Get up Stand Up. Stand up for your Right. Don’t give up the fight. Or should I?

I have got a dilemma. An instructor dilemma.

I have a 50 year old gentleman come to my weekly class. I mentioned him in a previous post. He insists that he does NOT want to sit on the bike AT ALL. I tried to get an actual reason apart from “my butt is sensitive”, which he gave me. No such luck. He just looks annoyed and says: “I do all spin classes on the timetable (around 10 a week). I have been doing it for years. This is how I have always done it. I need my exercise to lower my blood pressure and lose weight and this is the only exercise I like”.

What is the problem you ask? If he wants to stand up and can do it, let him stand up. You see, that’s the problem: he cannot stand for 45min. His technique is so poor he can’t really do 30 seconds standing in a safe and efficient way. He has no resistance. He presses all his body weight onto his hands and locks in his elbows. His knees are permanently locked and he mashes the pedals heels down. ALL THE TIME.

I spoke to him nicely on a few occasions. I showed the technique. Tried corrections. Asked him to use the mirror. He does not take it in. He closes his eyes and does his thing.

When we are riding flat or intervals in the saddle – he’s up doing his thing. By the way he is permanently locked in about 55RPM – same speed for 45min… What is even more baffling is that when we do get up and do stuff standing – hill at 64RPM, hill at 70RPM, hill runs at 80RPM – he’s up doing his thing at 55RPM. He simply never joins in.

I suggested he tries padded shorts or gel seat – he said he had never thought about it. I showed him in 1:1 after class the right standing technique and his version. I explained how much long term damage he does to his knees, how his upper body gets stiff and loses him energy. He looks and then does his thing.

I offered a solution: “Do 2 songs on the bike working on your technique then when you need a break get off the bike I can come up with a core exercise for you”. Not interested.

I asked him last week whether he ever uses HR monitor. He says he doesn’t. I am thinking of lending him mine and the watch to show him what I can see with my naked eye: everyone’s HR goes up in the 6-8min warm up. He only gets there 20min in. And that is because his arms get tired as his legs definitely don’t. He never gets higher than HR zone 2. No need to mention power zones as he never has much power on. Shame the bikes the gym has are the old school Spinners with no consoles.

I feel really torn – clearly all other instructors are fine with the situation as he says I am the only one badgering him…

Here comes my question: in view of the fact that he’s is nit getting a workout, he’s damaging his joints long term and he sticks out like a sore thumb in the group (when I correct everyone else but not him) – do I ask management’s permission to ask him not to attend my classes or do I ignore him and let him do his thing?

5 Ways to Keep You Active Over the Cold Months

The dark times are upon us. I am no Stark but the winter is coming 🙂 We all could do with a cunning plan top keep us going to the gym even with the uninviting weather.

PAIR UP – FIND A GYM BUDDY

This seems to be the best solution for so many people. When the alarm goes off and you are so tempted to snooze or just switch it off the one thing that will make you get up is the though of your friend waiting or you at the gym. And whether it is about not allowing them to get fitter than you 🙂 or simply not letting them down – it works. Be wise choosing one though. It’s great to train with someone who is on similar fitness level or even better – fitter than you. It will be a great motivation. if you are easily persuaded NOT to exercise, ensure your buddy is the opposite…

HAVE A LONG TERM GOAL FOR AFTER THE WINTER

Signing up for a race, be it running or cycling, is a great way to keep you on track. Especially if you had to pay an entry fee!

LET’S GO OUTSIDE!

WHAT??!! I hear you say. Yes, you have heard me right. In my running days cold and crispy mornings were the best for running. But if you are not into running or cycling outdoors, try one of the boot camp outdoors classes. BMF (British Military Fitness) run classes all over London’s parks. The first one is free. Try it. If being trained by a soldier is a bit too much to handle, there are many other outdoors classes to choose from. There is a great option for women: classes run by women instructors for women participants. Check out Fit For a Princess here. You can pay membership or drop in and pay in cash.

The benefits of exercising outdoors are immense: fresh air, boost to the immune system, no gym smells and a great sense of achievement at the end of each class.

To find something that suits you go out to your local park one morning and see what’s on offer.

TAKE ON A GYM CHALLENGE

Like the one I am running: Izabela’s 50 Class Cycle SMART Challenge where you have to complete 50 classes in 120 days starting from 1 November. You can get more details here. Even more is coming up in the next week. Both here and on my FB page.

THERE IS AN APP FOR THAT

There are so many apps out there that I can see people use. My personal favourite is 100+ push ups. Browse the web, ask people at the gym when you see them use one. Have you already found one worth sharing? I would love to hear about it in the comments.

When it comes to indoor cycling try Ride Buddy from Cycling Fusion link here.

If you train on MatrixIC7 bikes they have their own Coach by Colour app. Some rides are free some you have to pay for but if you like training with colour zones but you feel a bit lost without instructor’s guidelines, this is a great alternative (here).

Another one worth checking out is Peloton app for iPads here.

Some of these are free others are not. The other option would be using YouTube videos or training videos that you can stream. But there are hundreds out there. Not all of them are great. Sufferfest are really, really good: great quality, easy to follow instructions but boy are they hard! This is the real deal guys. The clue is in the name…here.

Have you tried any of these? Has it worked for you? Any recommendations?

Tis the season to be sniffling.

Houston, we’ve got a problem!

It took 3 years and over a 1000 classes but it happened. I have had people of all ages, women of various stages of pregnancy in my classes with the studio temperature often being well above the guidelines and nothing. But this Thursday morning I have had a person faint in my class!

It’s a 6:45am class with about 25-30 people on average. The studio has 44 bikes it is not full. The studio warm but not steamy with a massive industrial fan at the front.

We started this tough profile including some strength pyramids and speed ladders which work so well on MatrixIC7 bikes. It was going well.

Morning classes are a bit different: quite a few people leave around 15min early – everyone has to get to work on time and there are not enough showers so some people cut the class short. I now know most of the faces. But there was one girl I have not seen before who with about 15min to go walked in front of my bike and headed towards the door. I do say “Bye” to everyone leaving early and they give me a smile or a wave. This girl though looked what I thought was upset. I actually thought she did not enjoy the class. She did not look at me.

I continued teaching but with the corner of my eye I saw her standing next to the door she had just opened: “If she wants to leave, why stand there holding the door?”. I cued the last step of the speed ladder. Then I looked at her and saw her eyes were closed and she didn’t hold the door, she was more leaning against it. And then she went forward with half a turn and started sliding down the door with her back to it. I flew off my bike! I grabbed her before she hit the floor. She was clutching a water bottle and thankfully wasn’t completely out.

I shouted for the receptionist. When I asked the girl: “Are you all right?” she whispered: “I have been unwell. I shouldn’t have come”. She was sitting on the floor for a couple of minutes before she was able to stand up with our help. “Oh God! The class!” – I thought – “I told them to go at 100RPM. I need to change the cue or they will all faint!” so I jumped up trying to still continue with the class. After sipping on Lucozade the girl was taken to reception.

And I went back to finish off the class. The studio is so big half of the people had no clue what happened…

This whole situation brought today’s topic on:

SHOULD YOU EXERCISE WHEN SICK/ILL/UNWELL?

Exercise is usually OK if your symptoms are all “above the neck.” We are talking common cold, such as runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing or minor sore throat. Consider reducing the intensity and length of your workout. And remember to get changed from your wet kit as soon as you can. If the studio temperature is low or there is a big fan, when you cool down go out and stretch outside. Prepare for feeling worse when you cool down completely.

If you’ve got a fever, hitting the gym is a definite no-no. Your grandma used to say it’s good to “sweat out” the fever? Yes, but under a duvet.

If you have been unwell and not eating properly rethink taking an early morning class when you only have like 30 minutes between waking up and going for it.

Do you really want to hurt me?

If you keep coughing and sneezing weigh the benefits of doing a half hearted workout and infecting half of the people in your class…

Do you really want to hurt yourself?

You may be thinking: “Oh, what’s the worst that could happen? If I don’t get the best workout it’s my business”. Well it’s no longer only yours if you faint or need medical help as a result. I could not stop thinking what would happen if that girl fainted on the bike! What if she fell off with her feet strapped? What if she just slumped on the handlebars and I wouldn’t notice straight away as she was sitting quite far?

So please: listen to your body, have a long night sleep, drink plenty of fluids (my brew of choice: a whole ginger root peeled and sliced, 2 whole lemons with skins quartered and a few spoons of honey; put in a saucepan, add a litre of water and boil the life out of it; drink hot; every time you reheat it, it gets stronger; add honey if needed).

I REST my case!

We could be SHEroes, me and you.

Social media can be a big time thief but sometimes you accidentally come across something, like an event, you would have missed otherwise.

A FB friend’s update showed up in my feed: “going to Take the Stage event”. As she is a great cyclist and a triathlete who recently competed in the Chicago World Championships representing team GB I had to look into it. It was taking place at Look Mum No Hands cycle shop and café in Old Street and this was the description:

A strong group of female cycling ambassadors including Marianne Vos, Hannah Barnes, Lauren Kitchen, Lucinda Brand, Manon Carpenter, Rebecca Charlton, Juliet Elliott and Marijn de Vries will launch one of the most unique and important initiatives in the history of ”women’s” cycling.

Now even if you are not a hard core women cycling follower you must have heard of Marianne Vos at least! She is a 28 year old Dutch cyclo-cross, road bicycle racer, mountain bike racer and track racer who has been called “the finest cyclist of [her] generation”.

I couldn’t miss that opportunity hence even having no clue what they were launching I decided to go. Lara was running an hour or so late and I didn’t know anyone but when did that stop me, huh?

I arrived there and positioned myself strategically next to the front and a big screen. Within minutes I was chatting to Helen, a mature cyclist in her 50s who rode a secret Twitter ride with Marianne in London last year. As we were chatting away the press and women sports journalists were milling around and then low and behold! The camera got pointed at my new friend and me and we were being interviewed by a YouTube TV channel! Helen, we are famous!

Finally all the ambassadors were brought in – all the big names in women cycling. Wearing frocks and heels 🙂 What is the initiative then?

The point is to get more women into cycling, create a virtual and an actual community. Some women would like to start cycling but they don’t know where to start. They are a bit intimidated by cycling clubs thinking they are not fit enough to ride with stronger women and even more intimidated by riding with men. Or maybe there is no club where they are. What was your experience when you first started cycling outside? Did you go it alone?

This initiative provides support for women cyclists in 3 ways. Number one is the website here. I think the name Strongher is brilliant and quite powerful. You can get loads of helpful advice, blogs, stories, learn about events etc.

Second is the app that will be available soon on both iPhones and androids. They haven’t talked in detail about it but in a nutshell you would be able to link up with women in your area and get a ride buddy, amongst other things so please keep your eyes peeled.

Finally they are organising women focused rides. These can be found on the website.

I think the whole initiative is fantastic. And having some SHEroes to talk about it and promote it was a great idea.

I couldn’t miss the chance of taking a cheeky selfie with Alex Dowsett:

Sometimes you may not realise when you inspire someone to try a sport. I was so happy and proud to get my friend Nick into running years ago. He has completed many races since, including a marathon. These days I have a few friends, some of them take my classes (that would be you Lara and Maria), who inspire me to ride outdoors and who I look up to as cyclists. Believe it girls, you could all be sheroes!

One of mine is Sara Storey the inspirational Paralympian cyclist who is exactly my age. What this girl has achieved in two totally different sports is outstanding. What about yours?

If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you. Izabela’s 50 Class Cycle SMART Challenge is back!

The weather in London has been gorgeous this week but I cannot deny the fact that when I get up and walk to the gym for my two morning 6:45am classes it is pitch dark. And we know things will only get worse. The temperature will drop, the heating in the house will come on and it will get harder to make yourself go to the gym especially if you are not training for anything in particular.

That’s why last year, inspired by a post from a fellow instructor on one of the online forums, I organised Izabela’s 50 Class Cycle SMART Challenge. It was such a success that we are doing it again this year! I only started mentioning it this week in my classes and I already saw the word spread on Twitter.

Izabela’s 50 Class Cycle Smart Challenge – what is it about?

The challenge will run from 1 November till 28 February which makes it 120 days. In that time challengers need to complete 50 classes. There are two options here: you can do 50 indoor cycling classes or 25 indoor cycling and 25 any other classes on the gym timetable WITH ANY INSTRUCTOR. It makes 3 classes a week over these 4 months.

Who can take part and how to enter?

Anyone who takes part in my classes, of course but also if you are my FB or this blog’s follower you are welcome. I will need you to: like the FB page Smart Fitness Izabela Ruprik here,  send me a message with your e-mail address so I can send you the progress chart and then follow me on here, FB and/or Twitter. PLEASE NOTE I WILL ONLY USE YOUR E-MAIL TO SEND YOU WEEKLY UPDATES ABOUT THE CHALLENGE. NOTHING ELSE. Once the challenge is over you will not receive anything else via e-mail from me without your permission.

What else do I need?

You will need a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Timely. I provide you with the last one: 120 days. You need to find the rest. It can be related to cycling or not.

Last year’s examples: most press-ups done in 60sec, body fat % loss, run a mile without stopping etc. or simply actually do 3 classes a week! It can but doesn’t have to be weight loss related. You will write that goal down and prove to me you have achieved it at the end.

Now all challengers who train on bikes with power (FF MatrixIC7 users) or those who have access to a Wattbike – I will need you to take FTW/FTP or any of the shorter tests before the challenge starts, around 60 days into the challenge and at the end.

You will get a progress chart that you will have to fill in ticking off all the classes as you go along. You will submit it to me at the end of the challenge.

How is it going to be monitored?

You will get support from me and other challengers at the gyms, on social media, via e-mail and even txt messages if you wish. Now, we are all grown up and this challenge is about you achieving a goal that YOU choose so I believe that if you say you have done a class, you have done it. I will not be asking you to have your chart signed off by your instructor 🙂

What if I already do over 3 classes a week?

Good for you! You can still take part, of course. Last year Tony has completed around 150 classes in that time if I remember correctly. Think about your goal: maybe there is a class you were thinking of trying out but there was always an excuse? Do it now. Make yourself do yoga or Pilates once a week. Talk to me and we will come up with something 🙂

Why is it that long? There is Christmas in the middle too!

I know, 4 months. Long time. But with constant support from me and other challengers it goes fast. It gives you time to modify your goals if needed. It will keep you going throughout winter. And if you succeed, by the end of it taking 3 classes a week will be a norm for you and you will have changed your lifestyle for better. Christmas? You know it’s coming. You know when. Plan for it!

What if I run outside every week? What if I swim at my local leisure centre?

Full terms and conditions will be posted on FB closer to the date. There is a way of “converting” a run into a tick on your chart. I will also be sending T&Cs out by e-mail.

What is in it for me?

What, apart from getting fitter, stronger, achieving your goals and getting motivation throughout the dark months? Last year there were mugs, T-shirts, calendars and hoodies for the winners!

What do I do next?

Think about your goals – make sure they are SMART!

If you want to lose body fat% or inches off your thighs or waist or weight ask your gym team to help you get these measurements. Boots have the scales that give you body fat % too so you may want to check it out and keep your report. Think about fitting a power test on a bike in the next 3 weeks. Contact me for help 🙂

Follow me on FB: here and send me a message with your e-mail address. I will absolutely need your e-mail. Follow me on twitter @spinbella

If you have any burning questions, please comment below.

Fellow instructors: if you like the idea and want to join me and do it where you teach – please comment or e-mail me iza_lat@hotmail.com. We could make it big!