“Danny, Dakota and the Wishing Well” by A Silent Film
“Can't Hold Us” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
“Vertigo” by U2
Last week I wrote about the “Threshold Check” or “Mini-Threshold Test” that I perform at the beginning of every class. This week I want to share how I teach the full 20 minute FTP (Functional Threshold Power) Test. With this post I have also included the playlist and video I use as well as a recording of me teaching an entire FTP class.
[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']If you are lucky enough to be teaching on bikes with power I believe it's important to use this technology and all the available metrics to their fullest capacity. I find the most powerful use of a power meter is in finding one's maximum sustainable wattage or threshold. Threshold is that state of equilibrium between high intensity exercise and the body's ability to buffer and filter the waste products produced by this intensity. With a power meter we can find a wattage number that correlates with this state of equilibrium or your FTP (Functional Threshold Power).
Exercise physiologists have devised many different ways to find one's threshold, but I have found the simplest and cheapest technique is to perform a 20 minute effort at maximum sustainable intensity. At the end of this 20 minute effort take note of the average wattage and multiply it by 95% and this number is your FTP. I'll go into greater detail on how to use this number in later posts, but now let's go over how to perform the FTP Test.
I like to have my riders warm up for a minimum of 15 minutes. I'll have them slowly increase their intensity for 10 minutes then I like to have them perform 3-4 one minute “pickups” increasing their intensity each interval while recovering for one minute after each. After a short, 3-5 minute, active recovery from the pickups I have the class perform a maximum effort 5 minute interval. This effort ensures that the lactate buffering and clearance systems are turned on and ready for the 20 minutes test that follows. I also have class participants remember their average wattage for this 5 minutes, it's a good number to refer back to when doing above threshold intervals. After another recovery, about 10 minutes long, we are ready for the 20 minute FTP test. Make sure all your participants know how to reset the bike console so they can get a new average for the 20 minute interval to come. Tell them that this is a very simple test, you want them to ride at the highest possible wattage for 20 minutes. Your job as the instructor is to motivate, but not to talk too much. Let your riders “settle in” to their maximum sustainable wattage and their most efficient cadence and just let them ride. At the end of the 20 minutes make sure they remember their average wattage, multiply it by 95% and they have their Functional Threshold Power. This “Benchmark” test is also great to see improvement over time, with proper training FTP should continue to improve.
Let me know how it goes, my classes love FTP days! They work so hard every day and once a month they get to see the payoff for all sweat and suffering.
6 song harmonically mixed FTP track , to download Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
For years I had been patiently waiting for the facilities I instruct in to upgrade their bikes to use power. When these upgrades finally started to happen I was surprised by the different wattage readings I would see, not only, from different brands of bikes but by bikes built by the same manufacturer. I had always assumed a watt is a watt the same way a MPH is MPH or an RPM is an RPM. At first this was VERY disappointing, I have a very technical teaching style and I was hoping to have all my class participants perform a Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Test every 6-8 weeks, calculate their personal power zones and coach each and every class to those zones. Unfortunately, if every bike in the studio reads wattage, even a little bit, differently I would need to adjust my teaching style.
[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']
I needed to figure out a way to use this new technology, even with it's faults, effectively to give my participants the best workout possible. I decided that the FTP test was still going to be an integral part of my programming and I would still perform this test every 6-8 weeks. I asked my class participants to find 2-3 bikes that they believe are similar in wattage readings and ride those bikes as often as possible. Small differences are ok, large ones make zone training impossible. I also needed a technique to “dial in” new riders, those who never performed the FTP and others who may be forced to ride an unfamiliar bike. I decided to start every class with a proper warm followed by a mini threshold test that I call a “Threshold Check”. This “Threshold Check” can last anywhere between 4-6 minutes and I ask class participants to ride at their maximum sustainable intensity or wattage for the duration of this short test. If the bikes are equipped with a console that will show average wattage I ask for the class to find their average wattage for this “Check”. If the bikes do not have a way of reading average wattage I ask the class to be aware of their wattage throughout the “Check” and choose a wattage that they believe is closest to their maximum sustainable wattage. If I'm teaching on a bike that is not equipped with a power meter I still perform this “threshold check” and i do my best to “anchor” effort with threshold RPE. I also like to “anchor” effort and RPE during the FTP . Most FTP tests last 20 minutes, so 10 minutes into a FTP effort I'll explain that the feelings participants are experiencing, slight breathlessness. burning sensation in the legs and the need to stay extremely focused or wattage will drop is how a threshold effort “feels” and I ask them to associate this feeling with whatever RPE number is used as threshold in the facility I'm teaching in.
Now that each participant has a threshold wattage or RPE to work with I break my profiles down into 3 zones: Above Threshold, Around Threshold and Below Threshold. Efforts that are Above Threshold (greater than 106% of threshold) can last up to 8 minutes, efforts around threshold (90-105% of threshold) can last up to 30 minutes and below threshold efforts (less than 90% of threshold) can last up to 3 hours.
Check out the recorded classes below to hear how I use this “Threshold Check” in a class setting.
3 song harmonically mixed track, to download Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
The Power of 3 – “”My Body Tells Me “NO” But I Won't Quit Cuz I Want More”
“Turn The Levels” by DJ Lobersterdust
“Part of Me” by Katy Perry
“My Body” by Young the Giant
There has been a lot of talk lately about the proper range of RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) in indoor cycling classes. The general range that most indoor cycling certifications recommend is 60-110rpm. That doesn’t mean that going a little faster or slower is going immediately cause injury, it means that this range can be ridden effectively by most people in the population.
When I started teaching with power, about 2 years ago, the first thing I discovered was how a high RPM and lower resistance could elevate the HR (Heart Rate) as well as RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) without the associated increase in power or output. The “fast spinners”, who for years were considered the “stars” of class, were shocked at how low their power numbers were. Many of them complained that the power meters must not be working properly or were broken. I tried to calm them and explained that they were beautifully athletic riders but they may have never trained with the appropriate resistance while riding at a high cadence. I asked them to be patient and to use this new found knowledge and tool to help them reach fitness levels they had only dreamed of. By finding their most efficient cadence, that RPM where the body can produce the most power at the lowest HR or RPE, and progressively increasing cadence and maintaining power, over time, many of these riders are now able to ride at a fast cadence and maintain a high power output.
Interval sets like the one below are how I coach riders to slowly but steadily increase their most efficient cadence over time.
3 song harmonically mixed track, to download Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
Do you remember the old days of indoor cycling when it felt like the only cues instructors knew were “turn it to the right” or “add more resistance” or “turn it up”? It seemed like these were the only cues they were ever taught and eventually everyone in class was doing a phantom turn because there legs, lungs and heart couldn't handle any more intensity. Well, those “good old days” are what helped me dream up this “No Left Turn” set. The goal of this set is to finish every interval with a higher average wattage than the previous interval and to “turn it to the right” for every new interval. With the proper “anchoring” of time and effort and pacing this set can be successfully completed. The timing of this set consists of 3 intervals of 3 minutes with 1 minute recover after each, followed by 3 intervals of 2 minutes with 1 minute recovery after each, followed by 3 intervals of 1 minute with 30 seconds recovery after each. The first interval of each set should be ridden seated with a cadence range of 80-110 rpm, the second interval of each set should be ridden seated with a cadence range of 60-80 rpm and the third interval of each set should be ridden standing with a cadence above 60 rpm.
After a proper warm-up, explain the set to your class, you can even ask them if the remember the days of instructors asking them to turn it up 20 or more times in a song or set and how we all used to “fake turn” so it didn't look like we are cheating. I like to tell them that we are going to do 9 intervals and that I'm expecting a higher average wattage after each and every interval AND an increased resistance for every new interval. I'll joke that “Yes, it sounds like the old day, but I promise if you follow along and pace properly you CAN do this set without any phantom turns.”
In order to be successful with this set it's important not to go too hard on the first 3 minute interval. I recommend a slightly below threshold effort. At the end of the first interval make sure everyone remembers their average wattage. The second interval is at a slower cadence, so more resistance is needed to “beat” the previous interval and the third interval is standing and most likely at an even slower cadence so even more resistance is needed. Moving through riding positions that require slower and slower RPM's is how we can successfully add a “turn to the right” after each interval. After the three 3 minute intervals the interval time drops to 2 minutes. Riders should be able to ride at a higher output or wattage for 2 minutes than they did for 3 minutes so the average wattage and resistance should continue to rise they work through the three riding positions and RPM ranges. The same should hold true for the 1 minute intervals as well. I recommend that riders only increase their average wattage by 1-2 watts for each interval, more than that and they are setting themselves up for failure, pun intended.
My riders love this set it teaches pacing, patience and focus as well as being a great Lactate Threshold workout.
Please leave a comment letting me know how it goes in class.
7 song harmonically mixed track, to download Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
Recording of me teaching this 7 song set in a CardioVascularIntervals Class (CVI), CVI is a class that is taught on ANY piece of cardiovascular equipment, it is not limited to the bike. Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download on PC or Download Linked File As on Mac. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
Last Saturday my outdoor cycling group had their last organized ride of the season. It was a beautiful day in Denver, no wind and the temperature ranged from 50-70 degrees. This group has a wide range of abilities, there are men and women, young and old, husbands and wives, parents and children, $700 and $7000 bikes. As a group we ride well together we often split apart on hills, but the faster riders wait at the top so we can continue the ride together, no one is ever dropped. Though our routes are often different we always end up at the Starbucks in downtown Golden, Colorado, for a latte break. This day the ride had a bit of different feel to it. With it being the last ride of the year I think everyone wanted to test their hard fought fitness and every tiny bump in the road to every longer climb was an all out race to the top, man was it fun! The faster riders knew that at the top of every hill they would have time to recover as they waited for the slower riders to catch up. This recovery time just added to the intensity of each and every climb. Needless to say, by the time we made it to Starbucks in Golden some of us were already “cooked” and we still had 20 more miles to go. As we ride out of Golden there is a long stretch of about 8 miles of fairly flat roads with no “Stop” signs or traffic lights. We usually don't race every hill, like earlier in the ride, but we ALWAYS race this section. As we slowly rolled out of Starbucks we merged with two other groups and got caught at the last traffic light before the long 8 mile stretch. It was so cool to see about 40 riders all waiting for this light, everyone enjoying this beautiful day and knowing the “race” was about to begin. When that light turned green “it was ON”! Unfortunately I was not in front when the light changed and I could see the leaders start pulling away, but I thought “no problem, I can close that gap.” Well, I'm sorry to say that after a few “overflown sinks” I was never able to “close that gap”.
While I was out there “filling up my sink” for 8 miles and never getting closer than 50 yards to the lead group I thought that this would be a great indoor cycling set. The goal of my “Close the Gap” set is to ride below threshold wattage for a 2-3 minutes then spend 1-2 minutes bringing the average wattage back up to or “on the wheel” of the riders threshold wattage and repeat. When I coach this set I like to keep the timer running so it becomes increasingly harder to elevate the average wattage the further into the set the riders go. This teaches the riders the importance of pacing, if the average wattage drops too low it will take harder and/or longer efforts to bring it back up, as there is a limited amount of time anyone can maintain an above threshold effort the rider may never be able to bring the average wattage back up to threshold levels. Similar to the way I was never able to catch or “close the gap” to the leading group last Saturday.
3 song harmonically mixed track, to download Right Click > Save As / Save Target As to download. Open in iTunes and then you'll see this in your Spotify Local File folder.
