With over 1800 articles in our archives there's a good chance that our ICI/PRO members may have missed some of our best stuff. So every Wednesday we are republishing some of our favorite articles and podcasts – enjoy!
By Team ICG® Master Instructor Jim Karanas
What is Beatmatch?
A beat is the regular, rhythmic unit of time that makes up music structure. Beatmatch matches cycling cadence to the beat of the music, so that one leg pushes down and the other pulls up every time there’s a beat.
When cycling in time with the music, each beat matches up with one pedal rotation. The beat always occurs on the same leg, and the offbeat, the unaccented beat between counts, always occurs on the other. Beatmatch can be done in three ways: 1 beat = 1 rotation, 2 beats = 1 rotation, or 1 beat = 2 rotations.
Beatmatch can give rise to strong aversions. “Aerobics on a bike!” “You’re putting the students in a box!” “Let the students find their own rhythm!” These comments support a Freestyle approach to music, which I too support — but not all of the time.
What’s Good About Beatmatch?
Matching cadence to the beat teaches timing. It makes the pedal stroke smoother, more consistent and fluid. It can help students who lack an innate sense of rhythm FEEL rhythm. It‘s a powerful tool for teaching effort and commitment. It’s ergogenic. I think it teaches how to ride more efficiently.
Say the class is riding at 80 rpm, and you cue them to add resistance without changing cadence. An untrained student will unconsciously slow the cadence, which offsets the work. It’s a typical response by someone who has not yet learned to put out, or build, effort. Beatmatch can help prevent that slow-down.
Or have more advanced students jog at 95 rpm for 5 minutes. That’s challenging. Many, when near exhaustion, can’t maintain the cadence. Looking at a computer won’t help much, but keeping up with the beat can be more effective.
I think of timing as our interaction with the world. With good timing, there’s “flow”. The world seems to work: watch a bike messenger weave through busy urban traffic. Bad timing is the opposite, out of sync. We hit every red light on the ride home. The most basic lesson in developing good timing is consistency. If we’re unaware of our inconsistent timing to begin with, how can we ever sense flow? Musicians develop consistency by using a metronome. That’s Beatmatch.
Other benefits of Beatmatch include greater sensitivity to gear selection and cadence, finding the rhythm at which you create power effortlessly, and a stronger connection with your bike.
When Is Freestyle Beneficial?
Freestyle uses a range of cadences for whatever terrain you’ve cued, so the pedal stroke is not always in time with the music. There are advantages to this approach under certain circumstances. For one thing, Freestyle’s easier on the instructor. If you can’t find the perfect music, you can cue by feel, nuance and cadence range.
More importantly, Freestyle can help students. If the student isn’t yet fit enough to handle fast cadences, especially standing, Freestyle permits success. If the student isn’t strong enough to handle very slow cadences with high resistance at high heart rates, Freestyle permits success. When the pattern calls for lots of changes — e.g., from seated to standing and back with resistance changes at frequent intervals — Freestyle permits success.
While Beatmatch can be mentally exhausting because of the structure and constant need for control, Freestyle allows the student to relax and focus more on heart rate and terrain changes without counting. It may evoke emotion more easily because it demands less vigilant attention.
Emotion Revisited
Slid Fluke
L.A. Woman Billy Idol
This Is Us Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
Stevenson George Winston
I’ve played these four songs, listed last week, for hundreds of instructors and asked for their emotional responses. The comments never vary.
“Slid” is great electronic music, but no one can pair an emotion with it. That’s typical with Electronic, Techno or Dance music — good workout music that doesn’t generate much emotion.
When I play Billy Idol, most of the instructors smile and often don’t know why. Rock ‘n’ roll just makes people happy.
“This Is Us,” a country rock song, is usually described as love, warmth, affection or sincerity. A good country song is like a hug.
Last, I play “Stevenson” by George Winston. It’s 1:57 long, classified as New Age, and on the Hurricane Relief Benefit collection that raised money for Katrina survivors. To start, people may chat, but within seconds the room is silent. To describe their emotions, they use words like sad, upset, depressed.
Stevenson Palfi was a documentary filmmaker who made a name for himself among the jazz musicians of New Orleans, his primary film subjects. He took his own life after losing everything in Katrina. The song ends abruptly and feels unfinished, like Stevenson’s life. It may leave you raw, sad and contemplative.
If your class is truly about delivering an experience, music can bring both emotion and structure. When selecting music, don’t always go for the obvious workout music or the ambiguity of Freestyle. The same song can be perfect for a tough Freestyle climb or a hard flat road in Beatmatch. Try music that makes you feel. See what impact Beatmatch can have. Use unexpected music at unexpected points in the class.
Remember from Part 1 that teaching indoor cycling is a form of public speaking, which itself is an art. Employing some public speaking skills will impact your class dramatically. Great public speakers know that much of their impact comes from body language, including stance, gestures and facial expressions.
Stance
When you teach, a strong, disciplined position on the bike is essential for building credibility, expressing your emotions, and connecting with your students. Nothing discredits an instructor more than moving poorly — rounded back; hunched or protracted shoulders; no fluidity when changing positions; sitting up constantly, often unconsciously, to recover. You’ve lost the class before you’ve started.
Being strong on the bike is not just about your monster CV system. Your ride position, like a public speaker’s stance, must be solid to project confidence in front of a class. Students respond to instructors whose bodies are alive and disciplined. If someone filmed you while teaching, you might be amazed at how your posture sometimes portrays the opposite of what you tell your class to do.
Gestures
Use your hands to gesture every so often. On a bike, your hands belong on the handlebars, but you can keep one hand connected and use the other to emphasize a point or express emotion.
Sit up occasionally and use both hands as a public speaker would. When sitting up, I tell my students to keep their hands on the handlebars unless they need a back break.
Get off your bike at times, not only to work with individual students, but also to stand closer to the class and gesture with your entire body.
Facial Expression
Eye focus is the most important element of facial expressions, particularly to communicate sincerity. Don’t just look around the room as you speak to maintain general eye contact. Nothing connects you to your students better than focusing on one student long enough to deliver an entire phrase without looking at anyone else.
Pause when you finish and let it sink in for a moment.
This connection between you and one student can rivet the entire class. What did he say? Why didn’t she say that to me? The technique contributes significantly to comprehension and retention by giving the listener, and anyone else who tuned in, time to process the message.
Most instructors lose their facial expressions while teaching and “solidify” into a single look. Relax your face right from the start, and always greet your class with a smile. You won't smile throughout the class, but smile at least at the appropriate moments, like when you crack a joke that was actually funny. Somber and serious can be effective too, depending on training intensity.
It isn't natural to sit on a bike in front of a group. It's unusual and odd, so don’t try to be natural. Be larger and more powerful. It takes effort, skill and practice. Work on your body language to make the most of every class you teach.
Media Support
Steve Jobs was the maestro of using media with his public presentations. In 2005, he called Madonna on iChat after she signed an exclusive deal with iTunes and displayed the call on a big screen — a great use of media to enhance a presentation. Check the link: http://everystevejobsvideo.com/tag/madonna/
As instructors we can use voice, music and video to deepen our class presentation experience.
Voice
Our tone of voice shows our students whether or not we care. It tells them whether we’re in fun mode or feeling excitement, passion and enthusiasm about teaching. If the members think our class is boring, it may have nothing to do with the workout or music selection, but with a monotone that sounds dull.
Here are some suggestions for making classes more impactful through tone of voice:
Pause before emphasizing an important word or concept.
Speed up your speaking to show excitement.
Tell a story. This will translate to your vocal quality.
Define a moment in your class that might be considered a pinnacle: “Everything we’ve done to this point has prepared us for the next 2 minutes!”
Music
In public speaking, music is often used as background when participants enter a room to set the mood for a meeting or event. How much attention do you give to the music you play as your class enters? The proper music gets people in the right mood to work and adds a touch of drama to your class.
What do you play as the class is leaving? Music can reaffirm a pleasant atmosphere as your students exit.
Avoid turning music on or off suddenly. It should always fade in or out slowly.
This post is not about how to use music when you teach, but to expand on your use of music to set the right mood for the class before it begins and when it’s over. That’s what great public speakers do.
Video
Effective use of video to enhance our classes is a prime directive at ICG®. Forward-motion video can make your class more absorbing and exciting. Beautifully filmed, high-energy video that showcases destinations from around the world entertains and engages.
Remember, however, that video should never dominate your class. That important job is always left to you, the instructor. Video is just another asset that supports your class profile.
At its best, public speaking is flawless talk in a compelling sequence that persuades through command of the language. It’s well structured, well delivered, informative, educational and entertaining. Striving to be better public speakers can make us better indoor cycling instructors.
John's note: We're highlighting some of Jim Karana's past articles this week.
More than anything else, members attend our classes for someone to work them out, to train them. My primary evaluation of a class is always whether I got a workout. I tell new instructors all the time to keep that in mind: with just the mindset of the typical class attendee, you’ll give a satisfactory performance.
With that said, we all know that a class can be so much more. When you approach class design and instructor performance as a form of public speaking, which they are, you may recognize the level of artistry to which teaching can be raised. The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs gives an idea of how some people prepare(d) for a public address.
Public speaking is an art. So is teaching an indoor-cycling class. Regard it as an art, no matter what your level of instruction, and you’ll be on a better path.
In public speaking, there are five basic elements, often expressed as, “Who is saying what to whom using what medium with what effects?” Does that sound familiar?
If we study the volumes that have been written about how to become a confident, compelling public speaker, the impact on our class presentation will be epic.
I’ve been involved with some form of public speaking since the 1980s, when I first joined Toastmasters. I was teaching aerobics then but didn’t draw a parallel between the two activities until much later in life. The following are a few speaking strategies to consider that parallel the Art of Teaching Indoor Cycling.
Plan Your Communication Appropriately
This goes beyond planning your workout and is completely separate from preparing your music or video playlist. Structure what you’re going to say during class. Apart from workout cues, which messages are you going to deliver? Exercise science? Training philosophy? Bicycle facts? Don’t just deliver these randomly. Plan how and when you’ll introduce this part of your presentation. Public speakers frequently use a tool called the 7 C’s of Communication: Be Clear, Concise, Concrete, Correct, Coherent, Complete and Courteous. There are variations on the 7 C’s that also include Credible and Creative.
Let’s say you’re teaching an endurance class and want to discuss the benefits of aerobic conditioning. I recently listened to an instructor do this. She spewed all the information during the first 10 minutes of class (not concise). She constantly talked over lyrics (not courteous). She was only about 75% correct in what she said and left out certain elements that could have connected the dots (not complete). She was clear in what she said. She also said it with authority (concrete) but rambled, not presenting the info in an organized fashion (not coherent).
Still, it was much more than many instructors take the time to do.
I was engaged and got a good workout. Clearly, this instructor understood the value of messaging during classes. It might have been the first time she presented it. She only needs to work a bit more on her presentation of this information to improve her overall communication.
Practice
Practice makes perfect. You probably won’t say something well the first time you say it (the example above). To practice, you must seek opportunities to speak in front of others. Repeat the same messaging in different classes you teach; don’t forget about it after you’ve said it. Before that, however, you must practice it plenty of times alone. As you practice, keep tweaking and re-tweaking your words until they flow smoothly and easily. You will often see me speaking out loud while driving.
Engage Your Audience
When you speak, try to engage your audience. This makes you feel less isolated and keeps everyone involved with your message. Force yourself to slow down by breathing deeply. Don't be afraid to gather your thoughts. Pauses are an important part of conversation and make you sound confident, natural, and authentic. Look at the students while you’re speaking and make eye contact. Speak to them directly.
I mentioned above that the instructor spoke over lyrics. I’m surprised at how many instructors speak over vocals in a song. I feel this is discourteous to the class because it’s confusing to listen to, but could even be considered discourteous to the artist. Learn your music so you can speak effectively in the interstices between the vocals — or insert an instrumental song when you want to deliver your message. This point was covered in my previous post on cueing.
Next week, we’ll discuss the importance of posture on the bike (body language in public speaking) and the use of various media (audio, video and voice tonality) to enhance your classes even more.
John's note: We're highlighting some of Jim Karana's past articles this week.
We're looking for a Performance IQ Rockstar that we can develop into a Master Instructor – joining me to conduct PIQ Instructor trainings.
Master Instructor Qualifications
Are you super experienced at teaching Indoor Cycling classes where Performance IQ Display Training is a focus of the class?
Do you feel you have the passion and personality to enthusiastically transfer your knowledge and experience to other Instructors?
ICI/PRO is planning to develop, and then contract with, a Master Instructor to conduct workshops at North American (and potentially international) club and studio locations, beginning this fall 2016. The successful candidate will partner with me – Master Instructor Dennis Mellon.
If you've wanted to become a Master Instructor, this could be an awesome opportunity for you. My initial exposure here at ICI/PRO really advanced my career and lead to my current Master Instructor position!
Qualifications:
You’re recognised as a ROCKSTAR instructor, consistently filling your Indoor Cycling classes
You hold a current ACE/AFAA Group Fitness or Personal Training certification
You have a current Indoor Cycling certification from one of the established brands
You teach regularly scheduled Indoor Cycling classes at a club/studio that uses Performance IQ — and this is important — your supervisor is willing to be a reference
You have a thorough knowledge of zone based Heart Rate and Power training principles + you apply these consistently in your display training classes
Your classes are an effective mix of conventional and rhythm & movement formats; i.e. cycling specific training meets SoulCycle
Excellent computer skills — you’re the go-to person whenever there's an issue and who’s helping others learn to use PIQ at your studio
Written communication comes naturally to you
You have weekend (Friday — Sunday) travel flexibility
We're tentatively planning our first Performance IQ Display Training workshop for the middle of September at the Greenwood Athletic club in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
This is a contract position and the successful applicant will be compensated per training + travel expenses.
Please email me directly with your resume and a cover page to Dennis Mellon at dennismellon@me.com
This is the first installment of a new series of posts I'll be sharing on all aspects of the States SC3 indoor cycling bike. The Stages SC3 has taken the indoor cycling world by storm and I believe it's important for all instructors who use this bike to have a clear understanding of all it's amazing features. Those who don't use this bike can also learn from many of its features. The science is the same no matter what bike you use.
I'm going to start with an overview its console than in future posts I'll explain the metrics that are displayed line by line.
Below is a video narrated by Stages Director of Education Cameron Chinatti that overviews the Stages SC3 Console.
Whether you’re riding indoors or outdoors, cumulative cycling efforts are often measured in kJs (kilojoules). For example, at the end of a Stages Indoor Cycling workout you’ll see total kJs on the Stages Power Console on the RESULTS screen. After a ride outdoors on your bike, you may also see total kJ’s on your cycling head unit. So, what is a kJ and why should you care? We’re glad you asked!
Let’s start at the beginning. We’ll explain this KJ thing in terms of a workout on the SC3 Stages Indoor Bike and Stages Power Console. Basic mathematics comin’ atcha, consider yourselves warned.
What is a Watt?
A watt is a standard international unit of power. More often than not it is represented in horsepower. In fact, 1 horsepower = 746 watts. Try to generate 700+ watts. It’s a fun experiment and rather quickly you will realize that yes it’s true, a horse is more powerful than you.
The Stages Power Meter and Console will measure and display the user’s power output in watts. To get this wattage we need movement (RPMs) and force. On the Stages bike, force is measured when the rider steps down on the pedal. As you turn the resistance dial to the right you have to work harder to step down on the pedals, thus more force is generated.
This product of movement and force = WATTS. With us so far?
Now what if you could take all those little watts and add them up over the total time of your ride to see how much energy was expended? You can do just that, if you convert to kilojoules.
1 watt = 1 joule applied for 1 second
1000 of those joules = 1 kilojoule (KJ)
In other words…
kilojoules = watts X seconds / 1000
Now let’s look at kjs to kcals:
The last conversion in our chain of interrelated metrics is converting kilojoules (work over time) to kilocalories (food energy required to do the aforementioned work).
At Stages Cycling we choose NOT to think of calories as the enemy and in fact we’re growing a bit weary of superfluous calorie conversations. Instead we have chosen to give you the straight facts and the straight science.
So first, let’s answer a question that we get asked all the time:
“Why do you call it “kcal”? Can’t it just say “Calories?”” Funny you should ask, there’s a Trivial Pursuit-worthy answer for that!
A calorie- sometimes called a “gram calorie” or “small calorie” (note the lower-case “c”)- is a unit of energy. In fact, it is the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. But it turns out that, metabolically speaking, the calorie unit isn’t very practical due to its small value. In nutritional contexts kilocalories- also known as “large calories” or Calories (the upper-case “C” is important)- are preferred. As you might guess, 1 kilocalorie is equal to 1000 calories, or 1 Calorie. Interestingly, the large Calorie is not officially recognized as an international standard unit of measurement. However, in spite of its non-official status, the large Calorie is still widely used as a unit of food energy in the US, UK and some other Western countries. If you travel abroad or purchase any packaged imported food you may notice that within the European Union, both the kilocalorie (kcal) and kilojoule (kJ), another unit used to describe energy, appear side-by-side on nutrition labels.
“Wait, what? How am I supposed to wrap my head around that? Besides I thought kilojoules were watts added up over time?!”
Keep in mind that energy is energy, regardless of its units. We’re simply going to take the work that you put into the bike and convert it into its equivalent energy in Calories (kcal) rather than kJ. A benefit to using the Stages Power Meter with the Stages console is that all these energy and power measurements become readily available! And now, the last step in the chain, the secret sauce, and the moment you’ve all been waiting for: converting kJ to kcal!
Here are some fun figures:
4.186 kJ = 1 kcal = 1 Calorie
Standard assumption of human mechanical efficiency = 22%
I know what you’re thinking, “Where does that 22% come from?”
As it turns out, the human body is amazing, but it’s not very mechanically efficient. The efficiency of human muscle has been measured (in the context of rowing and cycling) at a whopping 18-26%. This means that only 18%-26% of the energy available to the muscles is actually translated into doing work- the rest is lost as waste. For our calculations we simply chose the median point, which is regarded in the fitness equipment industry as the standard assumption of mechanical efficiency, also known as the best approximate value.
The Stages console uses the following formula to convert the kJ value to the kcal value:
kJ / 4.186 / .22
First, the kilojoules value is converted to the kilocalories equivalent (4.186 kilojoules = 1 kilocalorie). Then, this value is divided by the standard assumption of human mechanical efficiency (22 percent). The result is the approximate amount of food energy used.
Your homework assignment- should you choose to accept it- is to do a ride on the fabulous Stages bike with Power Console and take two pictures at the conclusion of your ride. One picture with the kJ info showing at the top and another with the kcal info at the top. When you have a spare moment try out the equation above and you’ll be amazed, it’s Math-magical!
You can learn more about Power, the Stages Power Meter and the Stages Indoor Cycling bike at the Stages Cycling website.
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas 
