I hate math, especially when I'm forced to do quick calculations in my head.
Figuring (forgive the pun) that many other people dislike math, I won't ask anyone to do any calculations in my classes. For example, I would never cue something to the effect of;now I need everyone at 85% of AT for one minute… and then we'll push up to 95% for the final 30 seconds! Against a background of loud, pounding music, at that point I've got my head up and I'm mouthing to you:
Wait… what are you asking me to do?
Won't do it. 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;[wlm_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']
Recover zone – watts below JRAP
Perform zone – watts between JRAP and PTP
Improve zone – watts above PTP
That's all I need to coach and cue an easily understandable class, to a variety of riders. Regulars include committed endurance athletes, Cat 2 cyclists (A group riders), weekend warriors (B group) and lots of; “I'm not training for anything John… I just like your class” regular folks.
Using these three simple zones makes the cuing each task much easier to communicate and, without a lot of numbers and percentages flying around the room, much more actionable by my riders.
Now I need everyone in the upper part of their Performance Zone for one minute… and then we'll push up to the Edge of your threshold the final 30 seconds!
This is an expanded version of Dennis Mellon's Below/@/Above threshold cues he uses and similar to the well documented heart rate based concepts that makeup the Zoning Program.
Using this system to cue wattage intensity, I've successfully taught this class for past two years – this is our third on the FreeMotion S11.9 Indoor Cycles. We do not have a Display Training system like Performance IQ or Spivi to project rider metrics on a screen and/or do the “math” for you to display percentage based power zones. The numbers on the console are what we have to work with.
Over this times I have had numerous (dozens maybe) participants thank me for NOT using percentages of “something” to communicate intensity levels of heart rate or wattages. That makes me happy and it really simplifies my job as the Instructor/Coach > Coach is a much better description of my role in these classes training sessions as I will typically ride side by side with them, rather than up front in the normal Instructor position.
NOTE: I still have control of my music when I'm riding with the group. See this post about using an inexpensive bluetooth receiver so your iPhone is wirelessly connected to the sound system.
Today's 75 minute session > Pinning Down Two Numbers
I you look at the song lengths of my playlist you'll quickly understand the class format >
A long (9-13 minute) song where we play around finding JRAP / Base Watts
Followed by a short (3-4 minute) track where we explore PTP
Rinse and repeat
The first track is of course a warm up that includes 3-4 x 30 second accelerations / openers near the end to get everyone ready to work.
Track #2 – the first PTP track is important. We'll use this average wattage for each of the four PTP efforts to follow. Everyone seemed to enjoy Billy Idol — Rebel Yell – 1999 – Remaster – maybe suffered a bit as well. At 4:47 there's plenty of time to explore PTP. We use the Stage button to reset the averages at the beginning of what I describe as; Your Best Sustainable Effort. It's normal for riders to miss-judge where they should be, so I'll often have everyone make needed adjustments and hit the Stage button again to reset the averages.
Track #3 is for finding JRAP / Base Watts. The very recognisable Peter Frampton — Do You Feel Like We Do – Live is perfect for this. We used the first few minutes of the long track to recover and then begins of dialing in the wattage that has everyone at JRAP/Base Watts. It's fast @ 108 RPM – I don't demand they follow it exactly, encouraging cadences above 90RPM. With one hand on the resistance knob, we add / subtract load in small increments… and then wait for our breathing response. I cue the feeling where you're just above “chatty” = you are first noticing you'd prefer breathing through your mouth.
My own unscientific research has be seeing JRAP / Base Watts ~ 65-70% of PTP. Sorry, there are those damn percentages I hate > I offer that just for your perspective.
If using VT1 / First Ventilatory Threshold Power or heart rate is new for you this series of posts have a bunch more detail. This video from ACE does a great job demonstrating VT1 / First Ventilatory Threshold.
I get questions; John, they're talking about heart rates here, not power, so how does this apply?
Heart Rate BPM's are just an indication of effort (how hard you're working). Watts are the same. You work “X Watts” hard, it feels like “Y RPE” and your HR is “Z BPM”. Does that make sense? It doesn't need to be any more complicated than that. Remember, I hate math 🙂
Rinse & Repeat
Self direction is a key component of how I coach my Performance classes. After all, I'm not going to be there with them on the road. So once everyone understands the drills and what what they're supposed to accomplish, I pretty much turn them loose.
Please let me know if you use this > or your questions.
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]
Scosche RHYTHM+ Heart Rate Monitor Strap works with ANT+ and BLE devices and consoles.
I'm thinking this new Scosche RHYTHM+ Heart Rate monitor strap could be the best I've ever tested – for a bunch of reasons that include removing what I feel has always been one of the biggest objections to wearing a HR strap.
Despite all of our collective efforts explaining the benefits of training in specific heart rate zones, we're lucky if we have 30% of our participants monitoring their heart rate. I know that some classes are better than that, but based on all of the surveys I've done in the past that's about where we are.
Why?
If I put on my salesman's hat, I know that people don't buy a product or service for lot's of reasons. Salespeople call these objections. If you want to make the sale, you typically need to remove or minimise the prospect's objections; who in this instance is our class participant.
So what are the often stated objections?
No interest – it's almost impossible to sell anything to someone with no interest.
Too expensive – for relatively lowpriced objects like an $80 HR monitor, the selling price objection is often masking some other issue – or – means the prospect isn't seeing enough benefit.
Too complicated – do the manufactures of HR monitors actually use their own products? Setting the typical Polar watch is needlessly complicated. I've gotten to the point where I refuse to help people set their HR watches before or after class because I can't get sucked into a 30 minute project where, more often than not, I'll fail. See #5
Too confusing – as an industry, with all of the branded zone based training systems, we've made heart rate training impossibly confusing for new participants. IMO if you're talking about anything more than three zones based on thresholds, you've lost many of your club athletes. See #5
Too stressful – It's stressful to me when I'm offered a coupon the grocery store, good for my next visit. Why? Because then I'll have to remember the coupon the next time I'm there – which I won't when the cashier asks me; “do you have any coupons?” Our members aren't any different than me or you: getting to class on time is stressful enough. I don't need the added stress of remembering my HR monitor… finding both of my shoes is tough enough. See #8 for the source of even more stress.
Willful ignorance – face it, there are people in your class who want to believe they're burning 1,000 calories in a 45 minute class, where they don't break a sweat. You'll never sell these people on any form of performance measurement (these are the peeps who cover their power console so they can't see their wattage) unless you're running a special on unicorn spit detox syrup.
Uncomfortable – the old versions of hard plastic HR chest straps were very uncomfortable. The new soft straps are an improvement – but they are still not pleasant to wear. Many women won't even think of wearing a HR strap for anatomical reasons. Then there's the other type of uncomfortable as in; “I'm not comfortable opening my shirt to put this strap on, with other people around” 🙁
Unreliable – how many times have you found yourself thinking; IS THIS THING ON? Is the strap battery dead? Maybe I need some additional spit on it? Do I need to shave a horizontal stripe across my hairy chest to get this thing to connect? Wait, who's BPM am I seeing here?
That's 8 realistic reasons why you see so few people wearing a HR strap. The new Scosche RHYTHM+ Heart Rate monitor strap addresses many of the objections I've listed above:
Not complicated – the HR watch is the source of most of the confusion. No watch = no confusion. The RHYTHM+ pairs easily with any bluetooth device (iPhone / Android) using any fitness App that has a HR function. It also pairs with ANT+ monitor consoles found on the Schwinn AC, FreeMotion S series and Spinner Blade Ion. Sorry – the RHYTHM+ doesn't connect with the Keiser M3.
Removes a little stress – It's so small that I can tuck it into my shoe. So if I find both I've also got my HR strap 🙂
Super comfortable – just slide it onto your forearm. Because it uses optical sensors it doesn't need to be moistened and it's not affected by hairy arms. And no one will feel embarrassed when they put it on.
Better reliability – there's a little red light that shines when it's on and it comes with a USB charger.
You'll find more info about the Scosche RHYTHM+ Heart Rate monitor strap here.
In a single indoor cycling class we can have a combination of beginners, cycling enthusiasts, competitive athletes, fit and unfit. We have those who are just interested in some cardio fitness, some with a focus on weight loss and others desiring cycling-specific training. There are the young, the old and everyone in-between. So with all of these different interests, expectations and age groups, how do we determine who we are talking to when we lead our classes?
As an outdoor cyclist and coach who discovered indoor cycling 16 years ago, I found the classes available at the time to resemble aerobics sessions. I was the odd-ball and a rarity in the classes I attended. I tried to imitate riding outside to supplement my winter training while others whirled their legs, jumped and bounced up and down. The instructor appeared confident, gave a few simple commands and everyone seemed to know exactly what to do (except me). As indoor cycling has evolved and now more closely resembles “cycling”, it is attracting a wider audience. Our classes are not only attracting the cardio-psychos and weight droppers, but since we are teaching rides that produce real cycling fitness and results, the charity riders, cycling enthusiasts and even competitive athletes are also joining in on the fun. Although this evolution is a positive thing, it can present a great challenge to indoor cycling instructors. With such a wide spectrum of fitness levels, interests and expectations, who are we or should we be talking to?
A few weeks ago I attended a class of highly diverse riders, led by a great instructor. The instructor had taken great effort in designing a dynamic workout and had a full room to show for their excellence. Even though, I could see the instructor struggle with this identity crisis. At one point, in a single breath, they described the desired intensity as “Let’s increase to 80 to 85% of your maximum effort, just at your lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold heart rate, approximately a rate of perceived effort of 8 to 9 out of 10. Your breathing should be challenged.” It was like spraying machine-gun fire — everyone was hit. Every cue they gave had 4 versions to it. I asked a few riders after class if they felt they were able to target their effort appropriately during class and they said “we just go as hard as we can — It’s a tough class”.
This challenge is one of the driving forces for Cycling Fusion’s level-based classes (beginner, intermediate and advanced). Although this doesn’t solve all of the issues, it does place riders into classes that will address their needs and expectations. However, like the evolution of bike-aerobics to indoor cycling, adapting the concept of level-based classes will take time. So is there anything we can do in the mean time? Well, that is a question I’d like to propose to our experienced ICI/Pro members. What have you found successful? I’ll start by throwing my approach into the hat.
What is your predominant teaching style? What types of classes or rides do you gravitate towards? Don’t assume you know, but instead ask some of your riders and other instructors that know you and persuade them to be honest. Most people peg me as a coach. My classes mostly resemble coached training sessions. Although I attract all levels, cyclists and non-cyclists, the clubs have caught on to my style and dubbed my classes as performance oriented. This designation has helped guide my language, choice of words when cueing and training concepts dramatically. Better yet, it has given me confidence to teach without sounding like an auctioneer. The clubs have labeled my classes as such so members know what to expect. It hasn’t hurt my attendance one bit.
I now open the floor to you. Let’s help each other and share wisdom from our many years of teaching and overcoming this type of challenge.
