Spinning Nation

June 28, 2008: Spinning enthusiasts, instructors, and volunteers will converge upon their facilities to unite for a cause. I will be leading Spinning Nation at the Johnson Center. If you'd like to ride, let me know!

Our four rides:
1. Rev: The Metabolic Mill 10-11
2. Flow: The Essence of Endurance 1130-1230
3. Dig: Power on the Mountain 130-230
4. Peace: The Ride for Recovery 3-4

Welcoming and convocation will take place at 9:00am, and an optional dinner gathering will take place off-site for anyone who wants to attend a post-ride meal.

Patrick

Miscellaneous Musings

Readership,

Question for your cerebral mastication and consumption: what have you done lately that made your exercise regimen feel fresh?

One of my largest objections to the general populace's perception of physical activity it that it is just (and only just) that: physical. Omitted far too often is concern for the spirit inside that body. You work so hard for the exterior, but it is unfortunate that these endeavors often become chores for those who do them because they forget that exercise too can be something one enjoys.

So I ask you: what have you done in the recent past that was new, exciting, exhilirating, thrilling, challenging, or somehow fresh in scope or approach to fitness? Nothing? If you run every day, you might just realize one day you are sick to death of running. But perhaps detours (not distractions) will help you keep that grounded mind for what you really love to do.

Never allow your passion/hobby to reach the point that it something you are obligated to do rather than something you feel compelled to do. If your mode of exercise is growing long in the tooth, listen. Your body is telling you of its wariness for a reason. So do not only the body in which your spirit resides but your human (and therefore easily bored) awareness of spirit a favor and TRY SOMETHING NEW.

Wishing you the best... and then a little bit more,

Patrick

Profile: Masters of Building

When you manipulate the resistance of your Spinner, I like to forget that each time is an individual action and instead consider the changes of resistance across a span of time; resistance change as a process.

Is it a process? In this profile, you will learn that it's not about one change at a time; it's their cumulative inlfuence as you build a hill little by little for some 30 minutes, and then release it in 12, only to rest and then build back up as much and more in four minutes than you had amassed in 30.

When presenting the ride, as we got close to the breaking point to the Standing Climb between minutes 26 and 31, I asked my team to draw a line in the sand; the point where they conceded to a very demanding hill and yielded to the assistance of the Standing Climb. Remember that the grass may not be greener on the other side, but the potential is endless until you go there and see for yourself.

Wishing you the best as you cross the line in your sand,

Patrick

PS Attached is the corresponding profile.

Profile: HR Checks

Attached is the ride we did tonight, June 9. Attached here is the corresponding HR Handout for students.

"Gear up your road, and find 80%." I instruct.
You geared up your bike and held your pace, and perceived the higher heart rate.... that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee but no closer to knowing whether or not you got within the ball park of 80%, or any given heart rate for that matter.

So what to do? If you've no heart rate monitor, you might feel like it's a lost cause. This ride is meant to teach you not only how to check your heart rate on the fly in any Spinning class, but to attain ability to better feel out your heart rate.

These zones are based on APMHR (Age-Predicted Max Heart Rate), as for a general student about whom you know nothing, you've nothing better to go off of. Attached also is a chart for the three heart rate zones upon which the ride focuses. The chart provides three pieces of information per heart rate: next to age is a heart rate target for men, for women, and then to the right is a heart rate target for a 15-second pulse count, taken either from the radial artery, preferably, and the carotid if the pulse cannot be found at the radial (remember that the carotid can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure and is not preferable under stress of exercise.

Remember that a 15 second heart rate count is inaccurate up to 4 beats from one-minute heart rate. If you find taking your pulse manually to be obtrusive and tedious, the easy, sensible, and RECOMMENDED solution is to buy a heart rate monitor, with which we can tone you in to your LT.

Post with questions.

Spread the love far and wide,

Patrick