by Ben Greenfield | Mar 29, 2010 | Ben Greenfield
When if comes to fiber, the benefits are numerous, but the simple fact is that most of the people in your class are probably not getting enough of it, although they will most likely think that they are getting enough.
Nine time out of ten, I’ll perform a nutritional analysis on an individual who tells me they’re “eating their fiber”, and this consists of a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, a small salad with lunch, and some roasted veggies with dinner. With all the benefits that fiber gives, there’s no excuse not be eating more of it. Unfortunately, it’s a rare person that has time to actually count how many grams of fiber they’re getting, so general recommendations make a lot more sense.
Not that your class participants have to stock their refrigerator with wood chips, dump a gallon-size ziplock bag of flax seed on their morning cereal, or stroll around chewing on a crumpled wad of paper, but proper fiber intake *is* important – and offers free health benefits that shouldn't be ignored. If they can decrease how much they spend on health care, increase the benefit of their exercise routine, and feel more energy and less stress, then they should take that extra step to hunt down some fiber! In case you want some pointers on how your class can get more fiber, at the end of this article, I'll explain how I get mine — but first, you’ll need to explain the benefits to your class. Here is what you can tell them: the 5 rock solid reasons to eat fiber.
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by Ben Greenfield | Mar 22, 2010 | Ben Greenfield
In the last article of this series, you learned about the importance of water. But ultimately, it doesn’t matter how much water your students are drinking if they are not consuming adequate electrolytes.
When you consider the fact that over 75% of athletes are deficient in magnesium, – an electrolyte that is crucial for muscular contraction, the pacemaker activity of the heart, and muscle repair and recovery — it becomes pretty easy to understand why so many individuals just aren’t able to perform to their desired capabilities during indoor cycling class, and why they just don’t recover properly afterwards.
So what is the best way to explain electrolytes to your indoor cycling class?
In order to educate you on electrolytes, I have actually prepared a special slideshow, entitled “6 Things Water Can’t Give You”.
You can access this slideshow, along with the crucial notes that accompany it, at the following URL:
http://www.slideshare.net/bengreenfield/6-things-water-cant-give-you
If you’re lucky enough to have a project in your indoor cycling room, you can even show this slideshow to your class during warm-up and cool-down! Enjoy.
by Ben Greenfield | Mar 5, 2010 | Ben Greenfield
Consider the following facts:
* Your speed on a bike decreases about 2% for each 1% of body weight lost through dehydration
* By the time you feel thirsty, you can already be at 2% body weight loss
* A 3% weight loss indicates dehydration has occurred
* Loss of fluid during exercise varies, but averages about 34 ounces per hour (3x that much in hot and humid conditions!)
* Hyponatremia, which is just as dangerous as dehydration, is a term used to describe “water intoxication” and can occur with excess water intake
* Acclimatized individuals who are used to training in hot climates or hot rooms can reduce fluid loss by up to 50%
Based on these facts, it would pretty important to make sure your indoor cycling class knows all about proper water intake.
After you’ve introduced the facts above, teach your class the proper formulas and rules for determining regular daily hydration and exercise hydration:
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by Ben Greenfield | Feb 24, 2010 | Ben Greenfield
As you read through this series, remember that the goal is to give you basics of a simple way to teach your indoor cycling class about nutrition — and it is not meant to be a complete primer or university equivalent of Nutrition 101! This means that you can feel free to put your own spin on the information if you want to add more for your class. For example, if you’re into more plant-based protein sources, tell your class about hemp and flax seeds, quinoa, nuts and rice protein. If you are more a paleo-type, introduce them to healthy beef jerky, lamb, or cold-water fish. You can also include discussions about omega-3 eggs, greek yogurt, whey protein and other dairy based sources.
Speaking of omega-3’s, this article is going to cover the essentials of fat!
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by Ben Greenfield | Feb 1, 2010 | Ben Greenfield
Now that you have a good idea of how to teach your indoor cycling class about the basics of carbohydrates and performance, let’s move into the next logical macronutrient: protein.
You’d be surprised at the number of people in your class who have only a very basic understand of protein, and often simply think that it is derived from meat and should be eaten with dinner.
Begin your discussion of protein with an explanation of what proteins actually are: vital components of every organ and action within the human body, without which we would simply cease to function. In the absence of proper nutritional building blocks for protein, the human body will cannibalize it’s own lean muscle mass and organs, and experience a weakened immune system, poor performance, and inadequate recovery and fitness response. Proteins are comprised of amino acids — many of which the body cannot make on it’s own unless complete proteins are present in the diet.
But it’s a myth that you need to get your complete protein from meat.
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