It's a fact of teaching Indoor Cycling classes using power... not every meter shows consistent - repeatable watts indication, no matter which brand you're riding. Faced with this (often times frustrating) inconsistency you have two choices:
- Throw your hands up as if to say; "what's the use?" and ignore the power meter.
- Accept the problem and offer your class a simple solution.
My hope is that you choose the later 🙂
As far as I know, there's only one solution you can offer the athletes riding in front of you to understand their power, today, on that cycle. Conduct a short PTP (Personal Threshold Power) assessment as part of every class you teach. If you have a different/better solution I'm all ears - please share it below.Â
These PTP assessments work great as the first real effort, after you've taken everyone through you initial warmup and a series of openers. Every class of mine begins the same:
- 5 minute warmup where we gradually increase intensity @ 90-100 RPM
- 3-4 30 second opener accelerations. We begin in a climbing gear @ 70 RPM, accelerate to and maintain 100 ish RPM for 30 seconds. Recover for 30 sec, rinse and repeat.
- 2 minute recovery (now we're calling this a "reset")
- 3 or 4 minute "Best Effort" where we learn our PTP for this day, on this cycle. I tend to vary how I conduct these; some days are high cadence tempo flats @Â 90-100 RPMÂ and others are fast climbs @ 70 RPM
No matter what you decide, you need a great song for your "Best Effort" PTP assessment. For our free track this week I thought I would share one of my current favorites, the Lie To Me opening theme song Brand New Day from Ryan Star. This 93 RPM track is a little short at 3:14 - so you need everyone to quickly ramp up their effort, punch the STAGE button in unison and attack this 3 min Best Effort from GO!
The resulting average watts becomes the PTP for this class, on this bike.
https://soundcloud.com/fernando-casteluber/ryan-star-brand-new-day
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
Like this alot!! Def on next week’s playlist! Thanks for the share 🙂