INDOORS VERSUS OUTDOORS: We're all feeling the excitement of unusually early warm weather. Many of us are also looking forward to being able to ride outdoors. That’s great. There are some elements of high performance bike riding that Spinning cannot provide, specifically bike handling and group riding situations. For those reasons, I encourage you to add some riding outdoors when conditions allow. But I don't think you should give up indoor work. There are some significant advantages to Spinning that you should continue to pursue even during good weather.
1) Spinning is more time efficient. By the time you ride, or drive, out of town to a place you can begin your serious aerobic riding you've often consumed 20-30 minutes and your real workout hasn't even begun. On the bike, these miles are more trafficked, less fun and generally unproductive. There's no time wasted avoiding traffic in a Spinning class. Your Spinning class is always an efficient way to train. We're still here for you, even in good weather.
2) Spinning is often more intense. Even once you are out of town on a good county blacktop, it is still easy to just cruise and not push yourself to the accelerations, hills, changes of pace and position that we put into a Spinning class. The variety of a Spinning class often means it is a better workout overall, and certainly a better workout per minute spent.
3) Spinning is safer. Fighting your way through rush hour traffic to get to your ride and then stealing home in the twilight is simply more dangerous than Spinning. You can be safe on the road, but your risks are reduced in Spinning.
Of course you should get that great outdoor ride when you can, but don't forget that Spinning has many advantages even when the weather is good. Besides, your Spinning friends would miss you!
CYCLETHON: Here’s a belated shout out to those of you who participated in the YMCA cyclethon including those of you who rode for the entire four hours! Funds from the effort provide financial assistance for those otherwise not able to afford Y membership and programming. So, thanks for a great effort in a great cause.
CLASSES THIS WEEK: Classes this week will be doing a cadence drill class to help you work on your ability to accelerate smoothly and effectively at different levels and at different speeds. This is an important skill for group riding where the ability to stay with other riders may depend on the ability to adjust your speed when there is no time to shift gears. It is also important in smoothing out your pedaling stroke at all RPM’s. It will force you out of your comfortable cadence range. The workout can be aerobic at moderate resistance or more anaerobic at higher resistance. Come give it a try.
FEELING GOOD? MAYBE IT ISN’T JUST THE BEAUTIFUL SPRING? A recent study from Penn State reported that people are more likely to have feelings of excitement and enthusiasm on days when they are more physically active. This is because physical activity results in a release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and chemicals like endorphins that make you feel very good.
DOES EXERCISE, NOT ONLY MAKE YOU HAPPIER, BUT ALSO MAKE YOU SMARTER? A recent article in the New York Times discusses how exercise actually provides fuel for your brain. The article notes that physical activity requires a lot of mental exercise too. In my personal training practice, I stress the connection of mind and body and the neurological processes that are as important to train as muscle. It is, after all, really a neuro-muscular system.
Exercise activates neurons which generate message, send them to the brain for interpretation. The brain must decide what to do with these thousands of signals. It must determine what muscles to activate, and how much, in order to do what is being asked, respond to the environmental circumstances and maintain balance and self protection. Then those signals must be sent to the appropriate primary, secondary and stabilizing muscles.
This is why a basketball point guard can look so graceful dribbling the ball down the court. It’s why great golfers swing looks so smooth and effortless. It’s why almost any athletic activity can be beautiful to watch. At a more mundane level, it’s also what keeps us functioning in life. It’s what keeps us from falling. Movement is beautiful.
Now studies from Japan suggest that the finely honed energy balance that occurs in the brain appears to have implications not only for how well the brain functions during exercise, but also for how well our thinking and memory work the rest of the time. The findings are based on animal studies and appear in this month’s The Journal of Physiology. There is more research to be done but probably we’ve established enough to discredit any derogatory reference to “dumb jocks”!
RESPONSE TO A STUDENT QUESTION ABOUT EXERCISING WHILE PREGNANT:
I’ve recently had a student ask about the guidelines for indoor cycling while pregnant. I’ve had students in class up to two weeks prior to delivery, but only with their doctors permission. The Spinning program addresses this directly. The highlights seem to be:
∙ Get your doctors okay.
∙ Keep your heart-rate down i.e. low aerobic territory.
∙ Spread the work throughout the week as much as possible so you can get the time in but not all at once.
∙ Drink a lot of water and don’t get too overheated.
∙ Set up on your bike stays the same but handlebars can come up for more comfort.
∙ Watch for discomfort with standing.
Pregnancy is important enough you probably want to do some of your own reading. Spinning addresses this issue in a monograph:
http://www.spinning.com/images/Pregnancy.pdf
The Spinning program was cited in a study by Dr. Herman Falsetti as an excellent form of exercise during pregnancy due to the ease of bike adjustment on Spinner® bikes and the ability of participants to monitor their exertion. (Dr. Falsetti is a former Iowan - in fact he sold me on the idea of heart rate based training almost thirty years ago!)
This next article is from a Spinning instructor who writes of her own experience exercising during pregnancy:
http://www.spinning.com/spinning-news-for-enthusiasts/2010-8-1.asp
I’d also suggest the Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pregnancy-and-exercise/PR00096
And finally, be sure to talk with your own physician because not every circumstance is the same.
DISTANCE MEASUREMENT ON KEISER BIKES: My students at the YMCA use Keiser M3 bikes which are wonderful for their use of metrics such as RPM and Wattage. These bikes also show a distance metric, which has always struck me as arbitrary. My students Karen and Jerry checked this out on the Keiser website and determined that the “distance” is not intended to measure distance at all.
“On the M3 the distance displayed is a function only of revolutions of the flywheel. M3 distance is not determined by gear. If you turn the pedal crank 200 times the distance will display“1. If you turn the pedal crank 200 times in gear 1 and then 200 times in gear 3 it will display “1.0” for both gears.
I know many of my students use the Keiser distance measurement as their daily goal. That’s okay. Just know that it is a hypothetical measurement not real miles or kilometers. Otherwise, you might be surprised when you go outdoors. Thanks Jerry and Karen!
QUOTE: “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Henry Ford.
RESOURCES: Recent past issues of this newsletter are available at http://billroachblog.blogspot.com
Thank you.
Bill Roach, NASM-CPT, CEx
Star 3 Lifetime Certified Spinning Instructor
Certified Personal Trainer, National Academy of Sports Medicine
Corrective Exercise Specialist, National Academy of Sports Medicine
bill.roach@mchsi.com
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