INDOOR CYCLING NEWSLETTER #75.

NEW QUALITY EMPHASIS AT THE YMCA:   I am very proud that the Des Moines YMCA is making a strong effort to increase the quality of group exercise across the board.  Penny Luthens, Director of Group Exercise, is taking numerous steps to make this happen.  All instructors will now be required to have a national certification in group exercise in addition to their specific certification in the discipline they teach.  This should mean more safety and expertise in all of your group exercise classes.

In cycling, we are also conducting a series of in-service workshops for cycling instructors.  I was happy to lead one last week where we discussed class practices that are considered unsafe or ineffective for our students. The response from instructors was very positive.  It is clear to me that we have a strong group of dedicated instructors who are intent in learning new ways so your classes will be better.  And avoiding the ones that are showy but ineffective.

In each of the next several newsletters, I plan to cover several of the commonly accepted contra-indications so that you, as a student, are also aware of them.  This issue I will cover several that generally involve the idea of too much movement:

Here are four things NOT to do in cycling class.

1. Using weights or bands on the bike.  First, this creates an injury risk for falling. But it is also ineffective.  It is poor weight training since it is done with light weights and without a properly stabilized core.  The weights aren’t heavy enough to do any good anyway.  And, furthermore, it also takes away from your aerobic work on the bicycle.  Bottom line, not a good weight workout and not a good cycle workout either.

2. Contrived and excessive upper-body movement.  Sometimes these are called “aerobics on a bike” They include push-ups, crunches, figure 8's, twists, shoulder drops, and cornering.  In general they can throw the rider off balance with a risk of falling.  There is also a danger of injury in that the legs are linear while the upper body twists.  Moreover, they waste energy and attention that could be better used.   The excessive upper body movement is generally done without resistance and thus has no strength benefit.  In addition, the movements can restrict breathing which reduces the aerobic benefit.

3. “Popcorn” jumps.   Jumps (smooth transitions from sitting to standing and back) are okay.  They are a way to practice something done on the bike outdoors.  But do them too fast and you’ve got something else.  Anything faster than about a 4-5 count at the top and bottom position and you are popping up and down like popcorn in a popper.  That defeats the purpose because you cannot maintain a smooth pedal stroke and it is an injury risk.

4. High cadence without experience or power.   Whatever your goal for exercise you are trying to produce power.  Power makes you go faster.   Power burns calories.  Power is speed times resistance.  So riding super fast at low resistance doesn’t make sense because it doesn’t create much power.  Neither does you body “learn” to ride faster if you are going so fast that you are just riding the flywheel’s momentum.  Excessive cadence does NOT create proper muscle firing sequence. Finally you are loading a lot of forces on the knee joint.  If you did this outdoors, you’d look silly - going fast and standing still.

So there you are.  Four things not to do - and why.  More next month.

CYCLING ZONES FIELD TEST FOR YOU: A week ago my classes did what I call a “zone awareness ride”.  It is a class where we use the various cues to help students learn how different intensities of effort (zones) feel.  I had some good feedback from the class.  One student took the class twice during the week.  He told me he thought he’d learned the lesson the first time but then, when he came back the second time, he learned better what I meant when I referred to “having that conversation” with yourself.   It’s a class we will repeat this winter because I agree that it’s one where you can always sharpen your awareness.

So in my “zone awareness classes” we work to identify the feel of each of those zones.  But there is also a heart rate range associated with each one of those zones.  Those ranges are unique to you.  So, if you want to take your training a step further, how do you learn your own personal zones as defined by heart rate?

∙ The simplest - and least accurate way - is a simple mathematical formula based on your age.   (220 - age for men and 226 - age for women).  It is still popular because of its simplicity.  This formula is probably in the instructions for your heart rate monitor.  Any cardio equipment that asks your age will determine your calorie burn based on this formula.  It’s simple.  But it works like the proverbial “broken clock”.  It’s right twice a day.   (Hey, think analog clock not digital.)  The formula represents a gross average and is not very helpful to any one individual.  It could cause you to significantly over-train or under-train.

∙ The most accurate way is to perform a laboratory test of your blood or expiratory gases as you work at very high intensity.  The values in those measurements will change as your effort increases.  This gives you a great measurement but it is painful and expensive.  

∙ The third way charts a middle course.  It is more accurate than 220-age.  And it is less expensive than real metabolic testing.  Yes, it’s an estimate rather than a true measurement but its been shown to be good enough for all but the most serious.  This is called a lactate threshold field test (LTFT).

All we need for a LTFT is a bike, a heart rate monitor and a coach.  I am conducting this test for students at the YMCA Healthy Living Center Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 10:30am.  You are invited.

You can register at any YMCA welcome desk.  Cost is $10 for members and $25 for non-members.  Ask for the "Cycling Zones Field Test".

Come rested and ready for a challenging session.   Bring a heart rate monitor with average heart rate function, water bottle and any other bike gear you wish.  Write me at bill.roach@mchsi.com if you have questions.

MEDICAL NEWS / SECOND HAND SMOKE:   In my prior life, before I began my retirement career as a cycling instructor and personal trainer,  I worked in the Iowa Attorney Genera’s office.  One of my assignments was to work with state and local advocates in favor of reducing our deadly exposure to tobacco, including second-hand smoke (SHS).

During that tenure, Iowa passed one of the strongest smoke-free laws in the country.  Having worked on health issues on a policy level during my “regular” career, I now enjoy helping people with their individual health as a personal trainer and cycling instructor.  It’s satisfying for me to see both the policy and individual sides of that coin and how they related to one another.

Now research recently published in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation, shows that smoke-free legislation is associated with substantially fewer hospitalizations and deaths from heart and respiratory diseases.

It is well established that exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with heart disease in nonsmokers, and research suggests that the cardiovascular effects of SHS are nearly as large as those with active smoking.

Researchers reviewed 45 studies covering 33 smoke-free laws at the local and state levels around the United States and other countries.  They found that comprehensive smoke-free laws were associated with a rapid 15 percent decrease in heart attack hospitalizations and 16 percent decrease in stroke hospitalizations.  Smoke-free laws were also rapidly followed by a 24 percent decrease in hospitalizations for respiratory diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  The most comprehensive laws -- those covering workplaces, restaurants and bars -- resulted in the highest health benefits.

The Iowa law isn’t perfect - it doesn’t cover casinos for example.  But I am proud of the Iowa law because I believe it saves lives every day.

WATCHING THE BIGGEST LOSER SCARES PEOPLE FROM EXERCSE, DUH:  The Biggest Loser was a TV ratings hit but it paints a very extreme and negative picture of exercise. Who would want to start an exercise routine that looks like that?  The extreme depiction of exercise on Biggest Loser and other shows like it is more likely to turn people off than to motivate them, according to new research from the University of Alberta.  Researchers found that watching a short video clip of the Biggest Loser fueled negative attitudes toward exercise,  "The depictions of exercise on shows like The Biggest Loser are really negative," said lead author Tanya Berry.  "People are screaming and crying and throwing up, and if you're not a regular exerciser you might think this is what exercise is -- that it's this horrible experience where you have to push yourself to the extremes and the limits, which is completely wrong."

We need instead to see exercise as a routine daily activity that needs to be part of our lives.

The study doesn’t address another common complaint of personal trainers.  These shows often use unsafe exercise techniques to be dramatic.  For instance, an indoor cycling contra-indication to remove the saddles from participants bikes.  Ouch.

QUOTE:

∙ “Health and cheerfulness mutually beget each other.” - Joseph Addison


Bill Roach, NASM-CPT, CES.
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