to their food bowls and eat. It’s a beta-endorphin thing. Beta-endorphin is released in response to either pleasure or pain/distress and beta-endorphin increases appetite.
Have any of your students ever complained that they gain weight when they’re stressed? Did you believe them? Did you think they were just blaming stress to avoid taking responsibility for indulging in high-calorie foods?
Well, when the stressed and overeating mice are given a choice between ordinary mouse chow and crumbled cookies, which do you think they choose? Yes, cookies — another beta-endorphin thing. Released beta-endorphin makes endorphin-triggering foods — like sugar or fat — more appealing. So, since stressed mice do what we do under the same circumstances, maybe we can sympathize with our students who gain weight under stress.
Of course, with people it’s more complex. Those who are highly susceptible to the effects of beta-endorphin may react to stress by eating. For others, though, short-term stress decreases appetite. Having to make an important early morning presentation at work could bring on a stress chemical cascade that leads to skipping breakfast. Once the presentation is done, a different hormone — cortisol — takes over and increases appetite. Lunch that day might make up for the skipped breakfast, and then some.
In long-term stress, cortisol plays a more prominent role. Its appetite-stimulating effect lingers. It decreases serotonin, which can cause anxiety or depression. Those mood states in turn cause cravings — mostly for carbs and, of course, not for healthful ones. Low serotonin also reduces satiety (especially for carbs) and increases impulsivity, making it more likely that we’ll eat the junky carbs we’re craving.
Long-term high cortisol levels also decrease dopamine and norepinephrine. When serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine drop, it leads not only to cravings, but to addictions, impulsive and compulsive behaviors, and a preference for carbs and sugars.
Over time, cortisol can decrease beta-endorphin. Chronically low beta-endorphin increases the risk for addictive or compulsive behaviors, including alcoholism, bulimia, binge eating, and more.
None of this even touches on the metabolic problems caused by cortisol. Fat deposits in the trunk, the more “metabolically harmful” location. Too much cortisol can cause glucose disturbances and even insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol (the good stuff), and high or dense LDL (the bad stuff, which is worse when dense). Insulin resistance also causes plaque formation in the arteries, heart disease, various types of cancer, and more.
Obviously, long-term stress leads to serious consequences in health, metabolism and appetite. So it might not be the student’s fault for running to the food bowl and eating the cookies, but, health-wise, it’s far from ideal.
Fortunately, in addition to meditation, deep breathing, visualization and the like, there are nutrition solutions for stress management. (You knew they were coming.)
It’s understandable that a stressed-out student might want a martini or a dish of chocolate ice cream, but succumbing to that urge will probably backfire. Stress depletes B vitamins, which are critical in the formation of key brain chemicals. Alcohol — the go-to stress-reliever for some — also destroys B vitamins and makes it more difficult to “stabilize” brain chemicals. Avoiding alcohol may feel tough to do under stress but helps far more than drinking will.
In addition, long-term alcohol or sugar consumption will eventually decrease serotonin and beta-endorphin, resulting in rotten moods and major cravings. So staying away from sugar will help, too.
Instead, encourage the student to eat protein foods throughout the day to supply the amino acid precursors for serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.
Also encourage the student to get B vitamins for good brain function. Specific B vitamins that we need for neurochemical balance include thiamin, found in whole grains and meats; B6, found in whole grains, eggs, chicken, fish and liver; and folic acid, found in leafy greens and liver.
Naturally, encourage the student to keep taking your cycling classes as often as possible for the stress relief they provide. Cycling also reduces the likelihood of insulin resistance by making muscles more responsive to insulin, which is always a good thing. If the calories burned help prevent weight gain, that’s another plus.
Subject’s Composition
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Joan Kent