Our latest Audio PROfile comes from Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas!
PROFILE DESCRIPTION
Timing is one of the most basic essentials of training. I like to think of Timing as “how you interact with what you perceive.” The road is the road. At times, it will come at you in ways that are unpredictable. How you ride your bike depends largely on your sense of timing or how you make the subtle adjustments necessary to maximize your sense of ease. Exhilaration results when you experience effortless power. Effortless power is a result of good timing.
When a novice rides the bike, they are unsure of what gear to use and will at times fight the bike and the road. As their timing develops, their gear selection and shifting improve to where they no longer have to think about it and they begin to sense “flow”. Flow is a feeling of simplicity when you sense no difficulty. The bike rolls over the terrain seamlessly, like a dream.
Developing a sense of timing begins through cadence exercises. Cadence is how fast you pedal. Your RPM. Cadence training makes you more efficient, improves your technique, uses a wider array of muscles and enhances your presence when training. It is a mechanical practice that requires patience and discipline but will eventually help lift you to a level of artistry.
Timing & Cadence Playlist in Spotify and Deezer – please note the substitutions and slight variations in track lengths. You'll need to adjust section times accordingly.
You only get one chance to make a first impression!
While I've taught a lot of classes on Indoor Cycles that display Power/Watts, this morning was the very first Power based class I've ever taught. So what's the difference?
65 new FreeMotion Indoor Cycles with Power meters that replaced conventional Spinner NXTs and very willing participants interested in the value training with power will bring to their fitness.
Sunday mornings are my 90 minute endurance class. I have a very devoted following of endurance athletes in attendance. They are all focused on maintaining and/or building their aerobic endurance in preparation for Spring – in other words, the perfect group to introduce power to. In other classes I've taught where we had Power meters, there is too much variation between students… who we have described in earlier posts as Susan and Bob.
OK, now I have the perfect class to begin teaching with Power, new bikes with Power meters, but no idea what I should do for my first class 🙁
So I called the best person I could think of and begged asked her to tell me what I should do for my very first Power based class.
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What follows is Cameron Chinatti's suggestion for your intro class as an Audio PROfile.
Objective: Orientation & Observation
Our ride will consist of two primary objectives: the 1st– to orient ourselves to the console and learn it’s basic functions. Then we’ll observe the cause-and-effect relationship that your actions have on the information you see in front of you. Once we make it through 10 min. of orientation and warm-up, we’ll begin to dive into today’s goal the two components that drive Power: Force and Velocity!
Goal: Beginning in STAGE 2, you are going to get 3 opportunities to best yourself against four-minute efforts. Can you cover more distance with each repetition? This might seem easy on paper, but putting it into practice is very challenging!
After discussing this with Cameron, we decided that we would make the Audio PROfile recording available to everyone. PRO members can click here for the PDF to print out and Cameron's suggested playlist.
Here's the FastFit Guide Cameron uses for bike setup.
Why do we have two versions? It's actually my fault 🙁
Jim Karanas is very passionate about endurance cycling and teaching endurance classes. My job as the producer is to keep the Talent (in this case Jim) focused and on track. Except while we were recording this Audio PROfile, Jim's enthusiasm kicked in and he started to stray from his prepared copy. I wasn't going to stop him while he was on a roll… so I let him continue until he was finished.
Then we recorded the shorter version.
Either way I hope you find this as helpful as I have. 6 classes so far following this PROfile and nothing but positive comments. I even used it during a lunch-time class where the participants are used to a HIT type interval profile.
Let's kick off a fabulous 2012 indoor season with ZENDURANCE – our latest Audio PROfile from Master Instructor Jim Karanas!
The difference between “just riding” and training is that, when training, you recognize that every workout has a purpose. This is easy to forget when coaching an endurance class. Many riders and fitness enthusiasts look forward to this time of year as a time when we can enjoy lower intensity — more relaxed workouts without the stress of high intensity. However, there is much more to an endurance class than “just riding”. Like any other workout, an endurance ride can serve a specific purpose but, if done incorrectly, will be of little training value.
Jim and I recorded two versions of this Audio PROfile. This one is the shorter/condensed version that we kept to 20 minutes. Look for the expanded version later this week where Jim goes into more detail about how you can bring a more “Zen like” experience to your class.
His, Hers & Ours – Epic Red Wing is an Endurance profile where you and your Tandem partner are leading a group of cyclists over the next 60 minutes. The two of you are committed to pulling your group at a fast, yet maintainable pace – with your primary objective being to demonstrate your fitness to those behind you. To do this you will want to keep your intensity at the level where you are challenged, yet confident, all the way to the end.
This video features yours truly and my faithful Stoker (it’s not Stroker) Amy Macgowan riding our Tandem (we call it the Bus) along the Mississippi river, which is the east west boundary of Minnesota and Wisconsin.The title of this Audio PROfile; His, Hers & Ours, comes from how Amy and I have very different preferred cadences and yet our pedals are locked together, forcing us to pedal at the same speed. As a considerate Tandem Captain I will make continuously gearing changes in the attempt to satisfy both of us. In our case I switch between:
His — 80ish RPM 15 years as a cyclist has me preferring to spin a small gear in the high 80’s.
Hers — 70ish RPM Amy is very strong and after 18 years as the Senior Group Fitness Instructor in our family she’s very aerobically fit. She prefers to push a big gear at a cadence around 70 RPM.
Ours — 60ish RPM Riding a Tandem has you seated for long periods of time and a saddle break on level ground requires some additional coordination to smoothly get up and out. We’ve found that a very big gear @ ~60 RPM will give us something to stand on and have us looking like we are the matched pair that we truly are when we come up and out.
The challenge of this ride is in maintaining a consistent ground speed – which is an indication of Power Output, while making the frequent changes to your cadence. If your pedal speed slows your load has to increase and visa versa.
