So much of western fitness revolves around adrenalin-driven, kinetic (or should we say “hyperkinetic”?) energy. Yet there is power that comes from quiet — and that was the concept of a recent training I ran in my indoor cycling classes last week.
Keeping the energy mellow does not require making the training easy. Instead, it’s training that comes from energy that’s centered, rather than frenetic. When I taught these classes, I asked the participants to focus on internal motivation — their own desire to train and work hard — more than on any external motivation that might come from, say, the energy of my coaching with loud cues to push themselves (or whatever), or loud music with a driving beat.
This unconventional approach worked well, and got the participants to work hard while staying focused and internally driven. Here’s how the class was structured.
I used eight songs, as follows:
Going to California (music only) — Tribute Band Karaoke
Porcelain — Miami DJ Collective Two-song warm-up to start.
Good For Me — Above & Beyond 8:00 hill climb at 70 rpm, increasing resistance every 2 minutes: three levels seated, last one standing, all to music that is solid but not driving.
Hearts Have Turned to Stone — Elton John and Leon Russell 4:00 limited recovery at 100 rpm, using quiet music with an easy feel, letting the heart rate drop only 15-20 bpm.
In the Dark — Tiesto Second hill climb, as described in #3.
Dark Hollow (live) — Grateful Dead Limited recovery, as described in #4.
Burned With Desire (Rising Star Dub) — Armin Van Buuren Third hill climb, as above.
White Flag — Dido Full recovery and cool-down. You'll want to add your personal favorites to lengthen this to suit your class.
Our true ability is accessed through stillness, far more than through external sources, such as pounding music or sharp commands. A successful performance that comes from someone who is not really sure what happened is a memorable, and even spiritual, experience. Getting someone to experience an enhanced sense of himself/ herself, of aliveness and vitality while cycling, can anchor that person to training in a way that the external, “adrenalized” push can never do.
Obviously, there are reasons to coach and teach differently on different days. To ask participants to go inward on occasion and find personal reasons to drive their training (and themselves) is a shift of focus and consciousness that can be, at the very least, a stimulating change of pace. It can also be far more than that if properly coached.
In addition, it might turn the next high-energy class, by contrast, into an even more exciting and distinct experience.
The hidden agenda…
Transitioning participants towards a Power-â€focused class can be difficult to implement without their buy-â€in and understanding. Use this ride as an example of how to incorporate Power specific concepts without the need to get on the soap-â€box and shout the benefits of Power training from the roof-â€tops…. In other words, you can sneak it in…ssshhhh!
This PRO Podcast is intended to be used in conjunction with the BIG RIDE video of this complete class which you can find here.
Each of us can be our own worst critic! Listening to myself teach a class was a very eye opening (our should I say ear opening) experience for me.
This week is all about How You Sound.
I used my iPhone to record my class yesterday and encourage you to do the same to gain an understanding of How You Sound. Please feel free to critique what you hear in my class presentation. My hope is that it will motivate you to record your own class and then listen to the recording and learn How You Sound to your students.
As I listened to the recording it was obvious from my breathing that I'm working hard, along with the class. This has been my practice for a long time, but as I hear myself it has me questioning if I'm working a little harder than I should.
What do you think?
The standard recorder in an iPhone will only record for 30 minutes. This free App Quick Voice Recorder will record longer.
I'll try to have an Android solution for recording as soon as my daughter Carly wakes up and shows me on her phone 🙂
Doug Rusho – 2010 Instructor of the year – is back with another Audio PROfile for our ICI/PRO members to enjoy.
PROfile Objective:
Tabata Power Play is designed to allow anyone to experience the incredible world of power training without prior FTP testing and subsequent power zone calculations. It is certainly not the ideal way to use power; however it is an effective method to introduce the concept, advantages, and the experience of riding with power.
This profile is considered high intensity, which may seem odd since it is an “introduction” to power, but in reality the application of power feedback is most useful for shorter, work interval lengths. It will also turn light bulbs on for your students, and they will get very excited about taking power training to the next level, including formal FTP testing and personal power zones. For this ride you can leave your HR monitor at home, due to the short work intervals. Allow your students to focus on one thing, watts.
Gene Nacey from Cycling Fusion provides our latest Audio PROfile and it was created using his new Class Builder iPhone App.
Class Overview
This class was ï¬rst held during the ï¬nal week of a 12 week Winter Training workshop that emphasized and reminded riders that “What you do inside, can also be done outside”. In other words, as the weather was turning, and they were getting ready to do some outdoor riding, we wanted to show them how similar the training can be in both environments. While this was a little more intense than an early season ride should be, their prior 12 weeks gave the students a good foundation in going into this, and now it makes a great mid-summer workout as well. Notice the zone splits for the class. The intensity should bode well for those entering their performance peak.
