Want to ‘pump’kin your cycle participants up with your creepy and frightening class? Try some of these drills and skills this Halloween!

Ghostbuster Hill Drill

Did you know that the word “ghost” is sung 30 times in the original Ghostbusters motion picture soundtrack song? Why not use this to your advantage and have your cycle participants increase resistance every time they hear the word “ghost”.

Now for those who have a tension knob, participants can increase with small increments in the seated position each time they hear the word and stand when their revolutions drop below 50 rpm for a standing hill climb. For those with gears, why not have cycle participants climb two hills increasing from gear 5 to gear 20 (move to standing to reach the top of the hill), with 30 words, these lucky folks get a break dropping back to 5 before climbing again (apparently this hill has a dip near the top!).

Both ways, the hill is just over four minutes total and I would encourage adding in downhill at the end to another classic Halloween song, Monster Mash!

R.I.P. Power

I found these really wicked Halloween glass tags with six themes – Trick, Treat, Bats, Witch, Haunted House, and Jack o'lantern (see above). I laminated them, place them on each bike and use them to perfectly divide participants into six groups.

Power work has been a focus this term and thus, R.I.P. Power is the perfect way to put cycle participants into the grave! Split the group into 2 groups (Group 1: Trick, Treat, and Bats; Group 2: Witch, Haunted House, and Jack o'lantern). Group 1 start with seated power for 15 seconds while Group 2 rests. After the 15 seconds, the groups switch where it is Group 2’s turn to go. Continue to switch groups while increasing the duration of the seated power (i.e., 30, 45, 60, 90 seconds). If time permits, start again and steadily increase in duration with standing power.

Need more inspiration? Check out October 2010’s post for another drill idea for sprints!

Happy Halloween!

With the greatest love day of the year upon us, how can you infuse a little bit of L.O.V.E into your classes?

Simply using the word love might just help!

Start off with:

Long slow distance: an endurance ride of 10 minutes, adding a gear with each minute. Begin with setting tension at time trial with 80-90 rpm. Add a gear which will be set differently based on the bike style and model.

Obstacle course: set up a predetermined race course that includes speed bumps, pot holes, slippery bananas, gravel, etc. Take participants through the course of obstacles.

Velocity (sprints): what can your group handle? 100% effort sprints for 30, 60, 90 second sprints?

Elevations (hills): finish the class with a set of hill climbs.

If you have access to a white board, chalk board or poster board, write down the four letters and as you come to the next letter, add the details of the drill. Keep the class guessing as to what is next in store.

Think of your music and match L.O.V.E. songs to your drills. Check out last year’s post for song ideas and the list below for some new song options (watch the bpm for appropriate types of drills!).

Where is the Love?/Black Eye Peas (100 bpm)

What is Love?/Haddaway (140 bpm)

This Love/ Maroon Five (100 bpm)

Love is/ Alanna Miles (120 bpm)

You Suck At Love/ Simple Plan (145 bpm)

Love Somebody Like You/Keith Urban (120 bpm)

What About Love?/Heart (80 bpm)

Lovegame/Lady Gaga (120 bpm)

Somebody to Love/ Queen (80 bpm)

Finish the class with a bunch of hugs and kisses. Not literally of course, but of the chocolate variety!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

With the holiday season upon us, how can we incorporate the festive season into our indoor cycle class?

The simple answer would be to include holiday music in our mix of songs. Many of the big fitness music suppliers have seasonal music set to the 32 count, such as Power Music, Dynamix Music, and Yes! Fitness Music. But, is there a more creative way to get your cycle participants into the holiday spirit?

Since we always begin with a warm-up, let’s start there! Get your reindeer antlers on!

Set the scene for your cycle participants by indicating they are one of Santa’s reindeer (now it is time to imagine!) and it is a snowy Christmas Eve pulling Santa’s sleigh around the world. Have cycle participants get themselves set to a moderate tension in a seated position to start. Here are some suggested ways to get cycle participants warming up:

1.       To avoid clouds, cue participates to add tension and stand up into a standing hover position while they dodge clouds (slide upper body from side to side). 

2.       To land on rooftops, cue participants to sit down on the saddle while they add tension and sit back as if the reins are being pulled back.

3.       To drop presents from the sky, cue participants to sit down and set tension low as if descending quickly over rooftops (similar to a downhill ride).

4.       It’s close to the end of the night and Santa needs to go faster, cue participants to perform a seated sprint.

Use a combination of the above suggestions and/or makes up your own version of what reindeer would need to do to get Santa around the world on Christmas Eve!

Nothing says the holiday spirit than giving. Consider gathering donations (food for the Food Bank, toys for Santa’s Anonymous or money for the Salvation Army) from your cycle participants. Just double check with your venue to ensure this is something they are okay with. And maybe next year plan for a donation drive for the whole month of December.

Do your cycle participants groan when they hear sprints? It’s time to liven up sprints by adding an imagination component. I usually cue cycle participants to put on their imagination hats and get ready for the main event.

Wikipedia states that imagery is the “usage of details and descriptions in order to create a sensory experience”. As group fitness leaders we are able to transport our cycle participants to new and exciting places, particularly when they need to sprint. In a cycle class, imagery can:

·         Set the mood (excitement, enthusiasm, competition, to name a few)

·         Define a focus and purpose to the drill

·         Allow for mental distraction to get through a difficult drill

Over the many years I’ve been teaching, I’ve come up with various images associated with sprinting that help cycle participants push past their limits. Typically, each sprint is for one minute with one to two minutes active recovery between each sprint. Here are some of my favourites.

General themes

1.       Visualize yourself racing a childhood friend (add situational cues of your childhood bike)

2.       Visualize yourself racing a family member (we always have one family member we are slightly competitive with)

3.       Visualize yourself in the Rocky Mountains and you are being chased by a grizzly bear!

Sport themes

1.       Visualize yourself racing your greatest competition (particularly when working with a sports team, have athletes picture their competition)

2.       Visualize yourself racing for the last spot on the Canadian National Cycling Team (the coach is on the sidelines timing your sprint and you need to impress him/her)

3.       Visualize yourself racing in first place with a competitor on your back wheel (one minute to the finish line!)

Lifestyle themes

1.       Visualize yourself racing to a store full of the newest and greatest video systems (e.g., Xbox Kinect) or video games (e.g., the newest Halo) and you’re after the last copy

2.       Visualize yourself as a bride-to-be and you are racing into the wedding dress discount sale that happens only once per year (if you’ve never seen the racing heart rates of brides-to-be, check out this video)

3.       It is December 26 and you’ve been waiting since 4 am to get inside your favourite electronic shop to get your overlooked Christmas gift, that big screen TV. Visualize yourself rushing the front door and heading straight for the TV section to find your prized gift.

Holiday themes

As it being Halloween today, I would be remised not to mention a Halloween themed sprint.

1.       Visualize yourself trying to exit a haunted house but can’t find the door. Frankenstein appears as you race out of the house, down the stairs and out into the dark of night (okay, so maybe I’ll never be a thriller book author!)

2.       Visualize yourself as the lead reindeer on Santa’s sleigh and you must hurry to deliver presents for Christmas

3.       Visualize yourself as one of Santa’s elves who is responsible to get all of the presents onto Santa’s sleigh on December 24

I’ve provided some examples that will engage your cycle participants to sprint their hardest to reach their goal. Make up your own that best suits your class. When I listed the benefits of imagery, I neglected to say that it also makes the sprints FUN! Always finding ways to engage, encourage and provide a place for play is our goal. Now go out and get your class sprinting!