Team ICG Master Trainer Missy Crosson contributes our latest Audio PROfile – Rolling to the Classics.
Profile Description: I created this profile with the sole purpose of letting the music itself create the ride. I wanted the songs themselves to control intensity, cadence, movement motivation, and even position on the bike. Music has a powerful effect on an individuals’ exercise experience. It distracts from discomfort, enhances ones mood, increases ability to endure physical and psychological stress, and may even promote metabolic efficiency.
Now I'm not talking about lying to you in a malicious/manipulative way, I have this awesome bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you really cheap – or – she's a real peach, only driven to church and back by the gentlest 80 year old grandmother you've ever met.
What I'm talking about is how people will/do lie to you… if they think telling you the truth could or would hurt your feelings.
Friends can be the worst. And I count a lot of long time members at our club, as friends.
“The truth is always an insult or a joke, lies are generally tastier. We love them. The nature of lies is to please. Truth has no concern for anyones comfort” – Arturo Binewski.”
― Katherine Dunn
Here's a recent example.
Two weeks ago I took over a class for another Instructor. 6:00 am Thursday mornings. The previous Instructor is very solid and she teaches a cycling specific class – I've taken and subbed it multiple times, so I was a good choice to take over her class. Everyone there knows me by name and most I've known for years.
The first week was Spring break = only about 1/2 the normal attendance. It was an endurance day and I thought; “why not run them though some Effortless Exercise intervals?” I lead everyone through a series of ladders where the challenge was to keep your mouth closed (staying aerobic) – while maximising power output. I had them experimenting with different cadences to observe where they each were most efficient.
After class I asked a few participants their thoughts (I try to always ask for questions/comments) and each was positive. But as it turned out, they were lying to me 🙁
This past week was an ugly snowstorm, so again a small class. Wanting to build on the theme we did a bunch of climbing, but stayed down around VT1 = aerobic. I needed to get on the road quickly that morning, so I didn't hang around very long.
Walking to to Amy's class Saturday morning, a member approached me with; “John, you've really got to step it up!” And she proceeded to tell me how such and such's class on Tuesday is really hard and how a number of other members were disappointed by how “easy” my class was.
Finally someone willing to tell me the truth!
I can do hard and these members know it. In fact I'll bet I disappointed most of them. Beyond their (misguided) belief that a hard class always equals a good class, my reputation is that John teaches hard classes. When I didn't meet their “expectations” for hard, they probably felt cheated at some level.
In Krista Leopold's Dear Instructor post, she shared the honest disappointment of Patrick, a frustrated member. He had an expectation that wasn't met that was based on his perspective; the scheduled Instructor is totally capable of coming come to class prepared. I found the very specific honesty refreshing and I'm hoping that this Instructor will appreciate Patrick. He could very well be the only participant in his class that believes enough in him, to tell him the truth.
As a think back through this, I'm realizing that my mistake was not considering that these members would have an expectation based on their previous experiences with me and my class. I had walked in thinking; “these folks need aerobic base training… so that's what I'm going to give them.” When I should have thought; “these folks are probably thinking I'm going to walk in and crush them… so I need to meet that expectation first and then slowly work in the base training I feel they need.” As I type this I'm also realizing that ME, deciding what THEY need, was about ME and not THEM 🙁
This week I'm planning a class that will bracket a long aerobic climb, with two very long/intense FTPish intervals. I'm also going to have everyone fill out this Instructor Evaluation Form that Dr. Haley Perlus had created for us for us a while back.
I'm not quite sure how else to describe it. Catchy, invigorating and instantly (to me anyways) ID'd as a track I would Shazam. But this time I didn't need to. All it took to discover the name was walking into older daughter Abby's room and ask what she was listening to.
Quick tip: If you're ever in a music funk find a college student (doesn't need to be your own – anyone at random will work) and ask; “what are you listening to?” They're always listening to something… and some may actually be good 🙂
Chase & Status — End Credits is an interesting song. It starts out as a nice little acoustic number, with a friendly flat road tempo. But at about a minute in it gets, interesting.
I've used this track Chase & Status — Pieces in the past – another very interesting composition. In both cases you can use the flip in personality to communicate a drastic change in intensity.
If you're not seeing a download button you can use this link.
When should you go hard… and when should you take it easy?
It's a great question. Often our response depends on very subjective feelings = we may think we know, but we really aren't completely sure.
As Jim Karanas pointed out in his Intervals post this week, we are often too focused on the Work component of exercise and not enough on the Recovery.
So how can you know when your body is rested and ready for more work? Athletes have for years used resting heart rate as a measure to understand. If it's elevated above normal maybe it's time to take it easy, or if normal, time to hammer.
My guest today is Simon Wegerif, an expert on HRV and the founder of myithlete.com. Simon feels he has a more scientific method of deciding if & when your body is recovered and ready for more.
ithlete is an application for either iPhones or Androids that measures and tracks Heart Rate Variability (HRT).
We're using a new player now and iPhone & iPad users will now (finally) be able to play the Podcast directly from your device. Yes I realize it's a little ugly, I'm working on getting a better looking version.
Instructor Dave Santiago presents his Racing with Pros – Extended Criteriums class profile.
Dave teaches at the Wilson, NC YMCA – where it sounds like he's built a nice following of both outdoor and indoor cyclists.
Object and Intensity
The “The Racing with Pros” is a 60 minute profile that provides a challenge to all levels of indoor cyclists.
The profile introduces riders to criterium racing where we ride a 4 minute loop several times.
The course can be ridden in and out of the seat depending on skill level.
To measure the work effort you can use heart rate monitors, Zone Training 1 to 5, or rate of perceived exertion on the scale of 1 to 10. This is up to the instructor who knows their class and what works best for them.
For this profile I’ll explain in terms of RPE and zones.
The complete profile starting with the trial run ranges from RPE 4 to 9 or zones 2 to 5.
The premise for the profile is that the class has entered into a race that is open to all riders. The competition contains 4 skill levels of cyclists with racing intensity to match.
Dave's very active over at pedal-on.com and becasue he worked so hard preparing his profile, I wanted the maximum number of Instructors to hear his presentation.
ICI/PRO members can download the companion PDF and the One Click Spotify song list below.
