There is something very powerful about a new year, a new month, even a new week, which marks a point in time for people to “change” something in their lives. The diet and fitness industry is replete with a sense of revision and metamorphosis, especially around the new year. What values will you communicate to your participants this year to assist them in creating a physically fit foundation in their life?Read more…

This article in Bicycling magazine discusses the the mental and emotional benefits of riding a bike. Please share the reasons why you are so passionate about indoor cycling. What has it helped you overcome? Have you made important decisions after an amazing ride? Have you felt at peace with a troubling event or decision you had to make? Have you resolved conflicts with family or friends? I certainly know I have. Leave your comments so we all can celebrate.Read more…

creative visulalization

Using visualization and imagery coaching techniques to inspire your students allows you to connect with your students on a much deeper level. Part 1 discusses the immense power of using visualization. Part 2 will provide colorful examples of expanding your coaching language. Parts 3–7 will give specific cues for flats, climbs, high-intensity efforts, and warm-up and cool-down. You will never run out of things to say again!Read more…

One of our more popular series on ICA is a set of articles with various strategies for inspiring your students up long climbs. The series was called Strategy for Strength, and is one of the favorites we’ve done on ICA. One of the strategies was to inspire students to come up with a mantra that they repeat over and over to themselves as they climb. Of course, mantras aren’t just for climbing. I was inspired recently to come up with some for sustained tempo pace.Read more…

This is a post I wrote back in 2008 on my former blog Reach Your Peak. It explains why New Year’s resolutions generally don’t work and examines the best ways to achieve success by retraining the brain and overcoming the doubts and fears that plague us. My New Year’s profile “How Big is Your Why?” references some of the concepts I wrote about here, so I am resurrecting it from the archives. Read more…

Creating benchmarks and rewarding yourself for completing them is a classic strategy to get through a long and challenging event. I bet you have used a version of this outdoors, whether on a bike or in a 10K running race or triathlon. I use it all the time when on long climbs as it helps break up the distance or length of time into bite-size chunks. Here are some photos to use to inspire your students to break up the challenge into manageable segments.Read more…