Now that StarTrac is shipping Spinner® Blade Ion Indoor Cycles with Power, there's a bunch of Instructors who need to be educated on how to effectively use this new training "tool" in their classes.
Spinning's new education program is called the SpinPowerâ„¢ program. It was developed by well known Power Training expert Angie Sturtevant who's the Director of Power-Based Training.
When ICI/PRO member Dennis Mellon told me that his club in Greenwood Village Colorado would be hosting a SpinPower training, I asked if he would be willing to share his experiences with our listeners.
Dennis Mellon is one of those smart, talented people we love to have on the Podcast. Here's his bio...
Dennis Mellon has been working in the Fitness Industry since 1992. He's a Certified Personal Trainer/Performance Enhancement Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine as well as being a certified Spinning, Energy Zone and Indo-Row Instructor. He has a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education and a Minor in Coaching from the State University of New York College at Cortland. He spends most of his time at Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club in Greenwood Village Colorado where he is a Personal Trainer, Masters Swim Team Coach, Indoor Cycling and CardioVascular Intervals instructor. Dennis was voted the Mountain West's top Spinning Instructor by Competitor Magazine in 2012. He has completed 8 Ironman distance triathlons, ultra distance mountain bike events, marathons and numerous shorter distance events.
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John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
Enjoyed the podcast. John, do you know if you can purchase the console and use it with existing Star Trac spinner bikes or do you have to purchase the Ion Blade spinner?
I’m not sure Pat. It sure looks like it may be possible, except for the special charging unit in the hub. I have a meeting with the Star Trac engineers who designed the ION next week while I’m in LA and I’ll ask them if there’s any option to retrofit the console.
John, I just called Mad Dog Spinning and spoke with someone in customer service and they told me that the bikes were not for sale yet and they have not received any pricing information and specifics for the bike. The person I spoke with said they hoped to have bikes available by the end of the year.
That’s interesting… Dennis didn’t say anything about his studio being a pilot/beta site. I’m scheduled to take a class at Full Psycle Studio in Costa Mesa CA to ride on Blade IONs connected to the Performance IQ display and data collection system. More to discuss next week 🙂
John and Pat, I believe my club bought the bikes through Star Trac not Mad Dogg. I think we are the first big club have the bike in the US.
The console cannot be used on any other bike, only the Ion Blade.
It’s still dark for our morning classes and now you can see the blue glow of the Ion Blade. Pretty cool!
Hi John
I took the indoor power certification from Gene Nacey that was offered a couple of years ago at the conference you hosted in Boston. I very much enjoyed the program and use the information in my classes.
I like other trainers, try to keep abreast with new learning and technologies. I listened to the podcast about the new program, “spin power”, offered by or using Star Trek bikes and I am wondering if this program is similiar to the program Gene offered.
Power training, of course, is not new, but it is newish to many indoor spin instructors. It seems that each company that produces bikes with power capabilities come up with a power program.
As an instructor/coach I am always trying to learn more so I can be a better coach. Is this program available on line. Is there a book or manual one can purchase. Thanks
Marian my understanding is that Spinpower training is only offered as a live, 8 hour workshop.
Yes – this program is similar to other power training Instructor programs and you’re right that the concepts are not “new” but for many the thought of teaching with watts and RPM is very exciting.
How do you measure your power for a PFT without a console?
Lorri – this requires an indoor cycle that indicates power/wattage. There’s no other way to determine work output that I’m aware of.