by Tom Scotto | Feb 23, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog
I love evolving. It is exciting to realize that you can and have changed for the better. I can remember like it was yesterday, the first time my knuckles stopped dragging on the floor. Seriously though, one of the areas I have evolved in is music. Not so much the type of music I like, but rather the variety of music I like to use.
From Pre-Class to In-Class Music
Maybe this has happened to you — While browsing iTunes you find this perfect song. The rhythms are so cool and hip (although saying “hip” may not be cool). You’re already imaging how you are going to use this song in your upcoming playlist. You click the “Buy” button and wait in anticipation for the progress bar to make its way to the right so you can get the full dose of this inspirational new song. However, approximately 2 minutes into the music, everything goes silent….then weird sounds….some dude singing opera….a mysterious sound…..(2 minutes later) the beat kicks back in. Utterly disappointed and heart broken, you file the song into some obscure folder and mourn the lost of $1.99.
I’ve got a number of pre-class music playlists that I rotate from week to week. These are the tunes I play before class begins. I also have post-class playlists (for…well…after class) that include a variety of mellow cool-down music. These playlists are where I dump all of the songs I download that fall into the above scenario. However, I’m now finding myself going back into my pre-class music playlists thinking, “wow, this is a cool tune, I can use this.” The song then graduates out of the folder of misfit tunes.
Insert Some Drama
I’ve been drawn more and more to the songs with the weird interludes (or the funky non-rhythmic sections). These seemingly non-musical, awkward sounding sections provide a great backdrop for some drama. There are usually less instruments and a lot of space to talk, so it is perfect for building up the suspense for what is to come. Sometimes I will tell a short story about something we believe we couldn’t do and then when the actual music kicks back in — WE GO FOR IT!
Depending on the song, I’ve found these tunes to be great for 2-3 minute intervals. We’ll work hard until the music goes wack and then use the bizarre musical backdrop for a short bit of recovery before going at it again. It’s a lot of fun, particularly when you time it just right.
What I Hated I Now Love
I find it ironic that the reason I didn’t like certain music is now the driving force for using it. It is also nice to know that we can continue to grow as instructors and coaches. Growth in this way may be from building a better cueing vocabulary or becoming more confident or both. Obviously one helps the other.
So give it a go. Dig back to wherever you hid those lonely rejected songs and see if you find that your horizons have expanded and…just maybe… you are ready for some drama.
by Joan Kent | Feb 13, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog
By ICG® Master Trainer Joan Kent
The word “technique” may inspire interest in some and yawns in others. Still, there’s much to be said for technique, since it’s the foundation for the athletic performance features we layer over it.
Technique involves primarily the improvement of the skills required for a task. In the broadest general (i.e., non-cycling-specific) terms, it entails eliminating unnecessary movement and muscle activity; making all movements in the correct directions; applying the necessary power, but no more than that; using muscles best suited to the activity; and using optimal speed if time isn't a factor.
However dry and artless the list may sound, the results of good technique, and the consequences of bad, extend to training and performance. The last thing I’m going to do is provide guidelines for cycling technique, since so many vastly superior riders have done that in so many venues. (You can check out the excellent videos on the ICG® web site or here on ICI/PRO.)
What I’d like to do is simply list some benefits of improving technique.
The main benefit of good technique is that it improves efficiency. Efficiency is the ratio of work output to expended energy. If output increases or expenditure decreases, efficiency has improved. Efficiency and technique are closely related because the principles of efficiency are similar to those of technique: muscle relaxation whenever possible; vigorous contraction only when necessary; use of largest muscles possible to avoid local fatigue; use of momentum unless it must be overcome by muscular effort; use of smooth, continuous motions and easy, natural rhythm versus sudden, sharp, linear motions or contraction of opposing muscles against each other.
Efficiency may hinge on factors other than technique, such as training. Efficiency may depend on the contractile properties of the muscle, with slow-twitch more efficient than fast-twitch. Training can increase strength and endurance significantly by increasing efficiency of muscle utilization. Big-gear training, as discussed by Jim Karanas in a recent audio profile and by Tom Scotto in a recent post, can improve efficiency in fast-twitch fibers.
Returning to technique, many activities have an optimal rate; rates above and below it expend greater energy. The mechanism behind this is stored muscle elasticity, which requires the shortest interval between muscle relaxation and contraction to prevent loss of kinetic energy as heat. Technique changes how much energy is lost as heat and how much is retained as mechanical energy for the next movement. Since practice reinforces good technique, it can improve cycling efficiency by reducing the energy required to perform the pedal stroke, reducing energy lost as body heat, and retaining more mechanical energy for the next pedal stroke.
Efficiency is also affected by consistent velocity. Unnecessary acceleration and deceleration, often due to poor technique, waste energy. Obviously, keeping a consistent cadence throughout a cycling class isn’t usually part of the workout plan; however, staying consistent during a particular song or segment — an important technical skill — may increase efficiency. Beatmatch, as detailed by Team ICG® in a recent post on music, is an excellent practice tool in developing technique for consistency and efficiency.
Anecdotally, we also find that doing something with correct technique feels good, probably because the body is being used per the two sets of principles described above.
Finally, correct technique makes the student look good. In my master’s thesis, I compared the principles of technique and efficiency to those of movement aesthetics. It turns out that what makes a movement correct and efficient is also what makes it beautiful.
So technique is a key factor in efficiency, which in turn influences energy. The less energy a student wastes cycling with bad technique, the more energy is left for the demanding sections of the class when it really counts. And the better the student will look and feel doing it. Who can argue with having a beginner complete the class, look and feel good while taking it, and come back for more?
by Jim Karanas | Feb 6, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas –
When you ride a bicycle, you must master four major skills — climbing, descending, sprinting, and riding on a flat road.
Climbs are like books, with a beginning, a middle and an end. You shift your position on the bike as the gradient changes. Hopefully, you enjoy the middle — although you might at times look forward to the end.
Descents require you to master grace and control and to understand gravity.
Jumps and sprints are about power and acceleration and are over quickly.
But a flat can seem endless and is the greatest teacher of the endurance athlete. Many virtues come from riding a bicycle on a flat road: discipline, connection, rhythm, patience, consistency, economy. Cyclists who have ridden many miles know that flats can be the most challenging terrain. Lacking the drama of great climbs, they may appear mundane. As a cyclist who has ridden many long and ultra-long distances, however, I can say that the flat has required the greatest application of my focus and commitment to the bicycle.
Although the seated flat road is the most basic ride position in indoor cycling, I’ve found that most instructors don’t equate that position on an indoor cycle with the beauty of riding a bicycle on a flat road. It holds the greatest potential for student experience but is typically relegated to warm-ups, cool-downs, beginners’ workouts, and recovery. As a result, the seated flat road is the least interesting facet of many instructors’ classes.
What follows are personal thoughts and experiences from riding my bicycle that will hopefully give you ideas and words to make the seated flat road position more exciting and even elegant.
It’s on a flat road that the greatest connection with the bicycle occurs, due to the consistent and unchanging terrain. Fidgeting, shifting in the saddle, unnecessary standing, or sitting up are all indicators of a novice, not a cyclist. Train your students to commit to the saddle and always keep at least one hand on the handlebars. They’ll begin to feel the bike like never before. The subtleties of the bike are felt only when the rider becomes less restless.
Cyclists share a greater understanding of nature and of the elements. The most important element to understand is the wind, which is best studied on a flat road. Riding with a tailwind offers a feeling of exhilaration as the elements give you the sensation of effortless power. Riding with a crosswind may require the efficiency of an echelon in diagonal formation.
Riding into a headwind requires commitment to the saddle and reverence for the power of nature. Adding resistance in class does not only have to simulate a climb. A headwind is arguably the most forceful resistance you can experience on a bike. Imagine descending a 5% grade, pedaling furiously in your easiest climbing gear to maintain 15 mph as you ride into a 20 mph headwind. On a climb, you can change position, but there’s little you can do while riding into a headwind to mitigate the effort. You must stay glued to the saddle in your drops. The wind is the greatest teacher of acceptance. Your connection with the bicycle is complete.
Turning out of the wind, you feel the acceleration. Organize the breath and sense the speed; the effort becomes bliss. Spin the legs at high cadence; recover at 30 mph.
The flat affords another opportunity for one of the greatest sensations you’ll ever experience on a bicycle: the peloton, French for platoon. The peloton separates on a climb because of weight and fitness. It separates on a descent because of skill and nerve.
The peloton stays together on a flat, since a wide range of abilities can work together.
A rider in a peloton spends 30-40% less energy to maintain pace with the group than if riding alone. A synergy takes place that makes you want to contribute, want to ride harder, want the sensation never to end. No one talks; it’s about harmony, speed, fluidity, passion.
Referencing the peloton, or a rotating pace line, is a powerful experience to bring to your students. Many instructors have developed indoor-cycling exercises and choreography around the sensation of being in another rider’s slipstream and the shared consciousness that cyclists feel when riding in a group.
Every class you teach offers a peloton experience.
Riding a bicycle is more than just a workout. Knowledge enables you to transcend a ride position on an indoor cycle and make it something experiential. You don’t have to ride a bicycle to express the beauty of a flat road. All you have to do is find the right music and an appreciation for your indoor bike — and ride the way a cyclist rides the flats.
by Tom Scotto | Feb 2, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog
As an athletic coach, nothing bothers me….OK, “ticks me off” more than when legitimate methods of training are misused. It blatantly demonstrates a lack of knowledge and professionalism. Unfortunately, this tendency is rampant in the fitness industry, which has thus spilled over into indoor cycling.
Professor Izumi Tabata — You are the Man!
Now before you think I’m against Tabata training, I’m not. I think it is an amazing protocol, which was put forth with sound research. Basically, Professor Izumi Tabata performed studies where bouts of short, high intensity training was followed by short periods of recovery and repeated 8 times. In an interview with Professor Tabata, he laughs as he openly admits that the credit for the protocol goes to Japanese speed skating coach, Mr. Irisawa Koichi. Professor Tabata was simply asked to analyze the effectiveness of Mr. Irisawa’s training regiment.
The official, researched protocol is: 20 Seconds of intense work followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times.
Let’s Beat Everyone To a Pulp Mentality
When the Tabata protocol was released into the public, fitness “professionals” began drooling and scheming with big smiles on their faces as they imagined people flailing away to utter exhaustion praising their names as the greatest trainers on earth just before limp bodies hit the ground. Professor Tabata stated in his interview “This means that, excluding the warming up and cooling down, the exercise can be completed in only 4 minutes if repeated 8 times, more than enough to make even a fit person exhausted”. So what does the fitness industry do?… THEY MAKE AN ENTIRE 60-MINUTE TABATA CLASS!!!!! Total insanity. It is the “more is better — bigger is badder” approach, which is void of both science and proper regard for safety.
Group Fitness Hell
Here is another quote from Professor Tabata: “Such high-intensity exercise is exhausting, so it’s not good for those simply interested in general promotion of their health.” I’m trying to figure out how this statement translates into building Tabata-based group fitness and indoor cycling classes consisting of such a wide age and fitness-level demographic. At least if you’re working with a single individual, you can monitor their response to the training and adjust accordingly. With classes upwards of 20+ people, this is impossible and irresponsible.
Tom, Calm Down — What’s Going On?
I’ve been in numerous conversations in recent months where indoor cycling instructors are throwing around Tabata training like salt at McDonalds. They add it to everything with little to no regard for the focus of the class or the benefit to those participating. Here are two examples:
(1) I’m helping a group of indoor cycling instructors create a ride profile. We had decided that the focus was going to be on moderate, long climbs since it was early in the year and they wanted to help riders increase their muscular endurance. We had designed a nice ride profile with 3 long climbs, but as we looked at the timing, we were short about 3 minutes. Before I was able to suggest we adjust the length of one of the climbs or decent (recovery), one instructor said we could throw in some Tabata. WHAT?!?!? We’re in the &$*W$ mountains on a long climb in the early part of the year and you want to “throw it” some high intensity intervals?!?!
(2) I just finished a ride that concluded with a 25-minute steady-state effort targeting Zone 3 (~75% perceived exertion). It was tough and people were definitely feeling it at the end. After we completed the stretch and people were exiting the room, one rider was still on the bike working hard. As I approached the rider, who is a seasoned fitness instructor, they told me how much they like the class. They continued to say that it would have been nice to end the class stronger with some Tabata training. I smiled and packed up.
A License to Kill
Training methods and protocols like Tabata are legitimate and effective ways to train in the appropriate environment. Let’s make sure we are doing our homework as fitness professionals and demonstrating the responsibility we have with those that will follow our example and passion. Indoor cycling instructors have unfortunately used Tabata training, in particular, as a license to throw high-intensity into their classes whenever they want. “Oh, I’m just doing some Tabata Training”.
For those of use who have taken the time to study, research and design classes built on sound training science, we see right through the smoke screen.
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Here is the link to the interview with Professor Izumi Tabata – http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/eng/html/research/areas/feat-researchers/interview/izumi_t.html/
by Jim Karanas | Jan 23, 2012 | Engage Your Students, Master Instructor Blog
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
Motivation to exercise has spurred fitness discussions for decades.
Having taught Group Fitness classes for over 30 years, and Indoor Cycling since 1995, I've noticed that, when a person successfully integrates exercise into his or her life, the motivation to keep exercising changes over time. I've observed Four Levels of Motivation.
Level 1 – Physical
When someone starts a fitness program, the motivation usually comes from a physical goal, typically to lose weight, look better or become healthier.
Physical changes are easy to effect in a person with sufficient desire. Particularly when working with a trained professional, people can see success in these top three areas. We’ve all seen that initial desire wane, however, even in people who achieved results. Their workouts may stop or become sporadic. The physical Level of Motivation starts things but often won’t sustain a lifelong process.
The industry addresses these clients through change. The workouts weren't diverse enough. Let’s focus on something else, move in a new direction. It works for a while, but finding another way to lose weight is not the long-term answer. If students’ motivation does not evolve, they’re likely to stop once again.
Level 2 – Emotional
Most people will benefit from the second Level of Motivation, emotion. In time, feeling better supersedes looking better. Even people frustrated with lack of physical results will tend to acknowledge that exercise has made them feel better emotionally. They’re more relaxed, less stressed, glad to be taking care of themselves. If they have family, staying healthy and setting an example for their kids may feel gratifying.
This deeper Level of Motivation can sustain regular exercisers for a lifetime, but is often overlooked as a factor in keeping someone going after the physical motivation wanes.
Level 3 – Mental
The third Level of Motivation involves the mind, and I’ve seen it impact people dramatically. They become fascinated by what’s happening in the body, research it, study it, take charge of their own fitness programs. Some get certified to teach Indoor Cycling. Many of you reading this may have started your Indoor Cycling careers this way.
This leads to rapid, exponential growth in fitness. Students overcome physical challenges they’ve faced. They’re transformed. They become athletes. They move into events and competition, set yearly goals, and train with a dedication greater than that of some gifted athletes. With each accomplishment, their confidence grows — and their enthusiasm. They find new friends, change their lifestyle to accommodate a more rigorous workout schedule, and define themselves though their training.
This stage is glorious. It can go on for years, maybe decades, but must come to an end. Whether through injury, poor health, or aging, a decline in ability is inevitable. Unprepared students may be left deflated, empty or depressed. They can't ride as fast, can't manage their weight, lose flexibility or whatever they used to have that made them feel special.
This is a critical time because students may have to go through this process to realize the final Level of Motivation: connection with spirit.
Level 4 – Spiritual
Most people don't get here. Training becomes something they used to do.
Let me emphasize that this doesn’t involve religious beliefs, though some see it that way. Bottom line, if your students have never felt their spirits soar while riding, they may be stuck on Level 1. If you teach Indoor Cycling, you have likely felt this soaring but may not have expressed it this way.
The contrast between our ever-present sense of aliveness and the impermanence of the body is what tells us we’re more than muscle and bone. Eckart Tolle says, “If the whole world were blue, you would not recognize blue.” If riding your bike makes you feel more alive, even in the face of injury or an aging body, you realize that a part of you never gets tired, never grows old. You ride a bike into your 90's and still feel as if you're flying.
When you feel this, your perspective on all of the training you’ve done in your life changes. The achievements matter less. They’re fun and exciting, but their value is short-lived. You feel less unique and more deeply at peace. Balance replaces ego, and riding a bike just makes you happy to be alive.
When a student feels this, my job as a trainer is done. More than likely, he or she will now become the teacher.
Few individuals achieve this balance or are able to sustain it. Most of us float among all four Levels of Motivation. It would be ludicrous to tell you that, after 40+ years of intense training, I never think about how I look or use Level 1 to get my ass to the gym and train. If that’s my motivation for the day, so be it. I’ve learned that the connection with spirit is not easy to achieve every day. That state of consciousness can be elusive.
When it’s there, though, it’s undeniably the best thing that training — especially riding a bike — gives me. Your students will feel the same way.
by Tom Scotto | Dec 8, 2011 | Master Instructor Blog
Some may say I’m all work and no fun. Oh, come on! What can be more fun than final exams?
Although this time of year is loaded with holiday parties and a time to take a well-deserved break from training structure, it is also a great time to determine our conditioning before we begin the upcoming year.
We want to be more than just a weekly class to our riders, but rather part of their overall training and fitness solution. In order to do that, we must be able to give them guidance and suggestions as they set goals for next year. Any good coach or trainer knows that where a person is starting is just as important as what they are trying to achieve. Part of the reason for testing is to set a benchmark so we can track progress. Also, putting ourselves to the test often reveals our strengths and weaknesses. So bring on the testing, the learning and the fun.
Pick a Test or Take them All
There are four tests I like to throw at my riders at the end of the year. You can decide to subject them to just one or all 4, just not at the same time. During the last few weeks of the year, I’ll announce that the remaining classes are going to be very challenging (they like that), and that we are going to put their aerobic ability, leg speed, muscular strength and sustainable power to the test.
SIDE NOTE: If you were planning on taking a periodized approach to next year (read my earlier article), providing an end of year test is a way of showing your commitment to the plan. It transforms you from a mere instructor to a coach who knows the correct way to train and prepare people for success.
Create an Event and Have some Fun
Really, you can have some fun with this. I recommended giving your class at least a week’s notice that an end-of-year test is coming. Couple it with a little holiday get-together. Work hard and then have some fun celebrating after class.
Also, make sure you have the tools you need before selecting your test. Obviously you will need bikes that measure watts to conduct a sustainable power challenge. Targeting a consistent power can also be helpful during long muscular strength efforts, but choosing climbs of varying length can also work. Bikes that display cadence are useful for leg speed tests, but music set to specific tempos can also keep riders on track. And finally, heart rate monitors are best when putting one’s cardiovascular system to the task.
This may prove to be the perfect time to get your riders using a heart rate monitor. For example, take the time to explain the benefits of using heart rate when riding and training and how it will be a part of your class next year. Give riders a heads-up that you will be conducting a threshold test next week and that a heart rate monitor will help them track their results and allow them to start incorporating training zones. If your club sells heart rate monitors, even better! Get some information about the models they sell and ask to have one that you could display during class.
Repeatable Results
Once you created the class profile that will put your riders to the test, don’t throw it away. Instead, I recommend pulling it out every 5 to 6 weeks to allow your riders to retake the challenge. It will give them something to train for while providing a way to demonstrate improvement in their fitness.
I need to jump in here and say Thank You Tom! for committing to provide your valuable incites and knowledge through all of 2012! – John
