Anatomy of an RPM class

I've just taught RPM in the CBD and thought that it might be fun to share what my 45 minutes is like up on stage. My class is at 12.15pm. Everyone has a different style of teaching, I would say that I'm a bit of a technician, rather than perky (I save that for Step!). The serious hat goes on and I'm all about everyone getting the best results with the best technique.

12.00pm: Arrive at Fitness First CBD, scan in and head straight to the studio and turn on the lights. Come back into the office section, grab the microphone and run into Libby from Perth who is a great mate of Shar's - we have a great chat and I give her instructions to say "hi" to Shar for me.
12.05pm: Have a "pre class piddle" (sorry if TMI) and then go and meet and greet my participants - check their bike set ups, see how they're going. Typically I get between 36 and 42 people in class (42 is a full class). Test microphone, set up bike, put on shoes and get ready to rumble.
12.15pm: Class starts - I introduce myself to the class, explain that participants need to work at a level that feels good to them and talk about perceived exertion, pedalling technique and position on the bike. I don't want to sound too chatty, but I need to get all of the info across and still be entertaining. Choose "Crabbuckit" for the first track, explaining my initiation into the world of keeping fish. Get a few laughs.

Track 2 begins and then I am coaching 'connection' through the pedal stroke and a strengthening of commitment towards their ride and their fitness. Encourage them through 3 x 30 seconds of gradually increasing effort and model seated and standing climb towards the end.

I choose Track 3 from the newest release, because I like the music and I really enjoy coaching this track. There are 4 hills in the track and I coach a slow steady build up to each peak, getting more intense each time. I find that it's less intimidating for everyone and that all of a sudden they get to the end and they're really tired.

Changed up Track 4 and chose a really trancy piece and got them to focus on a positive affirmation during the class to take withthem into Track Five. My example was "I ride strong" - I don't say too much during this type of track, rather I like to let the music speak for itself.

Track Five and we're onto 5 intervals at 100% effort. I tell the class that we're taking work in a 3 to 2 ratio and the recoveries are long, so if they're to ride strong they really have to smack it. Build nicely into a preparatory phase and then I tell them "two full turns" and WHAM! I'm at 100% max effort like that - two attacks and then sliding forward into the Aeroracing position and hitting my quads big time. Everything is stinging and I'm gasping for air like Jabba the Hutt. (aarh),. Thank goodness for recovery! I'm so fatigued, I just squeak out "back it off and recover!" Four more to go! Tell yourself "I ride strong," I yell - smack out 100% in the next two intervals, I'm kicking butt and my class are coming home strong too. Get through number 4 and then I ask the class if they're ready to bring it..." YEAH!!!!! " is the response. Give it everything I have and start feeling nauseous. Make a mental note to bring my big red bucket next time. You never know when you're going to need to throw up.

Track Six - after Track Five being such a gutser, I focus on recovery and encourage the class to "find the edge" of the resistance. I've chosen really short bursts of speed in this track rather than a lot of cadence work. Fifteen seconds to go as fast as you can with good resistance - class really went for it. "Well done team!" I say, "nice effort!" Next interval is 40 seconds and this time I get the class to find their 'push point' of resistance and coach a build up from 85% to 100% intensity over 45 seconds. On recovery, their legs all slow to half pace. I'm happy, as it is telling me that the class are putting enough resistance on, riding with control and staying safe.

Track Seven - one for the climbers definitely. Coached 4 massive hills and two seated attacks in between. Encouraged to go to max and pin pointed the recoveries so the class could gauge their effort. Let it go completely during 30 seconds seated under max load. Heart pumping, lungs and legs on fire, attack until the end and go out hard and strong...oooh yeah!

Track Eight and Nine: Congratulate class on a job well done and lead them through the cool down and stretches, explaining the purpose of each stretch and the correct position. Have a chat to them after class and mop up all the sweat I've accumulated around the bike.

Go have a shower and lament that I didn't bring fresh socks. I reckon I must have sweated a cup of fluid into each side..yuck!

Meet hubby for lunch - we have Thai Beef and Noodle salads on the waterfront at a restaurant right on the river and share a bit of cheesecake for dessert (that softened me up for signing my life away on this mortage) - what better time to time some post workout carbs hee hee.

Poor old maligned carbohydrates and a word on SUGAR

I've been reading several posts about how "carbs don't agree with them" and have been chewing on this for quite a few days. In fact, I've been puzzled by the carb conundrum to a big degree especially as carbohydrates play such a pivotal role in the body. If you're an athlete, then carbohydrates become even more important.

For a start, our bodies run on carbohydrate in two different ways - through processes called gluconeogenesis and glucose oxidation (through the Krebs cycle) - anyone at University studying biochemistry would be pretty aware of this. This process is called glycolysis.

Here is the definition below:
Glycolysis is:

1. An ATP-generating metabolic process that occurs in nearly all living cells in which glucose is converted in a series of steps to pyruvic acid.
2. The metabolic breakdown of glucose and other sugars that releases energy in the form of ATP.

The metabolic breakdown of glucose and other sugars that releases energy in the form of ATP.The first stage in the production of energy by breakdown of glucose in body cells; a chain of chemical events requiring a specific set of enzymes, and resulting in formation of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). In aerobic metabolism subsequent sequences produce several times more ATP, thereby providing a greater quantity of energy per molecule of glucose, utilizing oxygen, and producing carbon dioxide and water — comparable to burning organic fuels in air. In anaerobic metabolism (metabolism which does not use oxygen) glycolysis is the only means of energy production from glucose, and lactate is the end-product. This occurs in cells which cannot utilize oxygen (red blood cells), predominately in some components of skeletal muscle (fast, ‘white’ fibres), and probably to some extent in all cells when there is a shortage of oxygen. However, it also occurs in the first 1-3 minutes after a sudden increase of demand in cells which will subsequently make all the necessary ATP aerobically, because the glycolytic system can respond within seconds whereas both the biochemical pathways of aerobic metabolism and the systems for supplying them with oxygen take time to adjust; the start of vigorous exercise, even in a trained athlete with large numbers of ‘red’ muscle fibres, is the most obvious example.

We produce energy by converting ADP to ATP. In other words, carbohydrates make us move.

When we cut carbohydrates from our diet, our bodies begin to rely on fat or protein to be chemically converted into carbohydrates for use in our bodies as energy. I can hear some people saying "but that's what I want to do to lose body fat!"

In theory this may be good, but carbohydrates also are intimately tied up with neurotransmitters, for example serotonin, which control brain function. Our brain functions exclusively on glucose. Although we have control of what we consume most of the time, if our brain senses a lack of carbohydrate through a drop in the neurotransmitter serotonin, then it will do almost anything to override our thinking that carbs are evil and we'll basically go for anything that will boost serotonin levels FAST - that is have a giant great big binge on sugary fatty foods. Not unsurprisingly most people I have ever met who espouse a low carb diet have often had trouble with "bingeing and overdoing it" in the past.

In athletes and specific situations, low carb days are not harmful and can have benefits in certain situations, however as an every day thing, they are not conducive to muscle gain, increasing fitness or wellbeing. In my opinion if you want to turn into a bingeing mad monkey go low carb, the longer the better!

Where I think people "go wrong" is in their choice of carbohydrates - put simply, the more refined or processed the carbohydrate source is, the worse the "reaction". This can be tied up with the Glycaemic Index - most highly processed carbs are high GI which cause insulin to spike rapidly and fall just as fast, hence giving you that sugar high/sugar crash that most of us have talked about in the past. In my opinion it's important that 35-50% of intake comes from carbohydrates - a mix of low, medium and high GI carbs and that nutrient timing is looked at. Focus your starchy carbs post workout and then try them at other times of the day as well if you feel you need a bit more. Try less processed grains like quinoa, oats and buckwheat for something a bit different.

What I think people are really trying to say when they say that CARBS ARE EVIL is that sugar and high fructose corn syrup are the work of the devil and I'd have to agree with them. I'm going to add another post to this to stop this from getting too long