Lori Kaplan, one of our Business Success Story Contest winners, is a big proponent of the SPINPower® program. Once you hear how SPINPower® turned Beyond the Bike’s traditional cycling workouts into metric-driven and goal-oriented Spinning® sessions, you’ll likely be a SPINPower® fan too. And after you read Lori’s story, you’ll also get the low-down on a special promotion we’re running, so you can activate and achieve your powerful dreams too.

How did Lori get hooked on SPINPower® initially?

Lori Kaplan had no idea what she was in for when she attended WSSC in 2019. She had signed up for Angie Sturtevant’s SPINPower® session, and thereafter, it became Lori’s newfound passion overnight. She quickly became SPINPower® certified and eagerly brought her excitement about the program to her classes at Beyond the Bike. From there, it didn’t take too long before her facility’s members embraced the notion of tracking. Indeed, tracking their workouts became a means to see their goals as within reach!

What is it about the SPINPower® methodology that Lori appreciates so much?

Lori: “There is a sense of trust and passion that I have never known in the twenty years I have been teaching…I realized quickly that the members were looking for something above and beyond the standard workout. They wanted something to work toward, track results, and support each other along the way. I wanted us to have a goal, to train with intention for a purpose, and simultaneously work towards the goal individually yet together as a team."

As you’ll come to learn through Lori’s story, SPINPower® methodology also afforded her the opportunity to help riders achieve goals they never dared dream…prior to power-based training, of course.

Lori transitioned her facility from standard rides to robust SPINPower® climb rides. How did she do it?

Lori: “I started by focusing on the Strength Energy Zone®. We took 6 to 8 weeks to focus on the relationships between cadence, resistance and pedal stroke. Each week we increased the time of our climb efforts. We set our sights on a 25-minute climb at the end of the 8 weeks and offered the same ride over four different class periods."

The result? A massive sense of accomplishment and joy, even teary-eyed members who acknowledged that they had never completed any challenge even close to this before. Lori comments, “There was a renewed sense of commitment and dedication to SPINPower® training, for not only from the members but also from myself."

Lori also provided power-based endurance and strength training rides to her members. Curious how she did it?

Strength Ride:

To set her facility members up for success, Lori guided them to spend additional time focusing on the “end goal” each week. Then she coached them through a few weeks of specific incremental improvements. Week one featured a 5-minute climb at 60-80 RPM with heart rate tracking. The climb lasted for 10 minutes for week two, then 15 minutes for week three. In that fashion, the members climbed their way to a “25-minute Challenge Ride.”

Lori reveals, “The members were able to create whatever type of hill they wanted to ride, whether a slanted road or a mountain that went beyond the clouds. They could climb seated or standing – anyway they needed to ride with strength, conviction, and commitment. They could take breaks when they needed, but the goal remained the same – to end on top and not give up.”

Endurance Ride:

In twenty years, Lori had NEVER coached a 45-minute endurance ride. So admittedly, she was a bit nervous about that amount of time in the saddle – when the focus was purely on efficient pedal stroke and breathing technique, rather than music or extra movements.

However, Lori mentions, “I felt more confident after we completed the strength ride. We now had the full trust of the members, and they were eager for more focused challenges. So once again, we established the “end goals,” and we talked about the Endurance Energy Zone® and aerobic-based training. Then incrementally each week, we spent more time in the saddle while focusing on pedal stroke and heart rate.”

The end result? Lori’s members were so hooked that they completed not just one endurance ride, but a whopping four in total.

With both endurance and strength training rides under her belt, what came next for Lori and her members?

Lori: “After completing Strength and Endurance Energy Zone® training, it was a natural progression to steer members toward the relationship between speed and power. So, we started with peak performance-based training and practiced hard. I wanted members to understand what it meant to work hard for 1-minute, 3-minute and 5-minute intervals. Incidentally, we now replay our 3-minute and 5-minute loop series every six weeks to see if we can up the numbers.”

Lori has recently started offering PST ramp testing to her members for even more precise training metrics. She notes, “I have members write down their PST. I’ve also made copies of the SPINPower® range chart for members to see, so they can actually understand what it means to work easy, moderately hard or hard within the numeric zones."

What can possibly be next for Lori and her members?!

Lori: “Our next challenge will be an Intensity Ride – the plan is to move from Zone 1 through Zone 4 progressively.”

Go for it, Lori. Game on!

We’ve also received raving reviews from Lori’s members. They seem as excited about her offerings as she is to provide them. Check out this from Emily:

Lori posted her climb series to start in October. That wave of self-doubt came over me again. Climbing for 25 minutes? Was this a bad joke? It seemed impossible, something I couldn’t accomplish. Well, Lori started training us on smaller climbs: 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. We were asked to increase our resistance even if it was just by one watt, while concentrating on proper posture, breathing, and petal stroke.

Lori’s positive coaching style and training classes paid off. I completed my first 25-minute climb with flying colors. I surprised myself and felt empowered just thinking about where I started from. I decided to sign up for two more 25-minute climbs, making each one better than the last.

It is almost one year since I’ve started taking Spinning® classes and I have vastly improved my health. My mental and physical strength have increased by leaps and bounds. I recently asked Lori to bring back her climb series as a measure of improvement from last year and maybe even bump it up to a 30-minute climb. Go figure! I’m in it to win it!