The PowerBarn Manifesto

I was hoping to pen a manifesto of sorts. As you know I toil in the fitness industry. By day I am a studio cycling, spin class, instructor at one of our Island’s two gyms. By night I run my own boutique indoor cycling training center, the blog titular PowerBarn. They are apples and oranges. 

In spin class, the objective is to provide some degree of entertainment, hopefully didactic, along with the obvious cardiovascular exercise. In the safety of the group one is offered a smorgasbord of fitness opportunities, with my personal favorite being the classic high intensity interval, HIT, option. My amalgamated sessions combine an understanding of exercise physiology, personal training and racing experiences, and my adoration of classic rock ’n roll. We go hard and take no prisoners. Maximum heart rates are common as is advanced endorphin flow. Most often the proof in the pudding takeaway is your mind, body and spirit in unanimous agreement on the value of the session. I never say it will be easy - I do say that it will have great value. And it does. 

In stark contrast is the PowerBarn facility. We meet in the early evening, use power as the managing metric and rely on the concentrational prowess of the individual to determine their unique value levels. In other words, after a initial test to determine base fitness and functional thresholds, we go about our business in a more personal and civilized methodology, the discipline known affectionately as the 2x20, a place where your ability to focus and feel replaces the group dynamic and verbal cues. It is just you and your ability to negotiate with 85% of your threshold for two twenty minutes sets. It is, as mentioned above, the sweet blood-orange citrus to the tangy Granny Smith. 

Initially I set this up to be a two-part harmony. It has long been a cycling tenant that the three types of indoor training to most benefit the complete cyclist are:

• High Intensity Intervals,
• Steady-state zone 4 sets, and,
• One LSD ride a week. 

Once we added our popular Sunday movie rides to the fall and winter menu, the PB offered all of the above. But it is our methodology that truly makes us different. Certainly we offer races, sprints, power sets and interval sessions along with the bread and butter 2x20s, but what truly illustrates the difference is in the amount of responsibility afforded to the individual. What could I possibly add, as a coach, other than the facilitation, explanation and subsequent offering of consistency to the individual? Do you want me in your face for forty minutes screaming for more? Do you want me quoting inspirational messages to eek another ten watts from your tired bag of bones? Do you want me to play industrial zombie rap at eleven? 

It is all inside you. We offer one way to go there and seek. We unfold the map, grab a compass and draw connecting lines between points A and B. The rest is up to you. Show up, commit to the protocol, and execute with relaxed focus. 

It is not for everybody (some people don’t like peeling oranges). I recognize that many folks rely on the entertainment factor and would rather visit an upscale club that pampers and patronizes than saddle up in a converted barn with exposed rafters. And that’s OK. 

What we seek in the PowerBarn is our best selves. We do it through continual improvement, a consistent routine and a fierce commitment to quality, the very quality of our lives. 

I cannot be all things to all people, and as stated once earlier, I have never said this is going to be easy. What I did say, and will say again, is that it will have great value. 

That being as close to a manifesto as any.