The Controversy: Fitness versus Athletes

Tom Scotto and I often discuss how we can help instructors see the purpose of utilizing proper cycling training methods indoors even when their students are not cyclists. Many instructors say, “My students don’t care! They just want to have fun!” It’s a challenging question, and one that we here at ICA are continually trying to tackle. HOW can we teach our students the importance of training more like a cyclist? Tom discusses his approach in this article, and I think you’ll see that it can help you help your students to change their mindset. Tom Scotto and I are often discussing how we, as trainers of the trainers, can help instructors see the purpose of utilizing proper cycling training methods indoors, even when their students are not training for anything in particular, and even when they are not cyclists at all. Many instructors just say, “My students don’t care! They just want to have fun!” It’s a challenging question, and one that we here at ICA are continually trying to tackle. HOW can we teach our students the importance of training more like a cyclist? How can we perhaps inspire our students to ride outside and take their newfound fitness and skills to the road? In this article, Tom’s approach is to inspire his students to think of themselves as athletes, regardless of their goals. I think you’ll see that it can potentially help you help your students to change their mindset.

4 Comments

  1. Your thoughts are interesting Chuck, and I agree in theory…
    but what Tom and I are trying to highlight is that the public don’t really know what they are asking for. why? Because they’ve been misled so much that they don’t know what is correct or not, what will help them or hurt them. The likes of Soul Cycle and their wannabes have told them that lifting 1-lb weights and doing pushups while cycling will tone their upper bodies, and that crunches while pedaling or sucking in the abs will help their core, or that excessive cadence with little or no resistance will “torch” calories. So we are dealing with a misinformed population. Tom and I are leading the way to change that…we believe that once people learn the truth, that you MUST HAVE resistance in order to see the fitness gains you are looking for, or rather, lose the pounds you want to lose (even those who haven’t ridden a bike since their tricycles), that they will shun the crazy making. Our mission is to teach instructors, and in turn, the students, that “appropriate training” is also the training that will help them meet their fitness and weight loss goals much faster, with fewer chances of injuries, and that doing it in this manner really can be exciting and fun.

    BUT, we have a very challenging job in front of us because we don’t have the sleek ads, star power or promotional juggernaut behind us that these companies do! Maybe some day we will…

    In the meantime, we keep it real one instructor at a time! 😉

    Actually, I think what Exerceo means by “aerobic classes” is the choreographed group fitness type of class with no thought on how it relates to cycling, and not necessarily a class that “is aerobic” in intensity. From what I hear on the street (as I travel around the world and talk to instructors through forums, conferences, facebook, etc) is that they want a pedal-to-the-metal class, not an “aerobic workout”!

  2. Tom’s points are all spot on. But they go to how we can improve as instructors. Giving ourselves the potential to bring more to our classes. As instructors I hope we are all aspiring to such skills and the improvement of our craft.

    Carol Espel did not become the big boss there at Equinox for no good reason. If 72% or our riders want an aerobic work out – which I read from Exerceo’s quote above to mean, their goals are for the workout not the end game as Tom describes it, then is taking such a singular approach advisable as a regular part of every class.

    Recently, I

  3. I have just completed the ultimate “keep it real” project. I worked with a group of indoor riders, most without outdoor experience, to help them achieve the goal of a challenging four day bike trip. They were amazingly successful – met their proximate goal but, more important, now have functional bike skills and strength which they will use in years to come. I could not have accomplished what I did without access to them in the IDC studio and without a coaching mindset in all of our interactions. They could not have accomplished what they did without the willingness to ask “What can I do?” and “Is there a way to do this better?”

    I urge everyone to read Tom’s note over and over and then put it to the test. Take some people outside and then use what you see and hear to inform your indoor instruction. You will never want to go back to an indoor-only focus.

  4. Can you send this to Josh Taylor?
    Indoor riders will come and go, but those that appreciate the athlete/coach dynamic will return. You may not fill the 50 bike room everytime or convince them to use a heart rate monitor but they will return.
    As Carol Espel (group fitness big boss at Equinox) told me, “…only 28% of our indoor riders ride outside. Most simply want an aerobics class.” Ugh
    Thanks for the article Tom.

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