I hope you enjoy this video of the Tour of the Training Zones.
Before you watch this video, I hope you have downloaded both the long-form profile as well as the shorter instructor cue summary that you can find on this page.
It’s one hour long, and it’s not meant as something you ride to. Be prepared to take notes—it might be best to jot down the notes on the instructor cue summary so you can decide if you want to modify that document with cues that you find helpful. (That’s why I gave it to you in Word Doc form.)
Also, a few things about this video…
There was a minor technical glitch at 27 minutes where for some unexplained reason, the sound dropped out for 10 minutes. Thanks to my assistant, John, we were able to take that segment and amplify it, but in doing so, it created an audible hiss. I apologize for this! It goes away at 37 minutes.
Also, you’ll hear me breathing into the mic pretty hard as I exceed Zone 3. That’s on purpose. I want you to get a sense of what the intensity feels like and sounds like. In a class situation, there will be music to drown most of that out, but as you are teaching and getting into Zone 4 and above, you’ll be breathing hard as well and it may be picked up by your mic.
It’s OK to fake it for some of those zones. As you know, this isn’t your ride and you cannot be expected to talk much (or at all) when you are above Zone 4 (that’s an important part of this whole zone-training message!). However, part of this experience is for you to demonstrate to your riders how each zone will affect your ability to breathe and to talk. It’s OK to make that evident to your class by going there yourself (or by adequately faking it). But you can’t do that for the whole zone segment, because you couldn’t deliver the cues and they wouldn’t be able to understand you! For Zones 5 and 6, only demonstrate it for the slower-cadence effort—some or all of it, it’s up to you. Then, for the higher-cadence interval, that’s a good time to get off the bike and encourage them to ride at the specified power zone.
Please leave me your comments below. Did you learn a lot? Does this help you teach this profile? Do you have more questions? I look forward to your responses!
Finally sat down and watched this video with your notes. Can’t say enough how much I appreciate you sharing your knowledge, skill, wisdom and enthusiasm for indoor cycling. I love that I keep learning more and more as a member of this group. Thank you!
Thank You, Leslie! I appreciate your comments. Nothing makes me happier than helping instructors!
I LOVE that you show each zone at low and high cadences; that is where there are some light bulb moments for so many, especially where heart rate is concerned. Such a great profile and a fabulous tutorial! Thanks for doing this for us 🙂
Love this! Thank you Jennifer for putting such a helpful ride and video together.
I teach at LifeTime Athletic and coach the PWR-cycle program which is all FTP zone based training, within an annual periodized program. Finding fresh coaching cues and language is a challenge–as is adequately communicating how the upper zones really feel. I appreciate your work very much!!
Excellent profile!! Thank you for putting together such an educational video that we can implement in our classes. I love the idea of holding this class a few times a year — I would help remind our students and instructors what the zones should really feel like and how they can be best implemented to get the best results!! Awesome education – thank you!!!