ICI/PRO Podcast host Joey Stabile talks with Suhail Maqsood of the Wheel House in San Francisco and John Bogosian of Zingfit about the importance of keeping your customers.
This was a great conversation, and many of us overlook the most valuable asset that we have in our businesses, our customers. Suhail and I have a great talk about the importance of the customers and what we can do to increase their experience with our club and how we can safeguard their privacy while retaining our branding.
You can learn more about The Wheel House here at their website.
You can learn more about Zingfit here at their website.
You'll be quicker up Pikes Peak after a winter training indoors with power!
While Performance Enhancement Specialist Dennis Mellon and I were getting warmed up to record his Audio Class PROfile Mashup – HIIT vs. Party on the Bike, we spent a few minutes discussing his thoughts and observations on coaching with power.
Were his participants seeing any improvement after a full winter training indoors with power?
If so, how are they comparing their performance year to year?
Has Star Trac been able to improve the consistence / accuracy of the Blade Ions?
Can we depend on riders bringing their own technology (HR Monitor, iPhone App, ect…) to class for the purpose of tracking performance?
Or is it better to provide rider data/metrics tracking as a service of the studio?
During our conversation Dennis makes an interesting comment about a summer class format, that could be of interest to the cyclists and endurance athletes who abandoned you this Spring. Many training plans call for very specific HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) – which is difficult to complete on the road, but easy to do indoors. It may make sense to ask one of the local endurance coaches in your area if they would be interested in bringing their athletes indoors once a week to your studio.
You can learn more about Dennis here at his website.
Listen to our discussion below or
If you'd like to learn more about automated rider data/performance tracking from Performance IQ with the Spinner Blade Ion or any of the other Indoor Cycles with power, please contact me and I'll connect you with the right people.
ICI/PRO member Joey, a Cycling Fusion Master Instructor and routine contributor to The Weekly Ride on ICI/PRO, delivers a ride. THIS IS THE COMBINED FILE THAT INCLUDES THE MUSIC AND THE VOICE. IT IS NOT AVAILABLE ON ITUNES.
This ride is from Joey!! – “This ride is designed as a decreasing cadence endurance ride with three repeats. The goal is to work through the various levels from primarily cardio work (cadences 90+) through muscular endurance work (cadences 70-89) and finish up with strength work (cadences 69 or less) to produce complete fatigue in the rider's legs by starting with the slow twitch fibers and progressing through the fast twitch fibers for total exhaustion.” Joey
Meet Dave Norfleet, the creator of an amazing Indoor Cycling Class ride delivery and Cycling Class Profile app My Fitness DJ. Joey and Dave talk about the app and class structure and design through this 50 minute episode.
We have a special treat for you with a FREE class profile that you can directly download into MFDJ and not have to program a cue or find a song, we have done it all for you. You can find that class here: DOWNLOAD CLASS
The steps to download this profile into your device are:
1) Open page from the device with MyFitnessDJ installed
2) Tap the link
3) Choose “Open in MyFitnessDJ”
4) Select playlist in MyFitnessDJ – each track will play a few seconds, as it's added to your Apple Music library
Listen to Joey Delivering the ride and get all of the ride details here (it is all free): RIDE RECORDING
From the My Fitness DJ Site (http://www.myfitnessdj.com/):
Helping make you even better
Announcing #MFDJtrending! Share you ideas and inspiration with others by adding your best tracks to the #MFDJtrending list then promote with a Facebook post. Tracks are boosted in the list with more likes from your peers. Take a look.
I really wish I could play sound effects in MFDJ. Guess what? It's in there! Along with lots of other feature that are regularly requested, yet already a part of the MFDJ feature set.
MyFitnessDJ is everything you need to make a better workout. Your class or personal workout doesn't have to change, but your focus and efficiency will.
Listen to the Podcast below or subscribe using iTunes or Zune.
I had the privilege of visiting the Stages Cycling HQ and factory in Boulder Colorado with my buddy Randy Erwin. Director of Indoor Cycling education Cameron Chinatti, along with Stages vice president Pat Warner, were our tour guides. We spent a fascinating couple of hours learning exactly what goes into building the Stages single side crank arm power meter used on the new Stages SC3 Indoor Cycle and available for most road/mountain bicycles.
You know these people are cyclists the moment you walk into the place. Everywhere you look there are bicycles; tucked into every corner, hanging from the ceiling, along every wall – heck, their conference room has probably the coolest table I've ever seen. Instead of legs, the table top is supported by a pair of 70's vintage Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycles.
Cameron explained the hiring process, “you pretty much have to be a passionate cyclist to even be considered… many of these guys have been riding buddies for years.” And I'll add that these “cyclists” are also some of the most brilliant people I've ever met 🙂
Cameron explaining all the cool features of the Stages SC3 to cyclist Randy Erwin
Cameron met Randy and me and our tour started in their official “training room” except it won't be for long. Stages is growing so fast that half of this room has been taken over by manufacturing stations. My friend Randy was very interested in the new SC3 because the Westminster, CO Life Time Fitness (where he's a member) will be the very first location to get these new cycles. Now if we could get Dennis Mellon in there as an instructor…
New power meters being installed and tested – this is super technical stuff.
Early in the our factory tour, I asked Pat; “why aren't your power meters built in Asia, like most other technology companies?” His responses made perfect sense to me; “there are multiple reasons actually.” “Stages has become the leading provider of bicycle power meters, after only a few years. We can't afford any preventable issues when it comes to quality or availability. It's critically important that we control the quality of these power meters… we can't if we're dependent on a third party supplier's factory, regardless of where it's located.”
Pat explained how keeping everything in-house provided a solution to a unique challenge they faced. “We manufacture power meters for 16 different model bicycle crank arms, from major suppliers (Shimano, SRAM, Cannondale and FSA) plus the power meter for the SC3 Indoor Cycle. Bicycle cranks aren't made just one size. Multiply each model bicycle crank by the four or more available crank arm lengths and we have to stock over 60 part numbers. Sure, 172.5 is the most common size for a road bike, but how many of each should we be building? The lead time for overseas manufacturers is measured in months – customer's won't accept waiting that long. We have thousands of stock crank arms on hand and we're setup to quickly change production. So if we receive an order for an out of stock power meter, we can normally build one and ship it within a few days!”
Pat Warner explaining the complicated process that attaches the power meter to the crank arm.
Every power meter is checked for proper calibration and the results captured using a iPad with custom software that's developed in-house too!
The Stages SC3 is build by Giant Bicycles in Taiwan – Pat told me,”those Giant guys are experts at mass producing high quality bicycles and fitness equipment, so we leave that part to the experts. We still produce the SC3's power meter here in Boulder and then ship them out for installation on the cycle.”
Stages has a separate facility, near their main offices, that's use for product endurance and destructive testing. We just missed the completion of a test rig that repeatably pressed down on a handle bar, tens of thousands of times without any failure.
Want to know how long the drive train will last pedaling at a continuous 360 watts? This video shows the test rig that pedals 24/7 for weeks at a time. Not only are they watching to see if something will break, or wear out, but they also record the actual power readings vs what they know their electric motor is pushing.
Quality control – Early production Stages SC3 cycles are unboxed and checked for any defects.
Feel free to leave the lights on! There's the battery charger for the Stages SC3 power meter.
“Why do I make less power (fewer watts) standing, then when I'm seated, John?”
A great question from one of the riders in yesterday's Performance Cycle class. An observation that shows he's paying attention + it gives me the chance to clear this up, so you can properly explain this anomaly to your participants.
The short answer is you don't* If resistance and cadence remains the same, in or out of the saddle doesn't matter. The amount of power/watts you are creating doesn't change… because it can't.
The bike decides the right amount of power
You know that Power = Force x Cadence. So let's assume this participant is riding seated and pedaling @80RPM. Their resistance is set to a level that results in the console display showing 150 watts.
Our legs create the perfect amount of force required to get the job done, which in this instance is overcoming the resistance to pedal @ 80RPM. If your resistance setting on the cycle requires “X” amount of force to push down the pedal, your muscles will create exactly “X” – no extra force is created and no less. The combination of that force, multiplied by a cadence of 80 RPM results in the power meter showing 150 watts.
In fact there's an actual law of physics that says that it's impossible to get the same amount of power out of a machine with a reduced amount of power added into it – which is why I'm saying the amount of power/watts you are creating stays exactly the same, if you make no change other than to stand and ride out of the saddle.
“But then why does the power meter show my watts lower, when I'm standing.”
My response was; “you're right it does and there's a simple answer why…**[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
Let me begin with the basics. I teach at a Life Time Fitness Athletic Club and we ride FreeMotion S11.9 with the Carbon Drive belts. FreeMotion's measure power only through the left crankarm as you can see here.
This is my personal S11.0 (the home version) which is why it's black and not the normal silver color. The electronics are identical across all models.
Yes, the meter shows a drop in power…
Many of us who teach or ride on this Indoor Cycle have noticed that the power meter will show a lower wattage number when you transition out of the saddle, without giving any thought as to why. As I explained above, it shouldn't > the wattage number should remain the same. Again; Power is equal to force times cadence. If you didn't change the resistance setting, and you're maintaining the same cadence, the power meter should continue to show the same wattage… but it doesn't because >>>> your legs aren't the same strength.
Your dominate (stronger) leg does more work
The force required to pedal is divided between your two legs – but not equally. Because many (if not all) of us have one leg that's stronger than the other, our brains automatically proportion the amount of force from each. Remember: our legs only create exactly what's needed. Unless you consciously choose otherwise > more force is unconsciously asked from the stronger leg and the opposite leg adds what's left, equaling the total required.
Some quick research showed me that it's very common for one leg to be stronger in most people. Your dominant/stronger leg is typically the same as your writing hand. Since ~90% of people are right handed, the majority of your class will be seeing lower wattages when the come out of the saddle > because they are doing more work with their right leg. The FreeMotion's left hand power meter sensors are seeing a lower amount, of the total amount of work, as coming from your left leg.
Because this IC can only sense force on the left side, when you stand your stronger leg carries a greater percentage of your body weight = the wattages appear lower.
So standing or seated at the same cadence, you continue to create the exact same amount of power. It's just that the power meter doesn't see all of it and displays the reduced amount = the misperception that we create less power standing… which you now understand isn't true 🙂
Make this a feature (not a bug) in your class
Since the Freemotion can show leg strength disparity, why not use it as a training tool?
Novel idea, right?
Start by teaching everyone which leg is their stronger/dominate leg. The simplest way I know is by doing Step-Ups on a box or step raised to the proper level as shown in this short video.
This exercise was eye opening to me, when we did them in Boot Camp. Learning that my right leg is considerably stronger, I'm now really focusing on making my left leg do more work. Hopefully over time, a stronger left leg will result in me having a higher FTP and greater overall muscular endurance.
I suggest having your riders do this as an after class activity > or you could bring a box into your studio and have everyone take a turn.
Using a pair of reasonably sized dumbbells, perform 8-12 reps all on one side and then the other. It should be quickly apparent which (or if) they have a leg strength disparity.
We'll explore drills to exploit this feature and help riders train their weaker leg in future posts! [/wlm_private]
* I'm not referring to pedaling efficiency here, which is a completely different subject.
** Please let me know if this isn't clear, if I've confused you or you have an alternate method of explaining this.
ICI/PRO member Joey, a Cycling Fusion Master Instructor and routine contributor to The Weekly Ride on ICI/PRO, delivers a ride. THIS IS THE COMBINED FILE THAT INCLUDES THE MUSIC AND THE VOICE. IT IS NOT AVAILABLE ON ITUNES.
