After 37 years of waiting we finally have another Triple Crown Winner. I love horse racing, the beauty, the grace and the power of these animals is intoxicating. Over the last 37 years there have been many horses that have won 2 of the 3 Triple Crown races, but they have no one has been able to pull off the trifecta. The fact that so few horses have been able to win this coveted award is what makes this year's Triple Crown winner, American Pharaoh, so special and I've decided to immortalize this year's event in a cycling video.
I'm lucky enough to teach at many different facilities and all but one of them have bikes with power. The beauty of power is that every interval can be turned into a race. You can compete against your FTP (Functional Threshold Power), your previous interval's average wattage or just about anything you, as the instructor, can dream up. The first two Triple Crown races, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, take about 2 minutes for the horses to complete and the third race, the Belmont, is a bit longer and takes about 2 minutes and 30 seconds to finish. These 3 races fit perfectly into a 3 interval set. For the first interval I have my participants ride to the Kentucky Derby video which takes 2 minutes and 3 seconds to complete. At the end of this first race participants get a 30 second recovery, I also have them take note of their average wattage. For the second race, the Preakness, which will take 1 minute and 58 seconds to complete I ask my riders to beat their average Derby wattage by at least 1 watt. The Preakness is followed by another 30 second recovery. Now it's time for the Belmont and a chance to win The Triple Crown. This race is going to take 2 minutes and 26 seconds. I tell my class that if they can complete the Belmont with the same average wattage that was ridden for the Preakness they will be the Triple Crown Champion.
Now let the races begin!
Check out my Triple Crown Video with embedded soundtrack
Over the last 2 years I've been performing a FTP (Functional Threshold Power) test on the first Thursday and Friday of every month in every facility I teach in that has bikes with power. I have yet to have anyone complain or comment that I test too often or that the 20 minute FTP effort is too hard. What I have been told is how much people like knowing their threshold numbers and how much they enjoy the challenge of the test.
Last week I was involved in a conversation on Facebook where some indoor cycling instructors were discussing various ways to estimate FTP with their class. My response was “Why estimate it when you can perform a REAL test and get some REAL FTP numbers?”. Some of the responses I got back were that the test is “too hard”, “too long”, “too complicated”, “newbies might get scared away”, or “some people just want to ride and not focus on numbers”. I was, quite frankly, shocked by the lack of confidence these instructors had in their class participants. If we, as instructors, don't have the confidence that our riders are strong, tough and smart enough to handle and understand the benefits of a FTP test, this doubt will quickly turn into a self-fullfiliing prophecy and class participants will never reach their full potential.
I believe the best instructors don't only know the science of exercise physiology but are also masters of physicology and expert motivators. It is our job to show each and every rider the respect they deserve by having the faith that they are capable of completing any physical task we ask of them. I am in constant awe of what my riders are capable of, they impress me every day, but amaze me on FTP days.
Bikes with power are becoming the norm in most indoor cycling facilities. This new technology will keep riding a bike that goes nowhere in the forefront of group exercise for years to come. If your facility is going to invest in these state of the art bikes, instructors and facility mangers should program regular FTP tests so they can be used to their fullest capabilities and riders can be aware of their current fitness levels, set up proper training zones and track improvement over time. The use of power can be a bit confusing at first, but after performing a FTP test most riders quickly gain an understanding of their maximum sustainable intensity or threshold wattage.
Believe in your students and they will surprise you, doubt your students and they will affirm you.
Here are some links to articles I have written about FTP and Threshold over the years. My testing profile may have changed slightly but the science is still the same.
Full articles are only available to ICI/Pro members.
At the Indoor Cycling Group, we believe that teaching with video will be the next wave to influence Indoor Cycling, differentiate in the eyes of customers, and keep instructors from being seen as a commodity by the big-box clubs.
Media consoles like Myride®+ will enable instructors to work with cycling videos more easily than ever before.
It takes only seconds to create a video playlist of any length and any profile from the most extensive cycling-video library in the world.
One touch moves the video forward or back seamlessly from one point in the video to another.
Organizing the video library by terrain type (flat, mixed, climb, descent) gives instant access to any type of terrain with just a touch.
Cutting-edge technology enables any video to fit any piece of music, and vice versa.
The strategy here is simple. Movies are slick, impact our physical sensations and drive emotion. ICG® is speculating that, once club operators see the quality of our video and its ease of use, they’ll want to offer it and get an edge on their competition. We wouldn’t be doing this if people weren’t already asking for it.
Now it comes down to us, the instructors. To differentiate ourselves and go beyond being a commodity — one that club operators see in blanket terms regardless of how much we invest in our education or how high the quality of our classes is — we have to be ready and able to teach with video.
We’re guessing that this transition will be hard for many instructors. Anytime change feels intimidating, we tend to dodge it. At ICG®, we don’t see that as good for the industry, or for us.
When the change feels too big, we’ve got to shrink it to make it more manageable.
[!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']
“Shrink the Change” has gotten a lot of press lately. Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the bestsellers Made to Stick and Switch, have discovered that the rational mind and the emotional mind are two different systems. The rational mind wants to change something; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort. If it’s overcome, though, change can come quickly.
We believe that the Myride®+ technology, along with our latest online tutorial will shrink this change and make it easy and fun for everyone to use video in their classes. For instance, with just a touch of the screen, you can display a forward-moving flat road — indefinitely. You can do the same with a climb. Or just use beautiful scenery without forward motion. You can pause and start, prepare fully, partially, or not at all. BTW, the online tutorial is free for everyone.
Three videos follow that demonstrate how incredible it is. These videos have been selected from over 30 that make up our online tutorial. Each one is a gem and shows you another cool way to use Myride®+ and/or teach with video.
NOTE: These are massive HD Video files – click play and then stop… and wait for the video to buffer before clicking play again if you have a slow Internet connection.
Teaching with Video Introduction
//
Teaching with Video Road Ride
//
Teaching with Video Trail Ride
//
We’re launching Myride®+ at the IHRSA 2012 trade show on March 15-16 in Los Angeles at Booth 1201A. I hope you can come by and join Team ICG® for one of the 20 Myride®+ demo rides we’ll lead over the two days.
One of the highlights of this year's Roadless Ride was being able to share the stage with 2015 USA Pro Challenge Stage 3 winner, United Health Care's, Kiel Reijnen. Kiel was incredibly gracious and seemed to truly enjoy spending this hour with the fund raising crazies at Greenwood Athletic Club.
I found Kiel's win on YouTube and played it on our huge screen while he shared all the race tactics and behind the scenes tidbits with the class. It was AWESOME! The class went wild has he sprinted to the finish.
With ski season upon us I thought I would share a video from one of my most favorite places on earth, Vail Colorado.
[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']
Right Click on the blue underlined link
Select “Download Linked File As”
Select a download location
Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library
To download the above media on a PC:
Right Click on the blue underlined link
Select “Save Link As”
Select a download location
Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library Click here to watch a video on how to download media files from ICI/Pro.
