While it may seem redundant to say, most indoor bikes do not move. Please, stop and think about that for a moment. We are not talking about forward motion or distance, of course an indoor bike does not move forward. But what about the other motions that are involved in cycling.
When a rider is out of the saddle, most riders sway the bike from side to side a bit. Why does this happen? Generally, it is the mechanical reality of the situation due to applying extreme power to each pedal. Since the pedals are not on the centerline of the bike, applying a large force to the right pedal will, physically speaking, apply a rotational force that pushes the top of the bike to the right and the bottom of the bike to the left. Without this counterbalancing motion, the wheel would kick out to the side. By swaying the bike in the opposite direction, the amount of force that can be applied to the pedals is increased without crashing.
The second primary aspect of swaying the bike is that it allows the rider to engage their upper body (especially core and arms) into the movement which increases power.
Take a moment and watch some of the pros race, they only have about a 12 degree sway; less than most avid riders. This is due to their efficiency and power.
The last aspect of swaying the bike is that it allows the rider to more thoroughly align their biomechanics with the work that is being done. By tilting the bike, the rider is able to keep the leg that is driving down with a majority of the force in alignment lessoning the outward lateral stress on the joints.
With the exception of a few new bikes on the market, most indoor bikes do not provide movement side-to-side, and none of them replicate the true motion of an outdoor bicycle. Because of this limitation, instructors must emphasize relaxation when riding and allow gentle upper-body movement. Attempting to maintain a still upper body can place the spine and surrounding muscles at risk from the forces being generated by the legs.
John, you absolutely need to interview this new customer of our's in Boston… she's only 25 years old and it sounds like her Indoor Cycling Studio is really doing well!
I was talking with Gina Perrault from MINDBODY Online last month, at their conference in LA. I had asked her if she knew of a studio owner with an interesting story to tell.
A few days later Gina connected me with Jessica Bashelor (now 26 – she had a birthday last week) and her Handle Bar Cycling Studio in South Boston.
Jess is The Handle Bar's owner and manager. She grew up a competitive swimmer and developed a love for fitness at an early age. Attending college at Northeastern University, Jess discovered her love for group exercise, specifically indoor cycling classes. Now, 7 years later, Boston is Jess' home and cycling is her passion. An avid music lover and listener, Jess is motivated by rhythm, calmed by acoustics, and touched by the lyrics of songwriters old and new. She opened The Handle Bar to offer classes with the intensity she craves, set to playlists composed with care. Jess rides to house music, hip hop, and heavy rock… Her classes are crafted to challenge riders physically, and inspire them to achieve greatness both on and off the bike.
If you're running or contemplating opening a new studio, Jessica shares some excellent ideas about understanding your customer demographic and connecting with them. Her studio's blog regularly features participants > a great way to make people feel valued and appreciated – not to mention they share these with all of their friends 🙂
You can listen below or find this episode + over 100 more on your portable device by
I’ll switch gears from my recent posts on using public speaking techniques to enhance our teaching to talk about what we say. In The Art of Cueing, I discussed the use of cues to bring depth to the class and make it more than just a workout. Cues concerning the science, the music, the video, your personal experience, even philosophy can make your class more interesting and more impactful.
Philosophical cues are the most difficult to incorporate. Instructors don’t typically cover philosophy when they teach because they don’t think people want to hear it, or they don’t feel comfortable talking about it. Someone who doesn’t teach might say the first is true. But maybe that person hasn’t yet heard a well-delivered philosophical message and is just uninformed.
I understand not feeling comfortable talking about it and will address that later.
Adding philosophy to a class so it doesn’t sound like preaching is what I call “messaging.” A class without messaging is just a workout. It might even be a good one. But the instructor’s power will weaken over time, just like playing the same workout video over and over. It diminishes with no message. All the public speaking techniques in the world can’t compensate for a class that lacks substance.
Unforgettable lyrics are unforgettable because they send a message. A public address goes viral on YouTube when it sends a message. Messaging will touch a person’s life beyond the great workout you just delivered and compel him/her to come back to your class again and again.
What’s a message? Any life concept that you bring to the class and that can be experienced in the class as result of the training you’re providing. A couple of examples:
Focus
Coaches often tell you to “stay focused” but rarely tell you how. Focus is not simply directing your attention to what you’re doing. That leads to thinking. Thinking will weaken focus. Focus is complete engagement in what you’re doing. A focused mind pays no attention to distractions. Fast descending takes focus. If you’re not 100% engaged and non-reactive to distractions, you might crash. How do you train yourself to be this way — not just during a dangerous descent, but right now, so you get the most from your workout? That’s the essence of our class today.
Motivation
Something that happens outside of you that you consider “motivating” is not a strong incentive. You might see someone overcome great adversity or hear a story that strikes a personal chord with you and feel filled with motivating energy. These external motivations work temporarily, but have far less impact than motivation you generate by yourself. I want you to look at motivation as something personal. Then you have the ability to train and get better at it. You can train yourself to be motivated the way you train anything else.
When you understand how to do this, motivation is endless, limitless. The only time you won’t feel motivated is when it’s a personal choice, and you’ll recognize it as such. You’ll no longer look to me or to anyone else to motivate you to train. You’ll rise to the occasion again and again because you’ve trained yourself to do so. I’ll show you how to do this in today’s workout.
As an instructor, all you have to do now is deliver a physical practice (the day’s ride) that delivers the results you just promised to deliver in your message. If I’ve enticed you, and you want to learn how to focus or be consistently motivated, the solution is simple: Come to my class. That’s the power of good messaging.
The messages you can deliver are many: how to engage fully, how to sense meaning, how to expand your concept of what you can do, how to sense your life energy, how to direct it, how not to react to adversity, how to develop discipline, how to go beyond hope and fear, and on and on.
How do you, as an instructor, learn to deliver these messages, both verbally and physically? First, you must want to. Second, you must become a student of philosophy. You study and you ride, and you bring the lessons that you learn from your study to the bike, and then to class.
I have a small library of what I call my “Life Books”. These are about 10 books that I have found extremely helpful. I’ve read each of them dozens of times. A good philosophical book is one you immediately realize you need to reread. My first Life Book was Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives. It was the first book to encourage me to approach my training from a conscious perspective. I have several copies with dog-eared pages and many handwritten notes throughout.
Physical movement has been part of spiritual training for thousands of years. It was not meant to provide exercise. Daily activity was supposed to do that. Keep a conscious attitude, go beyond the workout, and deliver a message every time you teach.
The Yellow Jersey Bicycle Insurance company is promoting their service with this very cool infographic about the Yellow Jersey, worn by the leaders of the Tour de France. As they are a UK company, it's fitting that they are highlighting past British riders who have worn the Yellow Jersey. If you follow professional cycling you're aware of how utterly dominate Team Sky / British Cycling has been over the past two years. More excitement will follow for sure 🙂
I teach indoor cycling at multiple facilities in the Denver area but I spend most of my work week at Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club. Greenwood is my “home club”. This is where I'm a personal trainer, teach indoor cycling, HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) classes, CVI (Cardio Vascular Interval Training) classes, I've been a Master Swim Team coach, a Triathlon Team coach, I'm one of the Race Directors for the annual Tri-Our-Village Kids Triathlon and the Roadless Century Coach and Lead for the annual Roadless Ride fundraiser to benefit Brent's Place.
Greenwood is considered one of the best athletic clubs in the country. They do a lot of things VERY well. The facility is kept immaculately clean, they have the latest and greatest equipment and vast and diverse group exercise program with some of the best instructors in the Denver area. I could go on and on about what they do well, but there are plenty of facilities that are clean, big and have plenty of offerings, let's talk about something they do differently.
Greenwood is the only facility that I have every worked in that has, PAID, semi annual ALL STAFF meetings. There are some things that cannot be expressed in an e-mail or newsletter. There is something powerful and unifying about the ENTIRE staff gathering TOGETHER hearing the EXACT SAME message coming directly from the facility owner and general manger.
Our first All Staff meeting of 2016 took place last Thursday. The most exciting announcement, for me, was replacement of our Spinner Blade Ion indoor cycling bikes with the new Stages SC3 bike. This will take our, already stellar, indoor cycling program to a whole new level!!!!!!! I felt the most memorable segment of this meeting was when the video I've posted below was played. Watch, listen and know that your actions are powerful.
If you've followed indoorcycleinstructor.com for any length of time you know that I'm a huge fan of the 2T/3Z method of Heart Rate training which is the basis for Zoning. That simple Blue/Yellow/Red response from my Blink Heart Rate monitor is (to me) the perfect way to introduce zone based heart rate training into your class.
Here's some proof of it's success – OK it's a bit rough, but Diana presents a powerful truth that Zoning has worked for her in this video. Your students are in your class to lose body fat and Diana losing 100 pounds and finishing the Danskin Triathlon is a testament to the effectiveness of 2T/3Z Heart Rate training.
r bike does not move forward. But what about the other motions that are involved in cycling.
John, you absolutely need to interview this new customer of our's in Boston… she's only 25 years old and it sounds like her Indoor Cycling Studio is really doing well!
It was the first book to encourage me to approach my training from a conscious perspective. I have several copies with dog-eared pages and many handwritten notes throughout.
