If you were to do a quick web search you would see that 3 is a very special number. It’s a favorite of storytellers; the three pigs, the the three blind mice, Goldilocks and the three bears and the Three Musketeers. It’s used in faith; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as well as Mindy, Body, Spirit. You have the 3 olympic medals; gold, silver and bronze. In geometry the three sided triangle is considered the most stable shape. Photographers, artists and designers use the rule of thirds.
In strength training, many believe, three sets are optimal for strength gains. When participating in an indoor cycling class there are only three riding positions; seated with a fast cadence, seated with a slower cadence and standing. Numerous studies have shown that the brain responds to 3 in a positive way.
When writing my class profiles I like to take advantage of the “Power of 3”. I often use 3 song sets, the 3 riding positions and repeat intervals 3 times. I find the “Power of 3” to be, a POWERFUL technique.
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Winter Training is on the minds of many of your class participants starting today! Base building, maintaining fitness and improving power are all things that the endurance athletes are looking for from you and your class. Are you prepared to deliver these things?
Gene Nacey from Cycling Fusion joins me to discuss why you should consider offering a structured winter training program and Gene describes how he created just such a program at his Global Ride Studio.
If you are interested in participating, contact Cycling Fusion at support@cyclingfusion.com.
Listen to the Podcast below or subscribe for free using
Welcome to week four of Music to Mention. This week's music to mention is one of my newest favorite songs for muscular endurance work: Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man. Muscular endurance is always a challenge for the instructor as there are 3-4 minute sections of the ride, some back to back, where the rider is in the saddle and maintaining a specific cadence and exertion level to achieve the development of muscular endurance. While this is understood by the cyclists in your group, the average fitness person that is looking for as much entertainment as workout they may find this work boring. That is where we step forward as instructors and use this time to educate our riders, work on form and allow them to listen to and enjoy the music. Have fun with this and use the longer sections to connect with your class and educate them on training.
There is no real timing for this song as the entire piece falls into a perfect 80 cadence. This is short work (2:40ish) so have your riders go hard. I usually cue this as the highest gear they can maintain at 80 rpm or “Hard, but sustainable.” In order for them to get the fitness gains from muscular endurance work, they need to be in HeartZones of High Zone Three to High Zone Four.
Q: “I've been on a beta-blocker (atenolol) for my high blood pressure. Lately I find that I can't keep up with the profiles my instructor presents in the Spinning classes I take. When I push to the target energy zones, I feel like I am overexerting myself. I'm exhausted. Can you help me understand how this medication might be affecting my heart rate?”
– J.T.
Melissa writes:
An excellent question indeed. I'm glad you've noticed that something isn't quite as you expect, and that you've empowered yourself to get to the ‘heart' of what's going on. (Bad joke…)
Beta-blockers are one kind of well over 15 types of different medications used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure), some of which you may also have heard of: angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), calcium-channel blockers, diuretics, and many more. Each class of drugs works on different receptors in different locations (heart, blood vessels, lungs, skeletal muscles, etc.), and thus has different effects. I will limit my discussion here to Beta-blockers, and defer the others for a later article. (more…)
No more hunting for new music or counting out cues. Here is your ready to ride document, that can be displayed from your phone, or printed out onto cue cards. This ride is timed out, down to the second, to make your life as easy as possible!
No more hunting for new music or counting out cues. Here is your ready to ride document, that can be displayed from your phone, or printed out onto cue cards. This ride is timed out, down to the second, to make your life as easy as possible!
