The purpose of openers

by Tom Scotto | Jul 3, 2021 | Master Instructor Blog

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.

“Your Class Was Great But Your Music Sucks!”

by Tom Scotto | Jun 24, 2021 | Master Instructor Blog

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.

Why Do I Have To Hurt?

by Jim Karanas | Jun 9, 2021 | Master Instructor Blog

By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas

We’re not wired to seek out pain.  Human evolution developed and adapted a neurological system and sensory perception for reducing pain and seeking pleasure.

Easy-to-moderate cardio conditioning is of a manageable intensity that feels good.  Once someone gets past the initial discomfort of moving the body and sitting on a saddle, riding a bike is pleasurable.

So why do we take our students past that point and encourage them to hurt?  And why do we do it ourselves?

There are plenty of good reasons.  But the focus of this post is how to encourage new students to recognize the benefits of training at high heart rates and willingly ride into hurt.

Spiritual teachers speak of consciousness, that transcendental thing with the mind that goes beyond the physical universe.  What’s interesting is that more and more studies show that the mind relies upon the physical processes of the brain, yet no one knows exactly how.

In Buddha's Brain, Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius describe how human survival strategies have led to human suffering.  That’s not the topic of this article either, although it’s a fascinating read.  One of these strategies has a direct impact on training intensity — the fact that humans are wired to “hold onto fleeting pleasures and escape inevitable pains.”

Haven't you ever noticed how counterintuitive it feels when you contemplate a training or event that will hurt?  The guiding principle in the human body is homeostasis.  Exercise in general takes us out of homeostasis, and high intensity will take us far out of it — or, in the case of an ultra-endurance event, for a very long time.  You might overlook pain for a while if you see enough ads with models and athletes, or read what celebrities do to stay fit.  After a time, though, it all sounds somewhat ridiculous.  Yet this is what we tell our students to do.

Understand that this is not wrong.  There are many reasons to exercise hard and experience hurt.  But hard training becomes exhausting unless there’s a reason for it that goes beyond the usual stuff the industry throws at us — caloric burn, muscle confusion, muscle shock, looking great naked — and the gadgets to make those things happen.

Working with your mind to encourage your body is central to every path of psychological and spiritual development.  “Shocking” the body grossly misrepresents the process.  There’s no surprise.  We willfully take the body into discomfort for reasons that have little to do with how our physiology reacts to the stress.

The physical benefits of hard training are well documented:  increased aerobic capacity, improved ability to burn fat, enhanced metabolic boost, reduced risk of diabetes, reversal of Metabolic Syndrome, greater longevity, increased lean body mass, greater insulin sensitivity, and more.

So, physically, it’s good for us to go hard.  As an instructor, you can recite the above list of benefits every time you take heart rates up in class.  It might start out convincing, but the impact of the list will diminish over time, even though the benefits still apply to your students’ physiology.

Hurt requires a better reason than the benefits list for our students to keep embracing it during training.  Again, neurologically, we’re wired to avoid it.  That’s why we feel apprehension and anxiety before every hard effort that produces serious discomfort.

You’re on a ride and turn into a stiff, 25-mph headwind that reduces your speed on a flat road to a soul-destroying 6 mph in your easiest climbing gear.  You must ride in that direction for another 50 miles.  Endurance will not get you through that ride.  Strength will not get you through that ride.  None of the physical attributes you may have developed through your classes and training will get you through that ride.  Only resilience will.

What is resilience?  A dictionary definition centers on the ability to recover quickly, to bounce back.  In this context, it could be seen as an attitude:  ‘It's not that it doesn't hurt.  It's just that it doesn't matter.’  More precisely, it’s a non-attitude — a non-reaction to the hurt that then leads to acceptance.  Bouncing back would be the result.

The road is the road.  Being a cyclist means accepting it without judgment.  Facing a headwind for 50 miles might be the toughest thing you’ve ever done, but it's not really good or bad.  It's what is.

All the cardio conditioning in the world will not teach you this.  You must willingly go into the hurt and discomfort to train yourself to accept what is.  The conflict the pain causes you also provides you with the opportunity to overcome it.

The Zen behind it is ‘no attachments, no aversions’.  That way, you’re always present in the moment, working with what is, and whatever happens is OK.  It’s as applicable in a cycling class as it is on the road.  It’s as applicable in life as it is in training.

The question is whether your students would be willing to hurt to develop these things — focus, presence, acceptance, resilience — and whether you’re willing as an instructor to develop them enough to teach them.

That’s why we ride hard enough to hurt.

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Originally posted 2012-06-18 08:23:31.