Parkinson’s Cycling Classes can be conducted at any location with one or more indoor cycles.  The typical class will be offered at an existing health club or cycling studio – but any convenient location will  do.

My friend and mentor Sally Edwards rides regularly at the Pink House Garage – owned by 95 year old neighbor Paul Camerer who has set up is garage as a makeshift cycling studio for himself and others:)

Stationary Indoor cycling bikes

Any brand of commercial indoor cycle with a cadence / RPM monitor will work for a Parkinson’s Cycling Class.* An accurate indication of cadence / RPM is crucial to the success of your program – counting out cadence or using the beat of the music is not an option 🙁

*Conventional Indoor Cycles (without any monitor / computer) can often be retrofitted with an add-on cadence monitor.

Most Star Trac Spinner bikes can be upgraded with the Spinning Computer. More Information from Amazon.com.

For other makes and models of Indoor Cycles, the Wahoo RPM cycling cadence sensor is an option. Easily attached to one of the crank arms, the Wahoo sensor transmits cadence via ANT+ or BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to a smart device like an iPhone/iPad or windows tablet and Android phones – all offer a bluetooth connection option.

A fitness App is then required to display pedaling RPM. Here are some options:

• Beneufit iPad App – link to iTunes store. This App is designed specifically for Parkinson’s cycling and monitors cadence and RPM. It also provides specific training profiles for self directed cycling.
• Spinning® iPad App – link to iTunes store. Requires in-app purchase of  sensor upgrade to read cadence.
• Wahoo Fitness App – link to iTunes store

Wahoo sensors installed on a room of cycles will provide cadence information to any of the Display Training systems from Performance IQ, Spivi and the new Heart Zones 4D system.

If you are considering the purchase of one of these Display Training Systems please feel free to contact us with questions as to which system would be best for your studio and help you understand the options for performance data capture, automatic emails and how they can be integrated into your studio’s website.

Heart rate monitors

We use heart rate BPM as a measure of intensity in a Parkinson’s Cycling class and there are hundreds of heart rate monitors to choose from. Today there are two basic types of monitors:

• Heart rate straps that read BPM and the information is displayed on a watch.
• Heart rate straps designed to be connected to the indoor cycle’s computer, a smartphone or group display system via a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) or ANT+ signal.

If you are considering investing in enough monitors to outfit your Parkinson’s Cycling Class with loner’s, or to sell to your participants, your decision will be based on how you plan to display the HR BPM information.

If you plan to provide or sell HR straps that use a HR watch, simple is best! Our recommendation is the Blink Heart Rate Monitor. These are very simple to set up and each participant’s aerobic threshold can be quickly programed so the LED in the watch face will change color from Blue (easy/below threshold) to Yellow (moderate/above threshold). These are available for you to purchase at wholesale, for resale to your participants. Contact Sally Edwards at Heart Zones for more information.

If you plan to use HR straps and then display HR BPM on the indoor cycle’s monitor/computer…

This is our prefered method if your indoor cycles are equipped with monitors/computers. The type of strap you’ll use will depend on the make and model of indoor cycles monitor/computer.

NOTE: please confirm this with your manufacturer before ordering. Here’s a partial list of indoor cycles and their compatible HR straps.

NOTE: all indoor cycling monitors work with older conventional (analog) HR straps – these analog straps aren’t very selective as to where they’ll connect = they may connect to a neighboring bike which needs to be avoided if possible.

• Spinning computers require the type of strap used along with a  conventional analog HR watch (Polar/Timex/Blink, ect…)
• All versions of the Keiser M3 indoor cycle require a Polar compatible HR strap.
• Schwinn AC with older (grey) and new (red) MPower Echelon consoles – ANT+ and conventional HR straps
• FreeMotion S11 series – ANT+ and conventional HR straps
• Spinner Blade Ion – ANT+  and conventional analog HR watch (Polar/Timex/ect…)

If you are purchasing heart rate straps for use with ANT+ or BLE compatible devices we have just one recommendation.

My new favorite is the Scosche RHYTHM+ forearm HR strap for multiple reasons!

Heart rate chest straps are a total pain. They’re hard to get strapped on, they don’t always connect against a hairy chest, you can’t tell of the batteries are alive or dead and many people (especially women) don’t like to wear them.

Up until now chest straps were all we had. Now there’s the Scosche RHYTHM+ Heart Rate Monitor strap. Just slide it onto your forearm and it will connect to any ANT+ or BLE device. It has an on/off button and a little light that shows if it’s on. It also comes with a USB charger. NOTE: these don’t work with a Spinning computer.

Beyond that you should have well maintained equipment and a small step or folding step stool to assist your participants on and off the bikes.

Questions? Please contact us. We’re here to help!