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In: Free Articles, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE
With: 6 Comments

In all the heart rate training articles posted at ICA, we always stress the fact that heart rate, while an effective way to monitor your intensity, is subject to many external factors that have nothing to do with the work you are performing. These factors include over-reaching, over-training, lack of sleep, dehydration, caffeine, medications, heat, humidity, stress, and others. It is important to understand the limitations of heart rate training if one is to use it properly as a training tool. One of the factors we may ignore the most is stress. I share with you a personal example of the negative effects of stress on my own heart rate. Please share this article to help others understand the body’s response to stress.Read more…

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In: Free Articles, Medical & Health, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE
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18 months ago, following a rash of press that Spinning®, and even just plain cardio, is “bad” for you, Dr. Jennifer Klau and I got together to discuss the lack of science behind these claims. Originally the audio for this interview was for members only, but I am resurrecting this and making it free for everyone to hear. This discussion specifically goes into debunking a Charles Poliquin article about the “negatives of aerobic training”.Read more…

Endurance

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In: Instructor Issues & growth, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE, Training
With: 11 Comments

Indoor cycling endurance classes are a lose-lose situation. Low-intensity, steady-state classes are hated by your fitness enthusiast (or non-outdoor rider), and the fact that you attempt to deliver an endurance class to your outdoor riders within 60 minutes is just enough to tick them off. Instructors that try to force these mind-numbing, ineffective classes down riders’ throats will receive the same response as parents telling children to eat some nasty-tasting food because it is good for them. Some of you right now are possibly confused, stunned, angry, unfriending me from Facebook… What in the name of Keep it Real is Tom talking about?!Read more…

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In: Form and Technique, Instructor Insight Webinar Series, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE, protection
With: 2 Comments

Here is the recording of the webinar Breathing While Riding. There are many instructors who are inadvertently inhibiting their students’ potential performance, comfort and recovery by coaching them to “hold the abs in.” In this webinar, you’ll learn the reasons not to cue that way and replace it with cues to guide your students to breathe properly, using the same techniques that athletes of all endurance sports are taught.Read more…

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In: Free Articles, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE, Training
With: 27 Comments

I’m beyond irritated. After watching a couple of online instructor videos and listening to others talk about how cycling is an amazing full-body workout that targets the core, I almost don’t know where to begin. Unfortunately, it demonstrates the lack of science, training, and knowledge that should be required to call oneself an indoor cycling instructor. Those of us who are keeping the indoor cycling industry effective and real have done it via our own determination and quest for knowledge.Read more…

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In: Free Articles, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE
With: 18 Comments

If you don’t follow Joe Friel’s Blog, you should—there’s some really great information in it on a consistent basis. It will expand your own understanding of cycling training principles that you can apply to your classes. This morning was this gem in my in-box. Short and sweet, Joe tells us once again why using maximum heart rate as an anchor for training zones is not very valid.Read more…

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In: Ask the Expert, Biomechanics, Cadence, Power, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE
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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…

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In: Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE
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This is an updated version of last year’s Master Class on field testing. I now recommend the talk test for less fit or new students, or when you are introducing heart rate training to your students, and the 20-minute field test for your more fit students. In this article I explain why the 8-minute Carmichael field tests are probably not going to be as useful, unless you are a trained Carmichael coach. . . . Read more…

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In: Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE
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My Field Test This Morning: Answering a Student's Question I conducted the second field test midway through a 12-week periodized cycling clinic this morning. One student came up with a HR that was slightly lower than the first test, but had big swings in her HR throughout the test. She was confused, as many students would be. Here is how I answered her question and gave her goals to work toward, helping her understand how she can improve the next time we do this field test in 5 weeks.Read more…