I'd like to start off the new year with a freebie - an E-book on Resistance Training with Thera-Bands® !

Use it with your cycle participants (Spin and Resistance Class, anyone?!?), share with other clients you work with, or start a Thera-Band® program yourself!

To get this E-Book:
1. join my new Facebook page, Medical Fitness Consulting (you'll see my picture),
2. click on LIKE this page, and
3. send me a quick email at [email protected] so I can send you a copy!

You have until January 31, 2011 to receive your free E-Book.

By joining my Facebook page, you'll get automatic updates when my blog is updated! Woowhoo!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2011!

With the holiday season upon us, how can we incorporate the festive season into our indoor cycle class?

The simple answer would be to include holiday music in our mix of songs. Many of the big fitness music suppliers have seasonal music set to the 32 count, such as Power Music, Dynamix Music, and Yes! Fitness Music. But, is there a more creative way to get your cycle participants into the holiday spirit?

Since we always begin with a warm-up, let’s start there! Get your reindeer antlers on!

Set the scene for your cycle participants by indicating they are one of Santa’s reindeer (now it is time to imagine!) and it is a snowy Christmas Eve pulling Santa’s sleigh around the world. Have cycle participants get themselves set to a moderate tension in a seated position to start. Here are some suggested ways to get cycle participants warming up:

1.       To avoid clouds, cue participates to add tension and stand up into a standing hover position while they dodge clouds (slide upper body from side to side). 

2.       To land on rooftops, cue participants to sit down on the saddle while they add tension and sit back as if the reins are being pulled back.

3.       To drop presents from the sky, cue participants to sit down and set tension low as if descending quickly over rooftops (similar to a downhill ride).

4.       It’s close to the end of the night and Santa needs to go faster, cue participants to perform a seated sprint.

Use a combination of the above suggestions and/or makes up your own version of what reindeer would need to do to get Santa around the world on Christmas Eve!

Nothing says the holiday spirit than giving. Consider gathering donations (food for the Food Bank, toys for Santa’s Anonymous or money for the Salvation Army) from your cycle participants. Just double check with your venue to ensure this is something they are okay with. And maybe next year plan for a donation drive for the whole month of December.