Indoor Cycling has always been about engaging students face to face, in a setting where member safety is enhanced and the specifics of riding an indoor cycle can be communicated effectively. This requires educated faculty to deliver the classes. It also creates additional expense for either the club operator or the instructor to pay for the education and additional time for the instructor to travel to and attend it.
Although online education can impact any instructor’s teaching knowledge, it hasn’t been widely accepted in Indoor Cycling. Currently, only two education companies offer online training: the Indoorcycling Group (ICG®), partnered with LIVESTRONG® Fitness, and Mad Dogg Athletics®, which provides Spinning®.
In 2010, the U.S.Department of Education published “Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in Online Learning.” The study found that students who took all or part of their instruction online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through face-to-face instruction. Further, those who took “blended” courses, combining elements of online learning and face-to-face instruction, appeared to do best of all.
At ICG®, we saw that the greatest advantages of online learning, as suggested by this study, were time spent and expanded curriculum. Students spent additional learning time because an online module is self-paced. Expanding knowledge is simplified for the student through an extensive online curriculum because it’s easy to offer. Online learning is far more conducive both to increasing learning time and to learning a diverse program of study than is face-to-face instruction because it removes the two greatest barriers to instructor development — inconvenience and finance.
We’re not suggesting that it’s simply better to switch to online learning only. Others studies have shown greatest effectiveness through the use of online learning for advanced study, while keeping the basic practices face-to-face. This makes a good deal of sense with Indoor Cycling. Initial certifications should be in the form of live practicums to give new instructors the most saddle time.
Based on a growing number of studies, however, review, re-certification and the learning of advanced theory might best be done online. Self-paced online education provides as much time for study as the student needs, which can be particularly helpful when covering new material.
So, considering how important and expensive certifications for indoor cycling professionals can be, what might it be worth to you to be able to earn CECs online at your convenience and at your own pace, free of charge?
ICG® offers the most complete, internationally accredited program of continuing education — and we offer it for free. This support is available for ALL instructors through our online education platform. You can take the tutorials all at once or individually, as your time permits. What could be easier?
Just go to http://www.ic-pro.org/en/account/signinand create your own personal account. Your account will be immediately activated with all of our FREE CEC courses that are approved by ACE/AFAA and other certification organizations.
Our free curriculum includes:
Cyclewell: Circuit Format
Dri-Tri®: An express triathlon workout and teaching plan for the busy schedule
Continuing Education: 9 topics
Aging and Adaptation
Stretching
Nutrition
Competitive Cycling
Training the Cancer Survivor
Music and Motion
Overtraining
Periodized Training
Heart Rate Training and Zones
I.C.G. Archive: 2 topics
1. Nutrition Periodization
2. Sportif Seasonal Training
The indoor cycling instructor is a prime candidate for advancement through online learning. The number of ICI-PRO website members and visitors demonstrates that a good percentage of indoor cycling instructors are online frequently. ICI-PRO website information is, as we know, genuinely useful for the indoor cycling professional. However, we still need to maintain certifications, which are costly and somewhat inconvenient, depending on instructor schedules. It’s for this reason that we invite you to take advantage of the ICG® online courses — some of which are of equally high quality as postings on this website — when you next need CECs.
We welcome the opportunity to serve you in this way.
Whenever I work with a new client who needs to get off the sugar roller coaster, I see some familiar patterns as the client struggles with her or his sugar addiction.
The pattern may include lapses, relapses, frustration, embarrassment, giving up, moving between compliant and noncompliant behaviors, getting past all of these, and finally moving forward decisively.
As the process goes on, mistakes may occur that could be labeled “predictable” because they’re things many clients have done before and conquered. Best of all, they can be modified so the end result is getting off sugar for good.
In this post is a list of mistakes that are common in trying to quit sugar. I made all of them and probably a bunch more. I discovered what I had been doing wrong mentally and emotionally that had kept me from becoming a successful quitter.
My Addiction Created This Sugar Quitting Mindset
I’m a good person to talk to about sugar addiction. I have a PhD in psychoactive nutrition (how foods affect brain chemistry), with a specialty in sugar addiction. Before that, I got a master’s degree in exercise physiology. I’m also certified by ACE (American Council on Exercise) as a Health Consultant.
I wrote a dissertation on using psychoactive nutrition in the treatment of women with binge-eating disorder. In it, to the very best of my knowledge, I was the first person to outline the neurochemical pathways of sugar addiction, and a neurochemical and hormonal explanation for the sugar/fat seesaw.
But there may be a more compelling reason to listen to me about sugar addiction. I’m arguably the world’s foremost recovered sugar addict.
I quit sugar more times than I can count. I tell this to all my clients because it’s helpful for sugar addicts when they know I’m not just preaching from an academic perspective.
In the process of making every mistake in the book — and inventing a few of my own — I discovered a formula that works.
Mindset Mistakes That Mess Up Quitting Sugar
Let’s look at the mistakes that kept me stuck for quite some time — and might be keeping some of your students stuck, as well.
Mistake 1: Expecting quitting to be easy
You’ll probably have good days and bad, easy moments and difficult ones. If you expect quitting to be easy, you might be unprepared for the bad times.
If you expect instead that it will take effort to quit, you’ll be ready to deal with whatever happens.
It’s not that quitting sugar won’t bother you at all, but you’ll be less reactive. Not only to external factors — like tempting foods around you — but also to internal factors, like sugar cravings.
Eventually, you’ll be non-reactive to sugary foods in general, whether you see them, smell them, or even taste a little. It’s definitely worth getting to that point!
As for cravings, liquid B-complex is the most effective short-term solution, as explained in a previous post.
Mistake 2: Not having a solid system
It’s easy to find questionable “wisdom” on websites, in magazines, in books, on podcasts. But it’s not a good idea to cobble your plan from a mishmash of unrelated bits of advice.
Instead, find one plan and stick with it.
Because I quit sugar before it was recognized as harmful, I had to piece my plan together from my research. Not every step was a clear one forward, and there was backsliding. My continued research eventually led to a solid system.
Part of that system is to focus on your sugar addiction first until you succeed in quitting and feel ready to move on to the next issue. This isn’t the time to focus on weight loss, become a vegan, go raw, or schedule your life makeover. Conquering sugar addiction gets top billing now.
Mistake 3: Looking for support … in all the wrong places
It’s only natural to want support. But telling the wrong people about your decision to quit sugar could lead to sabotage that undoes your efforts!
As detailed in a previous post, telling everyone at the dinner table that you’re turning down dessert because you’re addicted to sugar might trigger this:
“Have it; you can eat less tomorrow.”
“Just work out a little harder tomorrow.”
“A little bit can’t hurt.”
“But I made it myself.”
Not one of those comments shows an awareness of the issues a sugar addict faces. If they succeed in getting you to go against your plan, you’re the one who suffers and has to start over again.
Part 2 will cover the changes that are key in making quitting sugar possible — the Mindset Shifts I needed to stop resisting — and finally implement — so I could quit sugar successfully. Some of your students may need to know them, too.
Guest post by Instructor & Studio Owner Pauline Geraci
According the Administration for Community Living (ACL), people 65-plus represented 12.4 percent of the population in the year 2000 but are expected to grow to be 19 percent of the population by 2030.
Let’s face it, we are not getting any younger. As we age, the more important it is for us to stay active. But the older we get, the harder it is activity becomes.
We start developing muscle and joint pains and other issues which we sometimes use as an excuse to become less physically active which in turn makes us more prone to injury and the aging process. What to do?
Indoor cycling meets many of our aging population’s needs. For starters, it is a great cardiovascular workout. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that healthy adults ages 18-65 years old should participate in aerobic physical activity for a minimum of 30 minutes, five days per week or vigorous intensity, aerobic activity for a minimum of 20 minutes, three days per week.
An indoor cycling class will keep your heart rate up long enough to provide health benefits. A physical activity that includes continuous cardiovascular activity can help lower your risk of coronary artery disease, can help lower blood pressure and LDL cholesterol, and can help lower your overall resting heart rate.
As we age, we start to develop balance issues because of inactivity or inner ear problems. Maybe we have fallen once and now are afraid to do activities without relying on a walker or cane. You certainly don’t feel comfortable riding a bike outdoors. Indoor cycling eliminates your concerns with balance issues. Indoor cycling removes the element of risk and the fear of falling so you can experience its health benefits. A good cycling class allows you to go at your own pace and push yourself, yet feel safe and comfortable.
Another worry for seniors is finding a cardiovascular workout that is low to no impact. Indoor cycling offers a high intensity low impact workout. Many people who recently have recovered from orthopedic injuries turn to indoor cycling to help them get back on track.
Remember, as with all physical activity you are about to embark on, make sure you get clearance from your doctor. Indoor cycling, when done correctly, provides minimal impact on the hip, knee and ankle joints.
Because of the circular motion of riding a bike, your knees properly flex and extend, while avoiding the high impact pounding of other activities such as running or certain aerobic type classes.
Another issue of aging is age-related sarcopenia. People who are physically inactive can lose as much as 3-5 percent of their muscle mass per decade after age 30. Even if you are active, you still will experience some muscle loss.
A benefit of indoor cycling is increased muscular endurance. This refers to the ability of a muscle to continually and repeatedly exert force over an extended period of time. In an indoor cycling class, you pedal against resistance which increase the endurance of the leg muscles: legs, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus and even the calf muscles.
Working out these muscles also will help to strengthen the surrounding bones, tendons and ligaments which also help you with balance issues.
In turn, this increased strength means you’ll be able to perform your daily activities with greater ease.
Riding outdoors is great but there are safety and weather issues to contend with. You can’t make excuses about not working out because of the weather when you ride indoors. Indoor cycling also allows you to be free from concerns such as negligent motorists, narrow road shoulders, going downhill too fast and bike malfunctions (flat tires, loose chains, etc.).
It’s good to get outdoors and exercise whenever possible, but it’s also important to keep from putting yourself at unnecessary risk, especially at an age when each fall is a little harder to get up from than the last.
The ability to choose your own resistance also makes indoor cycling an ideal fitness class for seniors. On an outdoor ride, your resistance level is dependent on your surrounding terrain. On any given route in Sequim you will find inclines that you are not prepared to handle. You also may not feel challenged during an outdoor ride.
Indoor cycling will definitely challenge you! Indoor bikes come with resistance knobs. This allows you to raise or lower the intensity of the workout to meet your physical restraints and/or fitness goals.
Many people, not just seniors, would like to lose some weight. If your fitness goals include weight and/or fat loss, you’ve come to the right place.
According to spinning.com, you can burn anywhere between 400-600 calories per average 45-minute class.
Since it takes 3,500 calories to burn one pound of fat, just 5-8 indoor cycling classes, combined with a healthy diet can help you meet your New Year goals!
Unfortunately, it’s impossible to stop the aging process. But don’t let that excuse you from engaging in your favorite activities. Come and enjoy a safe and exhilarating workout experience at indoor cycling classes nearest to you!
Pauline Geraci is owner of Fit4Life Studio, 1245 W. Washington St., Sequim. See www.fit4lifesequim.com.
Matrix and the Indoor Cycling Group (ICG®) debuted their new IC7 Indoor Cycle with power at IHRSA last month. In many respects it's different from any group cycle on the market today. You could go so far as describing a number of their technical innovations as revolutionary – not to mention how everything is wrapped in a very good looking package.
Where do I even start?
There are so many innovations engineered into the IC7, it's difficult to know where to begin… So I'll list off a bunch of the cool features that I feel are important and IMO not just marketing hype. You can download an informative brochure for the IC7 here.
First the basics
The IC7 features a unique two-stage, belt driven drivetrain – a toothed belt so it retains the feel of a chain. Turning away from the friction pads and weighted flywheel on their previous models, the IC7 now spins an aluminum flywheel and utilizes magnetic resistance, controlled by a micro adjusting knob with 100 (yes you read the correctly) individual levels to choose from.
If Q-Factor is important to you, it now appears that the IC7 is now the narrowest on the market @ 155mm – three millimeters narrower than the claimed 158mm of the Blade Ion. Just for fun, I measured my VeloVie road bike, with its top of the line SRAM Red Groupo @ 149mm. FYI – Spring is here and our member's discount on a new VeloVie bicycle is waiting for you here.
Fitting the IC7 to various size riders is done with seat/handlebar gas strut assisted raise/lower and both have fore/aft adjustment. Settings are then fixed using over-center cam locks vs. threaded adjustment bolts. If you've been frustrated by the time it takes to screw/tighten down settings when setting up a rider, you'll love how quick and simple these are to use. The handlebars have a very refined/substantial/solid feel to them and include two water bottle holders. The assist from the gas struts (similar to what helps lift the hood or tailgate on your car) had me changing their height easily, even while in the riding position 🙂
In the quest to accommodate a wide variety of people, the handlebars extent outward as you raise them up (think Keiser M3) and they begin very low. I typically ride any IC with the bars all the way down and I needed to raise them to get comfortably setup on the IC7.
The power console (self-powered = no batteries) provides the expected rider metrics for watts, RPM, distance and HR if you're wearing a chest strap. And the unexpected – a resistance level indication and very cool LED lights that change colors based a participants‘ WattRate® (power) or heart rate and the training parameters set by the Coach By Color® training system. More on the console, the Coach By Color® system and how they get those lights to change correctly for each rider coming in a separate post.
One feature not included was a stage or lap button to measure intervals – but it will shortly. In a followup email from Bernd Pürschel – ICG's CEO and lead engineer, Bernd offered that they will be including this function in the near future.
Measured Power Using Optical Sensors
With multiple manufacturers offering power/watts, any comparative discussion between brands nearly always comes down to two simple questions;
How accurate is the wattage displayed?
Is that wattage consistent (feels the same) from bike to bike?
The claimed accuracy of the IC7 is +/- 1% which to me is saying the wattage displayed is nearly perfect.
Is that possible?
I had a long conversation with Bernd to understand where his confidence about accuracy and consistency of power come from. I wanted to learn specifically how torque is measured and displayed on the IC7's console. You no doubt understand that power/watts is equal to the twisting force (torque) a rider applies to the pedals… multiplied by the speed (RPM) in which the power is applied. Measuring the RPM side is easy, you just count the number of revolutions. Measuring the torque is the hard (and expensive) part of any power meter; indoors or out.
The accuracy, Bernd explained, comes from the use of an Optical Torque Sensor that forms the intermediate shaft in the drive train shown here in this photo of an IC7 going through long-term reliability testing.
Pedals turn the large sprocket and the toothed belt turns the intermediate shaft that doubles as the optical torque sensor.
To measure torque, something needs to twist or deflect and then have a sensor in place to measure tiny amounts of twist or deflection. In the bicycle world, strain gauges installed in the; pedals, rear hub, bottom bracket or crankarms are used the measure deflection caused by the rider pushing the pedals, that is resisted by the tire's contact with the ground. The FreeMotion S11.9 uses a strain gauge attached to the left side crankarm and the Blade Ion uses a strain gauge in the arm the holds the brake pad in place.
Instead of using strain gauges to measure torque, the IC7 measures the amount of twist that occurs in the intermediate shaft, using light that passes through a series of little windows on either end of the intermediate shaft. I found this drawing that may help to show what's happening down there.
Measuring your awesome amount of torque using light 🙂
Here's a very simplistic explanation of how this works:
In its rested state, the little slots in the disks on either end of the shaft line up perfectly. Light shown (fig 150) from one end will pass easily between the slots and out the other side to a sensor (fig 160). Now imagine what would happen if you twisted the shaft – the slots are no longer lined up, right? Using fancy electronics it is possible to measure this twist with incredible precision by sensing changes in the amount of light passing from one site to the other.
Now if you know with certainty what amount of force twists the shaft “X” amount, you have the makings of a very accurate method of measuring torque. Bernd assured me that the intermediate shaft is build using very special (and expensive) German steel, which results the complete system having a margin of claimed error of just +/- 1%. It's important to note that ICG didn't invent using Optical Sensors to measure torque. They've been used for years in precision machines that require a very high degree of accuracy.
Here's a computer simulation showing details of the inner workings.
So how about bike to bike?
The fundamental problem I see on our classes where we've introduced power, is a lack of trust from both Instructors and riders in the wattage being displayed. Consistency between cycles is (to me) more important than if they're super accurate. I don't care what I see as my FTP wattage, as long as that level of effort feels the same regardless of which of the Indoor Cycles in our studio I choose to ride. Bernd feels they have that solved through a simple method of calibrating the 100 position resistance control with the magnet holder. It's beyond me to explain how it works in words – hopefully they'll create a video that shows the procedure.
Next up – Coach by Color® and how it will help communicate to you (the Instructor), that everyone has heard and understood your intensity cues.
I grew up in a small town about 50 miles north of New York city on the banks of the Hudson River named Highland Falls. One of the unique aspects of my hometown, besides the unparalleled beauty of the Hudson Valley, is the fact that it borders the United States Military Academy at West Point.
For as long as I can remember I have admired and respected those who have committed their lives to the service of our amazing country. My father is a Vietnam veteran and due to the proximity of my hometown to West Point, many of my teachers and coaches were active or retired military. The children of the families stationed at the academy went to my high school, James I. O'Neill. I believe that O'Neill has more graduates go to West Point than any other, non-military, high school in the country. I have also had classmates make the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of our nation during recent wars in the middle east.
I have been lucky enough to be taught, coached, mentored by and friends with some of the finest leaders in our country. I respect their commitment and appreciate their sacrifices to keep my family safe and free.
Every Memorial and Veteran's Day I do my best to honor them with themed indoor cycling class. Below is a recording of the class I taught in honor of the military this past Friday as well as many of the videos I used.
I love having a full class of students. But first they need to know my class exists. I'm continuously frustrated with how poorly my own club promotes the Indoor Cycling classes we offer. Based on comments offering similar frustrations, I'm guessing that I'm not the only one.
So why not take a few minutes to do a little self-promotion?
The other day a received a request from an ICI/PRO member to join FourSquare, the social media site where you can check in, so other people know where to find you. Like Yelp, FourSquare acts as a search engine to find where there friends are, in the hope to meet up with them. You can also leave and read reviews there. I hadn't spent any time there so I decided to check it out to see what I could do with it to promote my class. At first I thought that only actual businesses could create a listing. Instead I discovered you can create a listing for anything that is an actual place, even if you don't technically own or manage the facility. I saw listings for specific seat rows at a concert, events in a local park and even a listing for a specific airline flight to Europe – maybe they were interested in who they would be sitting next to for eight hours.
In the name field I suggest; Your Name, Time/Date and theKey Words that describe your class.
In the address field; Club Name and address.
Then fill out the other fields – you may want to use the club's phone number.
Click save when completed.
You will then see your new listing. Check that the marker on the map is in the correct place. If it's not you can click and drag it to the proper location.
Now when anyone searches for a Spin class near Minnetonka, MN they will find:
