Tom Scotto is the Program Director for Stage5 Cycling Incorporated and a Certified USA Cycling Coach. Tom asked if he could contribute to the discussion and offer his perspective on if you should incorporate jumps into your Spinning / Indoor Cycling Class profiles. Tom was a guest on Podcast #34 where we discussed his Indoor Cycling Certification Program
In summary, jumps (as Spinning and Schwinn) define them, should never be
done on an indoor bike. There are some dangers and misconceptions that can
help instructors understand why this is not an appropriate technique.Let me start by saying, as a USA Cycling coach, my perspective is very
real-cycling focused. Regardless, I'm not a big fan of distinguishing
between and indoor (non-cyclist) and a outdoor cyclist, both of whom may
take an indoor cycling class. Both are riding a bike which require similar
biomechanics and technique with a few adaptations (I'll explain below). The
determining factor is the workout. A well defined, appropriate and
purposeful workout (with good music) will please any crowd regardless of
age, fitness or skill level.I am in agreement with Jennifer Sage's definition of "real" cycling jumps.
Dead on. My issue lies with the non-cycling (Spinning, etc.) jumps.Why NON-Cycling Jumps are potentially Dangerous
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(1) Strain to the lower back (lumbar spine). When a rider stands on a real
bike, the bike moves backwards under the rider approximately 3-6 inches.
The better the rider's technique, the least movement. You may have noticed
this when riding close to a someone's back wheel. They stand to climb or
accelerate and now your front wheel is hitting or overlapping their rear
wheel (hopefully the later). THE PROBLEM: Indoor bikes don't move. When an
rider stands too quickly or forcefully on an indoor bike, stress is placed
on the lower back and spine because the force and momentum of the pedals
thrusts them forward. When sprinting or accelerating out of the saddle on
an indoor bike, riders should be instructed to smoothly come up out of the
saddle with the appropriate resistance BEFORE launching their effort to
reduce the force on the lower back.(2) The Bike Doesn't Move (Part 2).
Because indoor bikes don't move SIDE to SIDE, a
rider can potentially stress hip and knee joints and strain upper body
muscles without proper technique. When a rider stands and pedals on a real
bike, the bike gently (and sometimes, not so gently) sways/rocks side to
side underneath the rider. This is proper technique and done to achieve
better mechanics between the legs and bike. If a rider stands and tries to
keep the bike from moving side to side, this will cause the upper body
muscles (shoulders, back, neck, biceps, chest, forearms, etc.) to contract
against the force. This unnecessary muscle contraction wastes energy
(fuel), uses oxygen, fatigues the muscles and, more importantly can strain
the muscles. Similarly, if a rider tries to stand and keep the bike still,
the mechanics of the legs will be hindered placing stress on the hips, knees
and sometimes the ankles and feet.With that said (whew...), non-cycling jumps are too fast a movement to
compensate for the NON-MOVEMENT of the indoor bike. In addition, it is more
difficult to monitor a larger indoor cycling class to ensure everyone is fit
correctly to the bike and is using proper form and technique.It Doesn't Teach Functional Technique
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I appreciate using non-cycling jumps as a drill to
improve technique. Her examples of a tennis player, soccer player and
volleyball player are correct. However, this does not translate to cycling
for one reason - The Bike Doesn't Move. The tennis, soccer and volleyball
players are using the same equipment and functional movement required of
their sport. The movement on the indoor bike is not "functional" for the
purpose of non-cycling jumps because the static nature of the bike does not
promote proper, movement, reaction and bike handling out of the saddle. If
you are still not convinced, go outside on your real bike and do a few sets
of 2-second jumps (wear a helmet).MISCONCEPTION: Standing on the Bike.
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Riders in general (indoors and out) have a misconception about riding out of
the saddle and tend to stay seated as much as possible. I've encouraged my
indoor riders to watch at least one stage of
the Tour de France this year and observe how often riders stand. One will
notice that riders not only stand on climbs and to sprint and accelerate,
but they stand on flat roads and at lower intensities as well. I'm not
going to get into the different standing techniques, but let's just say
riders should be standing way more often than they do. One reason riders
will stand is to stretch the legs (they will often do this on flat sections
of road). It allows the leg (which cannot not fully extend seated) to
elongate and stretch the muscles keeping them from shortening from multiple
contractions. This year I coached a training camp with Tour de France
rider, Fred Morini (Gerolsteiner). He spent a good amount of time getting
riders out of the saddle and teaching them stretching techniques. I was even
challenged to get out of the saddle more (and I thought I stood a lot).
This can be a tough concept to explain, even to outdoor riders (and
instructors) because they are not often spending enough time out of the
saddle themselves. Standing technique needs to be better incorporated in drills and recovery.MISCONCEPTION: We Need Variety
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We don't need variety as much as we need real training. We (Stage5) have
over 40 different indoor workouts. Each with its own focus (training
effect), specific drills, music and charts. There is no mystery or magic
here. We are simply adapting outdoor workouts to the indoor cycling studio.
The workouts are designed to target different skill and fitness levels and
are appropriate to the time of year (periodization). Our riders will often
not get the same workout more than once in a 2-month period. Classes can vary
from focused training sessions (aerobic development, speed-biomechanics,
muscular endurance, explosive power, threshold, etc.), rides (rolling
terrain and famous routes), to race day events (Tour de France, local races
and the like). If an instructor does their homework and understands how to
lead their riders through the training session, ride or event, they will
please and motivate any rider, any age, skill or fitness level. That is the
beauty of indoor cycling.Cheers, Tom.
- 3 Tips for Teaching Off The Bike - February 27, 2024
- Bringing it All Together - February 12, 2024
- The Cockpit? - January 16, 2024
Awesome Tom, I appreciate your reply. As a fellow avid cyclist, one who is committed to bringing the outdoors indoors in my IC classes, I love your commitment to safe and effective technique and programming.
Your last paragraph sounds like a description of my own class profiles and the fact that I rarely repeat a workout in a 2 month period. It’s also what I try to convey to the instructors I work with, either through conference sessions, orientations, CED, my blog or here on ICI. It’s also what the Spinning program condones and teaches.
I actually wrote the workshop for the Spinning program called “Contraindications”. Before that, I presented it as a WSSC session for a few years. I created it because I was so fed up with the nonsense I was seeing in IC classes, moves that were usually made-up by bored instructors from a group fitness/non-cycling background who couldn’t stay still in the saddle for longer than a minute. It astounded me that there were even some programs teaching these moves (back then, Reebok & Kaiser to name a few. Kaiser has reverted to far more cycling related teaching, to their credit).
Prior to that, there was nothing published anywhere in the industry (that I/we knew of) analyzing the biomechanical, anatomical and practical reasons why these moves/techniques shouldn’t be done. In fact, even the word “contraindications” wasn’t used in this industry (publicly) until I borrowed the term from PT/rehab and titled the workshop. In my mind, this should be a required session for all instructors, because not only do we teach them what not to do, we replace everything we take away with safe effective realistic movements and emphasize the proper way to teach and demonstrate them. But it’s one of the least requested workshops, and when it is scheduled, we’re often preaching to the choir and the ones who REALLY need it aren’t there… *sigh* I guess people don’t want to know what they’re doing wrong.
In researching the workshop, I interviewed quite a few cycling coaches, including local ones and Joe Friel, as well as scientist/biomechanist, author of many cycling books on biomechanics, and USA Cycling consultant, the late Ed Burke (just a few months before he passed away). The fact that the indoor bike does not move is a large part of the reasoning behind many of the movements/techniques we do not condone. It’s also the reason behind the techniques we teach such as letting the upper body move slightly to compensate for the lack of movement in the frame. (I say “we” meaning Spinning and me at the time I was writing the workshop, but I am not writing this with my Spinning hat on, I am writing this with any indoor cycling program in mind and with my own cyclist hat on). A few of those improper techniques, among others, are hovers and isolations/freezes which make no sense in cycling or indoor cycling.
Fast or jerky jumps have always, from the beginning, been a part of contraindicated movements in the Spinning program, as they should be for any IC program. [Again, I am not writing this as an MDA/Spinning representative but I do want to clarify their stance.]
Regarding the “Spinning” jumps, let me ask you this. You advocate getting out of the saddle more. In a “Spinning Jump”, we advocate standing up smoothly, and sitting down smoothly, so that joints are not stressed. It’s not the fast jerky motion you are used to seeing. So we are just standing up to the position you are advocating. Yes we do sit back down (and get back up…), but as long as you sit correctly and stand correctly to the standing position you are advocating, don’t “unfold” in the process (which would thrust the hips forward stressing the spine), and in the process transition smoothly between the two at a controlled pace, I fail to see how there is any more stress than they might experience doing any standing movement.
In truth, the more cycling-specific power jumps probably place more stress on the joints, because the standing movement is done more quickly than a rhythmic (“Spinning”) jump.
As a cyclist, I rarely do flat road jumps indoors, although I find Jumps on a Hill kind of a “zen” movement where you can get lost in the movement, & focus on form and breathing and relaxing while working on a steep hill, giving yourself the occasional break out of the saddle. Maybe outdoors it wouldn’t be done quite as rhythmically, but you still get out of the saddle in increments to stretch the legs, just as you suggest. Indoors we simply do them timed a little bit more to the music.
I believe the answer lies in the fact that far too many instructors are not teaching correctly – not just jumps, but just about any movement on an indoor bike. I believe there needs to be far more focus – by everyone and every program – on correct cycling form. Sitting in the saddle, climbing a hill, going hard either seated or standing, and teaching people what a real sprint is; how incredibly difficult it is and how important it is to teach and perform it correctly.
Sadly, the norm is not correct form.
I think you and I are actually mostly on the same page! I am very, very impressed with the Stage 5 program (as I told you earlier this year – still bummed we weren’t able to hook up in NY). As a cyclist it is exactly what I personally believe in and practice. But I think the difference is a slightly different target market to whom we are preaching. I love your market, but my readers on my blog, the readers/listeners of this podcast, and the majority of the people coming to my sessions at conferences, are not the cyclists that you and I (and your market) are. Sure, some are, and some have bikes and ride sporadically, but the majority are not people who ride bikes outside. You and I, we want to climb Mont Ventoux! 😉
Recently I posed a question on my blog asking “What does ‘cycling specific’ mean to you in IC classes? Does it turn you off? Attract you? Scare you? Do you think it means boring? Too easy? Too hard? What do your students think?”
The reason why I asked that question is due to some comments I’ve seen about how boring “cycling specific” classes were. I wanted to poll my readers and then formulate an article in response. Of course I always defend cycling specific, and my classes certainly are, but I think it depends on how it’s presented. Between the 33 comments on my blog and umpteen emails and phone calls and comments on Facebook, I realize that so many people in this industry, both instructors and participants, are NOT cyclists.
My belated point is that although I have repeatedly stated that I don’t condone constant changes of position, many of those non-cyclists don’t give diddly squat about how we cyclists ride a bike and really do need a little more variety if we are to keep them coming back so we can inspire them to get fit (and maybe even inspire them to ride a real bike). By variety I don’t mean making stuff up or moving too quickly or changing positions every 10-30 seconds, but a little more “positional” variety, so to speak. And I think jumps can offer that without danger (IF taught correctly). If we can just get them to understand correct form, correct and realistic resistance, and cadences that MAKE sense, in all movements on a bike, then we’re doing pretty well. My goal is to bridge that gap between indoor and outdoor cycling.
I replaced another MI at Can Fit Pro who couldn’t go, but whose sessions were already scheduled. I would personally never have created an all jumps class, but I had to teach her sessions so I did my best to make it as cycling specific as possible, while also catering to the needs of the non-cyclists (which was maybe 95% of the class – remember, these are all instructors, too). I made QUALITY over QUANTITY the #1 goal. To be honest, I was at first a little nervous about teaching this session – I even asked myself if I was going against my generally held beliefs about IC classes and jumps.
But you know what? I REALLY enjoyed it. We had a lot of fun, had a great challenge, and nothing I felt we did was even remotely potentially injurious (IF done correctly).
I personally have a serious physical limitation – two metal rods in my spine and a fusion for 14″ from T2 – L3, so if there is going to be stress on the hips, neck or spine, I, of all people, am going to feel it. I am like the princess and the pea – I feel everything. But guess what? There was not only NO stress on my spine, hips or neck, but I felt great afterwards!
The jumping session was designed not as a profile to be taught as is; but more as samples of ways to teach various kinds of jumps, and focus on form. Nevertheless, I did teach that same entire class this morning with my own students, who are fit and KNOW proper form. I’ve never done this with them before. I did it because I was intrigued by my own writing of this article for ICI, and curious to their reaction, and because I have been gradually doing all the sessions I did at Can Fit Pro with them. Half of them are cyclists. They loved it! They loved the variety; I saw no blatant form issues. If I had I would have corrected them. Would I do it often? Heck no, but the variety was a nice break – even for me.
*Phew* I’m coming to a close! (No one ever accused me of being too brief)!
I am so in agreement Tom – we need real training in IC classes! We need to teach instructors how to teach a seated flat correctly at 90 rpm. But for those non-cycling clientele, we do need variety with safety, and a solidly performed jump here and there IMO will not injure them.
On final thing…in my eBook, Keep it Real, targeted at cyclists (though IC instructors can learn a lot from it), I suggest that cyclists sit out certain movements if they feel they contradict their own cycling training. Jumps are optional for them. They may find the variety is helpful to get through the class, or they might want to stay seated.
I cannot wait to meet you one of these days, Tom, and maybe discuss this more over coffee. Maybe even ride with you!
Ventoux anyone?
Jennifer,
Thanks for the response and kind words. One of my fears in commenting on your article was that I didn’t want you to think I was poking and contradicting you. I totally respect you and look forward to that ride and coffee we’ve been talking about.
I think we are exactly on the same page. Let me clarify a few things.
The majority of the riders I teach are non-cyclists. I’d say close to 80%. I believe that what they want is a great workout and training session. Just like what they would expect from a personal trainer. I’m a coach and feel obligated to provide that. There is so much variety out there that instructors should never get bored. I have another 12 indoor workouts I haven’t created yet just do to time (and music). The approach and drills are almost endless. So I’m all for variety, but provide it with specificity, intensity, technique and terrain. Myself and our other Stage5 instructors have been getting a lot of non-cyclists on the road. This is part of our mission “Fitness You Can Take on the Road”. We hold small group training sessions (4-8 riders total) and the health clubs are helping us promote this. My favorite line from one of our riders as we pulled out of the parking lot for a small group training ride at 6AM was “Wow, this is great. I haven’t been on my bike since I was seven!”. Although this was a great accomplishment (and compliment), in my mind I panicked and thought to myself “I must do a better job with the pre-ride questionnaire”.
In the end Jumps do come down to execution. Depending on the cadence and frequency of repetitions coupled with proper form and technique makes all the difference. I’m not talking about a jerky motion (which is incorrect no matter how you slice it), but having enough time to maintain proper form when moving in and out of the saddle. Ironically, the more a person focuses on “smoothness” coming out of the saddle the worse it can be. Many people in an attempt to be “smooth” overly control their muscles and movement placing more stress on the joints. Because there are so many variables (that can be performed incorrectly) in a large group setting, I avoid them. I feel the same about advanced technical drills. If I’m teaching a small group and can truly focus on the form and technique of each rider, I will incorporate the advanced options, otherwise I don’t do them. Almost all of the classes I teach have 25+ riders (most non-cyclists) so I have to make a judgement call and always err on the side of overall safety. Now I do perform cycling-specific jumps in my classes. Riders are always instructed to add the necessary resistence and come out of the saddle BEFORE launching the attack, acceleration or what have you. I make them aware of the indoor bike’s limitation and instruct them on how to perform the drill safely.
Experienced riders like yourself are usually not at risk. It is actually the non-cyclists who are put at greater risk because they do not have the anatomical adaption and technique that you do. Because your muscles are properly conditioned and your body knows what to expect, you adapt. Non-cyclists do not have this muscle memory or maturity and often have no point of proper reference so the bike dictates their form.
My last comment (I think) on Jumps and the static nature of the indoor bike is that we should never assume that a movement or position is not harmful because we don’t feel anything. Over the last 3 years I have performed more than 200 sessions in our biomechanics lab mostly dealing with issues caused by incorrect form/position and poor mechanics. Those that participated frequently in indoor cycling classes were some of the greatest sufferers. Of course, these issues were not all caused by jumps, but the stress of repetitive efforts (coupled with bikes that cannot achieve proper cycling geometry), contributed to the injuries.
The bottom line for me is that it is not about catering to non-cyclists or cyclists, but providing a sound, safe workout and training session that will appropriately challenge and inspire our riders. It sounds like you are doing an amazing job at that. Now let’s ride and get some coffee.
– Tom.
That is always great to have great experience and clever reply.
I am a little like Tom, what our riders do not manage or don’t have yet (skills) have to be avoid.
Yes too many instructor do not know what is riding outdoor and that is a big problem, I remember Jennifer at your great session last May at Wssc 2hour of seated climb, on both side of me the pace was just … .
Another problem some do not manage the intensity, what is 60-70-80-…% or RPE … .
Tom can you explain a little more more time out of the saddle.
I forgot, there is a study by the American Foot Orthopedic Ass. that have been done on the effect of IDC.
It showed a few things: too much = not good; bad form and bad equipment (shoes) = not good; IDC bike stiff as steal = HIght level of stress.
I heard about it from my mentor, a US cycling coach it was last year I think.
I try to find it but until now I am still searching
Jumps which Schwinn calls “Combinations”,and in light of this conversation, is about nano like reputations and are the real culprit to a unrealistic riding and potential safety concern. Moving from saddle to a leveraged standing position and then back are both normal outdoors movements but just not so often and not necessarily followed one right after the other . Leaving frequent reps out of classes is all goodness because ROM and RMI’s are not precluded because a coach/instructor forwarns “now think about what your doing”. Further more, and briefly, they are very intimidating to newer individuals that want to be successful when venturing into a class for the first time. Have fun riding Mt Von Tough (sorry couldn’t resistance) 🙂
Tom and Jennifer,
Thanks for such an informative discussion. What about the position of the knee relative to the pedal? Seated, the 3 o’clock point in the revolution, with the knee at 90 degrees and the foot flat is the most powerful point. Students tend to end up with their knees well in front of the pedals in jumps. Doesn’t this load force onto the knee at the bottom of the pedal stroke?
Pascal,
Thanks for your comments. Here is a brief response?
Overview of Riding Out of the Saddle
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I won’t go into great detail inconsideration for everyone’s time (Maybe I can post a longer article or podcast with John or Jennifer in the future). There are 5 basic reasons riders come out of the saddle (road cycling): (1) Stretching the legs. This requires a slightly different possition when standing (more forward toward he handlebars) which allows a rider to fully extend each leg at the bottom of the pedal stroke. This also requires the rider to move the bike (in a more exaggerated motion) side to side. (2) Rest / disengage various leg muscles. On an easy flat road, riders will shift into a harder gear and come out of the saddle with a slower more relaxed cadence. (3)Acceleration. Rider often come out of the saddle to accelerate to a faster pace/tempo, particularly if they feel their cadence is slowing. (4) Sprinting. All out power transfer and the added leverage/mechanics of moving the bike. (5) Climbing. Riders will often come out of the saddle on steep, difficult sections to use their body weight to added power. There is also a combination of the above (stretching, relaxing, accelerations, sprints) also performed when climbing. I find most riders do not stand enough. This is a considerable amount of technique that can be taught out of the saddle, such as position, bike handling and pedaling technique.
I hope this helps. – Tom.
Marsha,
There are 2 generally accepted biomechanical methods for ensuring the knee is properly aligned at 3 0’clock. In our biomechanics lab we use lasers for alignment, but in the indoor studio I use a plumb line. Method #1: Aligning base of knee cap (distal patella) directly over the pedal axle (foot/cleat must first be properly aligned..another topic…agggghhh) and Method #2: Aligning end of knee cap (anterior patella) direcly over the end of the crank arm. Both arrive at the same alignment. It is also important that the position of the pedals and foot both be level to ensure a consistent, proper measurement. Please remember that all measurements/alignment are COMPOUND. This means that the 3 O’clock position MUST be in proper relation with proper alignment of the leg at DBC (dead bottom center). Other issues such as flexibility and injuries must be taken into consideration. I’d be HAPPY to go into a full description of proper position, but it would warrant an article.
Let me say that positioning a person correctly on a bike is NOT difficult or time-consuming. However, it does require an understanding of biomechanics to consider the sometimes (not so obvious) flexibility, injury, muscle imbalance, length descrepancy and form issues most riders walk in with. This is why we spend more time in our certification teaching instructors anatomy and biomechanics, so they can quickly identify these conditions and make the right decisions when positioning a rider.
To answer (or address) one of your comments, YES, positioning a riders knee too far forward over the pedals will place strain on the patella tendon and can cause a quad-dominant pedal stroke.
Sorry for sort of not answering your entire question. – Tom.
Would really appreciate more info on bike set-up/positioning riders! Safe rides should be a priority?!
Ana Cycleops has a good video here https://www.indoorcycleinstructor.com/indoor-cycling-20/video-tutorials/cycleops-indoor-cycling-bike-setup-video-with-angie-sturtevant/
I’m a roadie, and have recently started taking spin classes to try and maintain my cycling fitness through the winter (there’s snow on the roads for five months where I live). Anyway, I have to say how puzzled I was during the first class I went to. Whenever the instructor said “sprint!” the guy next to me would wind out to 140 rpm, and because his seat looked kind of low to me he would start bouncing like he was on a pogo stick. The instructor had us do lots of jumps, without changing resistance at all, so when I was spinning with decent resistance at about 80 rpm as soon as I stood up, the floor would fall out from under me. As I’m used to standing to increase my cadence when it starts to fall off on hills or sprints, I reasoned that on a spinning bike, if I was going do a series of stands, then I should be at a high resistance so that I could feel the cadence fall off, stand to pick it up, then sit and try and maintain the higher cadence until it started dragging a bit again. So, setting the right resistance made sense to me as far as getting on and off the saddle to maintain a cadence of 80-90 rpm, but during this class, it seemed that the emphasis on popping up and down was more for variety and learning to manage way over-torqued pedals during the standing phase. From the perspective of a road rider, it seems that I need to parse the instructions a bit so that they correlate more closely with what I experience on the road. On the plus side, I would add that on the road while I stand up a lot, duration is normally under one minute. I find that three-minute, four-minute and seven-standing intervals with appropriate (stiff) resistance is pretty challenging. I’m not sure that on the road such long standing periods would optimize the muscle endurance to power output relationship, but I find it a provides good bouts of resistance overload.
Tom, thank you for your feedback.
I am a road cyclist and former Spinning Instructor. Daily tasks and my training don’t allow time for me to teach any more.
Unfortunately most indoor cycling classes at commercial gyms, are catered to non cyclists who seem to care more about having fun, sweat and loose the fajitas they had for lunch. The great majority don’t seem to care that much about cadence, heart rate, proper posture, or how many times you try to correct them on the bike. They want entertainment.
On the other hand I find it very hard to comprehend that someone with zero fitness experience, much less cycling, pays $300, spends 8 hours in a classroom and walks out as an indoor cycling instructor.
This is precisely the kind of danger I see on a daily basis at commercial gyms.
Tom and Jennifer,
I am an outdoor competitive cyclist and a certified Spin(R) instructor. I have been waging a one-woman war with my current health club (as a member, not instructor) about the safety and efficacy of the indoor cycling classes (lifetime fitness Berkely Heights, nj). This blog is terrific!
One thing that I wanted to say to Tom is that I think that your comments on “spending more time out of the saddle” could be easily mis-interpreted by all of the “non-cyclist” instructors. As a roadie, I think that you mean intermittent periods out of the saddle, not extended periods out of the saddle. One of the practices that I have been railing against is the “10 minute standing climb”. I have been in classes where the instructors keep people out of the saddle for 10 minutes straight and more, sometimes with resistance, sometimes with minimal resistance. Regardless, I think this is unsafe and ineffective. The only thing that spending that much continuous time out of the saddle does is lead to premature fatique, particularly of the stabilizing muscles. Standing is not efficient and should only be done for the reasons that you outlined (which I totally agree with). Unfortunately, a lot of instructors use standing for long periods of time as a way to trick people into thinking that they are working hard.
Like Lisa, I have too been waging a one “woman-war” against the practices she mentions. Only in my case I am an instructor, not a student, at 4 commercial fitness clubs. As a result, I have been relegated to having the worst class times and the worst days. One of the managers even commented that perhaps I was too old to instruct (I am 60 years old). Despite the opposition, I have build my classes to capacity (30+ students) filling the spin rooms and turning away persons. My students requested that one of the clubs I work at add another class for me. The club did, but not for me. They hired friend of another instructor who routinely “instructs” jumps and hovers. The new hire doesn’t even know how to properly fit a person to a bike. I have observed her classes and have seen persons with their seats and handlebars still in the “down” position. Disgusting!!
Jennifer – thank you so much for your support of the “Spinning Jump” I have for the past 15 years been teaching the Spinning program and have had defended the correct way to safely do jumps in a group IC class. I am so glad to have your professional input to pass along to the directors that have tried to ban these from our classes and scare our students from enjoying all that Spinning can offer.
It makes a big difference when an indoor cycling class is taught by an instructor who is a REAL cyclist, when compared with those with no experience. Makes a huge difference.