I recently got an email from a client on the other side of the Atlantic.  Did you not know I train over the net?  No worries, you will get your chance soon.
 
Anyway, she wrote me from London.  Not only do I get a kick out of the British accent, but the inflection and verbiage always translates into the emails.  I was raised in New York, so I understand slang.  But some of the words they use are hilarious.  I mean, who really uses ‘Cheeky’?

The email was regarding Spinning bikes.

Cindy (name changed so she doesn’t get cross with me when she reads this) asked if she could go do a Spinning class to add some variety to her workout.  I said sure assuming she had looked into it a little bit or at the very least glanced into the window of the room while a class was going on.

Well needless to say, Cindy didn’t have a clue what the intensity would be like nor did she realize the Spinning bikes are different than any other bike she had ever ridden before.

For those of you who don’t know, the bikes were invented to mimic conditions of actual road biking like in the Tour De France.  Therefore, instead of only having the ability to add resistance the way we all are used to doing it, by changing gears, the wheel in front of the stationary bike (flywheel) is weighted.  Which means it could weigh between 35 and 55 lbs instead of 1 or 2 lbs.  Normally, that would sound like no big deal.  But as many of you know, when you decide to stop pedaling on a bike, you normally glide or coast.  Well you can’t do that on a Spinning bike and Cindy did not realize that until well after the instructor told her to pedal as fast as she could.

After her legs felt like they were going to go flying off … then her instructor said they would start climbing a hill and that she needed to increase the resistance on her bike.  The instructor started saying things like – “Take a full turn up!  Another half turn… You should be working hard now.”  “Crank it down so you feel the road … now add big turn clockwise … climbing the hill now … add more resistance by turning it up … now it’s really steep.”
Cindy had no idea what any of those instructions meant and that is what I am here to clear up right now.
 
Spinning is a great form of cardio.  It is motivating to have an instructor guide you through a program while being surrounded by like-minded participants who are there for the same reasons.  You all want to get a good workout, lose some unwanted body fat, keep heart healthy, lighten your own personal stress load and have some fun along the way.

The resistance knob in question is the tool used to add tension to the flywheel so that you feel as if you are climbing a hill or if the knob is loose then you feel as if you are screaming along the open road and cruising.  As an instructor, I believe there should always be some sort of tension.
If you have never taken a class, I would recommend it.  But here are some things to keep in mind before you do.  Spinning bikes are used frequently throughout the day.  This means that they have wear and tear on them.  Each bike will wear differently and therefore the resistance knob may be tight on one bike and not so tight on another.

Bikes in your gyms have resistance mechanisms that can vary tremendously.  If you decide to take a class where the instructor only has you vary your resistance by turning the knob, you may have a very hard time getting through the ride with a specific benefit (strength, endurance, etc).

So WHAT?

Recently, I read of a study an instructor did at his club that tested 21 bikes to see the varying resistance for each bike.  Here is what was he found.
The first measurement was the number of turns from all the way “off” (maximum counterclockwise) up to where he could “feel the road.”  This is a bit subjective, but not very—even a beginning rider can tell the difference between free-wheeling and a wheel that offers some resistance.  The second measurement was the number of turns from “feeling the road” to “that’s it—I can barely pedal a full revolution.” using his personal limit.  How different were the bikes from each other?  The table shows the minimum and maximum number of turns among the bikes for the two measurements, and also the total number of turns from bottom to top end.

 
The differences among the bikes were mostly at the low end.  Some riders will feel the road after three turns from the bottom, while others will turn (and turn, and turn) seven full revolutions before anything happens.  So if riders start their rides at the very bottom, and the instructor just talks about taking quarter turns, half turns, and full turns, some riders will still be free-wheeling while others will already be into moderate-heavy territory.  Rider inexperience, coupled with our human tendency to take the easy path if we can while still obeying orders, will thwart the instructor’s intention to guide a ride according to traditional categories of benefit.  — Results were found by Gordon Bermant who teaches Spinning in the Virginia suburbs of Washington , D.C.
 
I want you to learn a few things from this article.
 
First, if you decide to take Spinning classes it is important for you to be very aware of how you feel and the amount of energy you are expending.  This is what you should base your workout on, not the specific instructions.
 
Second, I am a fan of Spinning and I like the idea of someone pushing you to do you best throughout your training session for 30-60 minutes.  If it can’t be me, I want it to be someone trusted like a certified group training instructor.
 
Finally, if you are going to do some training on your own outside of a class setting, remember that not all cardio machines are created equal, especially the Spinning bikes.  There is a great deal of maintenance that needs to go into a bike and you should be aware that some bikes are easier to ride than others.  If you are on a bike that takes 7 turns just to feel the tension, then you will need to take more turns to get you where you want to be when you work hard.  If you are on a bike that turns 2 turns and you feel like the road just became a hill in San Francisco, then you will need to adjust accordingly.
 
I like the idea of having variety in your workout regimen.  And utilizing a Spinning bike can be a good alternative to running on a treadmill or using the elliptical.  Cross training is important in my style of training.  Learning how to make the ride challenging when you need tough intervals and interpreting the varying resistance to rest when you are in a rest phase is an important part of those intervals.
 
So drop by a Spinning class.  If that is not your thing, take one of the many cardio routines I have sent you over the past 2 years and try one of those programs on a Spinning bike.  I think you will like the challenge.

Many years ago, I remember reading about how Bo Jackson first started training to get the hard athletic body he had developed.  If you do not remember Bo Jackson, he was one of the original two sport athletes.  He played football and baseball at the highest levels and was quite successful at both.
 
In his training, he chose two exercises – push ups and squats.  Red cards were push ups and black cards were squats.  Whatever number he flipped was the number of repetitions he needed to do for that movement.  All face cards equaled 15 in his workout.  As you can imagine this was quite the routine, especially if you got a series of face cards all the same color in a row.  While this is a great idea in theory, there are definitely some muscle overuse issues with this plan.  
 
I decided to make some changes to the workout so it could be more appropriate for the masses.  I also encourage you to do the same.  If you have the opportunity to try a few cool ideas and they work for you, please be sure to write me at bobby.kelly@resultsonly.com and let me know your progress and ideas.  
 
Take a regular deck of playing cards. Include the jokers if you want. (You will see why later)

The first thing is to systemize the deck.
 
Some people like to assign all the reds’ upper body and all the blacks’ lower body. I like to choose a different approach.  It is a little more detailed but I believe it gives a better workout.  But your workout is your own and you can change it as you wish.
 
Spades: Squats or walking lunges
 
Clubs : All core work crunches, alternate side crunches, or bridges
 
Hearts: Cardio – jump rope, jacks or up downs (aka burpees)
 
Diamonds: Push-ups or pull-ups (modified is OK)
 
* All face cards are 10 repetitions each
* All Aces are 11 repetitions
* 2,3,4′s are low for reps, so add a 1 in front of them to make them 12 ,13,14
* If you keep the joker in, make each joker a set of 20 mountain climbers

This workout takes about 30 minutes if you are in extremely good shape and no longer than 45 minutes to an hour if you are getting into shape.  The workout is constantly changing and it is an awesome way to do conditioning, keep things new and get a full body workout!
 
Modifications:   
* You can start by taking out the face cards to make it a smaller deck with lower numbers
* You can also change the moves to be a little easier
* You can also make every 5 and 6 a rest to give you a series of 50 and 60 second rests
* Do it with a partner and do every other card
* Take a break every 8 cards to ensure ample rest
* Make the face cards value change: Jacks-11, Queens-12, Kings-13, Aces-15

Your workout is never the same, and constantly engaging. You don’t have to put any thought into it because It is very simple to follow, and works your whole body. 
 
Unless:  
 
Sometimes the “God of Cards” will not shine favorably down upon you.  You see every once in a while you will get 3 or 4 hearts in a row and you can get slammed.  In the initial version, that wouldn’t be so bad because I let you alternate between movements.  But if you only choose one exercise for each suit … well my friend, you are in for a long 30 minutes.
 
Another benefit is you always know where you stand in the workout because you can see the amount of cards left in the deck and you know you are getting closer to the finish line.  You can literally see your workout ending.  This is also a no excuses type of workout because it can be done anywhere.  You can choose only body weight exercises.  Or if you have an exercise tube or belong to a gym, then the sky’s the limit.
 
Now for today, I will give a short description of some of the lesser known exercises to keep things interesting.  In future emails I am going to send you to a link to the coaching site that has a description, pictorial and video presentation of all the exercises listed.  
 
Up/Downs (A.K.A. Burpees) – Start standing with your feet shoulder-width apart.  Squat down and place the palms of your hands outside and slightly forward of your feet.  Support your weight with your hands under your shoulders and thrust your feet backward, so that you are in the traditional “top position” for a standard pushup.  To get back up, pull your feet up to your hands in one movement, and stand back up to the original position.
 
Mountain Climbers – Begin in a push-up position.  Keep the head in line with the body and contract your abs. Start by bringing the right knee to the chest and back to your starting position then quickly alternate to the left leg and continue switching back and forth.  Every time your right and left leg do a repetition, consider that one repetition.
 
These are two of the lesser known exercises for many of my readers.  If you don’t know some of the other movements it is important to get proper guidance before starting any workout.  One of the ways to do this would be to join www.resultsonlycoaching.com and you will have immediate access to videos, descriptions and monthly workouts just like the workout you read here today.  Good luck and remember you will never play 52 card pick up the same way again after this workout.