by Chuck Cali | Oct 22, 2012 | Big Box Instructor, Engage Your Students, Master Instructor Blog
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Chuck Cali
“Indoor cycling instructors!! As you ‘teach' your class this week ask yourself- am I using this time to effectively TRAIN these people or am I using every trick in the book to just be an ‘entertaining distraction'?? And yes, there is a BIG difference..:)”
I saw this statement on facebook on a recent morning. Lately, I’ve thought long and hard about this philosophy. Allow me to reason out with you another possibility.
At the end of your classes, did your riders notice the “BIG difference”, or indicate they cared? Why were they there in the first place? What did they come for? What do they expect? Do you have an obligation to deliver what they expect or subject them to what you think they need? As indoor cycle instructors, do we really know the answer to the question of why all these people are sitting on stationary bikes in front of us? These are not new questions. Jim Karanas posted on a similar topic last year (“Susan and Bob”, 11/28/11).
Here are my thoughts.
If you’re reading this, you care enough about your craft to, at minimum, stay informed. For years now, you’ve read on this site all the facts necessary for delivering a safe, training experience for your riders. ICI/PRO has also delivered hundreds of “how to” audio profiles and podcasts on teaching certain profiles or training objectives, or a specific class focus.
Yet that information is really for and about us, the instructors. It comes from people like us, doing what we love to do and always striving to get better at it. Let me add that all of it is safe, founded in the fundamentals of outdoor riding. No contraindicated movements. And it’s incredibly useful in enhancing our abilities.
But striving for never-ending improvement compels one to ask such hard questions as: What’s the fundamental reason people participate in group exercise? I’m reasonably sure that for every rider there’s a different answer. What do we really know about these people and why they’re here? Still, this isn’t about us, but about them. They pay for what we give them, which is important to remember.
Recently, I’ve been reminded that indoor cycling is also an industry. What makes the gears of any industry turn is a demand for a product or service, which ultimately turns into profits. We should all be ok with that. It’s why our paychecks don’t bounce.
With that said, it becomes easier to work within the framework of “happy customers” rather than appropriate training. It has also been stated in these cyber pages that indoor cycling and, by extension, indoor cycle instructors have been commoditized. I believe that’s true. But it can be a good thing if an instructor understands the commercial value of happy customers.
If “effective training” is producing happy customers, by all means create your class profiles to produce the desired training outcome.
But most of us in the trenches (indoor cycling studios around the world) face riders everyday who are doing mindless exercise. One club manger explained to me, “They check their brains at the door, let us do what we do, and go home feeling that they did the right thing.” They come back because they like us.
My experience is they come to our classes not because they’re training — most don’t know how to prepare a training plan, or care to — but because they’re exercising. Why? Because everyone from the President of the United States to Jane Fonda has said it’s good for them. We all agree.
While a few Master Instructors are making a living teaching us how to train our riders or selling new equipment that will aid in the same, most of us are holding onto our part-time jobs by keeping our customers happy.
And this is where I see the BIG difference between effective training and entertaining distractions. Our riders are not really looking for effective training, even if they pay lip service to it.
They’re looking to get through 60 minutes of hard work that they know is good for them, rather than training with an outcome in mind. (I know many will argue that if we do our job well, the riders get the known cardio benefits, too.)
Among other things, happy customers add the greatest return on investment to facilities adding new equipment to their studios. High ROI allows the riders, who seek exercise, to become involved in a new, dissociative activity while exercising.
At our initial certifications we learned about dissociative cueing, the act of diverting our riders’ attention onto something other than the pain of the exercise.
As a Team ICG® Master Trainer using MyRide®+, I’ve seen first-hand how forward motion video can take riders on a new journey while they get their exercise. It opens up a whole new world of possibilities for them and us.
The same is true for the new bikes out there. The new consoles on these bikes provide multiple metrics: cadence, heart rate, time, miles or kilometers per hour, lap times, gear setting, calories burned and power.
The options for using such metrics during class are many. One option is to use them for training. Some do.
If one is lucky enough to have forward motion video and new bikes, well, then our world has changed to provide many more opportunities to make our customers happy in ways never before possible.
Our industry needs to understand and embrace this concept if we’re to compete with Zumba and U JAM, among the new activities now found in group exercise. I could go on about whether those doing Zumba get any real cardio benefit, but, bottom line, this is about happy customers. The cycle studio needs to stay competitive with other group activities.
One could call all the new technology an entertaining distraction. Sure. I consider it a collection of extremely useful tools for providing exactly what our riders want. A good reason to come back! What they get from it is up to them.
It always has been.
by Jim Karanas | Oct 15, 2012 | Health and Wellness, Master Instructor Blog
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas –
Many factors contribute to osteopenia and osteoporosis in cyclists. Both conditions are associated with low bone mineral density and a reduction in the bone mass that is sufficient to interfere with its support function.
Osteogenic loading refers to the stress placed on the skeletal system in order to produce bone growth. This article may surprise you.
One of the culprits in cycling-related osteopenia or osteoporosis is the nature of the exercise itself. Cycling is a low-impact sport that puts little mechanical load on the bones. That may be helpful for someone who has joint problems, but it's the weight-bearing aspect of exercise that signals bone to create more mass. Without such stress, bones don't get stronger and consequently become more prone to injury.
A recent study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that competitive male road cyclists had significantly lower bone mineral density in their spines than a control group of men who were moderately physically active while doing other recreational activities. The cyclists were also more likely to have osteopenia or osteoporosis than those in the control group.
I recently discovered that commonly promoted exercise strategies for counteracting bone loss have had fairly limited success, particularly regimens that subject the skeleton to only mild activity, such as walking. I had always thought that, if I complemented my daily cycling with walking and modest strength conditioning, I wouldn’t be susceptible to decreasing bone density. I was wrong.
There’s no doubt that mechanical loading of bone has substantial potential to induce bone formation, but the traditionally recommended exercise regimens for cyclists have met with mixed results at best. What I recently learned is that those options are fairly ineffective for increasing bone formation.
The U.S. Surgeon General states that increases in bone mineral density that are sufficient to prevent or reverse osteoporosis are stimulated by maximum loading on the musculoskeletal system. Such loads are normally associated with impact loading, the kind that occurs with gymnastics. Women gymnasts have been found to have much stronger bones than women long-distance runners.
Conventional resistance training does not typically yield loading at a high enough level to produce more than a nominal increase in bone mass. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that running, walking and resistance training are only minimally effective in staving off the osteopenia that I’m prone to because I love to ride bikes and teach indoor cycling.
Heinonen et al (1996) found that unexpectedly high bone-mineral densities (BMD) occurred in women gymnasts. A typical gymnastic dismount or vault produces enormous skeletal impact (about 18 body weights). Subsequent studies of impact loading showed similar results.
So the research shows — and I haven’t heard this anywhere in the cycling world — that multiples of body weight loaded onto the axial skeleton are what’s necessary to produce significant gains in BMD. Not running, definitely not walking, not conventional strength training, but dismounts off the high bar that slam 18 times my body weight through my skeletal system. That’s what I need to be doing one to two times per week.
Fortunately, as Managing Director for the Indoorcycling Group of North America, I was recently invited to test a new technology at Performance Health Systems in Chicago. It’s called bioDensity™ (www.biodensity.com).
The product is exciting and seems to serve a market need for all indoor cyclists. bioDensityâ„¢ makes possible a safe, self-induced, osteogenic loading stimulation up to many multiples of body weight — the kind of loads normally associated with impact activities, such as gymnastics. DEXA scans have shown an average 4.5% bone mass gain for individuals in the program for 3 years. Regular, proper use of the bioDensityâ„¢ System enables the user to achieve the required maximum loading safely, which therefore helps to combat osteoporosis.
ICG® has no professional affiliation whatsoever with Performance Health Systems. They are producing a product that we feel will help keep our customers healthy.
My sole purpose here was to make you aware of what I was completely unaware of (and even misinformed about by popular literature) and to suggest that you investigate a possible solution that will keep your bones healthy while you keep riding.
by John | Oct 13, 2012 | Health and Wellness, Instructor Training, Master Instructor Blog
“John what is THAT?” Amy was looking at me with a very disapproving look on her face.
“What's what?” I responded as I straightened up from filling the back tire of The Bus – our Tandem bicycle – with 120lbs of air.
“Over the top of your bike shorts… you have a muffin top!”
“I do not!”
“You do too! And I expect you to do something about it, and quick.”
Once I got over my initial defensiveness, I admitted to her (and myself) that after 17 years of being pretty disciplined about both my training and eating, I've allowed myself to slide a bit. OK, maybe a little more than a bit. But hey – I'm 51 years old… don't I get to back off at some point?
“No!” was Amy's response. “You have a lot of people who look to you as an example who will be as disappointed as I am, that you are backing off.”
She was right, as usual… but what to do? As I rode along I realized I had both a short term and long term problem to solve.
- Short term – disguise my muffin top ASAP
- Long term – re-introduce John to something called self-restraint 🙂
Enter Bib Cycling Shorts; a man's equivalent to Spanx – control top pantyhose! Wasn't there a Seinfeld episode about this?
Secure that I had at least the short term issued solved, I jumped online to see what was available at Pearl iZumi and ended up buying two pairs of their $150.00 ELITE LTD Bib Shorts. Except I didn't pay $300.00. Using my ICI/PRO 40% discount they were only $90.00 each… which saved me more than the cost of a full year's subscription to ICI/PRO.
So if you find yourself facing a similar situation that could be solved (at least in the short term) with some new cycling clothes, join ICI/PRO as an annual member and you get access to everything Pearl iZumi makes at a 40% discount + 12 months of the awesome premium content we've become famous for.
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by John | Sep 19, 2012 | Big Box Instructor, Instructor Training, Master Instructor Blog
Our guard dog Maxx keeping watch over Murph.
“Dad, how am I going to learn to drive this?” was the question asked by my older daughter Abby, while I was negotiating the purchase of a well-cared-for Mazda 626. She would soon become know as “Murph” as in “Murphys Law” after the brakes failed – with Abby skillfully guiding her into the ditch to avoid rear-ending the car ahead of her.
But that was weeks after our initial lessons on driving a manual transmission car. Day-one ended at a stop sign with Abby jumping out and slamming the car door. After expressing some expletives that translated to; “Dad, I'm not ever going to be able to figure this out.” Abby had flat refused to learn anymore.
But au contraire young daughter. You can (and will) learn to drive and shift… or Murph will sit in the driveway and you'll walk, or (worse for her) ride your long neglected bicycle to your job.
So Abby relented and soon she was shifting like a NASCAR PRO.
Her sister Carly followed a few years later, and with some gentle instruction, she too became proficient driving a car that required her to both steer and shift to get where she needed. Both my girls began to enjoy driving Murph, especially after learning how few of their friends could even get out of the driveway with a manual transmission car. Beyond enjoyment, it actually became a source of pride in them, reinforced through frequent episodes (and the hilarious stories that followed) of trying to teach their friends (boy and girl alike) how to drive a car with a manual transmission. It continues today. Just last Sunday night Carly was the designated driver back to school in Fargo, because the girl who was driving still isn't comfortable driving her own car (a manual) on the highway back to school.
What prompted this post was a comment I received to an earlier post;
In the last year, the 2 clubs I teach cycling at have switched over to the Keiser M3′s, and, as you said, that was where it ended. A few of us, because of how we approached our instruction, understood what could be done with those computers. Those same few of us have, at our own expense, sought out information and training. It feels like when my dad bought me a manual transmission car when I turned 16, and said “there you go, Punkin!” without a bit of instruction regarding the gears. Except my only victim was a hunk of metal, not 30 people trusting me not to steer them wrong.
When instructors don’t know how to use the equipment, it makes us all look bad, and it’s very confusing to the members. Unfortunately, it’s all about money when you work for a chain.
We've devoted a lot of posts and Audio PROfiles toward teaching with Power here at ICI/PRO, and for good reason. Like Abby and Carly, we believe that those of you teaching on any of the brands with power, are capable of teaching with Power!
I have to admit that it was with a considerable amount of pride that I would listen to one of my daughters tell me a story that began with; “he thought he was so cool driving his dad's Mercedes and yet he turned out to be such a dork.” “He was talking smack; driving a stick is no big deal…” and so I said; “here you go… give it a try.” After he stalled Murph five times I said; “get out of the way and let a girl show you how it's done!”
It's no secret that teaching with Power or Heart Rate takes skill, an understanding of the training concepts and some dogged determination. There's a very good chance that you will be alone, or among a very few, in your club willing to make the effort.
Our goal here at ICI/PRO is to provide you with the knowledge and confidence you need to effectively teach an Indoor Cycling 2.0 based class – incorporating Power and/or Heart Rate – that truly demonstrates your competency as an Instructor.
There's no guarantee that your classes will ever be the fullest or the most talked about, but as a Professional you aren't looking for guarantees. If you're anything like me you are only looking for ONE student to come to you and say “I really appreciate your class… it must be hard, feeling like you have to compete with all the other nonsense… Thank You.”
Parenting suggestion for all of you with soon to be teenage drivers. Both our girls reported to us that driving a manual transmission required more of their attention, which kept them much more focused on driving, than when they drove an automatic. Then there's the natural deterrent to texting while driving that comes from needing both hands to get anywhere 🙂
by John | Sep 13, 2012 | Instructor Training, Master Instructor Blog, Training With Power
Click me to see the nifty new video player!
“the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few… or the one”.
Trekkies (fans of the old Star Trek franchise) will instantly recognize this quote from Spock, which to many of us makes perfect sense; the needs of the majority of our students should outway the needs of a single individual.
And yet applying Spock's logic in our classes can become quite difficult, if not impossible for many of us.
Many of us have experienced a situation where one person is disruptive in class or acts in a way that requires us to focus on them, at the expense of everyone else.
In his Monday post, Chuck Cali relates a problem he had with his new power program:
In the second class, a 73-year-old woman in Birkenstocks walked in after class had started. She’d heard cycling might good for her and demanded to be shown how. With the CEO looking on, and everyone else looking impatient, I set her up. She disliked cycling and left, wasting almost 15 minutes. Such a disruption to this sort of class is catastrophic.
It's like watching a slow moving train wreck and we've all been there. Powerless (forgive the pun) to prevent what all of us with any experience knows will happen next – this one person will, in some way, negativity affect the entire class.
The answer is NO. As in; “I'm sorry, but for your safety and out of respect for everyone who was here on time, we don't allow people into class after it has begun.” “If you'd like to come back in an hour, or come in ten minutes before the next class, I will be happy to get you set up.” And then you physically turn your body (and attention) back to the class.
Saying NO is hard for all of us. Nobody likes to hear NO. For some of us it's almost impossible to turn someone away or ask that they stop whatever they are doing that causes you to feel you need to focus on them, instead of everyone else.
Ignoring the needs of the many can does limit the effectiveness of your class and diminishes your rapport and/or authority with your students. I'm using “authority” here to mean your perceived role as a leader and a fitness expert.
What got me motivated to post this was a question I received ICI/PRO member Pat Williams.
Hello John,
Hope you are doing well. Thanks for all your hard work with Indoor Cycling. Our gym is in the process of moving and maybe purchasing some new bikes. We currently have 18 Star Trac NXT bikes and they have served our group well. Trying to stay with current trends, I am interested in bikes that could provide more objective information i.e. power, heart rate, speed, and distance ridden. I know that you are currently riding Free Motion bikes that provide this information. If you were in charge of the world, what bikes would you recommend and what are the pros and cons of your choice? I know there are many choices that are out there. Thanks for your help.
Whenever I'm asked for my opinion about what road bike someone new to outdoor cycling should buy, my answer is always; “you want to purchase the bike that you'll ride… not the one that will collect dust hanging in your garage”.
My objective is to identify whether or not they are willing to commit to the changes in their lives, necessary to becoming a cyclist… or are they simply just in love with the idea of being a cyclist?
The same is true with clubs excited to purchase new Indoor Cycles that include Power indication.
No manufacture makes a bad Indoor Cycle with Power. They're all different and all have their strong and weak points. If you spend any time over at Pedal-On you've maybe read some of the never-ending debates over the fine points of which cycle is better.
Do I have a preference? Sure I do. I have experience riding and teaching on most of them. If Pat and I talked and I learned more about his club's specific needs, I could probable help him narrow his choice down to one or two. But any of the currently available Indoor Cycles; CycleOps 300, FreeMotion s11.9, Keiser M3 or Schwinn AC would be a good choice for Pat's club.
But none of them will guarantee a successful power based program.
I'm hearing, seeing and experiencing studios (like Chuck's) who were in love with offering Power to their students. But unfortunately not all of them are willing to make the commitment to Instructor training and class formatting / programming needed to develop truly effective power based program.
One major barrier to success is an inability to say “NO” to some of their students.
This isn't a new problem.
IMO – the failure of a majority of of clubs to implement effective Zone based Heart Rate training classes in large part goes to a reluctance to say NO to students who aren't interested in wearing a monitor. Instructors feel compelled to teach to the lowest common denominator (the few without a monitor) which effectively waters down the HR Zone class content until many of us have given up on HR training completely. Power based classes aren't any different.
Because Power is so new, I see all of us in a unique position to make the changes needed to establish effective Power based classes. I'm not deluded into thinking I have all the answers, but here are a few ideas that I'd like to see discussed in the future:
- Clearly separate Power Training classes from Generic Indoor Cycling classes on the schedule.
- Teach these Power Training classes to the many, saying NO to the random drop-in student – after first explaining that our club offers…
- Regularly scheduled Introduction to Power classes where students can learn all about Power and can learn their FTP based training zones.
- Establish a policy that no one can enter class after it has begun and install signs communicating this on the studio doors.
Does this make sense to you?
by Chuck Cali | Sep 10, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog
Learn from your failures and maybe you'll run on water like these guys.
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Chuck Cali
The standard ‘spin’ class was my comfort zone. I got my energy from my music. My riders got their energy from the music and from me — classic rock, high-energy pop and me, coaching in classic Vince Lombardi style. My classes got good reviews, but, mostly, I was subbing. I wanted my own class.
Opportunity presented itself. My first break from my comfort zone was teaching power. I sold the idea to management, buried myself in preparation, bought the wall charts, put together a training plan and playlists, and printed cards for recording baseline numbers. I practiced.
The program flopped. They thanked me and replaced me, but what I learned was invaluable.
What happened? First, the management of the new facility was not ready for Indoor Cycling 2.0. Second, my desire to have my own class was so powerful that I agreed to anything. Big mistake.
When I pitched the power program, I erroneously believed that anyone with the title Group Exercise Director would understand what it meant to use power as the fundamental training metric. (It’s an Indoor Cycling 2.0 concept.)
My pitch was to open the studio to outdoor riders, many of whom would be non-members. In the bike shops within five miles of the studio, I would advertise a small-group, fee-based program that ran twice a week for 10 weeks and offered a bike, an education, and a shower.
Instead, I slammed head-on into the culture of indoor cycling. (I will cover the “culture of indoor cycling” in a future post.) I was told I could teach power but had to keep it open to all members and only members, with no fee. I agreed.
Crash and burn. Imagine the nightmare of explaining power principles to a group with diverse, even random, skills. Halfway through, anyone who had ever ridden outdoors — or actually understood training with a plan — was gone. I had lost those I most wanted to reach. And my credibility was quickly eroding. All management saw were dwindling numbers.
Worse, the CEO and his lieutenants attended the first few classes. In the second class, a 73-year-old woman in Birkenstocks walked in after class had started. She’d heard cycling might good for her and demanded to be shown how. With the CEO looking on, and everyone else looking impatient, I set her up. She disliked cycling and left, wasting almost 15 minutes. Such a disruption to this sort of class is catastrophic.
The only alternative was to abandon power training (save for a few power comments here and there) for a more standard cycle class. At the end of ten weeks, management wanted to go in a different direction. With a different instructor.
What did I learn?
LESSON 1. Don’t let passion overrule common sense. I agreed to a policy (members only, first-timers welcome) that doomed the program before it started. If outside requirements conflict with, and compromise, a successful outcome, don’t proceed. That’s lose/lose.
LESSON 2. Don’t over-rate your skills. My basic error was thinking that every participant had read the class description and understood it. When that turned out not to be the case, I was unprepared (read inexperienced) to deal with it. This is about improving your craft.
LESSON 3. Don’t forget Chuck’s Rule: Connect With Your Riders. Because this was an open program, every class was an exercise in getting the regulars on their way, while doing bike fits and explaining power training to first-timers. “Frustrating” can’t begin to describe it. I had wanted to get a lot done. But it’s not about me; it’s about them. If I had connected, we could all have had a good laugh, queued up Def Leppard, and poured some sugar on it. So connect — and don’t lose your sense of humor.
LESSON 4. Once you know something you didn’t know, use it. I kept subbing. Many studios had bikes with power. Using my experience, I integrated power (in small steps) into my classes, tested stuff here and there, and learned. Subbing is a great way to try stuff — there’s little to lose and much to gain.
Since then, I’ve gotten involved with some excellent programs and presented to the best public speakers in our industry. Not only have I acquired valuable new skills, I’ve learned how to deliver the message. With team ICG®, for example, I have to lead rides at conferences like IHRSA and IDEA. I did an epic closing ride at IDEA this year.
Today, I’m back at the studio that canned me, teaching two of my own classes for the past two years. They’re almost always full. I incorporate power in my “regular” classes and teach cycling-specific power training only under controlled conditions.
After Tiger Woods’s best seasons, some people didn’t understand why he’d rebuild his golf swing to improve his craft. How could it get any better? Well, neither he nor we can know how much better things can get without making the effort.
Permit me one last analogy. As a flight instructor, I often say I don’t teach students to fly, I keep them from crashing while they teach themselves. They’re learning from failure all the ways not to fly.
At least an indoor cycle is on the ground. How hard can you crash? Learning from failures is a part of life. Do it. Embrace it. Pay the knowledge forward.
