Word of the Year New Year’S Profile

Class Profile Word of the Year New Year’s Profile

Word of the Year

Created by Christine Nielsen Working HR Zones: Zone 2 to 5a, b Class Length: 60 minutes

Profile Description

We are in a privileged position as instructors and coaches. The participants in our classes choose to spend a part of their precious day with us. We see them at their best and at their worst, at their weakest and at their strongest. As a result we develop a somewhat intimate relationship with them. For that reason, at a time of year when most people’s minds turn to thoughts of change, I feel that it is appropriate to offer words of wisdom based on my experience and knowledge. While I might not offer similar advice to someone outside of class, I feel comfortable doing so for the people with whom I have created meaningful relationships.

This class profile is based on my personal experience with the techniques it describes. I have de- personalized the script but have added anecdotes related to my experience. Feel free to offer these to your classes with the prefix “A friend...” and/or provide your own experiences in the form of stories.

Objective

A mixed-effort ride is offered as an opportunity to present a model that can replace traditional New Year’s resolutions. The music choices and activities are subordinate to the message.

Indoor Cycling Association Class Profile Word of the Year

Pre-class Change is Good, Rick Danko, 4:11

I enjoy prefacing my classes with music that hints at the material to come. This song sums it up well. Change is good. It is even better if we can control the change through our thoughts and actions.

Warm-Up You Have the Choice (Original Mix), Jivasonic, 8:21, 125 bpm

There is something about this time of year—with the lengthening days and the opportunity to turn the page on our calendars—that inspires people to make changes in their lives. In the Western world this often takes the form of New Year’s resolutions. You know what I am talking about… “I will quit smoking.” “I will spend more time with my family.” “I will lose weight.”

Studies show that about 50% of Americans set some sort of New Year’s resolution. Unfortunately about 88% of them fail to complete their resolutions. Why is that? There are many reasons and most of you can probably identify one of the major problems with the resolutions I quoted earlier. Most resolutions are vague. There are no clearly stated and achievable goals and very few people go on to create a plan which will help them achieve what they desire. On the other hand, I find that resolutions are problematic because they are so specific. They are not structured so that the success, if you have any, on one resolution can leak into and influence other areas of your life.

You are faced with an uncountable number of choices each day. Some of those are consequential, some less so. What if you had a guiding principle for those choices? Would it help you become more aware of your path through life and how each little thing you do either removes or installs obstacles on that path?

I want to introduce you to another way to approach the New Year. This was made popular by business coach Christine Kane starting in 2006. She suggests choosing one word that will guide your actions throughout the year. Each time you are faced with a choice you invoke your word and evaluate your decisions in the context of the word. http://christinekane.com/resolution-revolution-a-better-way-to-start-your-year/. Any word will work if it is right for you. It can be a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. (Note: This link contains a long list of suggested words.)

[Personal anecdote: I have been doing this for several years and it has been one of the most important steps I have taken to reshape my life. I’ll give you an example. One year I chose the word “Risk.” I chose it to remind myself to think about the consequences of my actions and also because I hoped it would help me to take on greater challenges. It worked! I had an amazing year. It started with a Polar Bear swim on New Year’s Day. Since I detest being cold I took a risk that the discomfort would be offset by the sense of achievement and the camaraderie with others. It did—so much so that I repeated the swim the following year.]

Indoor Cycling Association Class Profile Word of the Year

Today we are going to do a mixed ride and as we encounter various scenarios along the “road” I will propose some words that might help you in the year to come. These are a small subset of the options but I want you to reflect on how you could extend the words we use today to deal with other aspects of your life.

Structure the warm-up according to your preferences.

In the text that follows, the capitalized words in bold represent those that your students should consider as possibilities for their word of the year. Try to place additional stress on them in the rhythm of your speech. You may also want to develop a visual cue to accompany the emphasized words. I hold up my hands and count the words on my fingers. The script of this profile alone contains more than forty words. You will likely add more as you teach the class. You might want to start recording them as more occur to you.

Flat road Exploration, Karminsky Experience, 5:35, 94 bpm

Let’s start out on a flat road. Grab the beat and put on enough resistance to put your heart rate in Zone 3. We will use this time to heighten our AWAREness and review some LEARNing about your form on the bike.

0:00–1:30 Awareness of body, starting with feet and moving up to head and neck. 1:30–2:50 Awareness of four quadrants of pedal stroke. 3:00–3:00 Awareness of what supports you on the bike.

(At 3:00) As you think about your next year give some thought to what you would like to MASTER. Do you want to REFINE some skills or learn new ones. Is there someone you could ASK for assistance? Or are you in a position to ASSIST or MENTOR someone else?

3:30–5:30 Leg isolations, 30 seconds each side repeated twice. Start with non-dominant leg.

Climb Fearless, VNV Nation, 6:16, 70 bpm

Add enough resistance to slow your legs to around 70 rpm. We are going to tackle a 6-minute hill with resistance increases every minute. Try to stay seated as long as you can (so long as your cadence doesn’t drop below 60 rpm). If you want to CHALLENGE yourself and your cardiovascular system you can ATTEMPT to maintain your cadence as you add resistance. Give yourself PERMISSION to drop your cadence if the intensity of the effort becomes too difficult.

Hills are an important place to test ourselves. They require PERSISTENCE, STRENGTH, and DETERMINATION. Think of those words as the work gets more difficult.

Indoor Cycling Association Class Profile Word of the Year

Remind your students of the choices they will face in the next 45 minutes and encourage them to evaluate each choice using the words you provide.

During this song, look out into the room and reflect on what you know about your students, their journeys, and their goals. You will be inspired to add additional cues with appropriate words. Do not be shy. You may say something that will have amazing consequences for just one person.

Flat road Stand My Ground, Within Temptation, 4:28, 89 bpm

Drop your resistance back to a flat road and grab the beat. I have a new CHALLENGE for you. I want you to drop your heart rate to Zone 2. I selected this for all of you keeners, especially those of you who have performance goals in the spring and early summer. It is easy to be lured into doing lots and lots of high-intensity work. You should BALANCE that with some long duration periods of work at Zone 2, especially at this time of year. You must show RESTRAINT and PATIENCE and avoid “effort creep.”

This is an important part of preparing for ENDURANCE events. I have deliberately chosen a song that will tempt you to higher and higher intensities. RESIST the temptation!

Climb Bigmouth, Underworld, 4:10, 61 bpm

We are returning to the hills. Drop your cadence to 61 rpm and add resistance that makes it just possible to turn the pedals at that speed. We have 4 minutes of climbing at this grade ahead of us.

COMMIT to the work. TRUST that you have the skills and strength and mental STAMINA to finish the hill as strong as you started it. Use the TOOLS you have DEVELOPed. Monitor your breathing, use your mantras, CONCENTRATE on your form.

Attacks on the climb Do or Die, Thirty Seconds to Mars, 4:08, 67 bpm

Drop a little resistance so that your legs speed up to 67 rpm. This next part of our route will require you to ATTACK. When I call for those attacks, increase your leg speed and/or stand. This will likely drive your heart rate to the top of Zone 4 or even into Zone 5. There will be three attacks.

Attack at: 0:59–1:26 2:23–2:48 3:20–end

Indoor Cycling Association Class Profile Word of the Year

The first attack will be painful. You must CONFRONT your unwillingness to “go there” again. Be determined to declare VICTORY over your fear and discomfort.

Flat road Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 3 (Redemption), Muse, 162 bpm (song is in ¾ time)

Drop your resistance back to a flat road and let your heart rate fall well back to the bottom of Zone 3 or even into Zone 2.

Here is another TEST for those of you who are hooked on the endorphins and just need to go, go, go. You need to RECOVER, to REST. Those words have applications in many aspects of our lives but if you are an athlete you must always use them to judge your choices. The next time you are tempted to go out for “just a ride or run,” think about whether you have given your body enough opportunities for rest and recovery.

Some funny things happen after you have selected your word. You begin to see new meanings in the word and the applications to your life continue to expand. For example, RECOVER can mean so many more things than diminish your effort/recuperate. It could help you decide whether to reach out to a long lost friend or even do something about the upholstery on the dining room chairs.

Note: This song is in 3/4 time. Music with this time signature promotes a smooth pedal stroke because there is no good way to connect the top or bottom of the pedal stroke to the dominant beat in the measure. This factor also seems to diminish students’ natural tendency to ramp up their effort through the song.

Threshold push Guiding Light, Muse, 4:13, 73 bpm

Use the beat of the music and set your resistance to push your heart rate up to your threshold at the top of Zone 4. Hold it there.

Try to be CONSISTENT with respect to your effort. Don’t let it float too high or drift down. You may use the POWER data on your bike to help you MONITOR your output.

High-intensity efforts The Obsessive Devotion, 7:15, Epica, 90 bpm

This portion of the class is unique. You are going to let the participants choose the number and length of some high-intensity (above threshold) efforts. The music is conducive to riding hard anywhere during the 7 minutes. You may need to provide time checks if the bikes at your facility are not equipped with timers and/or your students aren’t using heart rate monitors.

Drop your resistance and increase your leg speed. I am going to make a suggestion for the next 7 minutes. I want you to take a RISK along with me. This music is conducive to

Indoor Cycling Association Class Profile Word of the Year

some extreme efforts. These will take your heart rate above your threshold. I am going to leave it to you to decide how many and how long those efforts should be. I suggest that you attempt at least three, each at least 30 seconds long. Make sure that you give yourselves an opportunity to recover for one to three times as long as your high-intensity effort.

Please keep your cadence in the high-intensity efforts at 100 rpm or below. That means that you will have to create the extra work by boosting your resistance and you may also end up standing.

Do you DARE do this? Do you have the COURAGE to do just one more? Do you TRUST the work you have done that has led you to this point?

Don’t think about what the people around you are doing. What do you DESIRE? What do you have to do to ACHIEVE it?

Don’t forget that CHANGE occurs as a result of STRESS, which leads to ADAPTation.

This section will require coaching and/or cheerleading. Use what you know about your students to provide specific guidance and feedback.

High-cadence flat Victory (Magnus Fiennes Mix), 4:41, Bond, 106 bpm

Settle in at a fairly high cadence on a flat road. The song is fast at 106 beats per minute. Make sure that you HONOR the principles we hold dear and don’t let your leg speed exceed your ability to maintain excellent form. Your heart rate should be in Zone 3 or 4.

This is your opportunity to remind yourself of the JOY that you derive from riding your bike either indoors or out. SAVOR these minutes. Remember the DELIGHT you feel when the sun is on your face and the wind is at your back.

Cool-down and stretch Right This Second, 7:50, Deadmau5, 190 bpm

The experts tell us that one of the reasons that people fail to execute their New Year’s resolutions is that the format of the resolutions is not conducive to forming a habit. In contrast, after a year spent evaluating your choices in the context of a single word you will have formed a habit. When you choose a new word the following year you will be adding a new habit but not losing the previous one. Your decision-making will become more refined and your goals more attainable.

As I said earlier, the words I used today are just suggestions. I used words that had a direct application to indoor and outdoor cycling because that’s where your experience and mine intersect. You may want to choose something that is more relevant to another

Indoor Cycling Association Class Profile Word of the Year

aspect of your life or which you judge will be more useful to you. You might also want to choose a phrase; it is your life so you get to make the rules.

[Personal anecdote: I have a friend who chose the phrase “skill development.” At the end of a year she had learned many new skills that were an asset in her professional life. But she also found that her leisure time was more enjoyable. On lazy Sunday afternoons when she wondered, “What is there to do?” she answered that question with “Skill development!” and taught herself some fun things like bartending and knitting.]

If this approach appeals to you and you would like some help choosing your word, Christine Kane has a worksheet that can guide you through the process. http://www.christinekane.com/word/. You don’t have to use the worksheet because there are no rights and wrongs to this process. If you choose something that doesn’t work, you can always choose again. Christine Kane recommends you reveal your word to one or two of your closest friends. As you discuss choices with them they will be able to remind you to use your word. That will increase the chance that you will form a robust new habit.

Post-class Waves of Change (Kaskade Remix), 5:40

Indoor Cycling Association Class Profile Word of the Year

Word of the Year Playlist

Title Artist Album Available From Change is Good Rick Danko Times Like These iTunes, eMusic

You Have the Choice Jivasonic The Organ - Single iTunes (Original Mix)

Exploration Karminsky The Power of Suggestion iTunes, Experience eMusic

Fearless VNV Nation Futureperfect iTunes, eMusic

Stand My Ground Within The Silent Force iTunes Temptation

Bigmouth Underworld 1992–2012 Anthology iTunes, eMusic

Do or Die Thirty Seconds LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS iTunes to Mars

Exogenesis: Muse The Resistance iTunes Symphony, Part 3

Guiding Light Muse The Resistance iTunes

The Obsessive Epica The Divine Conspiracy iTunes, Devotion eMusic

Victory (Magnus Bond Born (UK Bonus Track) iTunes Fiennes Mix)

Right This Second Deadmau5 4x4=12 iTunes

Waves of Change Samantha Waves of Change (Kaskade iTunes, (Kaskade Remix) James Remixes) eMusic