Which do you teach – Movement or Intensity Based Classes?

by John | Apr 16, 2020 | Instructor Training, Master Instructor Blog

Remember these?

This question from a prospective ICI/PRO member got me thinking today, while out on my early AM training ride…

I'm interested in signing up for your programs, but I have a few questions about the information that is received.   When you receive the classes, are there instructions included with how to teach each song; meaning what to do when?

Good question.

I answered her saying that the majority of our Audio Class Profiles are Intensity based – segments of time at a specific level of effort defined by RPE, HR Zone or Power/Watts.

After I hit send I started to reconsider my response – are our profiles mainly intensity based? So I took a one of our most popular profiles (Welcome to the Jungle from Krista Leopold) with a specific focus on how much movement/position/cadence change she had included.

It turns out not much… here's what I found in the PDF download.

Krista's introduction is all about intensity:
Welcome to the Jungle is a high-intensity class. For the student, the prescribed intensity gradually increases from below threshold to maximum effort, which is advisable only for students with previous experience and solid fitness levels. Just as in any class, new and deconditioned students will be coached to ride only where they feel comfortable. This ride is best taught to a group that you already know, and is not a ride to use on a day when you are subbing or just starting out in a new setting. Ideally, you would have announced it in advance so that they are prepared and rested for it. Instead of using heart rate numbers for this ride, we will rely on good ‘ole RPE. You and your students will benefit from having 1-10 scale RPE chart displayed. We will work through four rounds of intervals separated by a complete recovery. Each round will increase in intensity and the recovery time will decrease.

Page two includes this:

For all of the work efforts I recommend the Spinning® movement called “Running with Resistance,” but any movement can be substituted. Running with Resistance is particularly effective because it is a move that is specifically done for short periods. It allows you push a higher resistance at a higher intensity in a way that is different from a sprint. Done correctly, you can easily push your heart into the high end anaerobic zones.

In the description for song #2

Toward the end of the warm-up, we will accelerate as we leave the saddle, almost like jumping,
to finish raising our exertion to right around 6 on the RPE scale.

Then there are a few random suggestions:

It’ll be a fun, high-cadence climb that will be as easy or
as hard as they want it to be.

For this final effort you are mostly cheering them on, reminding them that their cheering squad is
cheering them on, and giving them their starts and stops. Be very clear with every start and stop (of the Tabata intervals) because you don’t want them to miss it. I find that a “3-2-1-Stop” countdown at the end of every
segment helps them by giving them a regular pattern to follow.

Krista's Welcome to the Jungle Quick PROfile only includes one reference to movement
Created by: Krista Leopold, aka GroupFitPower
Training Type: High-Intensity Intervals Working HR Zones: Zones 4-5c
Total Class Length: 60 minutes
Warm-up: 12 minutes Start with a long warm-up to help settle them in. After 8-9 minutes, bring them out of the saddle to get them energized.
1:3 Intervals Round: 11 minutes 30 seconds “Hard” (RPE 7) + 90 seconds “Moderate” repeated 4 times, followed by complete recovery of 2 minutes.
1:2 Intervals Round: 9 minutes 30 seconds “Very Hard” (RPE 8) + 60 seconds “Moderate” repeated 4 times, followed by a complete recovery of 3 minutes.
1:1 Intervals Round: 10 minutes 30 seconds “Very, Very Hard” (RPE 9) + 30 seconds “Moderate” repeated 4 times, followed by a complete recovery of 6 minutes.
2:1 Tabata Intervals: 4 minutes 20 seconds “All-Out Maximum” (RPE 10) + 10 seconds “Moderate” repeated 8 times.
Cool Down and Recovery

After reviewing a few more it appears that I was right, our profiles are primarily intensity (not movement) based. But is that a good thing?

Wasn't the original Johnny G programming nearly all movement based? Jim Karanas made some interesting points about movement based classes in his Non-Authentic Indoor Cycling post.

It won’t last. Silly trend. Dance parties on bikes with music videos can’t last. You can’t even call it training. It’s just physical movement, not sure it’s even considered exercise. It’s totally without direction.

And yet SoulCycle is packing them in and as near as I can tell they're using a whole lot of movement in their classes.

Jim ends his post with this:

If non-authentic IC is going to make a mark, why not embrace it for what it is — a way to train on the bike that makes (some) people fit and happy?  Assuming it’s validated as safe and effective (ICG has already contacted the American Council on Exercise and proposed a study), then shouldn’t every indoor cycling education body offer a program on how to teach non-authentic indoor cycling?  Why shouldn’t any and every indoor cycling program be taught by those who are truly qualified to teach indoor cycling?  That would be the likes of us.  We know indoor cycling best.  We could create a program — inauthentic fluff, if you will — that’s still authentic in its safety, structure and cardiovascular benefit.  Why not?

Could the solution, that many of us are looking for, be as simple as just sprinkling some fun movement into a solid profile that's intensity based?

Originally posted 2013-07-17 12:22:34.