NOTE: I'll be publishing what I believe are the 10 Myths of Indoor Cycle Rider Setup / Bike Fit on Wednesdays each week, starting today with:
Myth #1 – It's proper, for you the instructor, to cue people to draw in their knees.
I cringe whenever I hear; “OK people, now I want everyone to bring in your knees!” because, for most of the riders in class, everyone's knees are already where they need to be. Please note that I didn't say where they should be, but where they need to be based on a number of different factors. Some are based on how the rider is fitted to the cycle and some are because…
Indoor Cycles are perfectly symmetrical – Humans, not so much…
You can find dozens of books and multiple business who focus on the art of fitting an imperfect cyclist to a perfect bicycle. Discussions of Leg Length Discrepancies, Feet Pronation, Q Factor and Cycling Shoe Cleat Wedges are beyond the scope of an Indoor Cycle Instructor helping a student with setup.
But there is one aspect of Indoor Cycle setup that has a huge influence on knee position, and yet is universally ignored*- foot alignment.
Take a minute and try his test on yourself: Stand on a smooth floor wearing your socks. Feet shoulder width apart, with a soft bend in your knees (like you should have on the bike). Now transfer the majority of your weight to the balls of your feet (like you're standing on the pedals) and rotate your heels inward. Notice where your knees go?
For most of us they move out, did they for you [wlm_firstname]?
Now let's see what happens when you arbitrarily decide; “my knees are sticking out, I need to bring them in.” Go to the same position as before; soft bend, heels in, but now bring some of your weight back to your heels which will prevent your feet from moving (similar to how the pedal cages or cleats fix the position of your feet) and try to bring your knees in. What happened?
Because everything is connected (you remember the song; foot bone's connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone's connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone's connected to the knee bone, etc…) the position of your knee is exactly where it needs to be, based on your position on the cycle. If you have a student with improperly adjusted shoe cleats (or too low a saddle) and you tell them in your BIG INSTRUCTOR VOICE; “I want everyone to bring in your knees during this crushing 11 minute climb!” you could potentially hurt them over time. Worse, cause them to ignore the true reason their knees are out which for many people is simply having their heels rotated inward – like my buddy Randy demonstrates below.
Heels rotated in forces knees out
Feet aligned forward bring knees over pedal 🙂
There's actually a Sub- Myth here; the objective of proper bike fit isn't to just “bring in your knees”. The objective is to get your knee pushing directly down on your pedal = the most efficient transfer of power with the least amount of stress on the most vulnerable joint in the system – your knees. We live in a three dimensional world, not two 🙁 So when while helping a student get set up, be sure to observe them from the front, as well as from the side.
So what to do and/or cue as the Instructor?
Jim Karanas gave us a beautiful cue during a class I took last week in San Francisco. He had us down in the drops (I realize your cycle may not have drops – Spinning Instructors can read this as comfortably in position 2) and asked that we look down and we should see our knees in the space between our arms. Nothing more. He was simply suggesting that we observe what was happening.
You haven't heard it yet, but I will be publishing an interview with Jay Blahnik in December where he makes a similar point about suggesting your students observe something and then let them act on it.
You may also pay attention to what you see in your students and identify excessive foot rotation. But be careful – some people are naturally very duck footed (or whatever the opposite of pigeon toed is where you live) so my suggestion is to ask “did you have someone set up your cleats? This may give you a clue to if they put any thought or care into attaching their cleats. You could also have them stand naturally in their socks on a smooth floor to see if there's anything weird and refer them to your local bike fit expert if necessary.
*There are 100's of YouTube videos explaining a multitude of different ways to properly fit someone to an Indoor Cycle, but not one that I'm aware of makes any comment or suggestions as to foot position and it's effect on knee position / alignment. Even the Spinning® Fit System ignores this topic beyond “… the cleats must be adjusted properly on the shoe. A good bike shop or bike fit specialist can help with this if needed.” What “adjusted properly” means remains a mystery.
Staying on the cutting edge of Indoor Cycling 2.0 is very exciting… and very demanding! The ICI/PRO Team is continually searching for new and innovative ways to educate our ICI/PRO members about the latest developments in fitness and Indoor Cycling.
The introduction of Power to many of our classes brings with it a number of challenges to delivering our training resources in an audio format. But have no fear! Master Instructor Cameron Chinatti has has created a wonderful two part video presentation of her It's not easy staying green class profile. We will be publishing part two next week.[!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']
Here is Cameron's Spotify Playlist and Deezer – here song choices are noted in the video.
As a followup to my original article; save money on your smart phone with savelovegive.com, I received a call from Anthony, a very nice representative at Verizon Wireless, in response to the email request sent on my behalf from savelovegive.com.
Anthony told me that he's been seeing and responding to a lot of similar savelovegive.com requests.
Dear John,
It was a pleasure speaking with you today. I am very glad that I was able to provide you with information regarding switching to the Share Everything plan. I was able to process your request to switch to the 4 GB plan and it will become effective on February 8, 2013. Also, if you are interested in making money on your old Verizon Wireless devices, you can go to www.verizonwireless.com/tradein and appraise your old phone to see how much you can receive from us for it. You will also have the option to donate your old device to HopeLine and help victims of domestic violence.
Thank you for being the best part of Verizon Wireless. Have a great day and I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Sincerely,
Anthony
Verizon Wireless Customer Service
It turned out that we had a data plan that was larger than we needed or were using. The net result is that I'll save $8 a month. Not a lot but as I explained Amy keeps close watch on these things. It can't hurt for you to check your billing to confirm that you are spending the minimal amount for your wireless service. It could surprise you.
P.S. I did go back and donate the entire $102.00 to The Seven Bar Foundation. I'm confident that the will put it to better use than I will 🙂
The Manx Cycling Club on The Isle of Mann has created some incredible cyclists who have contributed to the recent success of British Cycling. The “Fasted Man on Two Wheels” World Champion / Tour multi stage winner Mark Cavendish (they call him “Sir Mark Cavendish” now) and Olympic Cycling Gold Medalist Peter Kennaugh Jr. are both Manxmen.
So how, with only 80,000 people living on this tiny island, do they turn out cyclists of this caliber?
I thought you'd be interested to know 🙂
So I contacted Peter Kennaugh Sr. – Head Coach and Director of 3LC.tv (he's also Peter Jr's father) to learn a few of their secrets – many of which you can learn through the series of Turbo Trainer / Indoor Cycling DVDs and training plans they offer and potentially apply them to your classes.
Peter's approach as a virtual cycling coach, is to focus on cadence during indoor training sessions, rather than HR or wattage. He has some compelling arguments that he shares during our discussion.
Why could this be of value to you as an Indoor Cycling Instructor?
Speciality Performance Based Indoor Cycling Classes will be next evolution of Indoor Cycling 2.0. Serious endurance athletes are recognizing that many of our classes have moved beyond Aerobics on Bikes and we are now offering results driven training thru specific metrics like HR and Watts. These people are looking for coaches to help them train effectively and in time, clubs/studios will be looking for Instructors who can also coach.
Motivated Instructors will have an opportunity here. ICI/PRO is committed to providing you with the resources you'll need to make the transition.
Another Contest!
At the end of the interview Peter offered to send a lucky listener a pack of their DVDs and training plans. You can enter by leaving a comment below and we will draw a name after the 10th of this month.
Saw this posted on Facebook and just had to share it. The author, Victoria, is a triathlete, runner and fashion blogger at alltheshoesfit.com – she's also a raving fan of GRIT Cycle in Costa Mesa, California.
TOP 10 SIGNS YOU’RE ADDICTED TO YOUR SPIN CLASS
You plan your entire week around the spin class schedule.
You’ve lost interest in designer clothing and shoes and are suddenly obsessed with seeking out the latest “on trend” spin leggings.
The mere thought of your favorite instructor switching schedules, going on vacation or (god forbid) leaving, throws you into a tail spin.
Whenever you hear a new song you immediately categorize it by BPM and if it would be a sprint, climb, or push and tap song.
You'll find the rest of Victoria's 10 signs you are addicted here.
GRIT Cycle was a project of Barbara Hoots from Indoor Cycle Design. One of owners is Marisa Wayne, daughter of The Duke – actor John Wayne. I haven't been there myself, but the place sounds like it incorporates Barbara's usual attention to detail – described here in an earlier post from Victoria:
These guys did it right from the moment of conception to the day they opened the doors and they continue to do it right. Nothing is an afterthought. Every attention to detail has been carefully planned and executed. The saddle room (more about the name later) has wide sliding glass doors that open to a deck with lounge furniture where you can bask in the sun before or after class. You may be temporarily blinded to the fact that you are about to work your ass off and think you are at a resort in Palm Springs, the only thing missing being the pool.
Notice that these are custom painted Schwinn Performance AC Indoor Cycles and the Instructor bike on the stage is a unique color.
