Here is the continuation of my interview with Master Instructor Tom Scotto where we discuss if the 2 Threshold / 3 Zone system could have application in a power based class.
During our conversation we discuss the idea of recruiting a number of our very intelligent Instructors to experiment with using a 2 Threshold / 3 Zone system to find a student's low power threshold and use it to create a their training zones. Essentially crowd-sourcing the development of a new method of helping everyone discover a specific metabolic marker that's unique to each student and that could be found as part of every class.
Is that something you would be interested in being part of? Leave a comment below if you are.
Beyond fitness and weight management, many of the people in my class are training for some event this summer. Most are tied to a charity fundraiser. The MS 150 is a popular ride here in Minnesota, that happens in July each year.
Could you ask your class two things and let me know the results?
What percentage of your class are planning to participate in a fund raising ride this year?
Does the fund raising become a bigger obstacle than the training?
Why am I asking?
I'm working on some ideas to help create some excitement in your class and at the same time assist riders with their fund raising. Please leave a comment below or send me an email john@indoorcycleinstructor.com
Meet Dave Goss – Graduate student and Indoor Cycling Instructor at the University of Florida!
While working on his music education graduate degree at U-Florida, Dave enrolled in the college's group fitness instructor development program. There he earned his AFAA Primary Group Fitness Certification and then completed his Schwinn Indoor Cycling Certification. Now Dave has scheduled classes at both the colleges rec centers 🙂
Dave originally responded to my request for Instructors who teach at both Big Box and Boutique Studios. He asked if I would be interested in learning more about what it's like to teach in a college – to college students, which of course I was.
My biggest surprise during the interview? When Dave explained how his early AM cycle class is very popular! My experience with college kids is they all (given the chance) will sleep to noon. Listen to the interview to learn who, exactly, he's riding with @ 6:15 in the morning.
Here's the to our free Podcast.
You can connect with Dave through his multiple social media platforms:
For the past two year's or so I have been lobbying for a universal “Standard” for the description of Heart Rate Training Zones. The purpose is to get all of us talking with a common language, so we aren't confusing our students and help them reach their weight loss goals by training more effectively.
I love what we have been calling 2T/3Z or Two Thresholds / Three Heart Rate Zones and feel it is perfect for the “Club Athletes” who make up the majority of our classes.
Now there is a multi-week Heart Rate training program, designed around 2T/3Z & the Blink Heart Rate monitor, that you can offer to the clients at your club or studio. Zoning was developed by Ms. Zone Based Heart Rate Training herself; Sally Edwards, along with her partner (and ICI/PRO member) Chuck Cali.
Zoning is literally a Turn-Key fitness program in a can. I mean it will actually arrive at your studio in a can 🙂 The Zoning can contains everything you need:
Handouts and training video to educate your instructors
Promotional materials to help you sell your 6 week Zoning program to your clients
Class plans for leading each of the 6 weekly small group classes
Having seen the complete program I'm confident you will want to offer Zoning
Zoning is due to be released on November 15th and they are currently interviewing potential Beta sites. If you own or manage a fitness studio and would like to be considered as an early test facility (or you would like to be contacted when the program is released) follow this link to submit your contact information.
We are now offering both ACE and AFAA CEC's at the ICI/PRO conference and Zoning Fitness is providing Blink Heart Rate Monitors to the next 75 Instructors who register to attend the conference.
MyZone displays your students Heart Rates on a screen during class… and a lot more. Listen to my Interview with Steve Newell from MyZone and learn how their system will have your students coming back to your studio – not your competitors 🙂
A popular choice for Performance Tandems and Single Speed bikes.
Rules are not necessarily sacred; principles are. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
My cycling background revolves around the chain. My coach used to say, “The chain is sacred.” It vibrates, and that’s precisely what gives the bike its feeling of life. The vibration brings the rider a deeper sense of, and connection with, the bicycle. Without that vibration, without a chain, a bike is dead. I’ve believed, taught, and ridden this way since long before belts were introduced to Indoor Cycling.
If you had asked me back then about building a bike with a belt, I would have said without hesitating, “Don’t mess with the chain.”
Because of my background and the coaching I got, I can argue for the chain better than almost anyone. Those arguments, though, are philosophical, not focused on moving the industry of Indoor Cycling forward.
From my new perspective, working for a company (Indoorcycling Group, ICG) that makes a spectacular line of bikes with belts (LIVESTRONG), the conclusion is clear. The belt requires less maintenance, has fewer breakdowns, improves pedaling technique, does not allow for momentum-based recovery, makes the rider work more efficiently, is quieter, and is safer for new riders. It will save the club owner money, decrease liability, train participants more effectively, and make less noise.
No one on the management side of the club business would need to hear more to choose a belt. For economic reasons alone, the industry will go this way. It’s generally wise to ride an elephant in the direction it’s going. It seems foolish to push for a chain drive in light of that.
But here’s another thing to consider: 95% of the people who get on an indoor cycle won’t understand that “the chain is sacred.” They will notice only that the belt is quieter and smoother. This was the point that sold me. Although I tried relentlessly to find people who understood why I insisted that the chain is sacred, few people got it, almost no one felt it. Not even instructors who were currently teaching on chain-driven bikes.
Instructors whose jobs depend on the Indoor Cycling industry should not need any more convincing. Convincing club members who are used to chain-driven bikes, however, may take a bit more work.
The first thing I ask them to do is tell me what they like about bicycle riding. After they go on for a while, I ask them what they like about indoor cycling. That, too, goes on for a while. Regardless of the individual answers, the key point is that indoor cycling is quite different from riding outdoors: no need to balance, different movements, different hand positions, fixed gear, and more. There are many differences, all far more noticeable than the drive train.
Next, I ask them what other kinds of bikes they've ridden. Performance bikes only? How do they react when they see someone riding down the road on a cruiser in flip-flops? My point is a bike is a bike. You’re not a consummate rider if you fixate on what you think a bike should be. In fact, you’re less a cyclist than the overweight woman struggling on the hybrid. She has more grit. She’s happy just to be riding. THAT is a cyclist.
I ask them if they know which bike is the best in the world. It’s the one you’re on 🙂
Cycling is sacred, not the chain. I dig the vibrations and the sound of all the chains in a peloton as much as any roadie. But chains are secondary to the circular motion of the pedal stroke. The continuity of the circle is what creates the sense of peace that allows you to get outside your mind. The chain or belt simply permits the transfer of power to the forward motion. It’s the motion that makes you feel like you’re flying.
If you want to call yourself a cyclist, get past the chain. Respect all bikes. Find peace in a smooth circle with a belt and satisfaction in the increased work it puts your legs through without the free-spin of a chain.
With good instruction, a belt won’t detract from the class experience — and may very well add to it.
Exciting News!