Events Announcement and Some Tunes!

  Phew, running a law office and the best Spinning studio in town can be exhausting!  I also have been cheating on you with another blog on Saratoga.com (spinterest) that features everything to do with fitness.  I picked up another gig with Saratoga Continuing Education for the fall semester.  I am teaching "fitness with weights for men and women" on Wednesday nights (at the high school) at 5:15pm.  You can sign up for that through this link:  http://www.saratogaschools.org/community.cfm?subpage=779881

  The Saratoga Cycling Studio is a big part of the community now and it is very important to us that we pay it forward.  October is breast cancer awareness month, so the Saratoga Cycling Studio  is going to host Spin for a Cure on October 19th at 6:00pm.  Proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen foundation to help find a cure for this disease that has affected all of us in some way.  Your registration also gets you a free SCS shirt and we will be hosting a little party afterwards to celebrate the Spin for a Cure ride.  You can register here:  https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=25286

  Next up is the Ride to Recovery charity hosted by Spinning Nation on November 3rd.  The proceeds of this fundraiser buy Spin bikes that will be used to rehabilitate men and women in the armed forces who have been injured in the line of duty.  I have been a part of this charity for all 5 years that they have had the Ride to Recovery and it is so great that I can host it at my own facility this year!  You can sign up for one hour or both hours through this link:  Spinningnation.org.  Just look for our facility and get yourself registered!

  Now that you know of all of our upcoming events, how about I share some of my current favorite spin songs with you?  You can also access all of my playlists by joining Spotify - and it is free!

Run - Flo Rida
Creep - Radiohead
Get Through This - Art of Dying
Breathe - Prodigy
All You - The Cataracs
The King and All of His Men - Wolf Gang
Love Somebody - Maroon 5
Carry On - Fun
Badass - Saliva

 

It Has Been a While!

Hey there Cycle Psycho's!  Long time, no see!  As you can imagine, I have been caught up in the excitement of the Saratoga Cycling Studio's success thus far.  I try to thank the members each day for making my dream become a reality. 

We have been open for just over 3 months, and that means that we are finally getting settled in and ready to launch some really exciting things.  We foresee a retail line emerging, fundraising rides and lots of other fun events in the coming months.

The fall and winter schedule should be posted in a couple of weeks and we would love your feedback.  You can email me at saratogacyclingstudio@gmail.com, or visit us on our facebook page through saratogacyclingstudio.com.  If you love our schedule and selection of classes, let us know.  If there is something that you would like to see that we do not offer yet, please contact me.

With the school year almost upon us, we would also like to mention again that the studio is available for group rides.  Do you have a child that plays sports and would like the team to ride together?  We are working closely with the Saratoga Springs School District to get rides together for several of the sports teams.  We also can offer corporate rides to bring your employees together.  It is a great team building tool and also a wonderful way to get healthy.  We can host your next birthday party, bachelorette/bachelor party or whatever occasion you can think of!  Contact us today!

Happy Hour spin will be back in September, so get ready to party!!  Jerry and I have some really fun theme rides coming your way. 

Lastly, we are offering free classes to the top 3 folks to "check-in" using Facebook or FourSquare from August 1-31st.  Get in on the action!!

GROUPON TODAY!!!!

http://www.groupon.com/deals/saratoga-cycling-studio-llc?utm_campaign=UserReferral&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=anonymous

There is the link for a HOT deal folks!!!  Take advantage of these huge savings while you can!!

Certified and Proud of It!

It has always been important to me to make sure that I am certified and current with my trainings.  This ensures that I am educated and aware of any changes or developments, but also reassures me that I can keep my clients safe and happy at all times. 

Since we are a licensed Spinning facility, ALL of my instructors have to be certified.  They also hold other various fitness certifications and are all CPR & AED certified by the American Heart Association. 

What this means to you, is that you can workout with someone who is properly trained and educated.  No worries about unsafe moves, unsafe heart rates or getting hurt during one of our classes.  Sometimes people call us "coaches" because we really are there to train you do achieve your goals in the most efficient way possible.

Don't be afraid to ask your instructor, trainer or coach what credentials they hold.  Your safety comes first!

Barre Strength and Conditioning Comes to SCS!

Barre Strength Conditioning is a fitness program that sculpts and defines the body. The workout consists of isolating and strengthening muscles through a fusion of isometric exercises and interval training coupled with the principles of Ballet conditioning, Yoga, and Pilates. Barre Strength Conditioning will help you achieve the definition you are looking for in your legs, glutes, arms, and abs. 30 minutes - off the bike.

You can find this class every Thursday night at 5:30pm.  saratogacyclingstudio.com to sign up!

Begin To Spin this Saturday!

If you are new to spinning, please consider signing up for a beginners class. It is only offered biweekly, so grab a bike while you still can!

http://www.saratogacyclingstudio.com/

Us vs. Them

Good Morning Psycho's! 

I know, I know, I have been an absentee blogger.  So many exciting things have been happening with the Saratoga Cycling Studio, LLC that I have been really tied up.

Four members of the SCS team just completed a 9 hour Spinning training and we couldn't be more proud of them.  There are lots of indoor cycling programs out there, but Spinning (in my opinion) is the biggest and the best in the world! 

I thought I would touch on some of the reasons I believe this to be true, along with the other millions of folks that would agree with me.  Spinning is located in over 300,000 facilities in over 100 countries and has been around for 20 years.  While they continue to always evolve the program, the core principals seem to remain the same, keeping our participants happy and healthy.

We all know there are some Spinning instructors that go "rogue" and do not follow the guidelines that they were taught, we are going to focus on the SCS team who follows the program very carefully.

What you will see from our certified Spinning instructors:

• Experts in helping you with bike set-up.
• Knowledge of heart rate zones, keeping you right where you need to be - attaining your goals! 
• A prepared ride or "profile" to ensure you are getting the most out of your class in an organized manner.
• Proper form and techniques keeping you as SAFE and HEALTHY as possible.
• No gimmicks!  At places I have taught Spinning in the past, I have had participants ask me why their backs or knees hurt after instructor "abc" taught.  My response is: if you don't see me doing it in class, do not do it.  It is probably not safe.  While we all have a different style of teaching, at SCS we all teach SPINNING and nothing else, so the key movements will always be consistent.

What you could see from non-certified instructors:

• A very knowledgeable Master Spinning instructor once told me, if you don't do it on an outdoor bike, don't do it on an indoor bike.
• Plugging in their ipod and just teaching a random ride to random songs with no plan.
• Hovers, floating, or as I like to call it, "grinding your knees".  This move doesn't exist in Spinning and is quite dangerous to your joints.
• Push-ups on the bike.  This is horrible for your back and other joints!  Plus, you do not get any health or strength benefits from it.  Should you happen to slip on the handlebars while attempting this, you could lose a few teeth.  Cute?
• Pedalling as fast as you can with no resistance. OUCH! 
• I have heard of an instructor doing "four corners" of their body on the bike.  While this instructor is known to be super "fun", he is also super dangerous.
• I could go on and on, but just google "contraindicated spinning moves" and you will see article after article of what we just discussed.
• Here is a great article that highlights the most dangerous moves: http://mail-dog.com/page.html?p=000001XDDtjL1IFLkXd2E1xaNcJ1mfvJA1bHaA

I am not trying to bash any fellow instructors by any means, I am just trying to explain how to keep you safe and happy on the bike.  From being in this industry for almost 10 years, I can tell you that 99% of the instructors I have seen do not want to hurt you intentionally, they just don't know any better.  So, if you are in an indoor cycling class, do not be afraid to ask your instructor about his or her certifications.  Also, do not hesitate to ask about a certain move that may have caused you some pain.

When I was first Spinning certified, I was petrified to teach according to the rules I was taught.  I was used to a class that was filled with those contraindicated moves.  But, when I started to share with my class why we do things like this, they listened and responded really positively.  Knowledge is power!! 

Happy cycling!