2019 was another year of losing far too many musical artists, some as young as 21 and 30 years old. I compiled a Spotify playlist of the best songs for cycling from these artists. Then, I created a profile consisting of long intervals. I love the tracks I used in this profile—I hope you enjoy it!Read more…
The next installment of our Creative Visualization and Imagery series focuses on coaching your riders to focus on their breath, how to connect their breath with their pedal strokes, and how to talk about pedal stroke dynamics. These are the tricks that help athletes ignore any possible negative thoughts such as doubt and fear, and lead them to success. While these are exceptional for sub-threshold intensity cueing (like endurance classes), they put your riders into the right mental space to take on higher intensities. Read more…
Endurance rides, or aerobic efforts in the middle of other higher-intensity profiles, are the perfect opportunity for using creative visualizations to help guide your students. Here are cues designed to help riders relax, focus, and immerse themselves in the moment. Read more…
In this chapter, I discuss the use of metaphors and similes to add color and personality to your coaching. These spark your riders to be more creative and to use their imagination. They are an incredibly powerful coaching method and will set you apart from the typical bootcamp-style instructor who only shouts out commands, telling people specifically what to do. Here are 52 metaphors and similes to spice up your cueing.Read more…
The language techniques described here will help you to greatly expand your vocabulary, use different ways for expressing a similar idea, and will add color and excitement to your coaching. In part 1, I discussed the physiological effects of visualization and imagery techniques and how the mind doesn’t know the difference between a real or imagined event. Your creative cueing will take advantage of this fact to help guide them to higher levels of performance and success. Read more…
A good profile should provide you with endless ways to use it, saving you tons of time in the process. We have had several versions of this profile at ICA. This is an example of taking a template for a solid, goal-based workout and tweaking the music not just for a specific genre (like Bill Pierce’s Pop vs. Rock version), but for a theme like I did with this one using songs about “wild,” “crazy,” and “psycho.” There are so many fun songs in that theme! I also modified the intervals slightly, so it will seem fresh and new to your riders.Read more…
Whether it be on a bike, a motorcycle, a car, or your own two feet, do you ever feel like you just need to escape? Get away from it all? Hit the open road? This ride, presented by guest contributor Laura Gurney, is for those who delight in the experience of the open road. As with any long ride, the main objective and benefit will be to build endurance: muscular, cardiovascular, and mental. This theme-based profile includes songs about driving, cars, highways, and travel. Read more…
Guest instructor Christine Nielsen loves to play interactive games with her students. She came up with this creative profile for Black Friday, but given that you’ve got a few more shopping weeks before Christmas, there is still plenty of time to have a lot of fun with this profile. In fact, it is possible to use it year-round just for fun!Read more…
Face it, we all want more people in our classes. More and more studios incentivize instructors by paying a per-rider fee, so it’s a good idea to learn how to promote your own classes. I’m learning myself and want to take you on my journey of becoming a social media expert. Here are some tips and tools to get your started, and some of the Instagram posts I’ve created recently since I’ve started teaching at a brand-new studio. Read more…
“Sweet spot” is the name given to the intensity that overlaps upper Zone 3 and lower Zone 4, just below threshold. It’s called “sweet spot” because this intensity is an ideal balance of high intensity and the ability to cause some adaptations without needing a lot of recovery. Just for fun, this profile uses sweet-themed songs to enhance the concept of sweet-spot training! Read more…