With a title like that, we could be here for days. Perhaps a better title would have been: What Is Power As It Relates To Cycling or even more to the point would be: Training on Indoor Cycling or Spinning® Bikes With Power. But as you see, that would have been quite a long and clunky title. So I spared you. Naturally, we will be confining our discussion to how the dynamics and science of Power has been applied to the sport of cycling. More specifically how it relates to the world of Indoor Cycling or Spinning® and the equipment used for this in most fitness facilities; stationary bikes. While most of our work was done on the Keiser M3 indoor bike, we are currently in the process of acquiring other power bikes for continued independent research.
Definition
Power is the product of strength and speed or put in terms of indoor cycling, the resistance applied to the fly wheel, and the RPM or cadence of pedaling. That seems pretty easy to understand right. The equation that comes to mind is:
Power = Resistance X Cadence
Oh if it were only this simple. Well, for the purposes of Indoor Cycling or Spinning®, this is all we need to know, and thuse, we have made it that simple. However, if you ride outside, you need to know that there are quite a few factors that also impact power as it relates to cycling. While we enjoy the perfection of a controlled environment for training, riding outside is anything but a perfect and consistent. Consequently, there are lots of factors that can affect one’s power. A bunch of very smart people from Penn State put together a nifty Power Calculator for those of you who are even bigger data geeks than myself. You can find it at: http://www.me.psu.edu/lamancusa/ProdDiss/Bicycle/bikecalc1.htm
Here is a sneak peak at all the factors that go into calculating power when we move outside:
As you can see form the screen shot above, at least 65 thousand other people have a similar curiosity about power. You can also find a kazillion references to power as it relates to cycling on the internet, but our discussions will be squarely focused on how power is measured and used for Indoor Cycling or Spinning®.
This does not mean that the power generated indoors is not the same as the power generated outdoors. Essentially they are the same. It simply means there are different methods used to measure that power due to differences in equipment, environment and cost. Yes, there will be differences in the Watts you generate indoors, and what your power meter measures outdoors. Even cyclists who use the exact same bike, with the exact same power meters indoors and out will experience differences. Shocking as it may seem, the most expensive equipment available will still produce variations due to the enormous influence environment has on the rider and the equipment.
Nevertheless, this does not take away the value of training with power. Power meters still represents one of the best tools for improving your general fitness and/or performance on a bike that has hit the Indoor Cycling or Spinning® market in a very long time. The differences between indoors and out will not negate these positive effects. At the end of the day, it’s the results we are looking for, and training with power will surely deliver!
Read more of Gino's Training with Power Articles – Here
Being that this is only my third post, you may not yet know that much about me, so let me summarize one more time. I'm a passionate spinning instructor who motivates through stories, emotions, and what I like to call triggers. I've always felt that the reason people come to my class over someone else’s is based on my approach and style. I spend most of the time digging around in their thoughts and pulling out emotions that fuel the fire to make them push harder on the bike. I wouldn't say that my stories are always rainbows and roses, and sometimes my metaphors cut close to home……..but that’s the point. I want to shake them out of the haze so they don’t “spend” and hour with me, thy “INVEST” an hour with me. And I think even the most die-hard cyclist would agree that all the instructions in the world on how to peddle that bike won’t mean a thing if that person isn’t invested in the workout both physically AND mentally. The bottom line is, if you're going to come to my class or read my posts, then you're going to learn about me and my journey, and I'm not just talking about the good parts. And by doing that, I hope it helps you tap into your entire toolbox of tricks in order to get your class to their highest level.
Without wasting anymore of your time (my first post summed up my brutal divorce and what it did to me) let me just say this one thing and move on. The year I spent trying to finalize my divorce was the most horrible, brutal, exhausting, and painful thing I have ever done in my whole life. But what I know now is it didn’t have to be. If I had listened, TRULY listened to the people around me then I wouldn’t have almost lost myself in that mess, I wouldn’t have been physically ill to the point that I feel as if 20 years of my life are gone, and most of all I would have been more present to the people and opportunites around me rather than obsessing over things that matter deeply to me (and any parent) but DID NOT matter to the judge (or poor excuse for one). But “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”
The second paradigm shift I have been experiencing since May 9th, 2011 is with regards to being a parent or as I like to say being a “dad.” If you’re a parent than I could stop right now and you would get it, but if you’re not, let me explain a little more.
I can remember being around 10 years old growing up in a small town in Maine, and in the summer my mom and step dad wanting to walk with my brother and I after dinner. YUCK !! Being seen with my parents !?!?! How embarrassing right ? You probably all remember something similar to this in your youth. But then you have kids and YOU GET IT !! You now understand why a mom or a dad would have this obsession with wanting to spend time with you. You understand to reason they worry when you ask to do a sport or why they look panicked when you come home late. Once you are a parent, you understand (or at least I did) what it means to love someone more than yourself. I could not tell you what I ate for breakfast, lunch, or dinner on May 9th 2011 or April 23rd, 2013 (the birthdays of my daughter Taylor and my son Brady), BUT I can describe for you their first sounds and every mind blowing emotion I had on those days when I got that first glimpse of their beautiful smiles. Had I known these things back when I was that little boy growing up in Maine, maybe I would have cut my mom some slack on those walks and not made sure to be a block ahead of them. But “I didn’t know what I didn’t know.”
These two examples are powerful to me because I lived them, but maybe they aren’t for you so let me try a different approach and then hopefully I can wrap this up in a pretty bow so you can decide if this is a “tool” for your instructor toolbox.
Do you know a reformed smoker who quit because the doctor said they had lung cancer? Do you know someone who lost a massive amount of weight because their doctor told them lose it or you will be gone in 3 months? How about a man or women who’s spouse said “if you cheat again I am leaving you” and the spouse smartened up? Why is it that we will do things we KNOW are bad for us and hurt others, and we will tell ourselves we “can’t stop,” yet when we are faced with losing everything, even our life, that we all of a sudden muster the courage and strength to give these things up?? I am as bad as anyone. The day after my daughter was born I taught class and I recall saying to them “I get paid to teach here but that’s not the reason I do. I do because I started having kids late (40 years old) and one day I plan to walk my granddaughter down the aisle one day.” Now for those paying attention, my daughter Taylor is only 4 years old and Brady is 2. So that means I have to do everything I can to stay healthy for probably at least another 50 years !! And if you ask how I know I will have a granddaughter, then ask me about the letter I wrote 20 years ago, mailed it to myself, and is still sitting in my safe. It was written to my daughter Taylor who I described to a “T” right down to saying she was part Asian. I have always known, and one day when she is old enough to understand the significance, she can open that SEALED and Post marked letter and read it herself.
But I am telling you now, I am a hypocrite. I say these things, yet the other day I was told that I need to stop drinking diet coke because it’s poison. I said “I know” but I only drink it when I have a meal. And at some point in that conversation I literally said “well if I found out it was making me sick then OF COURSE I would stop.” Then it hit me…….it is making me sick. One slow day at a time. Just like the person stressing over the mortgage bill is getting sick, and the person who can’t get of the couch is getting sick, and believe it or not, the person or people who are coming to our class and NOT working out are basically wasting their hour and likely on their way to less health, less energy, and less time on this earth with the people they love. It’s not as simple as “going to the gym.” I know that, you know that, and they really know that……..but if they aren’t really acting on it then the hour at the gym is nothing but wasted time. We need to do more than play the music and cue the sprints. We need to find a way, open a door, to whatever it is gonna take to convince them that this isn’t just a “class” or a place where they meet their friend before coffee and 2 hours of gossip. We need them to understand that this thing we do, peddling a bike for an hour, has meaning and DOES effect pretty much everything they will do that day, week, and year. Work hard, release endorphins and lose weight. Release endorphins and be in a better mood, have more energy, feel better with less aching. All those things will make you a better friend, spouse, dad. Those things will affect THEIR lives. More memories will be created, more love will be shared, more ideas are sparked, more friends are made, more passion is found, more more more more. We owe it to our students to find a way to make them understand this isn’t just an hour to waste. I wish someone had sit me down and slapped me until I understood the damage I was causing to my soul during the year of my divorce by wasting time on things that only mattered to me because I was hurting. I wish someone had found a way to make me understand what those walks meant for my mom because she won’t ever get that 10 year old boy back. And I hope anyone in YOUR lives right now who is saying “I could never do that” or “that’s impossible” have someone like you to sit them down and say “Unless you’re talking about WALKING to the moon, then please stop saying that’s impossible.” The next time YOU teach a class, I want you to pretend ( please forgive the dramatic analogy) that you are their doctor and it’s up to you to convince them that they can no longer take THIS workout lightly and that THIS workout matters because it does and chances are “They don’t know what they don’t know.”
PS My road to quitting diet soda starts this week for my two children and my grandchildren to follow. Happy Spinning!
Many things contribute to a great Indoor Cycling class, but none as much as cueing. Cueing a class is a skill, even an art, that develops over decades. Like public speaking, it’s about more than the words and involves multiple factors.
Cues add depth and color to a class and focus the students on aspects other than getting some exercise. In the class of a Master Instructor, the words flow, go beyond workout instructions, and command attention.
We’re professional instructors, and cueing is our craft.
The Opening
Every class needs an opening. No matter how many times you’ve taught the group, the opening is critical to the success of each class. While it’s OK to greet students personally with just your voice, always open on the microphone. The tone and content of a good opening should be amplified.
When you open, you must do two things: get in sync with the students and grab their attention. If they’re quiet and serious, don't open energetically. Use a subdued tone. Once your energy matches theirs, move them to where you want to take them. Even in a subdued voice, though, you have to get them to listen right away.
Instructors may miss an effective opening by socializing with the students or ignoring them while fiddling with their bike or music. As with any presentation, the opening sets the tone for the class.
“Good morning, everyone. As we start, I want you to focus on what you’re doing and what’s happening. The rollout is a special time in the ride. Let me tell you why.”
Whether you open from the bike or from the floor, your opening depends on that optimal moment that experience helps you feel. It’s the moment when students first direct their attention toward you and are most receptive. Use it as soon as you feel it.
Cueing the Class
The cues for the day should encompass more than ride instructions or motivation. Cues can relate to the Concept, the Workout, Exercise Science, Philosophy, Music, Video, Personal Experience, or Motivation.
The Concept is what you want your students to learn from the day’s class and is more important than the Workout. Your concept can be standard, such as Endurance, or more esoteric, such as Finishing Every Climb. If it’s an endurance class, teach the concept of endurance. There’s the science of endurance (aerobic metabolism, building a foundation, oxygen transfer), and there’s the philosophy (contemplation, discipline, resilience). The more your knowledge and experience grow, the more compelling your cues become.
The Workout consists of the mechanics of the class, which we learn in any Indoor Cycling curriculum: ride positions, hand positions, terrain, cadence, technique, proper breathing and modifications. Many instructors never progress their cueing beyond this.
Exercise Science cues should support the day's concept. If you don't know much about exercise science, read some articles or tap into the wealth of fitness information here for PRO members. Students look to us to explain what’s happening in their bodies through exercise. It’s disappointing when an Indoor Cycling instructor can't explain the physiology of cardio.
Cues around Philosophy take some experience. Yet students may need to hear them to realize what they’re doing transcends exercise (which may become boring). It takes courage to introduce these cues because they can sound preachy. The key is to say them as a student of philosophy who’s still seeking answers — and stick to cycling. When you talk about a philosophical point you’ve contemplated for a long time, it won't sound preachy.
Music and Video are sensory assets that can and should be included in your cues. Why did you select the song you’re playing — the nuance? The structure? Why did you want the class to ride to the video segment you put up that day? These make relevant and interesting cues.
Personal Experience lets your class know that you feel what you’re asking them to feel. Even if you don't ride a bike, years of dedication to your cycling-based workouts are a quality experience. For instance, how did your thousandth class differ from your first?
Last are Motivation cues. These are straightforward encouragement but too heavily relied upon by many instructors. When said time and again, motivational cues lose their impact. “You can do it” is much more effective when used infrequently. Said at the right time with the right tone, though, it can change the direction of a student's effort.
The Close
A close for each class is important and a good time to make a final, perhaps philosophical, point. Students are open and receptive after a hard effort.
Timing
Timing cues properly is one sign of a quality instructor. Timing is your sense of flow, your sensitivity to what’s happening in class, and how you change in the moment to balance and maximize performance.
Time your cues around the vocals in your music; speak in the pauses. Match the video playing. Couple that with tone: Should you be supportive and quiet? Firm and commanding? Never yell.
When you’ve timed your cues well, the class energy will build, and the students will be with you.
No matter how good you are, inexperienced students with less awareness will exercise “unconsciously” and not listen. You’ll need to repeat cues, finding different ways to say the same thing.
If this type of cueing is different from what you do, ease into it. One day, try an attention-grabbing opening that explains the workout, and close by summarizing it. Another day, open with how important cardio fitness is. During the class, explain one physiological point that you know really well. Close by reminding the students of that benefit they just got.
The goal is optimal communication that lets the students walk away with something besides exercise.
[firstname], teaching an endurance PROfile is all about keeping them engaged and focused. Listen as Master Instructor Janet Toussaint explains how she does it in her ride called The Endurance Connection.
Here's your Spotify PRO/Playlist! 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. Here's the Deezer Playlist
My name is Jay Duplessie and I am a proud Indoor Cycling instructor of almost 20 years. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will tell you that I am not an outdoor cyclist…….but not for lack of trying.
You see something I learned early on was that although I’m addicted to the feeling of a hardcore workout, and I often obsess about getting to the gym, it has never been as much about the physical as the mental. I realized this after a very bad investment in a decent road bike complete with all the bells and whistles. I found that I could stay up late creating playlists for my class, get there early to prepare, and then drive myself crazy with excitement and anticipation to teach. But when I knew I was going to ride this very expensive bike on the paved roads around Denver……well let’s just say I dreaded the thought.
By the end of the summer it was time to sell the bike and to really look at what it was that I was missing. Why was I never able to capture the feeling on the road that I ALWAYS felt in my class? I knew right away what it was and this has continued to be the basis of how I teach. In fact, I hate the word “teach” when referring to what I do in my class.
No one needs to be taught how to peddle a bike. If anything I prefer the word “guide.” My goal every time I step into my class and get onto the bike is to take my class on a mental ride, an emotional workout by finding triggers that push them further than they’d push themselves. Music, imagery, and motivational quotes are the ammo I use when teaching (guiding) my classes. And I am so excited to be able to not only “tell my stories” to you all, but to also just be accepted into a group of likeminded cyclist who understand (as I do) that cycling IS and can be just as powerful in a room as it is for some on a paved road.
All it takes is finding the right emotional triggers, a true inner focus, and a story that ties all of it together. That is what I hope to be to you………a story teller to help connect the dots. Now let’s have fun !!
Triggers
Ralph Macchio, hands up in the air, one leg up at 90 degrees while the other (seemingly broken) is placed firmly on the Matt. Sense’ Pat Morita, and girlfriend Elisabeth Shue on the side lines looking on full of hope. Cobra Kai team-mates yelling “Sweep the leg Johnny” heard as black belt Johnny prepares to take down Macchio. Macchio standing in crane position waiting for the attack. Johnny rushes at Macchio and all of a sudden the “kick” heard round the world (at least for a 10 year old boy like me at the time) takes place to defeat the undisputed Johnny and Macchio wins the match. I’ve seen the movie 20 times, and know how it ends, yet even typing this message I get goose bumps. THAT my friend is a trigger. And it’s the core of how I have always taught all of my classes.
One of the reasons I love “indoor” cycling so much and have a difficult time riding outside, is that I not only love the ability to talk my class through motivational stories complete with triggers to get that extra inch out of them, but in an indoor cycling class we are all able to close our eyes to truly get inside our minds, our thoughts, and feed our emotions (our drive). For me it brings a level of peace and focus that to this day I can’t achieve anywhere else, not even when getting a massage.
The use of music, video, and your words are tools that (in my opinion) mean more than the amount of fans in the room, the type of bike you’re using, the amount they spent on their padded shorts, or even the type of day they had. You take anyone, and I mean anyone, and you present them with a well-structured class and THEN add some triggers, they will find the way to leave your room stronger than when they walked in.
When I teach, I often say that we all have an emotion that pushes us further than we normally go, and it may change from day to day which emotion that is. There are days that happiness is the emotion that will get you that extra RPM during the sprint. Or maybe anger is what it takes to get the extra wattage during a hill climb. And if WE continue to grow our relationship as (writer and reader) what you will learn about me is I’m a pretty deep and emotional guy. I wear my heart on my sleeve and I share my emotions to a fault. So I will share this with you.
Recently divorced, I learned several things about my ex-wife that haunt me to this day. On our fourth and FINAL anniversary she had a “business trip” to Texas.” I went to see one of my favorite bands, the Goo Goo Dolls that night by myself. Turns out she was in a hotel room in Texas with an old boyfriend from college having sex. And to make it worse (as if it could be) that guy had a wife at home with a one year old daughter AND his wife was 8 months pregnant. So while I was listening to one of my favorite bands, they were in bed together. SOOOOO, when I need an extra push during class what I do is play the song “Still Your Song” by the Goo Goo dolls and tell myself this was the song playing on the night that the person I loved and trusted most was destroying everything we had. Now if THAT isn’t a trigger, I don’t know what is. You don’t even have to know me to read that and feel “something” right ? And “feelings” are such a key part to what we use.
I encourage you all to tell stories, even if they are made up. Our clients come to us for a great workout, but they also come to us to help them tap into something that they can’t get on their own out in the cardio room. Tell stories of motivation, tell stories of desperation, tell stories of gratitude, but tell stories !!! Every single one of them wants to be entertained whether they will admit it or not.
We have a society OBSESSED with reality shows yet they are becoming less and less connected to their own real lives. Remind them of the things that inspire them, or piss them off in a way that makes them want to grit their teeth and push their legs until they want to vomit because they will be damned if they are gonna let their ex-wife and some random loser poor excuse of a man is going to ruin one of MY favorite songs without me putting up a fight during that up-hill resistance sprint !!
Watt Is Power? Or rather what is power?
