Knowing what power is, the question becomes: how do we measure it? This chapter explains the origin of power meters on bicycles, how strain gauges work and where they are placed on the bikes and how the indoor cycling industry has been able to get into the market as technology changed and costs came down.Read more…
Chapter 3 of Gene Nacey of Cycling Fusion’s e-book Power Training. This chapter discusses your limiters. A limiter is a physiological, mechanical, environmental or other circumstance that constrains or ‘limits’ performance. Put in terms of power, we would say that there are a variety of factors that can limit how much power we can produce. Read more…
Chapter 1 of Gene Nacey’s Power Training e-Book. What IS Power?
For the purposes of this book, we will focus on how power relates to the world of indoor cycling or Spinning® with the equipment used in most fitness facilities: stationary bikes.Read more…
Last year we mentioned we were going to reprint the Power Training e-book written by Gene Nacey of Cycling Fusion here on the pages of the Indoor Cycling Association. I’m happy to say that we are ready to offer you a new chapter of this excellent e-book every week! We start tomorrow with Chapter 1 which will define what power is and why it’s important to both cyclists and the non-cycling indoor cycling student. Sally Edwards wrote the forward for Gene’s book, reposted here. Read more…
Watch this video on cadence drills. While I was with Mad Dogg Athletics and Spinning® I wrote the workshop and manual for the new cadence meter when it was unveiled in 2005. I went out to Spinning® headquarters to shoot the DVD that went along with the meters, along with Doug Katona. Here is a segment from that DVD.Read more…
Many thanks to Kimberly Matte for passing along a question her riders asked concerning the new Schwinn AC bike with magnetic brake.Read more…
This profile combines what you work on in high-cadence drills with high-resistance climbing efforts, creating a very effective (and hard) training session. Please don’t take it personally if your students take your name in vain after this class; I assure you, they’ll thank you later when they realize how much you improve their fitness and power with very targeted profiles like these.Read more…
Moritz asked an excellent question in the comments of the recent Lactate Threshold Field Test post about why I suggest a higher cadence flat instead of a faster hill climb for field testing. You’re going to learn the important reasons why a faster cadence is preferred for a field test, but you’ll also learn that there is a time and a place for a fast uphill time trial! Learn here why, when and how!Read more…
What is the difference between a seated and standing position on a bike in terms of how your body responds? This is a very educational discussion between myself and Dr. Jennifer Klau and Tom Scotto. We discuss everything that has to do with standing up on a bike: the physiological reaction of the body, technique, gearing/resistance, methods of keeping the heart rate under control, power output, and how long should you stand up in a class situation.Read more…
Gene Nacey is rewriting his book on Power Training through his posts on ICA. Sally Edwards wrote the forward for his first book. That forward is printed here, and is a great explanation of what you can expect from these articles over the next few months, helping you grasp power training in more detail. Read more…