I wonder if Alberto spins?

Alberto Contador won the Tour de France by less than 25 seconds today. The third place rider was behind him by just over a half a minute. Now, THAT is a tight race!

2 FHR Programs: SIGN UP NOW!

Sign up for two Foothills programs is now open!

Tri The Revolution:
Train for the 16th Annual Desert Grande Triathlon under the guidance of the FHR instructors who are, themselves, Ironman Finishers! This 12 week program is designed for the “newcomer” to the sport of triathlon although seasoned tri-athletes are more than welcomed too. This is a very USER FRIENDLY triathlon that meets on November 3 and is made up of a 400 meter POOL swim; 10.2 mile bike and 3.0 mile run. The FHR training program includes a bi-weekly (that's once every two weeks) coaching session in one or more of the three sports. $100.00 fee.
MANDATORY FIRST TIME MEETING August 11th, 9:15 am at FHR.

BEAT THE EAT:
The next 12-Week Body Challenge begins on Saturday, August 25th and sign up for the LIMITED SPACES begins on Saturday, July 28. Get moving and get yourself in the best shape of your life. This is a 12 week program where participants are coached and held accountable to increasing their fitness level. Let our qualified staff of certified personal trainers and group fitness instructors will show you the way a healthier lifestyle and a more fit body. All participants will be tested on seven aspects of fitness at the beginning and the end of the 12 weeks: blood pressure, resting heart rate, flexibility, body composition, body measurements, body weight and cardiovascular testing. The person who increases their overall fitness by the greatest percentage wins the grand prize!!

Schedule Changes through July 30

Date @ Time - Instructor
Tue 07.24 @ 5:45 pm – Itamar
Wed 07.25 @ 9:15 am – Carol
Wed 07.25 @ 5:45 pm – Dawn
Thu 07.26 @ 5:45 pm – Carol
Sat 07.28 @ 7:45 am – Erin
Mon 07.30 @ 5:45 am – Dawn
Mon 07.30 @ 5:45 pm – Sherri

Note: 5:45 AM Wednesday classes are cancelled until August 29.

Have a heart and monitor it!

Last night I burned 712 calories in Carol's class. Not bad!
I've really missed having this data at hand... or wrist, as the case may be. You see, the battery in my heart rate monitor died about a month ago and, since its a Polar brand monitor, I had to ship it to California to have the batteries replaced. Money and time well spent!

I was, seriously, lost without my HRM this past month. But, before I had one I was a little lost about what HRMs did, how they did it and why I would want one. Now I know how and why my HRM improves my workouts. It provides me with a measurable incentive (712 calories burned) which, in turn, moves me closer to my personal fitness goals. It also helps me regulate the intensity of my workouts, maximizing my efficiency by preventing over- and under-training. In other words, I can accurately measure when I move from aerobic to anaerobic effort and do so deliberately.

Heart rate monitors usually consist of two devices - a transmitter and a reciever. Transmitters are sensors situated over your pulse, most transmitters are embedded in a strap that you wear around your chest, just under the pectoral muscles. The second part of the monitor is the receiver which displays the information on a wrist watch. There are a few models that house the transmitter and receiver in a glove. I can imagine feeling like a mid-80s rock star wearing this little number, but I can't imagine gripping (ever so lightly) the handlebars of a bike with that glove on my hand.

In 1977, Polar made the first EKG-accurate, wireless heart rate monitor for use in training the Finnish National Cross Country Ski Team. It wasn't long before the device became a very useul tool for atheletes training in many sports. While Polar remains a very popular brand, ranking highest in reviews for value and overall performance, there are many manufactures and applications for these handy devices.

You can purchase monitors that cost anywhere from $49 to well over $300. There are models designed for runners, cyclists, swimmers and folks in cardio rehabilitation. You can get ones that include GPS features to tell you EXACTLY where you are and how you got there. You can download data to your computer from some models and still others that actually talk back to you during your workout. I can just imagine it might say something like: "Your heat rate is only 132 beats per minute - get moving!" While I don't know of any heart rate monitors that will make your coffee, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't one in R&D.

With so many options on the market, it can be a little confusing. So, what I've done here is describe some of the things I like about my heart rate monitor. I would be very interested to hear from other spinners about how your monitors work for you...please, comment on this post with your experiences. If you don't own a monitor and you have specific questions - please ask. Our instructors read this blog and will respond!

I opted for a Polar HRM. It's not a very fancy model but it does have a few extra bells and whistles that provide me with some excellent feedback that has helped shape how I work out. I spent about $100 when I bought my HRM, two years ago.

Like most models, my HRM is water proof and works when I swim. It has a back-light which means I can run in the dark (or spin in a room with no lights) and still be able to read my display. While I'm working out I can monitor the time, the number of calories I'm buring or the duration of my exercise session. One of the nice things about my monitor is that I can store my workout information for future reference. So, the information stored for last night's ride shows that I exercised for 1 hour, 6 minutes and 12 seconds; I averaged a heart rate of 146 beats per minute; burned 712 calories; and spent 45 minutes and 58 seconds in my "zone". My zone is determined by data that I program into the device including my weight, age and exercise level. While I wouldn't dream of sharing my monitor with anyone, it can be programmed to record information from two different users.

Another nice feature of my monitor is that it is "coded." That means my receiver is programmed to pick up only my heart rate. Sometimes a monitor will register the heart rates of people near you while you are exercising. It can be very confusing and dangerous when this happens. Imagine, you're at a perceived exhertion rate of 80% but your monitors says you're heart is beating 80 times a minute... either you're VERY FIT or your running next to someone who is standing still...

Follow this link to a great review of the reviews of heart rate monitors.
Follow this link for a really comprehensive collection of monitors for sale.
Follow this link for how a heart rate monitor can help you train for a triathlon.

Schedule Changes WE 07.24.07

Date @ Time - Instructor
Tue 07.17 @ 5:45 pm – Carol
Wed 07.18 @ 9:15 am – Renee
Wed 07.18 @ 5:45 pm – Wendy
Thu 07.19 @ 5:45 pm – Alisa or Sherrie
Sat 07.21 @ 7:45 am - David

Note: 5:45 AM Wednesday classes are cancelled until August 29.

Who is Johnny G?

Spinning is a relatively new development in fitness. The very romantic story goes that "Johnny G" Goldberg was training for a 3,100 mile ride across the US in 1987 and his wife was pregnant. Instead of riding on the rode for days at a time and leaving his expecting wife at home, he developed a stationary cycle and recreated the road in his living room.
Shortly afterward, he and his wife established a gym and started teaching the training technique to fellow cyclists. He used a lot of visualization in his teaching and, rumor has it, Johnny G actually taught classes by candle light!
The practice really took of in the mid-ninties and things started to get a little out of hand. Apparently, spin enthusiasts began integrating resistance work into the rides. Thank goodness the folks of Foothills Revolution didn't kin to the idea of having their clients do PUSH UPs on the bikes, during the rides.
Johnny G has a very interesting tie to Arizona... in 1988, as a direct consequence of training on his in-home cycle, he broke all the records for a 544-mile, non-stop race across the state. He completed the competition in 29 hours and 46 minutes, beating the previous record by more than four hours!
Today, nearly 2 million people have taken a spin class, that's double the number in 1998.

Schedule Changes WE 07.14.07

Date @ Time - Instructor
Fri 07.06 @ 9:15 am – Sherrie
Mon 07.09 @ 9:15 am – Wendy
Tue 07.10 @ 5:45 pm – Nicole
Thu 07.12 @ 5:45 pm – Holly

Current and Upcoming Programs

July Special: 30.4.30
That's right, $30 buys 30 days of unlimited spin throughout the month of July... if you're a first time spinner at FHR. There couldn't be a better time to encourage your friends and family to take up spinning.

Beat the Eat: August 25
Sign up for this next 12-week challenge begins July 28th. Get into shape before the holiday parties begin, let FHR help you do it. Your registration includes fitness testing, weekly monitoring and special training programs designed to help you attain your personal fitness goals. What have you got to loose?

Tri The Revolution: August 11
Always wanted to do a triathlon? Let the FHR team help you train for the 16th Annual Desert Grande on November 3. This bi-weekly program provides coaching to help you develop your swimming, running and, of course, cycling goals in time to compete in your first (or second, or twentieth) triathlon. Are you up for the challenge?