by John | Apr 6, 2013 | Instructor Training, Leading Group Rides
Tried 11 different saddles during my fitting before settling on a Fizik Kurve.
What happened to the promises of global warming? Younger daughter Carly turned 19 on April's Fools day. The day we brought her home from the hospital (some days you can never forget) was a beautiful Spring day… bright, sunny and in the 70s.
Today is April 6th and as I was pouring a cup of coffee I was seeing 20° F. The high for the day is predicted to only get to 50°F with 70% chance of rain. Today could be one of the warmest days we've had since October. Thank goodness for Indoor Cycling 🙂
Yesterday I had the privilege to interview sponsored elite level Triathlete Shawna Folts from Tempe AZ. You'll be interested to learn how she does much of her training indoors – at the Tempe Life Time Fitness, when she's not out on her VeloVie Veloce 100 Carbon Triathlon bike. I hope to have Shawna's Podcast up by the end of the week.
So as I sit and gaze longingly at my virgin VeloVie Vitesse 300 this morning, while editing our latest Audio Profile, I've resigned myself to the fact that it will be another week or so before my maiden bike ride… unless by some fluke that Sunday warms up.
by Jim Karanas | Mar 25, 2013 | Best Practices, Master Instructor Blog
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
IHRSA 2013 demonstrated a major increase in club owners’ interest in virtual indoor cycling classes — rides led by a virtual coach or voice-over using Forward Motion Video (FMV). No instructor present. It was apparent at the IHRSA Trade Show that many club owners are now considering technology-based workouts.
Fitness companies have picked up on the benefits of virtual indoor cycling, chronicled by ICG in past posts. Some companies are investing millions of dollars in creating compelling content, geared to presenting a virtual experience that competes with live instruction. And an increasing number of clubs are realizing the economic benefit of offering and marketing virtual classes. These clubs range from budget clubs that have no intention of hiring instructors to major chains that support strong instructor programs.
Les Mills International (LMI) announced the launch of LES MILLSâ„¢ VIRTUAL at this IHRSA convention. LMI virtual workouts are based on master class content and demonstrated by their top instructors. These workouts will include virtual RPM classes, their brand of indoor cycling. Their filming and editing techniques are Hollywood quality. They have invested a great deal of money in making virtual classes that replicate the actual experience and energy of the master classes they present to their instructors all over the world.
The importance of LMI’s decision to provide virtual classes should not be overlooked. With their move to virtual and the high quality of their production, LMI, the industry leader in group-fitness programming, is indicating a shift in the industry’s acceptance of virtual classes.
Could virtual change the nature and economics of the fitness industry? The technology is fairly simple and getting better and cheaper. The content is improving. And the problems around maintaining an instructor staff are legendary. Ask any Program Manager: training instructors; making sure they stay current, show up on time, and fill out their timesheets properly; and much more. Virtual classes might just work in a major way.
So, speaking as an instructor, what are my options? If I support the use of virtual classes, and they keep improving, I could lose my job to a video of an instructor who’s much better than I am. If I don’t support it, my club owner may think that I’m not staying current in the industry, or that I have only my personal interests in mind. The owner may let me go, thinking I was the kind of instructor he/she wanted to get rid of, anyway. If I do nothing, I may suddenly be faced with a large screen and projector in the cycling studio and told to promote virtual rides to my students. Worse, I may be told that the club is scaling back its instructor-led classes because virtual is the future.
Here are the facts. Club owners see virtual classes as: a cost-effective way to boost class capacity and use the cycling studio at off-peak times; a way for members to fit classes into their busy schedules; a great way to introduce more people to group fitness and grow overall attendance; an effective marketing tool for enticing member prospects to join; a trend that’s here to stay.
To be proactive, I need to keep my instruction better than a virtual class. What can I do that video cannot?
1. I can learn people’s names and compliment them daily.
2. I can introduce them to others in the class and create a sense of camaraderie and group effort.
3. I can change my workouts and music for every class. (Some virtual programs are currently able to do this, but there’s likely to be greater repetition.)
4. I can get off my bike and provide individual coaching during class, as needed by the students.
5. I can improve my skills as an instructor, class leader, cyclist and dedicated employee so that, no matter who’s on the video, my abilities deliver a better class experience.
Having been a Program Director for over 30 years, I know that everything on the list above has been told to instructors in countless ways without large-scale success. The five items make you not only a better instructor, but also a better employee.
The industry is changing. I encourage everyone who is resistant to technology to change quickly. Invest in learning to teach with FMV, power, an iPod, or Spotify. Accept, even welcome, the advent of virtual classes.
Most importantly, do everything you can do to remind the industry that what makes group training most enjoyable is the social atmosphere and human connection that only you, the instructor, can create.
by John | Mar 20, 2013 | Latest News
Updated 3/23
I had a chance to walk through the show as exhibitors were putting the last minute touches on their booths and shot a few pictures.
I'll be updating this post as I get each file uploaded this morning – Internet is very slow here.
I felt like Charlie walking through Willy Wonka's chocolate factory – everywhere I looked it seemed there was something new I had to take a picture of.
This fitness model could have been Jillian Michaels' younger sister – I didn't ask if she was.
Yes those are gear shifters like on a real road bike. This new Tour de France bike has 30 “gears” and I thought they were awesome.
iPod stand for Cameron's FreeMotion S11-9 Instructor Bike
New handle bars for the Schwinn AC Performance +
Cool blue light that glows on the new Spinner Blade Ion – Barbara will love that.
FreeMotion Aero-Bar extension – I know that the Instructors at LTF have been asking for those.
Keiser M3 with Trixter handle bars
MyRide+ ready for Chuck Cali 🙂
Speed Play Cleat Insert for Spinning or Schwinn pedals offering a LOOK cleat option.
Real Ryder Computer – no power/watts yet.
I guess this would be the natural progression – although I'm not seeing it at a Life Time Fitness anytime soon.
by John | Feb 6, 2013 | Best Practices, Engage Your Students, Mental Toughness
Question from an ICI/PRO member:
Hey john,
I had a rider wearing a Timex HRM in class yesterday and it would not pick up her heart rate on the Keiser console of any of the bikes? It does work on other equipment in the facility (treadmills etc.)
Is there a reason for this? and what she should check if purchasing another HRM to look out for?
thanks
This had me thinking about my Grandfather John Sr. (I'm the third) who could fix anything. Whenever I had a problem with something, specifically a car with issues I couldn't correct, he would advise me to carefully examine any assumptions I was working under. He knew me well enough to know that I had a tendency to see problem “A” and assume it was caused by a failure in part “B”. So I'd start to tear apart “B”, find nothing wrong with it, put it back together and after wasting a few hours bring the problem to him.
Learning to challenge assumptions can be very helpful in situations where someone brings a problem to you. Most people will try to solve their own problem, before bringing it to you. Along the way they may have created a few assumptions that they will expect you to follow.
My response was…
I'm thinking that it maybe hard to trouble shoot this.
Before I'd do anything I would confirm that the strap is actually working at the time. I've had similar situations where a student says; “it works everywhere else” but that's in the past days or weeks ago… only now the battery is dead 🙁
Does the signal show on their watch, but not on the M3? Or if they don't have a watch have them go directly to another piece of equipment and see if it shows there.
If the strap works other places, but not the M3, as a last step confirm that the M3 works with another HR strap.
If everything checks out then I'd connect you with one of the smart people at Keiser.
Learning to challenge assumptions can be very helpful in situations where someone brings a problem to you. Most people will try to solve their own problem, before bringing it to you. Along the way they may have created a few assumptions that they will expect you to follow.
You need to be careful not to sound cynical or condescending when you question assumptions; especially if you're a man talking to a women*. Rather than saying; “are you sure the strap works?” which can come off negatively, I'd suggest something like; “how about we go over to that treadmill over there just to confirm everything?”
*Trust me on this one. I worked for a number of years at a service gas station (remember those?) and have a vivid memory of being accused of insulting a women, who turned out to be the best friend of the owner's wife, because I didn't appear to take her prognosis of her car's problem seriously.
As a follow up to the story, a response from Keiser…
Currently our display supports only Polar HRM. Unless the Timex watch has Polar
technology, it won't sync to the M3.Follow this link to our
website that talks about Polar:
http://www2.keiser.com/en/accessory_options/polar
Please let me or our service department know if we can help any further.
Kind Regards,
Daniel Meine
Engineering
Keiser Corporation
Did you know that? I didn't and I've taught on Keiser M3's for years.
by John | Jan 8, 2013 | Master Instructor Blog, Music
Macy Gray's “Nothing Else Matters” looks like this – once you move past your cluelessness.
If you've experimented with some of the 3/4 time track suggestions from this past weekend, you may have some confusion about how you count oddly timed music – like I did.
Amy had gotten me started with a bunch of the tracks in the ICI/PRO Learn to Ride to the Beat Spotify playlist and then ran off.
While I was writing the post, I wanted to find the RPM they communicated and share it with you. So I broke out my trusty BPM Counter*… and then quickly drove myself crazy trying to tap out the count; One-Two-Three / One-Two-Three and have it show a believable RPM. I actually quit trying to tap out the songs and instead jumped on my FreeMotion S11.0 down in the official ICI/PRO training facility (my basement) and rode to each song. Riding to the One-Two-Three / One-Two-Three comes easy to me – which is exactly why we recommend using music in 3/4 time to help your students Find The Beat – Find The Beat. Some LTF Instructors may get that private little joke.
When Amy returned, I explained that my rhythmic deficiencies were preventing me from tapping out the RPM successfully 🙁
She gave me a little smile and explained; “It's just Beat-Beat-Beat, Tap-Tap-Tap like any music in 4/4 time.” “Then you just divide it in half to find the RPM… silly.”
So I tried it again, this time forgetting the; One-Two-Three / One-Two-Three and instead just used Tap-Tap-Tap.
And she was right – as usual.
*Here's an old tap-to-the-beat program (PC only) that I've used for years. You can (right click here – save as) to your desktop. It's an .exe file that you need to run each time you want to use it. Your PC may warn you to be concerned about .exe files – you should if they don't come from somewhere not trustworthy (like a spam email) but this file is clean.
Here's an old video showing how to use the counter – I made it back in 2009 and it's helped over 10,000 viewers 🙂
This online Tap to the Beat counter works well.
There are a bunch of free iPhone Apps like this one you can use.
Android Users can download this free App.
