This Podcast is was originally published in 2008, I have updated it with our new Podcast host information and I am representing it now. I hope you enjoy it, Joey
Dr. Alinda Perrine, O.D., M.P.H. and Red Jersey / Master Trainer with Heart Zones USA conducted the Level 1 & 2 Indoor Cycling certification programs I completed during the Active Healthy Living conference this past weekend. I felt the program was very well presented and would prepare a new instructor to teach a very effective class.
Alinda is a true cyclist. She and her husband operate Free Spirit Adventures in Caldwell, West Virginia and she recently completed a “Ride Across America” with another ride planned for next year.
What I liked best was the emphasis on Training (which is measurable) vs. Exercising (which tends to be just wasting your time).
Instructing your participants on how to know if their body is prepared for exercise through a “Delta” test – Listen to the Podcast and see this link for more information.
Proper techniques for conducting sub maximal tests to determine Max or Threshold Heart Rates
Lots of discussion about Heart Rate specific class profiles.
Listen to the Podcast below for additional details or subscribe using iTunes or Zune.
It sounds like Spinning® studio owner Mike Porter is crushing it in Vancouver BC at Cadence Cycling Studio!
Mike's studio was visited by radio personality Margaret Gallagher from CBC Radio One.
This is the month many folks vow to “get back into shape” after a season of indulgence. Cycling can be part of a healthier lifestyle. But the winter weather can be a deterrent for many when it comes to hopping into the saddle.
Indoor spin classes are a popular way to get fit using stationary bikes. Spinning is an intense cardio workout, set to music and led by an instructor. We checked out a class at Cadence Cycling Studio.
You can hear Mike's interview and a discussion about his studio below 🙂
iPad users can click here if the player doesn't show.
Besides sporting those fabulous sideburns, Tour de France leader Bradley Wiggins is demonstrating how to climb effectively using a much faster pedal cadence than the riders that surround him. I've been counting his pedal RPM during the climbs and today as I watched, Wiggins climbed the Col de Tormalet in the high 80's. Wiggins reminds me of another successful high cadence climber – Lance Armstrong. I'm going to venture a guess that this year's presumptive winner has a similarly superhuman aerobic capacity.
Climbing hills outdoor as a group requires everyone to develop the same amount of power, relative to the combined weight of the rider and bicycle. When we discuss cuing a climb in class we shouldn't give a random wattage – I want everyone at 300 watts!!!!, but rather normalize each a rider's power output as it relates to their body weight. For example you may say; for us to stay together as a group we all need to be maintaining one watt per Lb.
How a cyclist creates power can vary by changing the two components that make up power; force (pedal torque) and speed (cadence/RPM).
The force you apply to the pedals while seated is primarily developed through muscle contractions. Yes, BIGGER muscles can create more force.
The speed that you you apply these contractions is very dependent on the availability of oxygen, which makes high RPM pedaling more a function of your aerobic system.
Wiggins vs. Evans
When you see Bradley Wiggins standing next to other riders, it's quite obvious that he doesn't posses the large muscles of many of his competitors. You may actually say that he has “skinny” legs compared to last year's winner Cadel Evans in this picture.
NOTE: If you've got people in your class who are concerned with getting “big legs” from cycling you can show them this picture. Explain that, as a professional cyclist, if Bradley Wiggins could develop the muscular size of Evan's legs, he would… but he probably can't due to his genetic makeup.
So, for Mr. Wiggins to maintain his place at the front of the peloton, while riding alongside Mr. Evans, Mr. Wiggins needs to produce the same watts per Lb (or Kg) as Cadel. No more and no less… the exact same watts per Lb. Not able to develop the same amount of force as others… he makes up for it by applying more frequent (yet smaller) forces on his pedals = higher cadence.
So – how to bring this concept into your class?
If you're teaching with power it's easy. Create a profile that calls for specific watts per Lb at varying pedal RPMs with the intent of exploring which RPM equates to the lowest heart rate, with a fixed watts per Lb. My experience is that each RPM level needs to be maintained for 3+ minutes so your student's effort can stabilize, before making a change.
But what if you don't have power?
As part of my Wine Country Audio PROfile, I added some additional information that I feel will benefit you on days where you're encouraging faster climbing cadences… but don't want everyone's pedals running away with them.
How you cue the addition of intensity is very important in an Indoor Cycling class of any format and its different dependent on the type of Indoor Cycle you’re riding.
– With any Indoor Cycle that uses friction to create the resistance I suggest adding resistance to cadence. Class is pedaling ~ 90 RPM and then add load to reach intended intensity. – If you are riding a FreeMotion S11, Keiser M3 or Schwinn AC with magnetic resistance you can add resistance to cadence or you can do the exact opposite, adding cadence to resistance. You’ve never heard that before, have you? It’s why I see magnetic resistance as being superior.
Here's why My biggest struggle (besides getting people to be quiet) is how to best communicate load in class. If you have been paying attention, you have noticed that with a friction based resistance system as you slow your cadence the pedals get heavier. We have all seen the person who was supposed to be accelerating out of a climb start bouncing like they have no resistance at all. This happens because as your student pedals faster, the added centrifugal force overcomes the fixed amount of friction, making it easier and easier to pedal, until it’s like they have no load at all. Not Good 🙁 Cycling is all about endurance. We want them to endure it! The solution is to establish leg speed and then adjust load to regulate the work they are doing.
Indoor cycles with magnetic resistance (S11, M3 and AC) work very differently. As the speed of the flywheel increases, the Eddy Currents that create the load increase as well. So these Indoor Cycles actually get harder to pedal as cadence increases, just like a real bicycle. So with these types of cycles cue your students to set their load at a slower RPM and then simply increase cadence to add intensity.
Give this a try and let me know if it helps [wlm_firstname]
In Tom's previous post he talks about watching yourself on film to identify non-verbal movements / behaviors that if changed, could improve your class.
But what if the whole camera setup and production is too much of a hurdle for you right now… how about this baby step?
Get in front of a mirror and ride…
Most of our studios are full of mirrors, and yet many of us can go weeks or even months without seeing ourselves on the bike. Why not go in to your studio early and practice teaching your class where you can see yourself in a mirror? I suggest a head-on view and then at an angle like Christine suggested. Go through all your typical motions and movements and then ask yourself:
Do I look like I belong on a bike?
Do I appear relaxed & comfortable?
When I'm faking it, does it show?
Am I setup properly? (see tomorrow's post)
Most importantly: Do I have a lot of excessive upper body movement that indicates poor pedaling technique?
If you want to appeal to cyclists I suggest that you learn to look like you ride outdoors, even if you don't. Cyclists have an eye for other cyclists that I'm guessing comes from riding thousands of miles behind or alongside other competitive cyclists. Excessive side to side movement of your head, which corresponds with each down-stroke, screams I DON”T KNOW HOW TO PEDAL CORRECTLY. The same can be said for a lot of up and down movement of your body while standing. I see this as the most importantly thing you should work to correct because I see excessive movement as a sign of poor pedal technique that will brand you as a non-cyclist.
Here's an example of what you should look like as demonstrated by the Great Eddy Merckx!
I asked Amy and she had a completely different take on the usage of mirrors:
Many of us teach facing our classes. As we consider how we look this week, I want to talk about a teaching technique called “mirroring”. Simply described, mirroring is showing our class what we want them to do in opposite. For example, if we are coaching a right turn ahead, we would indicate with our left hand, as their right is our left.
Mirroring shows a maturity in teaching and eliminates confusion to our class. At first, it takes some thought, as it is not natural to indicate a cue in opposite. I find it most challenging when I’ve got my class in a race situation and we are passing, or even when we are in a pace line and I am coaching them to the front of the line to take their turn pulling. As I coach them to, “Pull out to the left of the rider in front of them, pull up alongside, give a little wave and take the lead”, this is all done with me physically cueing on the right side of our body. I get so into it, and feel myself on the road that I have to remember to cue for them, not like it should be on the road!
So, the next time you are in front of your class, try mirroring a few simple moves. It can even just be a lean right (your left), or left (your right) to start.
I've struggled with this for years – maybe it's a guy thing, but disconnecting my body from my brain is very difficult for me. If you have any coordination I would suggest taking a few Step Classes or some other choreographed class from a good instructor to watch and see how they do this. I've watched in amazement as Amy actually mirrors Step movements, while facing her class.
Another random thought on “How you look.”
Riding out of the saddle, with your forearms resting on the bars, (aero-position) has no place in your class. Beyond being completely contraindicated, it has you looking like a dork or worse, like one of the defeated obese people you see wandering around Wal-Mart 🙁
I use this mental image to remind students that our forearms aren't designed to support us.
I had to ignore the Instructor whose class I took this week. He insisted on having us all “Up and Aero” while we climbed. No real Cyclist or Triathlete climbs in an aero position out of the saddle; you're either down low in your aero position or standing with your hands spaced wide on the bars.
Your students are watching you… and I dare say judging you in large part by what they see.
Make sometime this week and consider how you look, because that's what your class is seeing 🙂
“The trouble with becoming dependent on technology… we're then completely at the mercy of something we have near zero little control over.”
Anonymous
I learned a valuable lesson this past Thursday night > check your device to ensure your make available offline/downloaded Spotify playlists are in fact available offline/downloaded before you leave your house!
I teach two classes on Thursday's; 6:00 am and 5:30 pm and use my iPhone 4s to deliver the music via Spotify. I like to use the same playlist for both classes and teach a similar class, even though the morning class is only 45 minutes. The morning class when off without a hitch but when I tried to cue up the same class that evening – it wasn't showing as available offline. In fact none of my Spotify playlists showed as playable 🙁
Quickly thinking back to another Best Practice post > when something isn't working, your first move should be to reboot (power down) the device. No help at all. Thankfully I still had a few playlists in iTunes and was able to carry on with a class I wasn't ready to teach.
Then this morning Amy had the same problem on her Android phone. This problem isn't limited to just iPhones. Thankfully she had checked this morning and was able to download her class before heading off to teach.
The Spotify forum has a number of posts describing the problem, but no solutions. I spend some time trying to replicate the problem without success. So beyond what I've listed below, my advice for Spotify user's is to check and confirm that the playlist you will be using is in fact ready for offline use.
Always have an alternate form of music ready and waiting!
For years I had a “Rescue CD” tucked into my personal folder in the Dept Head's office. It's long gone. Today I'm burning a new one as I type this.
Have an old, unused iPod laying around? Add a few of your old iTunes playlists and throw it into your gym bag, along with a charger cord and wall transformer. I just bought a few spare cord/chargers from Amazon.com for about $5 each.
Subscribe to IndoorCyclingMusic.com‘s music podcast. These hour long mixed tracks on my iPhone have been lifesavers in the past. Because they're the actual mp3's they will be there as long as your device will turn on.
Don't forget that Indoor Cycling DVD's include a soundtrack. They might not be to your taste, but could do in a pinch when everything else fails.
As a last resort (say the studio's sound system fails completely) be mentally prepared to coach a class without music. Coach Troy Jacobson has made a fortune walking around with a clipboard and stopwatch. Sure they add a soundtrack to the finished Spinervals Cycling DVD, but there was no music playing during the taping of the episode I participated in.
You may even go so far as to prepare for a future disaster by choosing to teach a quiet class where it's just you, doing your best impression of Coach Troy > except you would be prepared in advance.
Dave Santiago's Racing with Pro's class profile may have the structure you'll need to look prepared and sounding professional.
