Here's a walking testament to the utter fallacy of (220 – your age) as a predictor of Maximum Heart Rate. Paul Pinkhouse Camerer is having his 93rd birthday today. To celebrate the occasion, Pinkhouse and a few of his friends will all train together at his home/cycling studio. During the training Pinkhouse will spend a large portion of the ride around 150 bpm – which is way above his age predicted maximum HR of 127bpm. Actually Paul has been cycling and participating in running races above his “Maximum HR” for years 🙂
Sally Edwards introduced me to Paul (Pinkhouse comes from the color of his home… which as you can guess is Pink) three years ago at a Heart Zones conference in Colorado. I recorded Podcast episode #18 with Paul while I was there, but many our our newer subscribers may not have heard it as it has dropped off the iTunes feed. Thinking it would be fun to republish it in celebration of Paul's 93rd birthday here it is again.
Today is simply all about fun. And climbing. With lots of load. 3 minutes and 52 seconds of climbing with lots of load at rpm’s of 58. When this song comes on, we get up out of the saddle with a smile on our face and pretty much just crank it up. In good form of course. With the stress of the holidays, my students really appreciate the opportunity to work some of it out without a lot of cueing or coaching. Never did I think I would use Elvis in my cycle class, but this really works well. Enjoy Elvis and “A Little Less Conversation”:
Here is is in Spotify – If you do a search for “A Little Less Conversation” you will find over 100 versions to choose from; many different remixes – at various lengths – so I'm confident you will find the perfect version for your next class!
I thought it would be informative to get another perspective about how to teach a virtual Indoor Cycling class using video. I contacted Allen Jones from EpicPlanet.tv asking if he knew of an Instructor who was passionate about using video and he referred me to Mark Peterson.
Mark is a retired Naval Pilot turned bicycle racer & Instructor who teaches at four clubs outside of Charlotte NC. Mark and I had a fun conversation about his procedure for preparing to teach a virtual ride in this addition of the Podcast.
Here's Mark's bio and additional info that didn't get into the interview:
Studios where mark teaches:
Lake Norman YMCA Cornelius, NC (www.ymcacharlotte.org)
The Peninsula Club, Cornelius, NC (thepeninsulaclub.com)
CoolBreeze Cyclery, Mooresville, NC (trekbikescharlotte.com)
Trek Bike Store Charlotte, NC (trekbikescharlotte.com)
Background: Have raced for more than 30 years USCF, Road Race, Crits, Time Trials, and Triathlon events. I got involved with indoor cycling in the early 80’s as a means to continue training during the winter months in the upper Mid West. I became a cycle instructor about 3 years ago and now teach classes in several different studios on the Keiser, Schwinn AC PRO and CompuTrainer.
Certification: Current certification was with Schwinn.
AV Setup: I have assembled an AV kit that is portable between studios. I use an Epson projector, Mac Laptop, and a Photo Screen/Sheet (12X12). The Digital Downloads work very well on the laptop and I can change the playlist on the fly.
Use: I try to do 3 or 4 videos a month. There is an art to producing Cycling Videos and for my classes Allen and his Epic crew do the best job in producing these videos. I advertise my classes as a trip, we are going somewhere and to bring your legs. If I am going to take my class to Maine and ride Acadia Park or Napa Valley to roll through Wine Country, I want them to actually feel like they are there on the ride. Epic has a nice balance of first position, third position and an expanded views which are so important for the class to actually know/see where they are riding. There are many videos out there shot from a car/first position only and it is hard to tell if you are climbing or descending. There is no profile or structure to the ride and they become boring. There are other videos where you spend the whole time with your nose in the backside of a cyclist or group of cyclists. The only thing exciting about these videos is the title. You could actually be riding anywhere and wouldn’t know the difference. The Epic Team creates a profile on top of the video, providing structure to the ride along with a very scenic background. The camera work is very good in giving you the feeling of being on a bike and you can tell when you are climbing and descending. The great part as instructor is I can do these rides over and over, change the playlist, cadence, intensity and make it a completely different ride. My classes love these rides and it is hard to get a bike!
After listening to this Allen Jones emailed me to offer a 10% discount to listeners and free shipping on any Epic Planet DVD between now and the 1st of 2012. Use coupon code VIRTUAL ICI/PRO members your normal 30% discount can be found here.
What we eat before cycling classes is very important, but what we eat afterward is even more important. The main value of eating right after a class is that we recover well and can train well the next day. ACSM guidelines are clear that, while three days a week of exercise can postpone the inevitable age-related fitness decline, more frequent workouts are necessary for fitness improvement. So refueling is key.
If your students are anything like mine, though, the refueling meal — and “meal” is a generous term — might range from a banana to nothing but a latte. Neither of these offers the best post-workout fuel. Below are a few points on post-cycling consumption to encourage your students to eat the right stuff.
According to Maughan’s Nutrition in Sport and other research, the best post-workout fuel is a combination of starch and protein, in a ratio of about 3:1. The original study by Zawadki et al. used a 2:1 ratio, and I've seen 4:1 used in others, but the generally recognized guideline these days is 3:1.
It’s best to eat within 30 minutes after the class ends. For many students, that will mean eating in the locker room, so convenience is a factor, but we’ll get to that in a moment. First let’s look at three reasons that this 30-minute refueling window is critical:
Glycogen replacement (repletion) is most effective within 30 minutes because the enzyme (glycogen synthetase) that facilitates it is in its most active form.
Missing the 30-minute window can trigger transient insulin resistance that may persist for hours. If that occurs, later meals won’t replace glycogen as effectively as if refueling starts within 30 minutes.
The carb/protein mix stops the cortisol response, which otherwise tears down muscle tissue.
Actually, the above three reasons have refueling windows of slightly different durations, but it makes the most sense to eat within the smallest window to cover all bases.
For convenience, I recommend a slice or two (maybe three after a tough class) of a bread that’s easy to find and store in a locker. It's Alvarado St. Essential Flaxseed bread. Here are a few points that make the bread a good choice:
Alvarado flaxseed bread is whole grain (a good thing, of course) but has fairly large air spaces, raising its glycemic index. Carbs with a high GI provide faster glycogen repletion.
The flaxseeds in it are whole, thus used by the body as fiber, rather than as fat. It's better to avoid fat in the refueling window because fat slows absorption of carbs. Fast absorption is key following a class.
It's lower in calories than most bread — 50 calories per slice vs. 80-100 in other breads.
Other foods can substitute for Alvarado flaxseed bread, but the combination of starch and protein is preferable to sugary recovery drinks, fruit (the wrong post-workout fuel altogether), or the recently touted chocolate milk, which contains mostly sugars.
Getting your students to eat starch and protein 30 minutes or less after class may help many of them recover faster and perform better in the next class.
I'm listening to the new track suggestions for our latest Top Indoor Cycling class songs this morning as I get ready for my 8:00 90 min endurance class. When I got to last Friday's suggestion from soundtrack composure Brian Tyler it got me to thinking… could you use a movie score as the playlist for a class? I mean the whole soundtrack? Exactly as it was in the movie?
My understanding is that a lot of thought that goes into what people hear in a movie, almost as much as the visual elements. When you think about it, isn't much of the emotional impact of the movie transferred through the sound track?
Would the audio alone create a compelling ride?
What would happen I paired a movie soundtrack to a long virtual ride DVD?
I started poking around on Spotify and found that Brian Tyler has scored multiple movie soundtracks and interestingly enough, the soundtracks that go along with video games including Need For Speed.
My class seems to be open to much of anything I throw at them. So I'm going to try it this morning – I'll let you know what happens.
Are you looking for that certain something to inspire your class during speed work? This could be it. Super high intensity with rpm’s at 98 and no vocals, you can coach them through and remind them (thanks MI Cameron Chinatti) that speed work is not just about pedal speed, but BIKE speed. There is a fabulous “pull back” at 1:30 and a 42 second build to a big musical pop at 2:12 that pushes to the finish at 3:33. From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack,” Fast Five”, check out track #3, “Assembling the Team”.
Here's the link to the track in Spotify Brian Tyler — Assembling the Team There's a lot of additional music from composer Brian Tyler that you can explore. Let me know if you find another jewel we should be using.
