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kdjmom
03-24-2004, 08:41 PM
This is obviously built off the other post about profile building, and it's a question to the group: how do you come up with your rides? music first and ride afterwards, or the other way around? do you ride your plan before teaching it, or do it during class? do you have training goals in mind, or just wing it as you ride?

I'll go first--the night before I teach--i teach 3x a week, a 6am and 9:30am on mondays, and a 6am on fridays--i make a cd with songs i'm grooving on that week. i might put in a bunch of hills, or some 'flat' songs with one big hill, or vary it a bit from that, but nothing more specific. i don't care how long or short the songs are, and even though i think of some songs as "hills' and some as "flats", i've used the reverse as well.

IF we are training for something in my 6am class I'll gear the class toward that goal, as we did in the Everest ride and also when we periodized our season. We had the Everest ride last month, and i know many in class are gearing up for a season of tris and century rides, so I'm doing more interval work with them right now. The 9:30 class is anyone goes, i can have from 4 to 15 people in class with little consistency, beyond the fact that there are no serious atheletes in the room, just people looking for a good workout.

As I drive to class, i think of what i'm going to do. the cd tracks are fresh in my mind and i have a 20 minute drive. i've been teaching for almost 9 years now, so what i'm "coming up with" is tried and true--it's just the variation that changes. I might do hill repeats, loops, focus on cadence, focus on speed, focus on hills and valleys with the last minute of each a full out effort--and then i get into class and teach it. I always use the music as background for what i am doing, i am WED to my heart rate monitor and much more interested in timing the effort than to what is playing and ending and what the chorus is doing. So, if i am doing hill repeats, i'll do 5 min. up a hill, a 1 min. push at the end with more gearing, 1 min. down the hill, 3 min. recovery, and then back up. If the "fast" music kicks in when we're in the middle of the hill, all the better--it gives people energy, and if the "slow" music plays during recovery, people tend to drop heart rates a little lower. Not riding exactly to the music frees me to teach any kind of class to any kind of cd.

That's what I do--and you?

amy

gonzosgirl01
03-24-2004, 08:58 PM
I could've written that myself.

I teach 10-15 classes per week, hold down a 40-hr week job, plus raise 2 kids & a husband.

I have a variety of profiles I've liked with specific goals in mind, and 10 -15 CDs with different music on them. I teach class at 11:00; I start planning the ride at 9:00 (at work, dealing with customers).

I started gearing my classes toward HR training about 3 months ago. I have about 5 different profiles that I like; altho I change the music, the moves do not change. I'll profile to whatever I feel for that day or for certain people I know I'll have. BUT I always, always profile to HR (albeit mine; only about 60% wear monitors). I do give cues for new/unconditioned students as well.

Yay for you for having a life that revolves outside of spending a week contemplating the road/ride/terrain/tune of the day!!

--Mandi

jala3
03-24-2004, 11:29 PM
Hi Amy. I plan the profile first while I'm setting the goal of the ride, then work on the music. I am fortunate that almost all of my riders wear hr monitors. I usually work on the ride for a few days, here and there, then finalize it the night before(burn my cd and write my index card, yes I stick an index card on my bike). I don't test out the ride before the class, that's just not possible for me.

SPINFREAK
03-25-2004, 12:11 AM
Hi Guys,
I usually plan my rides in my head first. When I'm stumped, I'll go to my heart rate and profile design manual. After I decide on a profile, I write it on an index card then I find music. I'm lucky that I have a spinner at home, so I ride the profile at home first, making sure that it flows. It seems to be working for me. I've been teaching at a club for almost a year and a half. In that time, attendance has much improved: we went from having two students to a full class of 14. Members now have to sign up to reserve a bike! However, I can't take full credit. We have an excellent new group-ex manager who really cares about the quality of instructors she hires. I am proud to say that all our JGSI's are excellent, they follow the basic guidelines and fundamentals of the Spinning program. Each instructor has their own style of teaching, but they adhere to the basics. I'm proud to say that we are adding four more spinning classes to our schedule to accomadate the demand. Our instructors have positive attitudes who truly are committed and decicated to our Spinning program. I can't be much prouder!

Raptor
03-25-2004, 03:16 AM
I waffle. :)

Most of my classes are vague simulations of outdoor rides I've done or seen. I do very few structured rides (loops, ladders).

I might start with a profile (big hill here, flat here, recover here, lots of hills, lots of high-speed intervals) and search my music database for songs that fit, or I might have a few songs that I want to ride to, and staple a profile to/around them. My music MUST invoke a feeling or cadence appropriate to the profile, but there's always a lot of music that fits.

I don't do training schedules because my classes don't have a lot of seasonal endurance competitors in them. But I only do things on the indoor bike that I know contribute to some aspect of fitness. I explain the rationale during class. I don't do something just for variety or fun, unless it's during a recovery segment and that's rare. I don't pre-ride my profile, but I often listen to the cd before class and ride it in my head while doing so.

This profile builder tool I've been working on I hope is general enough to benefit both (all) types of instructors.

Lynn

zoepup
03-25-2004, 12:55 PM
Ditto for me...
I waffle. :)

Most of my classes are vague simulations of outdoor rides I've done or seen. I do very few structured rides (loops, ladders).

I might start with a profile (big hill here, flat here, recover here, lots of hills, lots of high-speed intervals) and search my music database for songs that fit, or I might have a few songs that I want to ride to, and staple a profile to/around them. My music MUST invoke a feeling or cadence appropriate to the profile, but there's always a lot of music that fits.

I don't do training schedules because my classes don't have a lot of seasonal endurance competitors in them. But I only do things on the indoor bike that I know contribute to some aspect of fitness. I explain the rationale during class. I don't do something just for variety or fun, unless it's during a recovery segment and that's rare. I don't pre-ride my profile, but I often listen to the cd before class and ride it in my head while doing so.


Lynn

BarbJ
03-26-2004, 09:02 AM
Spin freak, Is the heart rate and profile designs from Sally Edwards? I'm heading to Borders today and wanted to pick up one of her books. Which do you recommend?

labo
03-26-2004, 09:38 AM
don't mean to jump in...but the book I use LOTS from Sally is THE HEART RATE MONITOR WORKBOOK FOR INDOOR CYCLISTS ...you do have to do some Spin translation i.e. zones to HR percentages, shorter rides (sometimes) ...I met Sally once at one of her workshops and spent about 2 hours with her and 3-4 other instructors and I was soooo impressed with her philosophy and style. She is a class act!!! (without the hijinks (sp?)...hehehe)

03-28-2004, 07:00 PM
Amy great read from you again. At our YMCA the sessions run anywhere from six to eight weeks. Each session creates a great opportunity for training or a mini-periodization leading to a RDEZ.

I usually set a goal for each session. Ei: base building, reviewing basics, mini-periodization to a RDEZ, six weeks of just rides, etc. With the goal for the session I plan my profiles. If the session ends with a RDEZ I do the RDEZ profile first and then work backward to plan the other 5-7 classes.

I start with the profile and then add the music. Because I only teach one or two classes a week I have the luxary of riding my profiles to "fine tune" them and get a feel for the presentation so I know how to coach it to my students.

Takes how I cut it...........Cheeze
................
Can someone tell me how I can shed this "Guest" shroud and become Cheeze again?

SPINFREAK
03-28-2004, 07:45 PM
Hey BarbJ... I haven't used Sally Edward's book(s), I took a CE course from MDA on Profiles and Heart Rate Games. They gave me a manual filled with profiles and some ideas for music. So far, all the profiles I had used from the manual, my spinners have loved! :D I highly recommend this course, I don't remember the MI's name. :?

In Health, Linda