by Jim Karanas | Jul 18, 2020 | Master Instructor Blog, Video PROfiles
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
At the Indoor Cycling Group, we believe that teaching with video will be the next wave to influence Indoor Cycling, differentiate in the eyes of customers, and keep instructors from being seen as a commodity by the big-box clubs.
Media consoles like Myride®+ will enable instructors to work with cycling videos more easily than ever before.
- It takes only seconds to create a video playlist of any length and any profile from the most extensive cycling-video library in the world.
- One touch moves the video forward or back seamlessly from one point in the video to another.
- Organizing the video library by terrain type (flat, mixed, climb, descent) gives instant access to any type of terrain with just a touch.
- Cutting-edge technology enables any video to fit any piece of music, and vice versa.
The strategy here is simple. Movies are slick, impact our physical sensations and drive emotion. ICG® is speculating that, once club operators see the quality of our video and its ease of use, they’ll want to offer it and get an edge on their competition. We wouldn’t be doing this if people weren’t already asking for it.
Now it comes down to us, the instructors. To differentiate ourselves and go beyond being a commodity — one that club operators see in blanket terms regardless of how much we invest in our education or how high the quality of our classes is — we have to be ready and able to teach with video.
We’re guessing that this transition will be hard for many instructors. Anytime change feels intimidating, we tend to dodge it. At ICG®, we don’t see that as good for the industry, or for us.
When the change feels too big, we’ve got to shrink it to make it more manageable.
[!private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge’]
“Shrink the Change” has gotten a lot of press lately. Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the bestsellers Made to Stick and Switch, have discovered that the rational mind and the emotional mind are two different systems. The rational mind wants to change something; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort. If it’s overcome, though, change can come quickly.
We believe that the Myride®+ technology, along with our latest online tutorial will shrink this change and make it easy and fun for everyone to use video in their classes. For instance, with just a touch of the screen, you can display a forward-moving flat road — indefinitely. You can do the same with a climb. Or just use beautiful scenery without forward motion. You can pause and start, prepare fully, partially, or not at all. BTW, the online tutorial is free for everyone.
Three videos follow that demonstrate how incredible it is. These videos have been selected from over 30 that make up our online tutorial. Each one is a gem and shows you another cool way to use Myride®+ and/or teach with video.
NOTE: These are massive HD Video files – click play and then stop… and wait for the video to buffer before clicking play again if you have a slow Internet connection.
Teaching with Video Introduction
//
Teaching with Video Road Ride
//
Teaching with Video Trail Ride
//
We’re launching Myride®+ at the IHRSA 2012 trade show on March 15-16 in Los Angeles at Booth 1201A. I hope you can come by and join Team ICG® for one of the 20 Myride®+ demo rides we’ll lead over the two days.
Will we see you there?[/!private]
Originally posted 2012-03-12 17:13:49.
by Jim Karanas | Jul 12, 2020 | Master Instructor Blog
Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
In order to excel in a sport or activity, it’s necessary to train specifically for that activity. The term “cross-training” refers to a routine that involves different forms of exercise. The idea behind it is to permit recovery of the primary muscles used in the primary activity, while maintaining a high level of fitness. Cross-training is thought to limit stress on a given muscle group because different activities use the same muscles in slightly different ways.
Foster et al (1995) tested the cross-training hypothesis that athletes can improve performance in one mode of exercise by training in another, despite the principle of training specificity. It was found that muscularly non-similar cross-training does contribute to improved performance. A runner, for example, could use cycling to enhance muscle strength and reduce the chance of an overuse injury, while improving or maintaining aerobic capacity.
Current cross-training methods offer recovery for the primary muscles only by using them differently (e.g., substituting cycling for running). As a result, finding a cross-training activity for the indoor cyclist that permits complete rest of the primary muscles has been difficult, unless the athlete enjoys swimming — and that uses the legs, too. Besides, this approach won’t help in cases of leg injury.
Many resources recommend indoor rowing. Rowing is a fantastic cardiovascular exercise, but people misinterpret it as upper-body training. As rowing technique literature will confirm, however, rowing uses the legs predominantly. So, once again, we’re using the same muscles, just in a different way.
Non-cardio activities, such as Pilates, have also been recommended for cross-training. Yes, alternative activities can improve some aspects of fitness and provide a different perspective. But what happens to cardio in the meantime? How long can you cross-train without losing cardio fitness? In the case of an injury, time away from the activity could be long. Also, for the enthusiast with little time to experiment, alternatives may feel like a distraction from the preferred activity.
So the dilemma remains: What’s the best form of cross-training for the indoor-cycling enthusiast?
The UBE (upper-body ergometer) has been a long-standing option, but it doesn’t typically generate sufficient intensity to maintain fitness for the primary endeavor. Besides, it isn’t fun. Yet there’s a solution somewhere in there.
Pogliaghi et al (2006) studied the effects of cycling and arm-cranking on peak oxygen consumption (VO2 max) and ventilatory threshold to determine the cross-training benefit of each modality. Results showed cross-training benefit, due to central (i.e., cardiopulmonary) adaptations. Even though the muscles used in arm-cranking were not those used in cycling, the cardio stress to the heart and lungs was significant enough to register a true cross-training benefit.
Arm cranking is the perfect cross-training activity for the indoor cyclist. It’s the most effective form of exercise for maintaining cardio fitness while completely resting the legs. It can be used for general recovery or during periods of injury, and provides enough stress to maintain central cardiovascular fitness. But what about the fact that the UBE is boring?
The KRANKcycle® by Matrix Fitness, introduced fairly recently, fills the need perfectly. It’s easy to learn, and can then be used to generate serious, high-intensity training. Because of the short crank-arms and narrow crank axis, the intensity can be much higher than with a UBE. It can be used in a group setting, namely the cycling studio. The movements easily parallel those of indoor cycling. Finally, unlike using a UBE, Kranking’s a lot of fun.
On a day following an intense cycling class, you could take it easy on the bike — or you could rest your legs and Krank. Hard. The muscles need the rest, not the heart.
If you’re fortunate enough to have access to a KRANKcycle, bring one or two into your cycling space for the cross-training benefits Kranking can offer your students. If you don’t have access now, you might want to look into it. It’s the only true cross-training for cycling you can find, and offers other fitness benefits, as well. There’s nothing out there quite like it.
Originally posted 2012-04-23 16:42:45.
by Jim Karanas | Mar 11, 2020 | Indoor Cycling Group - Team ICG, Instructor Training
A popular choice for Performance Tandems and Single Speed bikes.
Rules are not necessarily sacred; principles are. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
My cycling background revolves around the chain. My coach used to say, “The chain is sacred.” It vibrates, and that’s precisely what gives the bike its feeling of life. The vibration brings the rider a deeper sense of, and connection with, the bicycle. Without that vibration, without a chain, a bike is dead. I’ve believed, taught, and ridden this way since long before belts were introduced to Indoor Cycling.
If you had asked me back then about building a bike with a belt, I would have said without hesitating, “Don’t mess with the chain.”
Because of my background and the coaching I got, I can argue for the chain better than almost anyone. Those arguments, though, are philosophical, not focused on moving the industry of Indoor Cycling forward.
From my new perspective, working for a company (Indoorcycling Group, ICG) that makes a spectacular line of bikes with belts (LIVESTRONG), the conclusion is clear. The belt requires less maintenance, has fewer breakdowns, improves pedaling technique, does not allow for momentum-based recovery, makes the rider work more efficiently, is quieter, and is safer for new riders. It will save the club owner money, decrease liability, train participants more effectively, and make less noise.
No one on the management side of the club business would need to hear more to choose a belt. For economic reasons alone, the industry will go this way. It’s generally wise to ride an elephant in the direction it’s going. It seems foolish to push for a chain drive in light of that.
But here’s another thing to consider: 95% of the people who get on an indoor cycle won’t understand that “the chain is sacred.” They will notice only that the belt is quieter and smoother. This was the point that sold me. Although I tried relentlessly to find people who understood why I insisted that the chain is sacred, few people got it, almost no one felt it. Not even instructors who were currently teaching on chain-driven bikes.
Instructors whose jobs depend on the Indoor Cycling industry should not need any more convincing. Convincing club members who are used to chain-driven bikes, however, may take a bit more work.
The first thing I ask them to do is tell me what they like about bicycle riding. After they go on for a while, I ask them what they like about indoor cycling. That, too, goes on for a while. Regardless of the individual answers, the key point is that indoor cycling is quite different from riding outdoors: no need to balance, different movements, different hand positions, fixed gear, and more. There are many differences, all far more noticeable than the drive train.
Next, I ask them what other kinds of bikes they’ve ridden. Performance bikes only? How do they react when they see someone riding down the road on a cruiser in flip-flops? My point is a bike is a bike. You’re not a consummate rider if you fixate on what you think a bike should be. In fact, you’re less a cyclist than the overweight woman struggling on the hybrid. She has more grit. She’s happy just to be riding. THAT is a cyclist.
I ask them if they know which bike is the best in the world. It’s the one you’re on 🙂
Cycling is sacred, not the chain. I dig the vibrations and the sound of all the chains in a peloton as much as any roadie. But chains are secondary to the circular motion of the pedal stroke. The continuity of the circle is what creates the sense of peace that allows you to get outside your mind. The chain or belt simply permits the transfer of power to the forward motion. It’s the motion that makes you feel like you’re flying.
If you want to call yourself a cyclist, get past the chain. Respect all bikes. Find peace in a smooth circle with a belt and satisfaction in the increased work it puts your legs through without the free-spin of a chain.
With good instruction, a belt won’t detract from the class experience — and may very well add to it.
Originally posted 2011-11-21 10:54:24.
by Jim Karanas | Sep 25, 2019 | Master Instructor Blog
By ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
Building a class profile can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching Indoor Cycling. Instructors sometimes find it stressful because they feel they’re “out of ideas.”
There are many approaches to class design. A few possibilities are: music as the road; duplicating an actual ride profile with which you’re familiar; fully interacting with selected videos; teaching cycling principles and philosophy; and eliciting specific training adaptations.
A general approach can become static over time. That’s what’s so much fun. Because of the many training elements that indoor cycling utilizes, any general approach can remain fresh and inspiring. Indoor cycling lends itself to structure, so it’s easy to formulate new and exciting variations on common training formats.
Intervals are a perfect example; every instructor uses them. There are thousands of ways to put a class through intervals. But the creative instructor is the one who comes up with an interval format you haven’t experienced before.
Once I decide on my approach to building my class for the day, my mind searches for an organizational format that supports the approach. For example, I decide that my approach to today’s class will be to teach a cycling principle. The principle will be cadence. With my approach and underlying principle selected, I need a structure to support that principle — and make the class enjoyable at the same time. It’s that last part that may take some creativity.
Having planned thousands of classes over the years, I frequently return to four basic organizational formats: Intervals, Ladders (or Ramps), Pyramids, or Steady State. These four organizational formats form the backbone that supports any indoor cycling class. The key to creative instruction is to find new ways to use them.
INTERVALS
Interval training is a common training technique designed to improve strength, power, aerobic capacity or endurance. It alternates periods of higher-intensity work with periods of recovery (i.e., lower-intensity work). Depending on the length of the work and rest periods, intervals may be aerobic or anaerobic. The higher-intensity periods instructors typically use are at, or close to, an anaerobic level of effort, but they can actually be of any intensity. That fact alone can generate a great deal of variation in a class.
The ratio of work to recovery will usually vary with the intensity of the work effort. Max-effort intervals, for example, are necessarily short, with recovery periods of equal or greater duration than the work interval. Aerobic intervals may be longer and require much briefer recovery. The recovery periods may permit either complete recovery (full drop in heart rate) or limited recovery of lower, but not resting-level, intensity.
Sample interval workout:
- 5 minutes of warm-up: light ride, low intensity, gradually increasing at the end of the warm-up period
- 1 minute of moderate or high intensity, followed by 1 minute of low intensity. Repeat six to eight times.
- 5 minutes of cool-down: light ride, low intensity, gradually decreasing by the end of the cool-down period
The above is a standard interval format that every indoor cycling instructor has used in his or her class at one time or another.
How can the intervals be varied? Here are some suggestions.
- Use different durations for the work and recovery efforts. A 2:1 format, with 2 minutes of seated climb at 75 RPM and 1 minute of recovery spin at 100 RPM is a good rollers simulation.
- Alternate the difference. 2:1, 1:2, 2:1, 1:2. 2 minutes moderately hard with 1 minute of recovery, followed by 1 minute very hard with 2 minutes of recovery.
- Vary the recovery. 2:1, 2:3, 2:1, 2:3. 2 minutes very hard with 1 minute of limited recovery, followed by another 2 minutes very hard with 3 minutes of full recovery.
- Vary with no pattern. This is called “fartlek.” The name is Swedish for “speed play”. It consists of hard-effort bursts of different durations, followed by recovery of different durations. The lack of predictability increases overall intensity, compared with standard interval training. 2:1, 4:1, 2:5, 3:3, 1:2, 4:3.
LADDERS
A ladder, also known as a ramp, is a training technique that involves progressive, incremental increases in one or more training variables, such as duration, resistance, cadence or heart rate. The progression can either increase or decrease. The ladder can be continuous or in interval format.
Here are some examples of a ladder, using an interval format:
- Increase the work duration, keeping the recovery constant. 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1.
- Decrease the work duration, keeping the recovery constant. 4:1, 3:1, 2:1, 1:1. These “descending intervals” are a commonly used form of a decreasing ladder. As the interval duration decreases, some other training variable increases.
- Maintain the work duration while decreasing the recovery. 1min:1min, 1min:45sec, 1min:30sec, 1min:15sec.
- Increase the work and decrease the recovery. 0:2min, 30sec:1min, 45sec:45sec, 1min:30sec, 2min:0. Easy for 2 minutes, followed by 30 sec hard with 1 minute easy, followed by 45 sec hard and 45 sec easy, followed by 1 min hard and 30 sec easy, catch your breath quickly and hammer the last 2 minutes.
A ladder can also be continuous. My favorite is a 10-minute, 4-3-2-1 format: 4 minutes easy, 3 minutes a little harder, 2 minutes a little harder, and 1 minute hard. These are done with no recovery between them. The often-used song Mojave by Afro Celt Sound System is perfect for a 10-minute, 4-3-2-1 ladder.
The next post will cover variations in pyramids and steady state training.
Originally posted 2012-04-09 06:51:30.
by Jim Karanas | Sep 5, 2019 | Master Instructor Blog
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
Cycling performance is all about oxygen. Muscle cells need oxygen to burn fuel and produce the energy necessary to power the muscle contractions that move us. This is known as cellular respiration.
All indoor-cycling instructors have received rudimentary training around proper breathing on the bicycle, but it’s rarely the focus of a class. Think about it. Can you create and lead a class profile that focuses just on breathing exercises and make it compelling for 45-60 minutes?
OK, you’re thinking, “Why would I want to?” But evidence indicates that we can improve breathing capacity with “inspiratory” muscle training and improve both performance and comfort. In “Endurance training of respiratory muscles improves cycling performance in fit young cyclists” by Holm et al (2004), riders rode a simulated 40-kilometer race on a computerized exercise bike after weeks of inspiratory training. Neither control group improved, but the experimental group rode 4.7 percent faster.
The trained riders found breathing hard more comfortable. The respiratory muscles didn’t tire, so they filled and emptied their lungs more often with less fatigue. The fact that the athletes could breathe harder with no change in effort is an important finding because many people stop exercising due to severe shortness of breath.
Have you ever wondered what creates the need to breathe?
Of course, we breathe because we need O2. But the urge to breathe is triggered by a high concentration of CO2 in the blood, not a lack of oxygen. When we hyperventilate, we’re trying to dispel that CO2 and balance the pH of our blood. Inspiratory muscle training improves not only breathing capacity but also tolerance for CO2.
So where do you start? Some of the following techniques may help.
1. Integrate nasal breathing in your on-the-bike training.
Start with a short, low-intensity section of a ride. See how it feels to breathe only through your nose. Your anxiety may rise a bit with the sensation of not getting enough air. Carbon dioxide receptors adjust to this in time, however, and the urgency disappears.
2. Develop a regular practice of conscious breathing.
Develop a closer relationship with your breath. Don’t think about your breath more or try to control it. Just become aware of it. As you warm up on the bicycle, at what moment do you first become aware of your breath? Be more fully in the experience of breathing — really feel the sensation of your breath moving in and out of your body.
3. Learn diaphragmatic breathing.
As you concentrate on deep breathing, you push your diaphragm down and the abdominals out. If you’re doing it correctly, your abs will expand more than your chest. I’m amazed when I hear an indoor cycling instructor still telling students to “hold their abdominals firm” to support the forward flexed body position on a bicycle. (Support for forward flexion comes from the posterior core muscles, but that will be another post.)
4. Synchronize your breathing with your pedaling.
Try to synchronize your respiratory rhythm with your pedal cadence. Start by focusing on pedaling. Once you establish your cadence, organize your breathing with the turning of the pedals. Inhale and exhale for the same number of pedal strokes. This gives you a focal point while you’re cycling and keeps your breathing calm and regular, which moves more oxygen.
5. Change your rhythm.
Once you’ve established your inhale/exhale pattern and coordinated it with your pedal stroke, change it. This idea has been expounded by numerous sources, most notably Ian Jackson in his book BreathPlay. I’ve used BreathPlay techniques for a long time and find them helpful. To strengthen the inspiratory muscles, you must do things that cause you discomfort.
The central BreathPlay skill is “upside-down breathing.” It involves pushing the air out and letting it in, instead of sucking it in and letting it out. The change is simple but profound. First, settle into a cadence. Then explore pulling your belly back for a three-count out-breath and relaxing it for a two-count, passive in-breath. Emphasize the three/two pattern. Next, fit the breathing pattern to your pedal stroke: three turns on the exhale and two turns on the inhale.
The 3/2 count is an easy way to start learning odd-count upside-down breathing patterns. Once you feel comfortable with the out/in 3/2 count, practice until you have the same level of comfort with a 5/2 count, a 2/1 count, a 4/1 count, a 4/3 count, and a 6/3 count. Whether you’re out on the road or (in the studio), you’ll need to be able to change breathing gears to accommodate changing work rates, and this repertoire of breathing patterns will give you a breathing gearbox. – Ian Jackson
Long-held patterns of breathing may actually have separated us from some of the natural strength, calmness, and energy we have within us. Changing them could reconnect us with those. Is anything more fundamental in our moment-to-moment experience, consciousness and awareness than our breath?
Originally posted 2012-05-14 08:50:35.
