A PERSONAL NOTE ON "REINVENTING" OURSELVES: As many of you already know, I am retiring from the Attorney General's Office on Thursday of this week. I've spent more than 30 happy years there working for a really outstanding public servant. I love the office, I love the work and I love the people there. So why retire relatively young?
For me this is not so much a "retirement" as it is a chance at "reinvention." I believe that in our lives we get a certain number of chances to reinvent ourselves. These can come in the form of career changes, marriage, kids or by making a life long commitment to fitness. I've not used mine up yet. So I am taking advantage of the state's early retirement incentive program to take off in a completely new direction. I retire on Thursday, and on Friday I am going to begin a program of intensive study to become certified as a Personal Trainer. The study is actually fairly rigorous and I expect it to take a couple of months. But I am truly excited to learn more about anatomy, physiology and kinesiology and how to apply it in a way that will help you achieve your personal fitness goals.
Spinning will continue to be the core of my fitness life and I will continue to teach my classes. And I expect to add a few more (see below). But I hope that in a few months I will be able to offer my services as a personal trainer as well as a Spinning instructor and coach.
I wanted to share this news with you for several reasons. Stating a goal publicly is an important step towards martialing the commitment to achieving it. Also, I really believe that we are a community of Spinning participants and that means sharing important news. Many of you have asked me about my plans and I am happy to have your interest in what I am doing. Finally, I hope that what I will learn about exercise science will enable me to be a better Spinning instructor for you. It's all a bit scary but I hope you'll wish me well in this new endeavor.
SUBSTITUTE TEACHING AT SE: Speaking of teaching more, I will be substituting for Kelly Meier's Spinning class at 9am on Wednesday mornings at the SE club. Kelly is helping out by taking another class on a short term basis and I will try to fill in for her with Spinning. My substitution will continue through May 26th.
SPINNING NEWSLETTERS NOW BEING POSTED AS A BLOG: You may recall that I mentioned in the last newsletter that I understood that some of my students were having difficulty getting this newsletter by email. I still don't understand what is going on with the mailing list but the situation has forced me to do something I had not imagined before. I have started a blog. You can now read these newsletters at billroachblog.blogspot.com. Bear with me as I learn how to do this.
LACTATE THRESHOLD INTERVALS: WHY ARE SOME CLASSES GETTING HARDER THIS TIME OF YEAR? Using the periodization calendar for designing your Spinning classes, we have reached the time where we begin working on increasing your threshold power.
It is most important to understand that this is done only after you have built an aerobic base and only on days when you are feeling fit and rested. But working on threshold power is perhaps the most important thing you can do to improve your cycling ability. Even if you don't ride outdoors, it is a huge boost to your cardiovascular fitness and it burns tons of calories.
Threshold power is the "holy grail" of aerobic performance. Simply being able to raise your lactate threshold to a higher level means you can go harder and longer without hitting the wall. Most of you know this. When you ride at a certain, albeit high, speed you can continue for quite a while. But when to try to increase it just a little, your legs will burn in just a few minutes and soon it becomes very difficult to continue.
In your Spinning classes we are currently working to improve your lactate threshold. We do this by taking you up to just under our best estimate of your lactate threshold and then taking you just over it. Being just under your LT is sometimes said to be like standing on the edge of a cliff. When you are just under LT you feel like you are working hard but you feel that you could continue. You would like to stop but you don’t need to stop. When you cross over LT the effort becomes more intense and less sustainable as you begin to get that "burn" in your legs. You've jumped off the cliff, so to speak. In our classes we are spending an appropriate amount of time working right on that edge in order to increase your body’s ability to produce high amounts of power without crossing over into the area where is becomes less efficient. Proper use of a heart rate monitor will help you find this spot more accurately. (I have an extra monitor that I loan to students so ask.)
The secret to this is that this work must be performed after you have built an aerobic base, when you are relatively rested and it must be done consistently over time. This is why I always encourage students to opt out of these drills if they are new, tired, overtrained or ill. You can still come to class, just stay in an endurance aerobic zone. We all need to do what is right for us on that day in order to achieve long term performance results.
MY TEACHING SCHEDULE:
Every Monday 5:45PM at Southeast.
Every Wednesday 5:45PM at Merle Hay.
Every Saturday 7:30AM at Hickman.
Check out all the schedules at http://www.aspenathleticia.com/group-fitness/schedules/
Bill Roach
Star 3 Lifetime Certified Spinning Instructor
Aspen Athletic Clubs
bill.roach@mchsi.com
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