Bring your Garmin or other Ant+ compatible HR strap
Updated 10/30 below
Short notice... it's tomorrow night.
Here's the email invitation I received:
EDGE Cycle kick-off with Bahram Akradi & quests
This will be the 1st class offering in Minnesota of our “new” EDGE CYCLE signature Indoor cycle format!
Expect to have an experience that includes results, heart rate and community all with the future technology of LT Connect
Class time: 5:30-6:30pm
- First come, first serve.
- We kindly ask to arrive by 5:00pm for individualized LT Connect set up. Everyone who wants to experience this must have a heart rate strap (Garmin or Motorola).
- Music will be provided by DJ Dan; guest instructors to get you pumped and a party at Rare to follow the hard yet fun work! J
We look forward to seeing you there~
What's being launched is the new EDGE Cycle class format that integrates with LT Connect - Life Time's branded heart rate display system. Similar to MYZONE or Polar's system, but no power like Performance IQ 🙁
Fun none the less as both Amy and I teach in the same room!
I'm planning to attend and will relay the details when I know more.
Update post class:
I took the class last night. If you teach at a Life Time, you might be excited if/when this gets to your club.
First stop when I got to the studio, was to check in and get my Garmin HR strap connected to the system. They had a desk setup and the person manning it asked for my name and if (and how) I knew my personal HR Zones. "What's your top of Zone one" was his next question - I couldn't answer, but I explained that I have been tested multiple times and my AT (VT2) was 162. My and base of Zone 3 (VT1) is... but before I could say 146, he had hit the button that auto-populates all the other fields and showed 145, close enough for me.
Next I was handed a little black box, a little bigger than an iPhone, that I pointed at my HR strap. This identified my unique Ant+ signal which connected me to my profile. And there I was "John" up on the screen with the others.
Suggestion: this isn't the time to puff your chest out and give the highest possible threshold you can imagine, with the intent of impressing others in the class. The accountability that comes from having your name up on the screen becomes very real, so I suggest being a bit conservative. So when the 3 minute effort is supposed to have you at the top of Zone 4 (and you're sitting one over from your Dept Head) with the last minute pushing into Zone 5, you don't find yourself wishing you have said 160. Pushing hard enough to add that one BPM that causes your gauge to go RED, is every challenging. Especially while you're convinced everyone in the room is watching to see if you can do it.
More when I have a chance to teach with LT Connect.
Originally posted 2013-10-28 15:14:35.
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.
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John,
Perhaps at lifetime it is different that the rest of the world. But in a industry that historically has had a difficult time to get riders to wear heart strap at all, how many are actually walking around with a Garmin or Motorola strap in their gym bag?
Admittedly this class sounds very cycle specific with an emphasis on Cardio training. Perhaps those attracted to such a class also have purchased a Garmin heart rate strap. most of us that have them, have them because we also have device to attach to our outdoor bike or our wrist to help chart our outdoor rides.
Let us know how many riders show up without a strap as well as how many had the ‘proper’ strap.
I look forward to your follow up.
True that Chuck. I teach there and I don’t have a Garmin or Motorola strap. I have a Polar because, oddly enough, that’s what LT sold (still do sell…I don’t know).
It will be interesting for sure.
I am a bit curious why they aren’t using the Ant+ signal that is already broadcasting from the FreeMontion’s console. If they used that then each athlete’s HR (from most any HR strap) + we could see power as well 🙂
Bahram did make a good point that I agree with 100%; displaying raw wattage numbers isn’t right because you’re then pitting 120lb women with 220lb men. Which could be easily handicapped by using watts per lb/kg instead of raw numbers. I would be excited to see that because I’m guessing that there are a bunch of female athletes that would be kicking major ass in there.
John, any new information on the new EDGE class? I teach for Lifetime in Cary and Apex, NC and am the indoor cycle coordinator for the Apex club. We still have heard nothing about the new class (I am also a mentor and have been on the cycle calls where we still received no specifics as to the type of format we will follow). Emily did inform me that the cycle calendar will not be used, but that’s about all we know. I had heard rumblings about using weights while cycling (which to me is ridiculous, and we certainly don’t do that on our outdoor rides), but nothing concrete. Any insight you can give would be great. I just want to know what to expect at the training. Thanks!
Chris DeMorat
Chris I’ve taken a number of Bahram’s classes that include the new LT Connect. Emily is scheduled to train us in Eden Prairie next week – so I’ll know more then.
And no, there’s no weights involved.