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Creative Visualization and Imagery, Part 5: Breath, Connection, and Pedal Stroke
The next installment of our Creative Visualization and Imagery series focuses on coaching your riders to focus on their breath, how to connect their breath with their pedal strokes, and how to talk about pedal stroke dynamics. These are the tricks that help athletes ignore any possible negative thoughts such as doubt and fear, and lead them to success. While these are exceptional for sub-threshold intensity cueing (like endurance classes), they put your riders into the right mental space to take on higher intensities. Read more…
Creative Visualization and Imagery, Part 4: Endurance Cueing
Endurance rides, or aerobic efforts in the middle of other higher-intensity profiles, are the perfect opportunity for using creative visualizations to help guide your students. Here are cues designed to help riders relax, focus, and immerse themselves in the moment. Read more…
What’s So Great about Steady State?
Why is teaching longer, steady-state efforts so challenging for some instructors? Why are they important? How will your riders benefit from learning to settle into longer, sub-threshold efforts? Find out here.Read more…
Creative Visualization and Imagery, Part 3: Metaphors and Similes
In this chapter, I discuss the use of metaphors and similes to add color and personality to your coaching. These spark your riders to be more creative and to use their imagination. They are an incredibly powerful coaching method and will set you apart from the typical bootcamp-style instructor who only shouts out commands, telling people specifically what to do. Here are 52 metaphors and similes to spice up your cueing.Read more…
The Sensitivity Around a Christmas-Themed Class
As we approach Christmas and the holiday season, it’s fun to start creating our Christmas-themed classes. But, there are some things to be sensitive about that instructors should consider as part of their planning.Read more…
Creative Visualization and Imagery, Part 2: Language
The language techniques described here will help you to greatly expand your vocabulary, use different ways for expressing a similar idea, and will add color and excitement to your coaching. In part 1, I discussed the physiological effects of visualization and imagery techniques and how the mind doesn’t know the difference between a real or imagined event. Your creative cueing will take advantage of this fact to help guide them to higher levels of performance and success. Read more…
Ask the Expert (Follow-Up): Healing the Pedal Stroke—Ankling
It is always great to see the response of our cycling instructor and coach community. A number of questions arose after I published the last Ask the Expert article on “Healing the Pedal Stroke.” The focus was solely on the practice of pushing down or dropping the heel below horizontal during the pedal stroke. In addition to my response to questions and feedback, I created a video using footage from the 2013 USA Cycling Pro Challenge to demonstrate the technique. Hey, pictures are worth a thousand words, right?Read more…
Ask The Expert: Healing the Pedal Stroke
The Question: Should you push the heels down when pedaling?
The Short Answer: NO
Let’s talk about why…Read more…
Quick Profile: Progressive Dueling Intervals—Wild and Crazy Version
A good profile should provide you with endless ways to use it, saving you tons of time in the process. We have had several versions of this profile at ICA. This is an example of taking a template for a solid, goal-based workout and tweaking the music not just for a specific genre (like Bill Pierce’s Pop vs. Rock version), but for a theme like I did with this one using songs about “wild,” “crazy,” and “psycho.” There are so many fun songs in that theme! I also modified the intervals slightly, so it will seem fresh and new to your riders.Read more…
Theme Ride Thursday: Wild and Crazy
Sometimes you just need to cut loose and get crazy to release pent-up frustrations. And sometimes the best way to do that is on a bike. In this “Wild and Crazy” playlist we explore songs with this theme and even dabble in a little bit of psycho.Read more…