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In: Coaching and Cueing, Communication and Presentation Skills, General Coaching, New Instructors
With: 7 Comments

Do you talk too much when you are teaching your classes? Do you have this internal dialogue when you see your students looking back at you after you’ve given them a cue? “They’re staring at me. I better say something! I know they’re bored, I can tell! Look, someone just stood up…Oh no! They hate me!”
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In: Free Articles, Instructor Issues & growth
With: 7 Comments

A few months ago I walked into a class I have been teaching for 10 years and everyone was in a tizzy. This is not the usual energy I’m used to getting absorbed in. Before I was able to ask what was wrong, a member asked me if I was aware of the stereo situation. As the word “no” was exiting my mouth, the member hit me with the bad news…Read more…

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In: General Coaching, Instructor Issues & growth, Programming and Management
With: 4 Comments

In an single indoor cycling class we can have a combination of beginners, cycling enthusiasts, competitive athletes, the fit, and the unfit. We have those who are just interested in some cardio fitness, some with a focus on weight loss, and others desiring cycling-specific training. There are the young, the old, and everyone in between. So with all of these different interests, expectations, and age groups, how do we determine who we are talking to when we lead our classes?Read more…

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In: Biomechanics, Cadence, Power, Free Articles, Outdoor Cycling
With: 2 Comments

I love drills in my indoor cycling classes. Here at ICA we try to teach you how to do technical drills of all kinds—cadence drills, pedal stroke drills to improve technique, intensity drills, outdoor simulation drills (like pacelines), etc. Last week, I took my indoor drills outdoors. It was really hard to do, but by the end of an hour, the difference we all experienced was substantial. I’ll even tell you how these benefit the non-cyclists amongst your students.Read more…

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In: Ask the Expert, Biomechanics, Cadence, Power, Form and Technique
With: 6 Comments

Often times (like during the Indoor Cycling Summit), people will ask, “What part of the pedal stroke does the calf muscle power?” This is a great question because it does not have a simple answer. My favorite kind. Now I could say that the calf does not power any part of the pedal stroke and this would be true. I can also say that the calf powers the entire pedal stroke, which can also be true. So which is it? Read more…

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In: Free Articles, General Fitness, Instructor Issues & growth, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE
With: 18 Comments

Damn, I finally did it…I wrote one of those inane headlines that are so in vogue and are only designed to get clicks. I swore I would never do it. But sadly (not just that I succumbed to the trend but also because what I’m about to say is 100% true…) it’s probably the most descriptive and honest headline I could ever write about this topic. So get ready to have your mind blown if you’re a personal trainer or care about how fitness is taught.Read more…

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In: Mental Training, Mind-Body
With: 1 Comment

Studies prove that when you take twenty athletes of equal ability and give ten of them mental training, they will outperform the ten without it every time. Of all the various mental training techniques used today, visualization is the single most powerful one used to optimize performance. Here are three ways top performers harness the power of visualization to perform at their peak and how you can too.Read more…