Welcome to the Indoor Cycling Association
A Super Bowl Profile That Will Rock You Like a Hurricane!
We first posted this Super Bowl profile from ICA contributor Kala Markel in 2012 and have had so many comments and e-mails about how much fun it is to teach and how much students enjoy it. Now you have TWO great Super Bowl profile options!Read more…
Super Bowl Profile: Offense–Defense Switch
You want a Super Bowl profile to end all Super Bowl profiles? This exhilarating profile will have your riders dreaming of that Super Bowl ring, even if their own teams didn’t make it to the championship game. You will alternate from offense to defense, with different goals each time. Read more…
The Difference between Exercise and Training Just Might Change Your Life
The difference between Exercise and Training is knowledge, structure, and intention. Could making the transition from one to the other be the start of a new and better you? Read more…
I HAVE A DREAM! PLAY THIS SONG IN YOUR CLASS THIS WEEK!
I don’t usually use all-caps in a headline, but I wanted to get your attention! I play this song almost every year on Martin Luther King’s birthday, and I, or my students, never tire of it. It is a spectacularly beautiful song to use in a cycling class.Read more…
The (Legal) Use of YouTube Videos
Just because we’ve gotten away with it doesn’t mean it is legal or right. Are we as instructors using purchased videos (DVDs, downloaded, or streaming) or videos freely downloaded from the web legally? As the popularity of video and virtual rides in cycling studios increases across the country, what do we need to know to avoid legal repercussions as instructors and for the clubs we teach?Read more…
Uncomfortable and Self-Conscious
It is 5 minutes before class begins. The last few riders scurry to their bikes. I’m nervous and uncomfortable about my ride, and more specifically, the playlist. As the class starts and the music unfolds, I feel self-conscious and not myself. Only the cool-down can save me now.Read more…
YIKES! No Music? What Am I Going to Do?
There was an interesting discussion this week on one of the Facebook indoor cycling forums about teaching without music. I thought it could be fun to have a discussion here about teaching without music. Have you ever had a music emergency in which you had to teach your class with no music at all? How did you initially react? How did your riders respond?Read more…
The Coach: The Rider—Receptive and Coachable
So far in the Coaching Series, we have looked at the concept of coaching in an indoor cycling class and we’ve examined ways to shift from being a technically adequate instructor toward being a more intuitive and inspirational coach. Now we look at the rider, who is, in a rider-centered environment, the single most important aspect of the class.Read more…
What Pain? What Gain?
Like many things in the fitness industry, the mantra “no pain, no gain” has been misused and misrepresented. Has the mantra provided trainers and instructors with a license to kill? Has it become a means to an unknowledgeable end? Has the mantra set an unrealistic and unhealthy expectation for its victims?Read more…
208 Songs of Celebration, Inspiration, Personal Growth, and Empowerment For the New Year
Last year’s New Year’s playlist has been updated with new empowering songs of all genres, including quite a few pop and hip-hop songs that your younger audience will enjoy. These songs are based on the themes of change, personal growth, being unstoppable, self-confidence, and setting goals.Read more…