So we’ve talked about why Indoor only riders will benefit from Power Training, and in the last post we reminded the avid outdoor cyclist just why Power is a must for their continued growth and improvement riding outside… but how to get started. That’s the question I’ve heard from a number of folks that have just gotten new Keiser M3 Power bikes (even though our Power Training system from Cycling Fusion works for all indoor bikes – it is what we use at Global Ride Training Center). The inevitable first question is like one from a new blogger sitting in front of a blank computer screen. Where do I start!?!
Introduce Power With Games
While most indoor cyclists still don’t wear heart monitors when they ride, most know what it is and why it is used. However, when it comes to training with Power, that’s a different matter altogether. Unfortunately, this is also why many clubs do not consider bikes with Power. Their ignorance leads them to feel it is too complicated or worse – intimidating. In this case ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s just plain ignorance. The goal here is to show that riding with Power is fun, interesting, and easy to do. This will help to beat back a consensus of complexity, which right now, threatens to slow the growth of Power bikes in our industry. Consequently, it’s best to just let students begin to play with Power before they really begin to train with it.
We do this by offering structured and methodical Power Games that make training with Power more fun. These are just a sample of Power Training games one can play. With feedback like Watts, Heart Rate and Cadence, (typical tools that come with any bike already equipped with Power) one is only limited by their own imagination. Here are some games that might help “break the ice” when it comes to training with Power.
Ten Songs To 10 Gears
Let your students warm up, encouraging them to increase their gears slightly as they “warm up with purpose”, but to keep it light and easy during the warmup. Once they have warmed up for at least 5 or 6 minutes, ask them to check their gear number, and the Watts they are genearting. This will represent their “baseline” or the bottom gear or Wattage for them today. This concept of establishing a Power “baseline” will apply to all of the games we discuss here, except for our last game; the 5 X 5.
Each of the next 9 songs then you should direct them to increase it 1 gear. The first 3 or 4 should be easily handled in the saddle. The final 3 or 4 may need to be out of the saddle, and some students might not be able to negotiate a gear much more than 7 or 8 above their warmup, depending on how high they start, and the type of Power indicator your bike uses.
Outside of the first couple and last couple, you should have plenty of leeway for what position to be in for all the other Power levels. Continue to work on form, and draw their attention to how each gear affects the Power, and how it probably also affects their cadence and certainly heart rate. This is a good exploratory exercise to help students see just how far they can go. Some may never go beyond a few gears without this slow and methodical increasing of Power. Others might find that they haven’t really stressed themselves, or at least not to the max. This is good too, as it helps to show your students a wide range of Power levels and helps them to understand what kind of Power range they have.
We know it is safe to keep both feet attached to the pedals and simply focus on one leg at a time, but is it safe, and should we unclip one foot to perform pedal stroke drills in our indoor cycling classes?
To stay on point I’m not going to discuss if and why 1-legged drills are effective, but rather limitations or concerns that should be considered when attempting them in our indoor cycling classes.
First, do outdoor cyclists perform 1-legged drills? Yes we do. They have been part of our training program, usually during the base training months (Dec-Mar) for as long as I can remember. Over the last 20 years I have spent countless hours in my basement riding my road bike on an indoor trainer. A considerable amount of time each week was devoted to 1-legged pedal drills with a goal of creating a smooth pedal stroke. So why wouldn’t we want to use this same training technique during an indoor cycling class?
1-legged drills can present a safety risk during an indoor cycling class for 2 reasons: (1) most indoor bikes use a fixed weighted flywheel and (2) it is difficult to maintain cycling form and proper biomechaincs.
As we know, the weighted flywheel on the indoor bike simulates the effects of inertia and momentum experienced when riding a real bike outdoors. Since the flywheel is “fixed” (the pedals can turn the wheel in both directions), it can apply forward pressure on the legs and joints once it picks up speed. When a rider pedals with both legs, often the weaker muscles of one leg (hamstrings and hip flexors) are counter-balanced by the stronger muscles of the other leg (glutes and quads) creating a smoother rotation. I’ve seen riders struggle in classes to maintain a smooth pedal stroke with both legs — remove 1 leg from the equation and their pedal stroke becomes very choppy. This happens because the weaker muscles cannot generate the same about of force as the stronger ones (flexors vs. extensors). However, due to the momentum created by the weighed flywheel, the pedals keep turning even though there is little to no force contribution for practically half the pedal stroke. In reality, half of the pedal stroke is not under the rider’s control. This can place a tremendous amount of force on not only the joints of the legs (hips, knees and ankles), but stress other stabilizing joints and muscles such as the back, shoulders and neck. 1-Legged drills are best performed on bikes that coast because the rider is forced to activate the muscles throughout the entire pedal stroke. As a result, it is usually VERY obvious which muscles are not contributing properly because the rider will experience “dead-air” and awkwardness often at the bottom and top of the stroke.
The other problem is “where do you put the leg that is not clipped in?” Back in the day….it was common for cyclists to have 2 milk crates. Maybe you’ve seen those plastic bins at the grocery store which hold four 1-gallon jugs of milk. As a kid growing up in Brooklyn NY, I remember the “milkman” placing one of these crates full of milk on the front steps of our house. Anyway, cyclists will place 1 crate on each side of their bike (locked into the indoor trainer) as close to the moving pedal as possible. To focus on one leg, we’d simply unclip and rest our foot on the crate. It was a perfect height to enable us to maintain our form and balance (BTW, 2 chairs will also work nicely). Unless everyone in your indoor class comes prepared with their own milk crates, riders are usually forced to do a number of things with their foot in order to pedal with one leg. They can try to dangle it in the air, prop it up on the center of the bike frame, reach way back and rest it on the back legs of the bike or even lift it up on top of the handlebars. I’ve tried them all but was not able to get my foot on the handlebars (stink'in hamstrings). Regardless of which leg position you can achieve, your pedal mechanics will be affected and you will place your joints and muscles at risk with little to no benefit. A number of years ago, an unstable rider was attempting to perform 1-legged drills with his leg suspended next to the bike. His foot wandered too close to the whirling pedal and he chipped his ankle bone (medial malleolus). The instructor of the class was overwhelmed with seemingly endless paperwork and scrutiny.
So from a health and fitness risk stratification standpoint, 1-legged drills (with one leg unclipped) should not be performed in an indoor class unless both the bikes have the ability to coast and riders are either wearing diamond-plate steel anklets or until clubs start equipping cycling studios with milk crates.
ICG Master Trainer Jim Karanas presents our latest Audio PROfile. Race-Day rides have been part of indoor cycling since it began. However, few instructors use the profile effectively. The Criterium is the most fun and simplest race to simulate in an indoor environment. Also, you don’t have to have raced a crit to cue this workout. It is, in my opinion, the easiest and most fun race-day workout to offer your students. Here is the PROfile .pdf to download and print.
Here's a fascinating video that may give you some perspective on what goes on during the opening laps of a crit 🙂 Watch the amount of power that's required to stay with this very competitive bunch of Pros and the jockeying that occurs… and then consider they will do this for 90 minutes! This video is one of twelve that you can find here.
Tom Scotto from Stage 5 Cycling joins me as the “pinch hitter” Master Instructor for this weeks Audio PROfile. I'm calling this a sort of Hybrid Audio PROfile/PRO Podcast as Tom goes into a lot of additional detail that you will enjoy learning. Here is the link to the companion .pdf
Here's your Spotify PRO/Playlist!Deezer. We have made every attempt to replicate the original playlist. In some instances the tracks specified were unavailable in Spotify. When necessary we have substituted individual songs of similar length and tried to maintain the Instructor's intent. [/private_PRO-Seasonal] [/private_PRO-Platinum]
Have you every purchased something that seemed really expensive at the time, but years later thought; “I'm really glad I bought these!”
I'm guessing that I bought these Pearl iZumi Lobster Gloves back around 1998. Now, 14 years later, I dug them out of the “Dad's Bike Stuff” box in the front closet, as Maxx and I prepared to tackle our first snow.
Global Warming hysteria was at it zenith during the late 90's here in Minnesota. We were experiencing very warm, near snow-less winters – perfect for Mountain Biking 🙂 “Warm” in the winter is a subjective term. It's still cold. My training buddy Eddy suggested I get a pair of these weird looking gloves after watching me ride one-handed (with the other stuffed in a jacket pocket) at some point. So I did.
I'll never forget chasing my kids around the house with them on, pretending that I was Lobster Man… OK, I guess you needed to be there.
I'm not doing much winter riding now that most mornings are 10°F – but these gloves continue to serve me during my second favorite form of cardiovascular winter exercise; snow shoveling!
Anyway, you can get your own pair here for $75.00 – it looks like they have made substantial improvements over what I bought in 98.
Maxx checking out my work. His jacket says; “BAH HUMBUG!
ICI/PRO Annual members can treat themselves (or finish up their Christmas shopping) while saving 40% here on Pearl's complete line of winter clothing + everything else they sell.
I'll bet Pete Thomas here made a few position changes.
Myth #7 – Once you find a good position, you shouldn't need to change it.
Back in Myth #3 I discussed how your students do want you to make suggestions to their setup, but they may offer some initial resistance because…
People are creatures of habit and routine. We all derive comfort from the familiar. Like robots, we try to do exactly the same thing every time we find ourselves in these familiar situations/places.
For the regulars in your class this means they get to the club at the same time, park in the same general location, attempt to get the same locker, find the same bike and set it up in exactly the same way, every time.
I was referring to making suggestions to students who's position on the bike was less than optimal.
So then once we get them set up correctly we shouldn't touch them, right?
Not always. People can (and do) change – and those changes may require a change in position.
Changes in weight can change more then your belly circumference.
I haven't experienced this personally, but my understanding is that adding some additional body fat can make your pants shorter. True story! Which makes perfect sense. If your butt gets bigger (due to the thickening of the fat layer beneath our skin, more material is needed to circumnavigate cover it, leaving less material in the length of each pant leg. Next people are making jokes about your flood preparations.
The inverse of this is true as well. As we loose body fat, we change dimensionally – hopefully everywhere – as the fat layers become thinner.
Now think about this. Let's say you have a successful student, one who loses a bunch of weight by regularly taking your class this winter. Can you imagine how a lessening of body fat can have an impact on saddle height? [you'd want to raise it]
Or vice versa? [lower it]
The trouble is that weight gain/loss is gradual, so a regular participant will just adopt with the changes.
So keep your eyes open for anyone who's beaten the battle of the bulge and help them celebrate their success by maybe raising their saddle a notch!
So we’ve talked about why Indoor only riders will benefit from Power Training, and in the last post we reminded the avid outdoor cyclist just why Power is a must for their continued growth and improvement riding outside… but how to get started. That’s the question I’ve heard from a number of folks that have just gotten new Keiser M3 Power bikes (even though our Power Training system from Cycling Fusion works for all indoor bikes – it is what we use at Global Ride Training Center). The inevitable first question is like one from a new blogger sitting in front of a blank computer screen. Where do I start!?!
