As promised, here's Krista Leopold's Indoor Cycling Class Profile; Beat Down!
Training Type: LT Intervals
Working HR Zones: 4
Total Class Length: 55 min
Objective and Intensity
After recently being inspired by a boxing match I watched at the nail salon of all places, I decided to try to bring my riders into the ring for a full class. This ride is shaped by the structure of a boxing match. In professional boxing, boxers typically spar for 9-12 rounds of 3 minutes each with 1 minute in between each round. For our time constraints, we are going to fight for 10 rounds. Each round, we’ll use a different movement. Most of the rounds will be one movement sustained. In a couple of places, we’ll change it up.
For each round, we are going to work as close to LT as we can with opportunities to go higher than that sprinkled in. The challenge is to find that balance of intensity and restraint which will allow them to last a total of thirty working minutes. The average participant can sustain LT for 20 minutes. Since we’ll have short rest periods every 3 minutes, the ride presents an opportunity to push your limits while still being able to recover.
You can download Krista's trimmed to exact length and then fully mixed class playlist[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge'] here – Right click > Save As.
I know that whenever I'm feeling the need to get more creative, I'll attend someone else's cycling class. Typically Amy's Saturday morning Evolution class at Fife Time. Not having to focus on delivering the class myself, after about 15 minutes I tend to zone-out and new ideas just start coming to me. I know I'm not the only person who experiences this – actually I feel it's pretty common amongst endurance athletes.
I describe pedaling along, blissfully oblivious to what's happening around you (inside or outdoors) as JRA – Just Riding Along. You might call it being in a state of Zen, or in-the-zone or your “happy place”. If you've ever felt you were in a place where time seems to both stand still and fly by, you know what I'm talking about.
Last year I talked about how you, as the Instructor, can distract your participants who are enjoying their time JRA by calling out the equivalent of SQUIRREL.
It turns out that there's a bunch of neuroscience that goes on while we are aerobic. You'll learn a lot about the science of what's happening to your brain during exercise from this video that feature neuroscientist/group fitness instructor Dr. Wendy Suzuki.
Creativity Indoor Cycling?
So if our riders are already benefiting from the mental/creative stimulation that comes from participating our our classes, why not promote this benefit? Better yet, why not structure classes to actually enhance the experience?
The long, steady efforts are magical in their ability to bring on JRA 🙂 If you really want people to zone out and get into their own heads, this 15 minute track from the ZENDURANCE profile is nearly guaranteed to do the trick.
Next I'm thinking I would create a slideshow of random images of interesting geometric shapes and colors. Maybe cool architecture, bridges & buildings, flowers & plants, etc… I don't think I'd include pictures of people or animals that could trigger emotional responses – that's at least my initial idea.
The important part would be that riders wouldn't need to maintain their attention, like you do when you're watching a video. Maybe instead of class > Keeping it Fun, you offer > Keeping it Interesting?
Cuing would be the real challenge. Maybe you don't cue anything beyond the introduction. Or, you might offer a word problem or show a series of brain exercises from Lumosity.com or other online resourse with each song changes.
What ever you come up with, it will be important to properly identify the class format and include its description on your class schedule.
Brainstorming sessions?
Your Creativity Indoor Classes could potentially have value to a local company looking to solve a problem or develop a new product. Bring in a big white board and then team up with a moderator who writes down all the new ideas, while you guide the class. The possibilities are endless and structured properly, could be a very profitable class you could offer.
I taught my last class today. My last ride so-to-speak. It all started seven years ago. I had been Spinning® for years. That day our regular instructor asked me to lead her class. She was just too sick.
To me – a pilot – it was like being asked to safely land an airliner because the pilots were incapacitated. Truth be told, I was far more prepared to land a 747 than lead the class. But I did it, and that is where my ride as indoor cycle instructor began.
Penning this post for ICI/PRO is – for the most part – where it ends. A memoire of sorts that highlights milestones of my journey from certified but lost, to Master Instructor, what I learned along the way about our craft and our industry.
Realizing the joy of being in the front of the studio, I took the first of countless certifications the next month. A one day, eight hour class. Leaving that afternoon I realized what I didn’t know.
I knew that to be the instructor I wanted to be, would require more than eight hours. So I did what all red blooded Americans do, a Google search on teaching indoor cycling.
Lucky for me John understands search engine optimization. ICI/PRO was top of the list and my life as an instructor changed.
Back then John was publishing ‘podcasts’ and posts talking about something he called Indoor Cycling 2.0. What?? I was in my car a lot in those days with my iPod plugged into the radio. I listened to it all trying to figure the best way to integrate such wisdom into my teaching.
There were guest speakers who discussed everything from music to very cycle specific training.
There were posts from this guy, Gene Nacey, who had started a company called Cycling Fusion. Gene wrote a book back then about training with power. The forward, written by Sally Edwards. Who were these people and why are they always talking about heart rate, power and cadence?
ICI/PRO offered class profiles with music suggestions. I found these very helpful but they had names like muscular strength or climbing power or aerobic volume training. It was all very overwhelming.
I realized what made it so overwhelming was that I had not really been educated. That my eight hour class hardly scratched the surface of what ‘training’ on an indoor cycle was really about.
My experience taking classes was just the opposite. My favorite instructor never did any of this stuff. I had reached a defining moment. Indoor cycling version 1.0 or 2.0.
I chose 2.0 because it had the education I yearned for and the structure that seemed missing from the classes I took. I had always been a fan of heart rate. Moreover, the new bikes at the JCC – where I was trying to land a sub job – measured heart rate and had power meters. I knew that seemed like the perfect combination but – at the time – had no idea why.
I got the sub job and a fair amount of opportunity to teach in those early years. I began my quest to get better through education. My sub classes (all I had at the time) were – unbeknownst to them – my guinea pigs.
Having read Gene’s Power Training Book there were some questions. I had found a way to land a ‘regular’ class in prime time by offering to do a power training course. I had questions, so I called him.
Gene is the quintessential professional. He always gave freely of his time to answer my questions. But he warned me, “Chuck where you are going you will discover a culture, the culture of indoor cycling. Good luck.” But more on that later.
Later that year he was doing the official launch of his new company, Cycling Fusion by hosting a summit of some of the most nationally regarded indoor cycle instructors. I’m not sure where I found the nerve, but I offered to kick off the summit suggesting that I was representative of the new 2.0 instructor. To my surprise Gene said yes.
The rest is history. My relatively short, but incredibly intense career really began at that summit, west of Denver high in the Rocky Mountains at Keystone Ski Resort. Why? I met Sally Edwards. Talk about unbridled energy. Sally – the only person ever inducted into both triathlon halls of fame – epitomizes it.
Suffice it to say that when I ran into Sally at the Denver airport after the summit I knew I was home. John led me into the room, Gene opened the window and Sally was the sunshine that poured through. There are not enough words to describe the learning one experiences working with Sally Edwards.
But if Sally was the sun shining on my personal learning crusade, Jim Karanas was the fresh air flowing through the open window.
Jim was indoor cycling 2, 3, 4 and 5.0 way before anyone ever heard of a ‘podcast’. Sadly, Jim left us a while ago, but his legacy lives on in all of those he touched. From Jim I learned to put the icing on the cake. That at the end of the day, it was not about me or just about heart rate or power, cadence or cycle specific training. It was about bringing to class the ability to touch each rider such that they were sure I was teaching class just for them.
When I made the choice to give up leading classes I did it with the knowledge that I had met my own challenge – to understand the whole of indoor cycling yes, but to touch the people who trusted me in a positive manner. How did I know? Simple really, rider feedback. Additionally, I had grown past the place where I was committed to only one way. I was comfortable teaching outside the keep-it-real philosophy that had governed my every thought for so long. I knew that Indoor cycling 2.0 was only a pass to explore and learn, not a rigid protocol to vigorously defend. That my job was not to suppose I knew what my riders needed, or how they got it, but to provide for them what THEY thought they needed that day. I can do that. I have done that. I am content. I have moved on but I have not forgotten.
In the coming weeks I will give John some additional posts written but never submitted. Posts that take a close, perhaps inside look at the realities of our industry. Fruit for thought or maybe, fuel for a fire.
It has been my privilege to have met and worked with so many great and talented individuals.
Here's a great opportunity for Indoor Cycling Instructors and Studio Owners to attract and serve a new demographic of riders – active seniors!
With over 12 MILLION members and 13,000 locations, SilverSneakers is a kind of quiet giant in the fitness industry. Participating senior citizens, across America, can take advantage of free access to health clubs and wellness centers that's paid through their health insurance.
The SilverSneakers FLEX program is designed for individual Fitness Instructors wanting to offer classes and activities at non-traditional locations. I've never stopped to ask, but I'll bet the large group of seniors we pass exercising in a local park on our Sunday AM bike ride is a FLEX class.
FLEX could be the perfect way to add some additional classes to your studio's schedule. Our FLEX approved Parkinson's Cycling classes are best conducted between 10:00 and noon. Seniors tend to eat dinner early (join us for the 4:30 blue plate special) so they might be open to a Senior Cycling class around 3:00pm.
FLEX Instructors are paid directly by SilverSneakers, so there's no cost to the participants. You can learn more by listening to this interview with Stephanie Wong – the Vice President, Field Operations for SilverSneakers' parent company Healthways, Inc. You can email her with questions; stephanie.wong@healthways.com
SilverSneakers is an industry-leading fitness program for older adults. It is delivered through a nationwide network of participating fitness locations such as YMCAs, Curves®, gyms, wellness centers and other facilities.
Our qualified SilverSneakers instructors will have the training and skills necessary to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population that values high-quality, personalized service.
Interested in finding out about our new FLEX instructor program? Click Here to download the program brochure.
Interested in becoming a SilverSneakers instructor? Click Here for more information.
There's nothing like a good steady beat to get your legs spinning and these two songs will give you and your riders what they need when the going gets tough.
Shawn Mendes recently released the Deluxe version of his album Illuminate and I revisited this tune as a climb at 62 RPM. It might also work great with accelerations or sprints on the chorus.
And brand new off of the release radar is the Tujamo Remix of Light My Body Up (feat. Nick Minaj & Lil Wayne) by David Guetta. It's much faster than the original version (around 66 RPM) so lends itself to a faster climb in or out of the saddle.
The original (see below) would make a great seated climb!
Whether you are looking for a climb or a flat road for your next class, you'll find both of them here. Check out these two new releases that are ready to be added to your next ride profile.
