Welcome to the Indoor Cycling Association
Mastering the Endurance Ride, Part 1: The Turning Point in Becoming a Complete Instructor
ICA members are in for a phenomenal coaching treat. Bryon Black is a master of an instructor (not an MI, but he should be!) who excels at endurance rides and engaging his students. He shares with you some amazing ways to keep your students focused and how to connect withRead more…
When to walk out of a Spinning® or Indoor Cycling class – my Twitter rant
If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you might have noticed that I cracked a little bit last week. I hit my tolerance threshold for crappy Spinning® and Indoor Cycling classes and went on a rant about the prevalence of improper instruction in so many cycling classes around theRead more…
“The Truth About Indoor Cycling Cadence,” Jennifer’s article on Active.com
The following is an article Jennifer wrote for Active.com. To read the article on the Active.com website, click here. Please share the link (or this blog) with your students, program managers, and instructor peers. As usual, your comments (both on the Active page and on this blog) are always appreciated!Read more…
How to do a Talk Test in an Indoor Cycling Setting
This is the cutting edge of indoor cycling instruction – using the Talk Test to help your students identify their Ventilatory Threshold and establish training zones. When a field test is too advanced or complicated for your members (at least initially) then a Talk Test is a low-tech easily administeredRead more…
Ask The Expert: Can this standing climb position be correct?
ICA member Kristen read in a book about cycling that suggested some serious maneuvers indoors to “mimic” the position of riding a bike outside up a steep hill. I conferred with fellow cyclists and Master Instructors Tom Scotto and Jennifer Klau, two people who know a whole lot about bothRead more…
Cycling Economy: burn fewer calories?
You’ve heard me talk about improving efficiency by helping students improve their technique. But did you know that doing so might decrease caloric burn? Yup, you heard me right. But wait! Don’t go deciding not to help students improve their form because you’re afraid they’ll mutiny if they knew aboutRead more…
Ask the Expert: Field test re-testing in a periodized program
You’ve decided to conduct a field test and teach your students about threshold-based training. You’ve been training for awhile with the new heart rate numbers, and you’re about to do your first re-test. Now what? How do you interpret the results? How do you answer your students’ questions? What ifRead more…
“Spinning” and Core Training video (ummmm, not really…)
A facility in Southern California called Studio Sweat has announced that it is going to start offering online streaming videos of its “Spinning” classes. They have several of them posted on their site. Here is one they call “SpinCore”. Before you watch it, has anyone here taken the official “Spin®Read more…
Valentines and Anti-Valentines Playlists
After Halloween, Valentines is one of my own favorite theme rides. Every year I alternate with a Valentines theme and an Anti-Valentines theme, or as I like to call it, “Cupid is Stupid”. In fact, I bet spurned-love songs are only second to the number of love songs in theRead more…
Finding the BPM of Songs and Installing It In iTunes
I love knowing the beats per minute of a song. I’ve transitioned from someone who didn’t use the bpm very often (except for climbs) to one who heavily relies upon it to match the cadence objectives of my planned ride. This is not a discussion of whether you should orRead more…