With the Tour de France on, I was all fired up to ride today, but looking out on heavy rain, which looks like it’s set in for the day! Glad to have the indoor cycling option today, especially after seeing all the broken bones in this years Tour!
It’s funny I grew up in an area with a lot of rain, so got used to wet rides, but seeing the Tour riders going through the Alps in bright sunshine, doesn’t motivate me to go and get soaked in the middle of July! So today rain = indoor cycling!
Luckily I have a RealRyder Indoor Cycling studio nearby, so I got a good one hour workout at lunchtime, bumped into some like minded friends and picked up coffee on the way back. So I got my cycling and caffeine fix and all is good in my world again!
So if you’re faced with summer monsoons, don’t overlook indoor cycling as an alternative and hit the road another day. It certainly helps if you are near a RealRyder Indoor Cycling Studio, as your ride will be much more like the real thing than a spin class on a traditional non-tilting spinning bike.
Check the facilty search button on the right to see if there is a RealRyder studio near you – not all indoor cycling classes are the same! The great thing about our stationary bike is the articulating frame makes indoor cycling a much more stimulating experience and will give you a better workout, by engaging your core muscles and upper body.
So if you get the chance (rain or shine!) try our moving stationary bike which is really revolutionizing indoor cycling!
Can the fitness equipment you use help to motivate you? Absolutely! Or to put it another way if your fitness equipment doesn’t motivate you, you won’t use it!
One of the most important things with any training program is consistency. Regular training takes motivation and the fitness equipment you use can play a big part in this.
Let me give you two examples. Last year my local gym had old worn out spinning bikes. The resistance was not smooth anymore, the handlbars and seat adjustments all had play in them, and all the bikes were creaking! I only went to these spin classes as a last resort, as frankly they weren’t much fun to ride. It wasn’t just me either, the attendance at these spin classes had dropped every year as their fitness equipment got more and more tired!
They put in new RealRyder stationary bikes last winter and indoor cycling was fun again. The new indoor bikes didn’t just work better because they were new, the RealRyder stationary bikes were clearly an upgrade over the old spinning bikes (even if they had still been in good condition). Training on a RealRyder uses more muscles than a regular spinning bike, because it tilts and turns, but this feature also makes the RealRyder much more fun and stimulating to ride! The result of this upgraded fitness equipment? I was motivated to take more indoor cycling classes and judging by the attendances, so were many others!
The second example is an abs machine we bought years ago, which turned out to awkward to use and not that well made. According to the TV ad it made sit ups easier to do and less stressful on the spine and neck. In reality it didn’t do either and got little use as a result. A clear example of fitness equipment that doesn’t motivate you to use it!
One other factor to consider here is the length of time you might want to spend using any piece of fitness equipment. How long can you stand on fitness equipment that is uncomfortable and/or boring?! You have probably read the story of Adam Reid recently doing 8 hours on our stationary bike at a charity event at Sweat Therapy and maybe thought he’s a fitness pro and paid by RealRyder anyway! So is that really relevant to me? Well yes, it is relevant, Adam didn’t have to be on the bike for the whole eight hours! He could have alternated with the other instructors, so if nothing else it proves a RealRyder stationary bike is comfortable enough if you want to ride for eight hours!
Perhaps a better example is the number of clients who regularly do back to back indoor cycling classes at RealRyder studios. Two hours of indoor cycling on a stationary bike? To me that proves that this really is “Motivational Fitness Equipment”!
Looking for some extra inspiration for your indoor cycling?
Yesterday we were in Italy today we are in France, for surely the ultimate inspiration for cycling; the Tour de France!
The Tour starts tomorrow in Holland with a 9km Prologue through the streets of Rotterdam and then goes through Belgium and on to France.
Three weeks and 3,642 kilometers later the overall winner will pull on the final Maillot Jeune or Yellow Jersey in Paris!
The eventual winner will have endured mountains, bad roads, crashes, extreme heat, cold rain and the attacks of his rivals to arrive in Paris with the lowest aggregate time.
A true test of endurance and determination, surely this must be the ultimate inspiration for your indoor cycling!
Not convinced? Let’s look at some typical “Tour Stats”, to give you an idea of what’s involved! A Tour rider needs to eat approximately 9,000 calories a day (over three times the normal!) just to get through the race! They will cover an average of more than 100 miles per day and the winner will have averaged close to 25 miles an hour for the whole 2,263 miles, despite riding through the Alps and the Pyrenees!
It makes our 45 minutes or one hour indoor cycling class sound easy!
Still not convinced? OK, no time outs, no substitutions, if you crash you get back on the bike or you go home! Every day there is a time cut, if you miss it you go home! That’s just to survive the race and to make the finish in Paris is a real achievement, but to win takes even more!
You cannot afford any bad days, whether you are tired, injured or just unlucky, you have to finish near your competition as the lead is based on overall time!
So, good inspiration for our indoor cycling classes? Are you really too tired for an hour of indoor cycling? Come on, get on that bike and start pedaling!
Whenever the Tour is on you will see more people riding bikes and some indoor cycling studios even running Tour coverage during classes!
For me watching the hard mountain days is the best inspiration you can get for riding a bike outdoors or indoors!
So get motivated, and hit those indoor cycling classes hard! The only way you get legs like the HTC riders below is by putting in the hours and the intensity and if you want some extra inspiration for your indoor cycling tune into Versus everday and watch the Tour!
Buongiorno i miei amici! We have a great opportunity for you to try RealRyder Indoor Cycling in a spectacular location!
With all eyes focusing on the Tour de France, we are looking at a different part of Europe today. Italy is one of our favourite cycling destinations and you will find regular “Indoor Cycling Italia” write ups in this blog. We make no apologies for this – it is difficult for cyclists not to fall in love with Italy! You have great scenery, fantastic food and the Italian people have a real passion for the sport!
It is no different with indoor cycling; the RealRyder Italia Team is always showing up at some of the most spectacular locations you can imagine and no surprise they have done it again! Anyone who is near Rome around July 17th should come and check out their latest venue – Vitorchiano, which is approximately 70km northwest of Rome.
It is easy to take history and architecture for granted in Italy, but this town has both! It actually sits between two ravines and has existed since Etruscan times (pre Roman Empire!) and many of the buildings are perched on top of steep cliffs! The pictures will give you a little taster and we challenge anyone to come up with a more spectacular indoor cycling venue than this!!
You can get more details of the event by going to the RealRyder Italia Facebook page or if you need more information on RealRyder Italy go to their Website for contact details.
Our team in Italy are always super enthusiastic, and put on indoor cycling classes that are fun and energetic and really highlight the unique nature of our stationary bike. So if you are going to be in Italy and anywhere near Rome, come over to Vitorchiano on July 17th and see this beautiful town and experience what RealRyder Indoor Cycling – Italian style is all about!
Today we are featuring Spin Kicks Fitness Studio a RealRyder Indoor Cycling Studio run by Angela and Sandro Scarsellone in Vaughan, just north of Toronto, Canada.
In addition to the indoor cycling classes they also teach Taekwon-Do and Cardio Kick Boxing. In fact Angela was the national Taekwon-Do champion for years and represented Canada in the 1992 world championships in North Korea and husband Sandro is a third degree black belt!
Spin Kicks was opened in February of 2009 and has been featured in newspapers Vaughan Today and Vaughan Weekly as well as appearing on Breakfast Television!
Spin Kicks has become a household name with both the professional cycling community and with novice riders. The Studio is committed to providing a welcoming training environment to all their clients with a full schedule that includes Indoor Cycling on RealRyder stationary bikes, Taekwon-Do for kids, teens and adults, taught by a Master Instructor, with over 23 years experience and Cardio Kick Boxing. For more information on Spin Kicks click their logo!
Unusually for an indoor cycling studio Spin Kicks can also offer Anaerobic Threshold testing and Maximum Aerobic Power (MAP) testing! This will give you personalized heart rate and or power zones. Spin Kicks will fully explain these zones and how you can use them to optimize your training. You will also receive estimated V02 Max, MAP power levels and goals, so that you can track your improvements with future testing.
Spin Kicks offers personalized towels and executive locker services, plus a warm experience for everyone who trains there.
So if you are looking for a truly unique training facility in the Toronto area, try Spin Kicks, they provide all the benefits you would expect from a RealRyder Indoor Cycling Studio, plus AT and MAP testing! Then you have the martial arts with world championship level instruction!
