Teach with Power

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In: Biomechanics, Cadence, Power, Coaching and Cueing, New Instructors
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This is the money chapter in this e-book on teaching with power! Even though bikes with power are increasing, instructors aren’t receiving the education they need to teach with power properly. Gene gives six “Dos” and six “Don’ts” when teaching with power, and lists numerous tips and tricks to increase your effectiveness when teaching with this amazing tool. (Part 2 of this chapter will post tomorrow)Read more…

Indoor Power Testing

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In: Biomechanics, Cadence, Power
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Knowing the importance of having purpose for our training, and that no one wants to spend time doing something and have nothing to show for it, we must test ourselves and then validate our training programs and techniques. This chapter will discuss the assessments you need to incorporate in your power training program, and how to interpret the results.Read more…

Power Profiles

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In: Biomechanics, Cadence, Power
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Even if we don’t understand slow twitch from fast twitch to nose twitch, the muscle fiber mixes we are born will inevitably guide us towards riding or racing that takes advantage of our strengths, and minimizes the drawbacks of our weaknesses. We are encouraged by what we do best and thus we continue to build on it. Add a little training that continues to improve on our strengths, and some desire to achieve objectives with those strengths, and now we will begin to see specific rider types emerge in a way that can actually be quantified to help with both prescribing training as well as understanding just how variable power is from one individual to another.Read more…

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In: Biomechanics, Cadence, Power
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I am a big proponent of using all of the tools at your disposal, so the idea of training without a heart monitor just leaves too much information on the table. Why handicap yourself for something that is both easy and relatively inexpensive to measure? More to the point, heart rate should be seen as what it ‘costs you’ to generate a specific power level and sustain that level. Read more…

Training Tools

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In: Biomechanics, Cadence, Power
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Maybe a better title for this chapter would have been ‘What’s It All Mean?’ This is really the bottom line, after all. If we are going to research the best power bikes to buy, learn how to use the power consoles, perform heart zone and power zones baseline tests, we need to know how to understand the data that flows from all this work. Since this chapter is a bit long, we’ve broken it into two posts.Read more…

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In: Ask the Expert, Biomechanics, Cadence, Power, Physiology, Heart Rate & RPE
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Moritz asked an excellent question in the comments of the recent Lactate Threshold Field Test post about why I suggest a higher cadence flat instead of a faster hill climb for field testing. You’re going to learn the important reasons why a faster cadence is preferred for a field test, but you’ll also learn that there is a time and a place for a fast uphill time trial! Learn here why, when and how!Read more…

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In: Cadence, Contraindications, Form and Technique
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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…