So you”™ve been reading all this stuff about Heart Zones and max HR (heart rate), and blah, blah, blah right. You”™ve heard it before — nice ideas, but really, your club just isn”™t into that. You don”™t wear a heart monitor, none of the instructors do, heck, they don”™t even sell them at your facility. Only the techno geeks and cycle freaks use those right?
Well, I”™ll let you in on something… most cyclist don”™t use them either (but that”™s another story entirely). So why all the fuss? It”™s hard to explain, but suffice it to say, unless you personally experience the difference between training and exercise, you probably will never get it. This isn”™t usually a single workout revelation that happens all of a sudden. You won”™t be riding along in class one day and a ray of light will shine down from heaven with a booming voice telling you “This is the WAY!” No, you will need to wear a monitor, use it for a few weeks under the guidance of someone who has experience (or study up on it with one of Sally Edward”™s books). Then it will begin to make sense to you in a way we “converts” just can”™t explain.
Once you have your personal journey underway, believe me, you will want to share it with others. You will want to take along as many as you can… even if that means dragging them kicking and screaming. The health benefits, the variation in workouts, the ability to target specific improvements, the means to track progress in work load and results, but perhaps one of the best reasons of all… to keep yourself honest, true to yourself, and in touch with your body. ALL from a heart rate monitor!?!
Well, the HR monitor is the tool, but then you”™ll want a good teacher who will show you how to deliver all those good things from it. You don”™t know one of those? That just means that you”™re hired! You can become that person, and lead the way for others. This site is an excellent resource. Heart Zones is an excellent resource. Sally Ewards has several books dedicated to workouts with heart monitors. There”™s even an annual conference where John Macgowan and I met, to help you jump-start a program. The long and short of it is this — there is no shortage of resources for you to learn and discover the world of heart rate training once you catch the vision.
Will your students follow? If you drag them along, they will. Two years ago at Global Ride Training Center, I decided to stop asking if they wanted to train that way, and I just offered them some “loaner” heart monitors and told them I”™m teaching that way — come along if you wish. It wasn”™t arrogant (well, that sort of sounded arrogant) but I really put it in a nice way. I encouraged them, and then I taught specifically as if they were using them. In order to not feel left out, they started to experiment. Slowly but surely 90% of them came along, and they each have since encountered their own personal story to tell. This stuff works, it”™s fun, and there”™s no reason not to do it…even if they are kicking and screaming.
Click the picture for more information about Gino's upcoming Power Training Course, St Louis November 7th.
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I love this: “I decided to stop asking if they wanted to train that way, and I just offered them some “loaner” heart monitors and told them I’m teaching that way — come along if you wish.” It shows me that Gino believes in his student’s abilities … which I see as the number one attribute of a Leader; you believe in the capability of those you hope to lead.
I have loaners too…and once they use them, they are hooked!
i wish that could of happened with my class! i offered anyone in my class one day to wear mine and try it out (i reminded them that i thoroughly washed my chest strap!) and the girls (i teach at a university fitness center) looked at me like i was an alien holding a ray gun! it’s been a hard journey for me trying to convert, with little results. 🙁 i’m frustrated!
Two things – even though you wiped yours off, many people would not wear someone elses “personal” strap. However, having loaners that are more “anonymous” and also cleaned off might get a better response. Secondly, the better you know someone, the more you can “push them”. With some of my students who I know never took me up on the offer, I’ve come up to before class, and said “We’re going to do some fun drills with heart rate this morning, so this is a good time to try this out. Here I’ll help you put it on” I then size it for them, show them how it goes on, and ask them to wear it. So far, no one has refused this approach, and everyone has agreed that it was “interesting at worst, and really FUN at best. Never give up, it only takes a few to get the ball rolling. ALSO – find your Goliath and “slay” that person – the rest will fall like donimoes. Every group has one – find yours. Sounds like the subject of another blog. 🙂