Are you teaching stages of the Tour de France in your Spinning/cycling classes? I’ve got some resources for you. If you’ve never done it before, I encourage you to try. Students, even those who don’t follow cycling or ride outside, generally enjoy these classes immensely. Its hard not to—they have everything we love about indoor cycling: high energy, passion, excitement, intensity and the mind-body focus. Throw in some strategy and intrigue and you have a recipe for huge success!Read more…

All ICA members receive the free bonus e-book “How to Create Profiles” with 18 pages of tips and advice on conceptualizing, designing and then assembling your profiles. Here are several examples of what I do as I’m piecing together my profiles, including my recent “architectural sketch” of my Stage 3 Tour de France profile. How do you sketch out your profiles? On paper, on the computer, in your head, in Class Builder? Share with us here!Read more…

How confident and powerful are you? How are you perceived by your students, clients, bosses and peers? This stunning video from an inspirational Ted Talk shows you that just by making small changes in your body language, you can change how you are viewed for the better and drastically improve your self-confidence. The lessons are very applicable to what we do as instructors, coaches and trainers. I’d love your thoughts on this video. Please feel free to share this with anyone you think might benefit from this fantastic information.Read more…

Leslie Mueller brings you a very fun, interactive climbing interval ride. In this profile, you’ll have three forks in the road. At each fork, you’ll describe the two possible directions to your students. Your students will make the choice which way they want to ride; then you’ll cue up the songs, and off you go! The beauty of this profile is that every time you do it, it will be different! And there are so many possibilities of additional “forks” you can choose. This may become one of the most versatile profiles in your quiver!Read more…

Next week is the summer solstice. It might be time to put together a fun playlist of songs that reflect the joy and happiness that summer brings. Here is a playlist of 81 songs that you can choose from. I recommend an intervals class! Read more…

I received an interesting query from an instructor who is worried about one of her co-instructors who takes a caffeine and Nitrous Oxide (NO) supplement prior to teaching. Students have described him as inattentive, distracted and even “psychotic”. I turned to Dr. Jennifer Klau for advice on this subject. Even if you’re not taking this particular supplement, you might want to keep Dr. Klau’s admonition in the back of your mind when considering supplements!Read more…