Today at the beginning of my class I was chatting with some of peeps and one of them began talking about "hover-pulls". He said that they never "feel right". I explained that if you are doing them you should NEVER let your back side exit the back of the saddle and to try to keep your knee over the axle of the peddle so you are not hyper-extending the knee. I also told him to keep it fluid and work on transitions rather than trying to keep up.
I should note here that I do not do hovers, pulls, floats or a few of the other positions I see in other classes. Not that I'm telling you not to, I just don't see the benefit of the movement. I think that risk of injury outweighs the benefit. And to be honest, as an outdoor cyclist I'm a bit of a purest. I like to keep things streamlined, effective, and as close to outdoor riding as possible.
So, I'm curious...What do you see as the benefit? Is it merely the position change for variety? I would think you could get the same strength building on a steep climb in pos 3 with some serious resistance, or even doing jumps on a hill.
His final comment was funny...he said "just tell the others that the bikes aren't hover crafts"! He has a great sense of humor and I love having him in my class. I just thought it would be a good discussion topic.
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4 comments:
The majority of my classes are hill climbs and flats. I have done some hovers and walking out of the saddle. When I take them out of the saddle for a walk, it's just to get their legs under control. I have taken several classes from Amy and found it to be an eye opener to get the class under control on cadence this way. Especially when some are going so fast that it's hard to get them to slow down. As for hovers, I am doing them less and less because I don't see much benefit from them either. The only reason I was doing them was to add something different to the class. It's really good to hear the feedback from your spinner on the hovers. I have become a lot more comfortable mixing up the hill climbs and flats. They can make up the entire class and be very challenging, but I have to keep a close eye on the entire class' cadence so they get the full benefit to build the foundation we are shooting for.
Wooohoo a comment! I love it when there is feedback!
I use the walking out as well especially in cool down to slow things down. I can see the point of these in getting HR's down. but I don't think I would use them during the majority of a profile.
I'm finding that my classes are really challenged by keeping things right in their zone and having then really focus on trying to keep it there. I also don't give them the huge drop in recovery. I think having to maintain a higher, yet not anaerobic pace, is almost more difficult for them, than just going up and down in intervals...what do you think?
That's not to say that there isn't a place for interval work...I really enjoy that too!
For me, I love to mix in jumps, hover/pulls, and floats to spice things up! As long as they are instructed well and we pay attention to people's form, they can simulate high-rep strength traininng and increase power in the legs(jumps)and core. I ALWAYS give my class another option when doing those moves because I understand they are more challenging and not as natural on the bike. Safety first, FUN SECOND!
I am also trying to keep HR in zone as well. We do get up there, but I always give them time to come down, but not too far. The more I teach, the more I learn and I love it. My classes are only benefitting from more experience and research that I do. I think it is more of a challenge to keep HR in the zone. I know that it is for me and have noticed that the experienced spinners are having a much easier time with keeping it there. It's great to hear them say that they are seeing progress in themselves.
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