Tom Scotto joins us to explain how to coach Explosive Power efforts (sprints) in your Indoor Cycling class.
Sprinting is one of the most poorly taught and misconstrued movements in indoor cycling. I'm sure you have all seen it - instructors cueing sprints with little to no coaching or form instruction; riders with their legs whirring around like a weed-wacker at 140+rpm with little to no resistance, bodies flailing, faces beet red, and all their joints (neck, back, hips, knees) placed at great risk from the lack of stability and lack of resistance. Yet if you were to measure the power-output that these students could produce in this manner, you (and they) would see that it is a futile attempt with little work actually produced (i.e. very low watts). In other words, if they were on a real bike riding like that, they wouldn't go anywhere - a child on a tricycle would probably pass them by. They would LOSE the sprint.
You want your students to not only win the sprint, but to actually gain explosive power and become a better rider (indoors and out)? Then listen to Tom's audio PROfile again and again. Create one class out of the various sprints he describes (as in his profile), or after teaching your students how to sprint properly, simply take pieces of it and sprinkle it into other profiles. You have that perfect opportunity coming up with the Tour de France next week!
I have no doubt in my mind that there is not an indoor cycling instructor out there who won't learn a LOT from this audio PROfile. Enjoy (and get ready to work HARD)!
Click here to download the complete Explosive Power Audio PROfile 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.
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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.
- ICI Podcast 238 Meet Nerd Fitness Creator Steve Kamb - April 6, 2024
- ICI/PRO Podcast #113 Explosive Power pt 3 – Video PROfile with Tom Scotto from Stage 5 Cycling - March 31, 2024
- Spinning RideBook of class profiles - March 28, 2024
I always have difficulties and still have to do a real sprint with the IDC bike.
How do you do to keep it real ?
At the time you have good bike skill and a good amound of power; how do you manage the fact that the faster you go the more inertie you give to the flywheel so at the end you do not push as much as at the beginning ?
Pascal, that’s a great question and a real concern. This the reason we have included the “load” phase as part of the setup. It is important to demonstrate this as an instructor so your riders not only hear you say it but “see” the results of what you’re doing. I’ll ask them to watch my legs as we load the resistance for the sprint “Let’s start adding resistance (or shifting into those big gears)…4…3..See my legs slowing down under the load?…2…1… I usually slow my legs down to around 40 rpm fully loaded. If you do this right, there is little chance of spinning out at the end of the sprint. The end of the sprint is the second check. Once they are done, their legs should be forced to slow down under such a heavy load (and very tired muscles). Help them work both ends of the sprint until they experience it. Have fun!
Great question Pascal! What Tom is talking about here really works from a teaching perspective. And during the form sprints, you can walk around and check that everyone is doing it properly and not winding their legs up too fast by the end of the sprint. The cues he gives in this audio PROfile are excellent.
I’ll attest that this is a very hard class – I taught it yesterday, and I LEARNED so much even about myself, not to mention my students! IMO this is groundbreaking profile – so essential for teaching instructors how to teach a sprint correctly.
Tom,
Thank you for this profile!.. I have not yet tried it.. I need to give my self a week or so to rest up for it :).
I love the cues.. I love the form sprints… When ever I have done sprints in my class I have usually done them more like a form sprint.. I have never focused an entire ride on sprints.. I like the idea.
By the way I tried your RPMX class a few times.. I absolutely loved it and it came across with great reviews with all my students. You seem to have an expertise with the music that I have not yet figured out. I will be at the ICI pro conference I would love to learn how to change speeds lengthen or shorten a song to fit a drill i might be trying to teach. Will you be offering one of the music segments? Also – Your Stage 5 Certification How often do you hold one of those workshops? Thanks!
Tom,
This profile is a fantastic way to help train the members for a ‘race day’ experience. It’s a great way of breaking down the importance of when, where and why their energy is needed most and how to apply it successfully. I taught it off the bike yesterday night because I want to experience it in my class this morning. Now that the tour de France is underway the members are more eager to learn.
i am latent member joining and hearing this and thinking WOW! how off the mark so many instructors including myself are in using the sprint skill in a class. i have now listened to this 4 times and know i have many more times of listening ahead of me with practice, practice, practice and mastery before doing this in my classes. thank you so much for keeping us learning and safe about what we are teaching and doing.
Renee, how wonderful to have you here and to hear how much of an impact this has made on you. I thought the same thing when I first heard Tom even TALK about sprinting! I thought that it should be a requirement for ALL instructors to go through his training – or with ICI/PRO hear his podcast and view the videos we have on sprinting.
So many instructors are off the mark with sprints.
Like Renee, I’ve only just had the time to listen to this pod cast (July was a very busy month for me).
I’ve literally just taught a cut down 40 min version of this and the look on the faces of my students when I told them they’d been working for only about 14 minutes was priceless.
I think that thanks to this pod cast I now really understand what a sprint is and why I didnt like them before – I’ve tried so many times to get those ‘roadrunner’ legs people to slow down and control their speed, or to get people to really make an effort, and now I have the lingo and the knowledge to properly explain it.
There was only 5 ladies in my class, so I sat them quite close to me so we could talk over the music and I could judge their reaction to what we were doing. I could see on their faces the effort and passion they were putting in to the class, and I got great feed back at the end, which for a UK class (at least in my experience) is a rare and valuable thing.
It’s going to sound a bit pathetic but there is actually a certain beauty in the sprint as taught by Tom; the way that he describes the 30 second effort breaks it down into managable segments and gives the student a framework to their effort, as opposed to asking them to go hell for leather from the word go. I made sure I practiced this profile before teaching it and needed very second of that recovery time.
I think there are times when you know you’ve done good, and today is one of those days… gotta stop raving now otherwise I’ll be here forever!!!!
THANKS!
Pru,
wonderful words you’ve written. I’d been teaching sprints for years – but not often – and I felt the exact same way about Tom’s teaching technique. It is brilliant! I think I steered clear of sprints not wanting to deal with the slew of bad habits, terrible habits, that people acquire, usually from doing so-called “sprints” in other IDC classes. But now I know what to say and do! This profile is absolutely KEY to being a great coach!
Further to my comment above, 2 of the ladies from the class spoke to me last night after a Body Combat class I was teaching. They told me it was the best spinning class they’d ever taken and they appreciated the structure, knowing what was coming. It made my day!