CHANGES: I have news. First, I’ve been offered the opportunity to become a contributing writer for the national indoor cycling organization, the Indoor Cycling Association. (www.indoorcyclingassociation.org). It’s a terrific organization dedicated to keeping indoor cycling safe and effective in accordance with good exercise science and outdoor riding practice. ICA is led by the knowledgeable and dynamic Jennifer Sage who led cycling workshops here in Des Moines two weeks ago. Secondly, in addition to the ICA gig, my responsibilities at the YMCA are increasing with classes, personal training clients and other assignments.
So here’s the news. As a result of these new responsibilities, I have offered my resignation to the Aspen Athletic Clubs. I will be phasing out my classes at Aspen over the next three weeks.
To my friends at Aspen, I do this with reluctance, I have formed wonderful friendships there and will miss my regular students. It makes me think about what marvelous things happen in group exercise... besides exercise. In addition I will miss the relationship with the instructors who I have mentored to help start their teaching careers. I’ve already said good bye to my Thursday night class and I have two more morning classes at SE before I go. Hopefully I will see you all from time to time.
Because I will no longer be teaching at Aspen, I want to offer Aspen subscribers the opportunity to discontinue this newsletter if they desire. My newsletter list is a mix of friends, professional associates, Aspen members and YMCA members. If you wish to discontinue this newsletter, just reply to this mailing and tell me. You need do nothing if you wish to stay.
UPCOMING CLASSES / TOUR d FRANCE: I am making some plans for your upcoming classes. For the next couple of weeks, we will continue with a combination of strength and tempo work. Beginning June 30th - the start of the Tour de France - we will begin a series of classes simulating the most interesting stages of the prior week including the terrain, teams and moves by the major players. I’m still working on the staging of this and so welcome any ideas or preferences you might have. Drop me a note if you have thoughts.
CONGRATULATIONS! I just learned this afternoon that Bob Sturgeon, one of my cycling students and coaching clients, won both Gold and Bronze medals in his age group at the Iowa Senior Olympics today. He bettered last year’s 10K Bronze with a Gold medal this year. And, in addition, won Bronze in the 5K. In talking with him shortly after the event, Bob related how he saved some of his effort for the end and was able to perform strongly right up through the end of the event. He “saved some of his matches” for the end. Congratulations Bob. I am so happy and proud for you.
WONDERFUL WORKSHOPS: As mentioned above, we were lucky to have Jennifer Sage in Des Moines two weeks ago to conduct a “master class” as well as several workshops for instructors. It was amazing.
The Friday night master class was a 90 minute class featuring the climb up the legendary Tour de France climb, the Alpe du Huez. Jennifer has climbed this mountain multiple times leading tour groups to the summit. She took us on a detailed realistic climb through the eyes and emotions of a young rider in his first season. It was a creative class and an emotional experience.
The workshops that followed on Saturday and Sunday were really helpful to the instructors who attended. I’ve summarized the “take home messages” because I think they are also of interest to students. The topics reflect the most recent and important thinking in exercise science.
Why should I “Keep it Real”? Some people question the need to use exercise science or proven outdoor riding techniques in “just” an indoor cycling class. They wonder why using heart rate training, periodization, or even correct cycling techniques is important for someone who just want exercise. This workshop demonstrated that using effective training techniques is effective, fun, and applicable to the non-athlete fitness participant who simply wants to lose weight or who doesn’t ride a bicycle.
The workshop also showed how improper techniques can hinder students from reaching their goals, and can lead to injury. Among these practices are: hovers, extreme forward position, high-cadence low-resistance pedaling, constantly changing positions, isolations, squats and pushups.
Mastering the Art and Science of Heart Rate Training. Coaches and athletes now realize that lactate threshold is a superior anchor on which to base training zones rather than maximum heart rate. This workshop discussed how to provide more useful training zones so that students can move beyond inaccurate and ineffective maximum heart rate charts. The training zone chart that I provide you in class is based on this principle but uses perceived exertion instead of heart rate.
Effective
Intervals: Adaptations, Formats and Cueing. Intervals are hard, popular and fun. But different intervals get different results. Haphazard intervals without an objective bring about haphazard results. We discussed the different training objectives of interval training: aerobic, threshold, VO2 max, lactate tolerance, and pure power/anaerobic. Each interval objective results in different physiological adaptations, and each one is done at different intensities and durations.
Cause and Effect: Power is the bottom line. Power means you go faster, longer and burn more calories. The components of power are cadence and resistance. Finding the right combination of these two components is magical. How does the body respond differently at 60rpm than at 90rpm? How much resistance is too much, too little. How does heart rate and perceived exertion related to power guide students to change resistance at various cadences?
COMMON EXERCISE MISTAKES: In earlier newsletters I began listing what I believe are the three most common exercise mistakes. These are the things that I observe in the gym every day. I got sidetracked and never finished my list so let me recap it here.
Number 1: No variety in your program. Every day I see people doing the same workouts. One of the most common mistakes I see in the gym each day is to recognize the same people doing exactly the same thing day-after-day. I applaud the persistence of these people but I wish they’d find some variety. That kind of repetition is boring for both your body and your mind. Doing the same thing over and over leads to staleness, fatigue and failure to sustain an exercise program. Our bodies adapt to repetitive exercise. As they become more efficient, they burn fewer calories doing the same thing.
Number 2: Fear of weights. I am a huge fan of aerobic workouts. But strength training is absolutely necessary, and not just to get bigger muscles. A proper strength training program will improve your core stability, neurological balance, ability to generate and control force in all three planes of movement, and your ability to move with speed, agility and quickness. It’s not just for people who want big muscles. It is a necessary part of staying healthy.
And despite all these other benefits, building muscle is also important. As we age we lose muscle every year. The only way to fight this trend is strength training. Studies show that exercisers who combine cardio with a high-intensity, total-body resistance routine lose more body fat than those who follow a cardio-only plan.
Number 3: Too much low-level cardio. It’s true that you burn a higher percentage of fat at a lower intensity. The problem is that you burn more total calories at higher intensities. As in so many things, you need variety.
Burn more calories and make more of those calories come from fat by increasing your overall effort. A great way to achieve that is by doing periods of higher intensity followed by a slower recovery pace.
QUOTE: “I ask myself, Will I feel better or worse after doing a sport? I can’t ever remember doing some physical and feeling worse.” Elle Macpherson.
RESOURCES: Recent past issues of this newsletter are available at http://billroachblog.blogspot.com
Thank you.
Bill Roach, NASM-CPT, CEx
Star 3 Lifetime Certified Spinning Instructor
Certified Personal Trainer, National Academy of Sports Medicine
Corrective Exercise Specialist, National Academy of Sports Medicine
bill.roach@mchsi.com
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