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Performance Cycle – FTP Assessment or 2 + 1 = a straight line

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670px-Draw-a-Straight-Line-Freehand-4

Better late than never they say. It certainly applies to this season's Performance Cycle classes – now we're in full swing after some initial confusion that came from a sudden change on GFDH's.

We kicked off this past Sunday with an assessment to find the wattage numbers we will be using going forward. I like to use very simple terminology that minimises any mathematical computations.

The week before I described how we experimented with pinning down two numbers;

… Instead I base my Life Time Performance Cycle classes on two numbers; PTP (Personal Threshold Power) and JRAP (Just Riding Along Power — AKA > Base Watts > VT1 / First Ventilatory Threshold Power). From these two rider identified threshold wattages, we can construct three meaningful power Zones;

  1. Recover zone — watts below JRAP 
  2. Perform zone — watts between JRAP and PTP
  3. Improve zone — watts above PTP

Today we added one more wattage number – their 20 minute FTP watts. As you can guess, riders should have a lower 20 min average than a 3-4 minute PTP / Best Effort and be above JRAP / Base Watts.

Wait John, you just said you only use the two thresholds in class.

What's the point of adding a third number?

Adding the third point of reference helps you draw a straighter line. At least that's what my high school drafting teacher taught me. It's much easier to draw between two distant points, if you add one in the middle = it helps you understand if you're on the right path between the two known points!

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Originally posted 2018-01-13 09:00:43.

The Weekly Ride – 02/10/20 Your 10X Stronger Than You Think

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Welcome to the The Weekly Ride by Cycling Fusion:

No more hunting for new music or counting out cues.  Here is your ready to ride document, that can be displayed from your phone, or printed out onto cue cards.  This ride is timed out, down to the second, to make your life as easy as possible!

 

Continue Reading…

Originally posted 2018-01-30 09:00:13.

Take Them On a Ride

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My approach to indoor cycling has always been to bring the qualities of cycling outdoors into the indoor cycling studio.  On one hand, there are the general qualities of fitness and condition that everyone enjoys, cyclist or not. However, there are definitely attributes of training and riding that appeal specifically to those that enjoy riding outdoors.  I thought I’d have a little fun and give you a glimpse into what goes on in my head when I design an indoor ride. Ok, maybe “fun” was not the right word and the thought of entering my head may have sent your mouse uncontrollably toward the back button. Regardless, here is taste of what goes on during an outdoor group ride and how it translates to almost every indoor ride I create (with the exception of race days).

Meet Up and Warm-Up

I’ve joked around multiple times that every good ride begins and ends at a coffee shop. That may not really be the case. The group I ride and train with on Saturday mornings meets at a local bike shop called Quad Cycles. After the usual banter, bragging and coveting of the latest gear, we roll the ride.  Everything starts at an easy pace – very conversational. Often times we are riding 2 by 2 (or 2 abreast) chatting and catching up on whatever.  You can often pick out the serious riders or those who understand proper warm-up buy their faster cadence (90-100 RPM).  Their legs are spinning fast and smooth, and the pace is easy.  After 20-30 minutes, we arrive at our first stop.  This signifies the end of the initial warm-up and time to decide what we are going to be doing for the day.

Warm-Up Part 2 and the Ride / Training Focus

Our groups can range from 12 to 60 riders depending on the weather. There are usually 2-3 ride leaders who will create smaller sub-groups and will announce what their focus will be as we continue. “Tom abi”, which is how I’m referred to (which is “brother Tom” in Turkish), “What’s the plan for today?”  I’ll let the group know the focus of what I’m planning to do, plus the distance (or time) and target speed. Each ride leader does the same and then people choose which group they want to continue riding with.

We pull out of the parking lot and begin the second part of the warm-up.  The second part of the warm-up is both more intense and more focused toward what we are planning to do.

The Route

The second part of the warm-up leads us to our route – the roads where we are going to carry out the “mission”. Maybe it is a set of hills for some climbing or a long flat road for aerobic intervals or sprints. It can also be a rolling meandering course just to get some good endurance miles and time in the saddle.  The point is, we select the road or course based on the purpose of what we want to get out of the ride.

Shut it Down

After we hit and complete the main course (pun intended), it is time to shut down and roll home easy. It’s a great time to chat and just chill on the bike. Technically we refer to this as “active recovery”. However, if the workout was designed right, shutting it down is welcome regardless of what you call it.  Now I’ve been on many group rides around the country and this “shut down” is sadly rare.  People will hammer until the last 100 feet before coming to a screeching halt at the café.  I’m fairly strict and let people know when and where we will shut it down. You’ll be surprised how much comfort it brings people when they know everything will calm down at some point. This knowledge also makes the “route” more intense. Since everyone knows the shutoff point, they are now free to really go for it during the “main course”.  Are you seeing the connection to indoor cycling? How the effectiveness of an indoor ride can be increased or hindered by how it is created or explained?

Bringing the Experience Indoors

So how does this translate to designing and indoor ride?  Well, here is how it translates to me:

(1)  Warm-Up 1 (5-6 minutes) — Easy spin to loosen up the legs, raise the heart rate and increase body heat. Explain the purpose of the ride and provide some options for people to choose from.

(2)  Warm-Up 2 (5-8 minutes) — Greater focus during the second part of the warm-up to prepare the mind, muscles, energy systems, etc. for what is ahead.

(3)  The Course (35-40 minutes) — Get down to business!  The drills. The Intervals.  The challenges.

(4)  Cool-Down & Stretch (8-10 minutes). Depending on how intense the last efforts were, we may take 3-5 minutes to cool-down and then 6 minutes to stretch. We use this time to chat again and reinforce what we experienced and ways to interpret how our body responded to the ride.

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 So there you have it.  That’s what’s on my mind when I’m designing the ride and actually riding a profile in class. If you are interested in attracting outdoor riders to your class, try to put together an experience they connect with. If you’ve never been on a group ride, take a Saturday or Sunday morning and join up with a local club or informal group.  Just don’t expect it to go down “exactly” as I’ve described above.  Those that know me, also know I like to keep things structured and well planned….a bit.

Originally posted 2017-04-03 14:12:49.

Stomps: High-Resistance, High-Intensity Intervals for Indoor Cycling (Very Cool)

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foot stomp
If you’ve done stomps in your cycling workouts, you may think I’m crazy when I say this, but I’ve always liked them. They’re extremely tough but appeal to that twisted part of me that enjoys hard training. (I know: you’ve got that part, too.)

If you haven’t done stomps, they’re designed to increase power in the saddle. I believe Chris Carmichael is generally given credit for the training, but his guidelines differ from the ones I know. The Carmichael method involves 15- to 20-second stomp intervals. Here's Chris' description at www.active.com

In Performance Max, the program created by Jim Karanas, we used 60-second intervals with a 60-second rest, and followed the format below.

A solid warm-up is essential, since stomps are difficult and can stress the knees and the lower back. Roll the legs for several minutes. Begin an alternating pattern of 2:00 of seated high cadence (110-120 rpm); 1:00 of 80-rpm standing runs; 1:00 seated with resistance at 80 rpm; 1:00 of recovery at 90 rpm. Go through the pattern several times, as your group requires. Change the order, if desired.

A stomp interval is 60 seconds; the recovery interval is 60 seconds. Allow 22 minutes for 10 stomps: a set of 5, a short break, another set. The break I used was 3 minutes total: one minute of the usual recovery after stomp #5, then 2 more minutes (sit out one stomp cycle). It’s enough, but you could go longer. Resistance during stomps is high to very high and drops during recovery. Recovery cadence is individual, but I suggest 90 to 100 rpm.

– Stomp at 80 rpm. Fatigue will tend to slow the legs, so it helps A LOT to have an 80-rpm song to beat-match. We almost always came back to Hallogallo by Neu! because it’s a pretty precise 80 rpm. The fact that it’s 10 minutes long helps sustain the energy of the training. Play it twice or change music for the second set.

– Keep the body centerline on the bike. During the stomp, don’t move side to side, as you would in climbing. Keep hands in position 1.

– Rules for a beautiful, circular pedal stroke don’t apply during stomps. Exaggerate the down-stroke and smash against the resistance, without moving the body side to side. I cue it as “punching the pedals.”

– Heart rate isn’t the point. However, there are no HR limits on this exercise, and HR can spike quite high if the rider is seriously stomping without modifying the resistance. (Intervals under 60 seconds may yield lower heart rates.)

Avoid longer stomps. One instructor used 90-second stomps, but that means easier stomping, so what’s the point? A full-out, 60-second stomp will start to bring on failure at the 50-second mark, so 90 seconds requires reduced intensity. That makes it … something, just not a stomp.

Avoid “mushy” cueing. The instructor of the 90-second stomps would cue the stomp with, “Okay, you guys, do another stomp now.” There’s NO WAY that will elicit a stomp from your riders. It will get you something, but absolutely not a stomp.

One time, the above instructor’s cue was so mushy, I actually missed the start of the interval. That simply never happened when Jim Karanas cued stomps.

So I recommend Jim’s cueing. It starts about 5-6 seconds before the stomp interval. In a firm voice, say, “And load the bike … AND … STOMP!” The slight pauses and the delivery are intended to let the word “stomp” hit the first second of the interval. Cue time during the interval — say, at 30 seconds and again with 10 to go.

If there’s a way to use some feature on the resistance knob to mark the resistance used on the last stomp, it makes things much easier than trying to re-determine resistance for each interval. Cue that reminder for your riders.

Resistance can be ferocious during stomps. Every time I do them — about 8 trainings per year in the PMax calendar — I notice that, despite growing leg fatigue as the intervals proceed, I can still raise the resistance for each stomp. Don’t ask me to explain that, but it’s too consistent to be a fluke. It even happens when I do stomp training on my own. As a result, I started cueing the riders to keep increasing the resistance so they’d get the added strength benefit.

If you use high-intensity intervals in your classes, this training could fit right in with your approach. Because the emphasis is on strength and resistance, stomps may offer variety, say, a change from speed intervals. If you try stomps, please let me know how they work for your classes.

Originally posted 2014-09-23 08:17:39.

Power, Part 3: Control and Power

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Does hosting an Indoor Century appeal to you?

By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas

Using power/watts conventionally in indoor cycling improves students’ fitness. But it’s the tip of the iceberg, a small projection of the immense power below the surface. Consider, instead, introducing the concept of effortless power in your classes.

Without the inner aspect, indoor cycling can limit students’ imagination, causing confusion and disappointment when progress wanes. The inner factors — center and intrinsic energy — provide controlled determination, calm, clarity, and an extraordinary source of power.

To get students to look at power abstractly takes patience. Pursuit of an ideal may not lead to measurable results, but enhances understanding and engages you for life.

Experiencing effortless power is possible, albeit challenging, in daily classes. Students won’t prepare adequately because outside preparation is necessary. An in-house event enables you to coach outside aspects of their lives. I like to use a 5-hour indoor century, during which the students must maintain a certain power output to cover 100 miles in 5 hours. If they don’t complete it in 5 hours, they keep riding until the odometer displays 100 miles.

During the event, minimize time off the bike. No breaks are scheduled; the goal is continuous effort. The event can be a fundraiser, but focus on preparing the riders to maintain a specified power output the entire time.

Some students will consider 5 hours impossible. Others will gear up and train for competition. Both perspectives miss the point. It needs to be viewed as a training session that reveals potential that’s difficult to realize in daily classes riddled with schedules, distractions and unconsciousness. Five hours allows students to detach from what they think is (im)possible.

A key to experiencing effortless power is being centered. Finding center requires Life Balance, which is coached pre-event. It has little to do with training.

Life Balance

Many of us experience life as hectic and frenzied. The experience of effortless power isn’t possible unless chaos becomes order, and motion comes from stillness. When coaching this, one-to-one conversations may be necessary, as individual circumstances vary. Balance needs to start with Lifestyle, then move to Nutrition, and finally to Training.

Your Lifestyle must be in order as you approach the event. Does your spouse support the time you need to train properly? Does your job allow for adequate recovery? Does your schedule permit adequate sleep? Do you have time to sit quietly and contemplate?

Nutrition follows Lifestyle. Do you have time to prepare healthful meals? Are you able and willing to remove alcohol, caffeine and sugar from your diet?

Last is Training. Is your training schedule regimented? Have you made time for ancillary training off the bike, including necessary recovery therapies?

Effortless power comes from balancing and coordinating intrinsic energy, not from endless training. On average, students won’t make all the necessary concessions, but a coach needs to move them toward simplicity and order. My experience has been: the greater the sacrifice to bring balance, the greater the experience of effortlessness.

Coordinating Intrinsic Energy

Daily workouts prepare the body for the rigors of the event. They’re also what the students are used to doing. Below are six effective trainings to help students achieve effortless power while riding. Introduce them sparingly and practice them yourself, so you can teach from experience. Some may resemble exercises you currently use. The shift lies in the intent behind the exercise and what you want the students to accomplish. Build in more of these concepts as you approach the event.

1. Ride position. Grace always accompanies effortless power. Whichever ride and hand positions you use, emphasize the discipline of maintaining proper position and transitioning fluidly. Coach conscious awareness of riding technique: Straight back. Soft elbows. No sitting up or standing unless coached. One hand on the handlebars when drinking water. Fluid transitions from one position to the next. Seated Flat Road at 90 rpm for 32 counts (use Beatmatch: match cadence to the music); 32 counts of Seated Climb at ~75 rpm (use Freestyle); 32 counts of Standing Climb at ~60 rpm (use Freestyle); 32 counts of Standing Jog at 90 rpm (use Beatmatch). Find a 90-rpm song that’s about 10 minutes long. M’Bali Jo by Pili Pili works well.

2. Pedaling technique.  To promote awareness, start each class with 10 minutes of soft-pedaling at <50 rpm, with light resistance.  Use ambient music to avoid emphasizing the downbeat, such as The Flow of Let Go by Anugama. Independent crank arms work wonders on technique but aren’t available on indoor cycles.  The KRANKcycle by Matrix is an effective substitute.  Through kinesthetic awareness, you’ll develop leg control by training your arms with independent crank arms.  Master and perfect smooth rotations by using the Split, hands exactly 180 degrees apart.  Rotations (arms or legs) must be slow (<50 rpm), with little to no resistance.  Most students will become frustrated with this exercise.

3. Cadence and power ladder. 20-minute ladders (80, 90, 100, 110 rpm), 5 minutes at each cadence. Power output ladders up, as well. Identify the specific power output (or HR) for each cadence and keep it constant. Intensity is easy to moderate. Use four songs, and Beatmatch each cadence. The following playlist works well: Salt Water Sound by Zero 7 (80 rpm), Whole Lotta Love by Vitamin Dub (90 rpm), When You’re Falling by Afro Celt Sound System (100 rpm), and Reckoner by Radiohead (110 rpm). Cadences don’t need to be exact but should show a definite progression in speed.

4. Breath/cadence integration. After warm-up, perform 20 minutes of one ride movement and hand position (Seated Flat Road is best) at easy-to-moderate intensity. Don’t change position for 20 minutes. Keep power output (or HR) constant. Keep the diaphragmatic breathing pattern (number of pedal revolutions between exhalations) constant. Keep one hand on the handlebars when drinking water. Kanga by Professor Trance (80 rpm) is perfect for this exercise. Use fast, forceful exhalations, pulling the navel to the spine, and relax the abdominals while inhaling every 4 beats. You’ll breathe 20 times per minute for 20 minutes. 400 conscious breaths is a powerful meditation. Students who stay engaged could well experience effortless power during this exercise.

5. All-terrain cruise. After warm-up, vary ride and hand positions for 20 minutes. Change cadences while maintaining a consistent power output (or HR). Select easy-to-moderate wattage or HR and keep it constant, regardless of the terrain changes. Any combination of songs is appropriate for this exercise. Don’t allow students to fall into a rhythm. Use Freestyle more than Beatmatch.

6. Limited recovery with breath/cadence integration. 30 minutes in the saddle at a constant cadence (80, 90 or 100 rpm), using two distinct power outputs or HRs (upper threshold and slightly below). Alternate 5 minutes at each power output. This is a high-intensity effort. The limited recovery should enable students to repeat the high threshold effort. Specify a breathing pattern (number of revolutions per exhale) for each effort level. You’ll need six 5-minute songs at the selected cadence (Beatmatch works best). The cadence need not be exact, but keep it the same throughout. The breath integration described above is necessary, although the rhythm might be different at this higher intensity.

Special trainings help to move students toward effortless power during the 5-hour event. One example is “90 at 90”: 90 minutes at 90 rpm at one specific, moderate power output, using integrated breathing. The discipline is not to change ride or hand positions. Drink water with one hand on the handlebars. The students’ breathing pattern, coordinated with their pedaling, will get them through this exercise with minimal adjustments. Although not mandatory, it will help students to realize effortless power on the day of the event.

The Event

Divide the 5 hours into ten 30-minute segments. Have only one instructor. Each segment should have a beginning, a close, and a defined playlist. Don’t actually break between segments, but allow students to sit up and relax, without disengaging. Quickly bring them into the next 30-minute sequence.

Video

The benefit of Forward Motion Video in this event can’t be overstated. The sensation of forward movement will better enable students to channel their intrinsic energy. That, accompanied by a change of location every 30 minutes (e.g., World-Tour Challenge videos on Myride®+), will dramatically impact students’ sense of effortless power.

This 3-part article challenges conventional thought on power in indoor cycling. Its current use solely for measurable fitness results is not sustainable long-term. Power measurement can instead develop inner balance and the awareness, and coordinated extension, of intrinsic energy, resulting in effortless power.

To learn more, read Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience and Zendurance: A Spiritual Fitness Guide for Endurance Athletes – both cited in earlier posts.

Originally posted 2012-12-17 05:22:45.

How Low is Low?

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What's your strategy here?

It's a beautiful sunny Minnesota summer day here and I was enjoying it out on my old mountain bike. One of the reasons Minneapolis is as such a bicycle friendly city are the trails running everywhere. I really enjoy these smooth gravel paths because I can spend a couple hours JRA – Just Riding Along – link to a full description without any real conscious effort of watching for cars or the other things that tend to consume you when you're out in traffic.

I used JRA to describe that first ventilatory threshold, VT1. It's the place; above chatty yet below focused effort, communicating the VT1 to the students in my class. It's a wonderful place to spend a few hours and when I'm here, working aerobically, my creative juices really start flowing.

So I'm JRA, when I came upon the sign alerting me that the trail was underwater. “Oh great, now I'm going to get all wet,” I thought. If you spend any time on the road or on a mountain bike, you know that a wet stripe up your back or soaked feet doesn't really add to an enjoyable time outside 🙁

I've ridden this trail for years. I realized that “trail underwater” typically means there's two or 3 inches of water from the surrounding swamp (I refuse to call it a “wet-lands”… it's a swamp), covering the trail. And I was right.

There are two strategies you can use to cross these little mini rivers, while staying as dry as possible; If the water's only a few inches deep the trick is to peddle as slowly as possible, minimizing any spray up your back. A little deeper and you'll be pedaling your feet through water, so you'll sacrifice I wet back to keep your feet dry. This requires a bit more finesse and can challenge your bike handling skills. You accelerate to the speed that you think you're going to need in order to coast all the way to the other edge, keeping your feet level, up and out of the water. Doesn't always work perfectly. You sometimes stall before the end and wind up doing a sort of rocking motion with your feet, engaging the freewheel through a small segment of the circle, hoping to propel your self forward, while keeping your feet out of the water and not falling over – which would defeat the whole exercise. 

The challenge is going just slow enough.

After successfully navigating the water hazard and resuming JRA, I was thinking about how we're always talking about the maximum in class; the highest, what's your threshold heart rate, find your FTP, how long can you sustain this, etc. But we rarely try to define the other side of it… how slow or low should you go?

If you've taught for any length of time you've experience the “spinner”. That person who seems to think they're accomplishing something while furiously pedaling with no resistance. Having indoor cycles with power changes that. As part of my initial orientation I give a new student, I'll have them peddle with no resistance and watch the display. On the FreeMotion bikes no resistance equals no power. And it's a wonderful illustration to help people understand the futility of peddling and not really accomplishing anything of value.

I'm not sure that I have the whole answer here so feel free to share your ideas. 

I'm a big believer that every minute of class should be of value. Just as there are times outdoors when you have to go slowly, you are being productive… still moving yourself forward.

I try to communicate this need for productivity in every class I teach. I'll frequently lament the fact that I only have them for an hour. 60 min. isn't really that long, so let's not waste our time doing nothing.

How I cue this is easier with power, but the feeling is the same. I'll have everyone start the class with zero resistance. I'll ask everyone to find a comfortable cadence and begin adding resistance. I'll explain that productivity for each of us is different, and yet if were honest with ourselves we understand when we're there. My morning classes are typically a bunch of “A” types and I'll make the comment that busy work is not the same as productive work. “Just going through the motions may give the appearance of work to others, but deep down you understand whether you're truly being productive or not.”

My feelings are that riding “productively” should bring everyone to a HR near to or right at VT1 / base of Zone three in a five Zone system.

I reinforce the need for productivity at the end of the long interval. Recovery should be productive. I'll suggest to everyone that once they have recovered to the point where they feel some calm in their breathing, they need to return to that place of productivity – catching their Heart Rate at VT1 / JRA.

There'll be plenty of time, to fully recover, once we've crossed to the other side.[plulz_social_like width=”350″ send=”false” font=”arial” action=”like” layout=”standard” faces=”false” ]

 

 

 

Originally posted 2012-05-22 08:58:38.

Recovery Required!

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In my last article entitle “Make Recovery Work” we looked at how we as instructors can efficiently use recovery time to our advantage.  Two of the main points were to use recovery as a time to provide instruction to prepare our riders for what is ahead and as a way to administer the “Recovery Litmus Test”.  The biggest question that was prompted by the article was “so how long should recovery be?”.

An Excellent Question!

Not only and excellent question, but the right question.  The subject of recovery ranks high on my “ticked off” list as an area needing much education and improvement.  This is not just an indoor cycling issue, it is a dilemma I’ve seen in training as a whole.  We live in a world of the 1-hour training block.  To take it a step further, we are constantly asking (or being asked) “HOW MUCH can we jam into 60 minutes”.  Well, as usual……it depends.

You Can’t Fake Reality

Many of us have experienced those indoor cycling classes where the instructor yells “GO!” within the first 2 minutes of the start of class and continues to pour on the intensity until the hour is up.  Recovery….eh….stretching….eh…..wipe down the bike time is also reduced to barely 2 minutes.  The goal is to “maximize” our class and our workout — squeeze the hour for what it’s worth.  What an absolute waste of a class AND a bad sales practice (what?).

Instructors and riders alike often think that if you push hard through the entire class you will gain more fitness and lose more weight (the sales pitch).  Because many have bought into this misconception, insane indoor cycling classes are still the rage (pun intended).  Enter REALITY!  The (physiological) reality is that most riders are not going to be able to hold 80-90% for an entire hour. One to 3 minutes is more like it.  And then what happens?  Their intensity decreases and decreases as their muscles continue to fatigue while their mental toughness dwindles.  After 10 minutes of this insanity (being ridiculously generous), riders are reduced to 70% of their ability.  The real fake out here is that the rider “perceives” that they are still working at 90+%.  This is where having a power meter on your bike can sprinkle a does of the real world.

Top Performance Requires Adequate Recovery

Top performance is not just for the pros.  It simply means to work at the best level of intensity for the given drill or effort.  For example, if an interval requires that we maintain 80% of our ability for 5 minutes, maintaining only 70% will not provide the needed stress and will not yield the desired benefit.  The sad part is, without recovery, our riders will never know they are getting gypped out of fitness.  To them it stills feels like (is perceived as) a hard 80% effort.

Due to the time constraints (and lack of attention span of some riders), providing the same amount of recovery indoors, as we would when riding outdoors, may be unrealistic.  But that doesn’t mean we throw out the baby with the bath water.  For example, it may be ideal to provide 5 minutes of recovery after a hard 2 minute interval. In an indoor class, recovering for that long may cause riders to mentally tune out.  Remember, we are trying to adhere to the best practices of exercise science, but not everyone in our classes are elite level athletes.  So what do we provide? Considering the indoor environment and our demographic, 3 minutes to recovery can work.  Let me provide some guidelines that may allow you to make better decisions.  Keep in mind these are just “guidelines” and there are numerous variables.

I’ll break these down by using the common cycling zones 1 to 5:

ZONE 1 — ACTIVE RECOVERY (RPE 1-2 or Easy):
This IS recovery so one should not need to recover from recovery 🙂

ZONE 2 — ENDURANCE (RPE 3-4 or Fairly Light):
Endurance efforts can generally be held for longer times (1 hour +).  In many cases, providing 1-2 minutes of recovery after an 8-20 minute steady-state endurance effort may provide more “mental” recovery than physical.

ZONE 3 — AEROBIC FITNESS (RPE 5-6 or Moderate):
Although aerobic fitness efforts can be sustained for 6 — 10 minutes by some, they can be considered very challenging for beginner and intermediate level riders.  Depending on your class demographic, I would provide 1 — 2+ minutes of recovery depending on the length of the effort.  If the duration of the effort is less than 3 minutes, 1 minute of recovery may be suitable.

ZONE 4 — SUB-THRESHOLD (RPE 7-8 or Hard):
Even though some fit outdoor riders can sustain this level of intensity for much longer, indoors these efforts are generally from 4 to 6 minutes in length and could require 2 — 4+ minutes of recovery respectively.

ZONE 5 — CAPACITY (RPE 9-10 or Extremely Hard):
These efforts can range from 30-second explosive sprints to 2+ minute anaerobic endurance efforts.  If a rider is “truly” working at capacity, 3-5+ minutes of recovery should be well received.

Like most things that involve both the human body and science, there are many variables and options.  One of them is Tabata training.  In general, Tabata training provides a shortening (starving) of recovery between high intensity efforts to increase aerobic fitness and stamina.  This type of training is best maximized by those with a higher level of fitness and should be “seasoned” into our training and not BE our training.  And DON”T use Tabata training as an excuse to provide inadequate recovery in all of your classes.  I WILL find you.

So as you can tell by my emotional state while writing this article, I’ve got issues surrounding this topic.  Over the last 15+ years of coaching, I’ve seen numerous riders put at risk from over-reaching and over-training, as well as, a general loss of fitness.  The biggest shame is that people don’t get to the fitness level they could achieve because they are working to hard to much of the time.

Give your riders Quality Training!  Give your class the Real Thing!

Originally posted 2011-10-27 11:35:42.

The Weekly Ride – 07/09/18 Strength

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Welcome to the The Weekly Ride by Cycling Fusion

Ok, this is the week that I have been working towards, this is our new era of The Weekly Ride. This week and moving forward you will get:
  • Full Ride PDF
  • Apple Music Playlist
  • Spotify Playlist
  • File to Download the Ride directly into My Fitness DJ (Yes, no Programming)
  • The Ride will be available for purchase in the iClass Builder Store (No Programming)
  • A Podcast of the ride being delivered by a master instructor.

 

Continue Reading…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Originally posted 2018-07-13 07:50:10.

The purpose of openers

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ICI/PRO member question from ICI/PRO Podcast #203 Cycle Strong Audio PROfile

What exactly should the “openers” in the warm-up consist of? In Tom's “Getting Started with Intervals” audio profile, he described them as 30 seconds of maximum effort followed by 30 seconds of recovery, which to me sounds the same as the first Muscular Strength interval in this audio profile (30s effort/30s recovery). I would appreciate help understanding the difference.

As always, I greatly appreciate the audio profiles!!! And Marc, thank you for the playlist suggestions!

Kristi

Kristi,

Thanks for you question. It is a good one. Many people don't understand the purpose of openers and thus never do them or benefit from them. Simply, they are all-out, maximum efforts for the prescribed period of time (openers can be different lengths depending on their purpose and what one is preparing for). How do we define the “all-out” maximum effort? Think of it as the most resistance you can use at the highest cadence. I would recommend a cadence of 85 RPM or greater (I personally prefer 100+ RPM). You should find yourself through into the high-end of Zone 5!

So what's the difference between the openers and muscular strength efforts? The muscular strength efforts are limited by the cadence. In order to more effectively develop strength in the legs, the cadence needs to be slower (60-70 RPM) in order to provide the necessary stress (I.e. Force) on the muscle. This in many cases will not produce the highest heart rates (but pretty high). Simply put, what is the most resistance/stress/force I can place on my legs at for example, 60 RPM.

Openers push every limit for a short period of time in an attempt to activate systems such as your anaerobic energy pathway and lactate buffering. If you prepare and active these systems BEFORE the structured part of the workout, the body will not be behind the 8-ball and will respond more consistently and repeatedly.

Does this answer your question?

Cheers, Tom.

Originally posted 2017-03-28 09:04:06.

The Weekly Ride – 02/26/18 February Race Day!

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Welcome to the The Weekly Ride by Cycling Fusion:

No more hunting for new music or counting out cues.  Here is your ready to ride document, that can be displayed from your phone, or printed out onto cue cards.  This ride is timed out, down to the second, to make your life as easy as possible!

 

Continue Reading…

Originally posted 2018-02-27 15:16:59.

“Your Class Was Great But Your Music Sucks!”

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Last week I was asked to sub a couple of classes for another instructor and friend.  It was at a club that I used to teach at and where I still knew a number of the members.  I always like teaching at this particular club because the riders throw out some good energy and appreciate a structured workout — my specialty.  Since I was going to be covering both the 9:30am and 12:30pm timeslots, I decided to bring my laptop and camp out in the lounge area between classes to get some work done.

The energy of the 9:30am class was great and the room was full.  I taught on and off the bike walking around the room to encourage riders I hadn’t seen in a while and meet some new faces.  After class, a few people hung out.  I also took the time to make a few adjustments to the bike setup of a couple of riders.  It was definitely one of those classes that often gives you (the instructor) more back than one feels was given.  I left energized and refreshed and was now looking forward to the 12:30pm class.

I settled down in the lounge area and fetched myself a cup of complimentary coffee.  As I was checking emails and eating a Pop-Tart (yes, I got grief for that – “What, Coach Tom Scotto is eating junk food”) one of the riders approached my table and asked if she could interrupt me.  Sure, I love talking with people at the club and particularly about cycling. These were her exact words: “Your class and workout was great, but your music sucks”.  She said it in such a genuine, yet straight-forward way, that I could do nothing but smile.  “Wow, that is quite a range of feedback.  Would you mind bridging the gap for me?  What did you like and why such a strong response to the music?”

She sat down and told me how the workout was perfect and how she felt the exact challenge I had presented during the intro.  She remembered each of the drills and told me her heart rate ranges for each.  I was quite impressed with her detail and assessment of how she felt during each effort.  “So what’s up with the music?” I said.  She said it was just awful.  “I hate all of that electronic stuff”.  Now I was quite certain the instructor I subbed for played very similar music, so I asked what she thought of the music the regular instructor plays.  “Oh, his music is terrible too.  I can’t stand that electronic junk”.  She told me she liked popular music with vocals.  I asked her how she was able to make it through the entire class with that brutal noise.  She said that, although she hated the music, it somehow fit the flow of the class and matched the workout. “I just focused on what we were supposed to be doing and blocked out the music”.

I thought this was very interesting.  How could someone who had such a violent reaction to the music actually enjoy a class — to the point where her overall assessment of the class was “great”.  Being a musician, I’m particularly sensitive to music and would find it hard to enjoy a class if I “hated” the music.  Her feedback demonstrated the importance of delivering sound training. It is so important that a 50% Great plus a 50% Sucks stills equals “great”.

Now I don’t think she was speaking to the soundness of the “physiological training concepts”, but what I took away from her comments was that she appreciated the thought and structure that went into designing the class.  I thought this was great news.  As a coach, I have all kinds of workouts just waiting to pour out of my head.  The challenge is always the music.  It can take me hours to pull together just the right songs.  So, as I said, this is good news.  It doesn’t mean we don’t have to focus on the music, but if we take the time to put together a sound workout, it can overshadow our music choices.

So what does this really mean for us?  It is a call for each of us to take the time to design a solid ride profile.  How much time and effort do we take to construct our workouts or rides or whatever we call them?  Could your profile stand on its own WITHOUT music?  Wow, that’s a challenge!  I’m sure there is quite a bit more that we can pull out of this experience, but I’m more interested in hearing your feedback and thoughts?

I’m off to download some new music.  Apparently, my tunes suck.

Originally posted 2011-04-15 15:03:17.

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