Welcome to the Indoor Cycling Association
Field Testing and Maximum Heart Rate Charts
This is such a great question–I bet it’s crossed your mind if you’ve done threshold field tests before! How do you correlate the results of a field test with maximum heart rate zones such as the Spinning® Energy Zones or the ones you see posted on many clubs’ walls? How do you answer your students’ questions about their maximum heart rates when you give them their field test results? In this comprehensive discussion, I give you numerous ways to field your students’ questions. . . .Read more…
Approaches to Teaching – Part 2: Fitness Versus Athletic Training
Part 2. Tom Scotto and I continue our discussion on the two approaches to teaching: the fitness model versus the athletic model. We give you some tools to guide you along the path to becoming a better coach as you think of your classes as part of a bigger-picture trainingRead more…
Approaches to Teaching: Fitness Versus Athletic Training, Part 1
Part 1. Join Tom Scotto and me as we discuss two approaches to teaching: the fitness model versus the athletic model. There is nothing wrong with fitness training, but if you start training your students more like athletes, even if they never ride outside, they are more likely to experienceRead more…
My First Indoor Ride
Sarah Russell is the co-owner of Breathe, a yoga and cycling studio in Denver, Colorado. I’ve known Sarah for a few years and have watch her studio grow and flourish. Sarah wrote this article for her studio newsletter and gave me permission to reprint it for you. I bet someRead more…
In-Class Communication: Students Notice What You Do
Here is a little test to determine how effective your communication skills are with your students. Bill gives you a checklist for before, during, and after class, because students notice everything you do. Everything. Improve a few of these skills and you’ll probably find your students will like you betterRead more…
Seven tips for success when standing out of the saddle at higher cadences
As a follow-up to my post last week about high cadences, here are seven tips to increase success for pedaling quickly while standing. This article reiterates that each individual will have their own “threshold” of cadence while standing and reviews when and why this movement is appropriate or not. LastRead more…
Tripped up by technology and Mother Nature!
To an indoor cycling instructor, iTunes is your lifeblood. When it crashes, all heck breaks loose. That happened to me on Friday, and then on Monday, lightning struck. Literally! Let me tell you about my crazy week–I’ve been a little preoccupied! Friday my iTunes froze up. I wasn’t even ableRead more…
Higher cadence while standing on a flat road
Do you have a hard time maintaining your cadence above 80 or 85 rpm when you stand up? You aren’t alone, and I bet you have plenty of students who struggle at this…Read more…
How much are you willing to admit you do not know?
How much do you really know about cycling technique? More importantly, how willing are you to seriously assess your own technique so you can become a better coach? I share a story with you that helped me realize how important it is to really know proper technique of your sportRead more…
Power Training
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…