Obsessed With Cycling Drills: Teaching Rolling Hills in Your Cycling Classes
Riding rolling hills on a bicycle can be a thrill, especially when they are short and continuous. Because of this, they translate beautifully into indoor cycling classes. But teaching rolling hills is more than just alternating a climb with a “downhill.” To coach them in an authentic way, it’s important to understand how a cyclist would approach them, how gravity will affect your speed of ascent, and how cyclists take the descent. Then you need to know how to use the energy of the music to define your ups and downs. They are so much fun that your riders will be asking for them by name!
Read More...Obsessed with Cycling Drills: Standing Transitions
This is a great drill to sprinkle into your profiles to teach standing and sitting with control and efficacy. It keeps riders engaged over long climbing segments. Once perfected, the technique will transfer over to every other drill you use that requires riders to stand.
Read More...OCD: The Olympic Rings Pedal Stroke Drill
I’ve been teaching this pedal stroke drill for almost as long as I’ve been teaching (20 years). I first introduced it at a conference in my session called The Anatomy of the Pedal Stroke at WSSC in 2002. It’s a fabulous visual to help riders connect with their pedal strokes.
Read More...Wednesday Timeless Classics: The Three BEST Songs in the World for Rolling Hills!
I honestly believe these three songs are the best for rolling hills that I’ve ever heard! I’ve been using them for two decades and I can’t help but use them for this drill. Two are progressive trance tracks with emotional builds, crescendos, and releases that help draw out your best effort on the uphill attacks. The other is a classic rock song that will have everyone singing along…that is, if they have any breath left!
Read More...Obsessed with Cycling Drills: Teaching Switchbacks, Part 2
In part 1, I provided 6 general tips for teaching switchbacks, including how many, how often, how long, and how to use the music. In part 2, you will find 5 different scenarios for designing and cueing your switchbacks to make your classes more exciting and engaging, increasing your coaching repertoire and improving your visualization and motivation skills.
Read More...Obsessed with Cycling Drills: Teaching Switchbacks, Part 1
Here is everything you will ever need to know about teaching switchbacks in your indoor cycling classes, including how to use the music, how long they should be, how many to do, and how often to do them.
Read More...OCD: Fun With Fartleks
A fartlek is a Swedish word for “speed play” and implies unstructured intervals. There are many fun ways you can use these in your classes as drills to increase intensity, essentially “hiding” intervals into an outdoor riding simulation.
Read More...The 3-2-1 Drill
This drill is designed to increase your body’s ability to process lactate in your muscles. The goal is to increase your maximum sustainable power, as the majority of the work is below threshold. Get ready, in 3-2-1…
Read More...Obsessed with Cycling Drills: The Reverse Paceline Drill
The opposite of a regular paceline drill. The key to success is how you set the scene and describe the challenge.
Read More...OCD: Canned Heat in My Heels
It’s close to the end of class and you know they’ve still got a little bit left in them. Here’s a drill that will help them expel that remaining “canned heat left in their heels” and push them to the finish line.
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