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Indoor Cycling Institute
Indoor cycling FAQs
Clear answers for students, instructors, riders, and studios. For deeper guidance, each section points you towards the relevant ICI training, standards, or practical resources.
Training
Becoming an indoor cycling instructor
Questions about ICI's online, one-day, and two-day Foundation Instructor routes.
How do I become an indoor cycling instructor?
ICI offers three Foundation Instructor routes: online, one-day in person, and two-day in person. The right route depends on how you want to learn and the fitness training you already hold. See the routes or compare them side by side.
Do I need a personal trainer or general fitness qualification first?
Not for the online or two-day Foundation Instructor routes. The one-day route is for people who already hold relevant Level 2 or Level 3 fitness training.
Can I train online?
Yes. The online Foundation Instructor route includes the course learning, tutor support, session-planning assessment, and practical assessment. See online instructor training.
How long do I have to complete the online course?
The current online Foundation Instructor course includes six months' access. Current course details are shown on the online training page.
How much does ICI instructor training cost?
Current prices are shown on the relevant course pages and are fed from ICI's central course data. Prices are shown as 'From' because optional extras can increase the total. Scheduled one-day and two-day courses may also have a limited number of SPRINT places available.
What does ICI recognition from CIMSPA, NASM, and AFAA mean?
Recognition and CPD points vary by course. ICI displays the current recognition attached to each course rather than using a blanket claim across all training. Check the relevant course page for the current details.
Does an ICI certificate expire?
Your historical certificate records what you successfully completed. Current professional status is a separate question and depends on current practice, development, and any applicable ICI professional requirements. Use the instructor verification service where appropriate.
Can I get insurance after ICI training?
Insurance providers set their own acceptance criteria and policy terms, so ICI cannot guarantee a particular insurer's decision. Instructors should make sure their cover matches what they actually teach and the scope in which they work.
Do I need first aid training?
Requirements can vary by employer, venue, and insurer. Instructors should know the emergency procedures for the place where they work and understand what is expected of them if a rider becomes unwell or is injured.
Instructors
Teaching, coaching, and professional practice
Practical answers for instructors planning and delivering classes.
What are the five safe riding positions used by ICI?
ICI's five safe positions are seated flat, seated climb, standing climb, standing attack, and sprint. Standing sprint is not one of ICI's approved safe positions.
How should I structure an indoor cycling class?
Start with a clear session aim, then build the warm-up, main work, recovery, and finish around that aim. A class does not need to include every type of work. The content should make sense as one purposeful session.
How long should an indoor cycling class be?
There is no single ideal duration. Design the work to fit the time available, the session aim, and the riders rather than padding a short session or compressing a longer one indiscriminately.
How long should the warm-up be?
There is no universal fixed duration. It should prepare riders for the demands that follow, taking account of the session, riders, and environment.
How do I coach mixed abilities in one class?
Keep a common session aim, but scale the intensity and options. RPE is available to almost everyone, while heart rate and power can be useful where appropriate. Mixed ability does not mean running several unrelated classes at once.
Should I teach on or off the bike?
Both can be appropriate. Choose according to what riders need: demonstration, visibility, observation, individual support, and safe class management.
Can I add upper-body exercises while riders are cycling?
ICI does not support handlebar press-ups, hand weights, or other non-cycling movements performed while riding. Off-bike strength work is a separate activity and should be delivered only in an appropriate context and within the instructor's competence.
What should I do with a late rider?
They still need safe bike set-up, an understanding of braking and resistance, and an appropriate warm-up. If that cannot be achieved safely, they may not be able to join that class.
What should I do if someone is injured or becomes unwell?
Follow the venue's emergency and first-aid procedures, stop or modify the class as necessary, do not diagnose the problem, escalate appropriately, and record the incident where required.
How do I keep up to date professionally?
Use a combination of CPD, professional reading, evidence updates, reflection, peer review, and current standards. See ICI CPD and Research & Evidence.
Riders
Getting more from your indoor cycling sessions
Practical rider questions about effort, technique, comfort, and safety.
How should I set up my indoor cycling bike?
Bike set-up should suit both the rider and the particular bike. Use the instructor's guidance and the bike's adjustment system rather than relying on one formula that claims to fit everyone.
What should I tell my instructor before class?
Tell them about anything relevant to safe participation, such as an injury, condition, pregnancy, or limitation that may affect how you ride. You do not need to disclose unrelated personal information.
What should I do if something feels painful or wrong?
Ease back or stop and tell the instructor. Exercise can feel hard, but pain or a movement that feels wrong should not simply be ignored because the class is continuing.
How often should I do indoor cycling?
There is no single correct number. It depends on intensity, duration, your total weekly activity, experience, goals, recovery, and what other training you do. Quality and recovery matter as much as frequency.
How hard should I work in class?
Work at an intensity that matches the session and your own capacity. RPE is a useful way to judge effort, and you remain responsible for adjusting your resistance within the session aim.
What resistance should I use?
There is no universal number. Use enough resistance to stay controlled and perform the task appropriately on that bike, while scaling the load to your own ability.
What is cadence or RPM?
Cadence is your pedalling rate, usually expressed in revolutions per minute. Cadence on its own does not tell you how hard the work is because resistance and the rider's effort also matter.
Is standing sprinting safe?
ICI does not recognise standing sprint as one of its five safe indoor cycling positions. Sprinting should be performed in the approved sprint position with appropriate resistance and control.
Can indoor cycling cause knee pain?
Knee pain can have many causes. Bike set-up and training load are worth checking, but persistent or significant pain should not be self-diagnosed from an FAQ. Stop or modify the activity and seek appropriate assessment where needed.
What should I do if I get cramp?
Stop or ease back safely. A gentle stretch may help if appropriate. Exercise-associated cramp has multiple possible contributors, so it should not automatically be blamed on dehydration, electrolytes, or bike set-up.
How do I know if I am making progress?
Progress can show up as better tolerance, longer sustainable work, a lower RPE at the same workload, improved technique, greater confidence, or improved power where that is measured consistently. Resistance-knob numbers are not comparable across all bikes.
Should I use heart rate or power?
Both can be useful, but neither is compulsory. RPE is available to almost everyone. Power can improve pacing and repeatability, while heart rate can add useful context when interpreted appropriately.
How many calories does a class burn?
There is no reliable generic number because body size, effort, duration, fitness, bike data, and measurement method all affect the estimate. Calorie burn is also not a good measure of whether a class was well designed.
Equipment
Bikes, pedals, shoes, and power
Do I need cycling shoes?
No. Many indoor bikes can be used with secure trainers in toe cages. Compatible cycling shoes and cleats are another option. The best choice depends on the bike, secure foot placement, fit, confidence, and preference.
Should I use toe cages or cycling shoes?
Either can be appropriate. Choose a secure, compatible system that you can use confidently. ICI does not treat cleats as automatically more efficient for every rider and every situation.
Should I use a bike with a power meter?
Power can be useful for pacing, repeatability, testing, and tracking change, but it is optional. Riders can still train effectively using RPE and other intensity methods.
What is the difference between magnetic and friction resistance?
They are different ways of creating resistance at the flywheel. Feel, maintenance, calibration, noise, and adjustment can vary by bike design, so one system is not automatically best in every setting.
Studios & employers
Recruitment, quality, and operating standards
Questions for gyms, studios, and leisure operators employing or supporting indoor cycling instructors.
How can I check an instructor's ICI status?
Use the ICI Instructor Register and verification service. A historical certificate and a person's current professional status are not necessarily the same thing.
Does a general Level 2 or Level 3 fitness certificate prove someone can teach indoor cycling?
No. General fitness training can provide useful underpinning knowledge, but indoor cycling is a specialist discipline. Check the person's indoor cycling training, practical competence, current practice, and professional standards.
What should I look for when recruiting or auditioning an instructor?
Look beyond energy and popularity. Assess safety, technical competence, session purpose, communication, rider observation, judgement, professionalism, and conduct. ICI's free resources include an Instructor Audition Checklist.
What should our studio do for first-time riders?
Build onboarding into normal procedure: identify new riders, allow time for bike set-up, explain braking and resistance, make sure they understand the essentials before the class starts, and have a clear late-arrival policy.
How should we assess class quality?
Review session purpose and structure, rider safety and control, communication, observation and intervention, professional conduct, and rider experience. Retention and popularity can add context, but they are not proof of technical quality.
What documents can we use for recruiting and reviewing instructors?
ICI's free resources include the Instructor Audition Checklist, New Instructor Onboarding Checklist, and Instructor Review Checklist. Go to Free Resources.
How should we handle incidents and near misses?
Follow your venue process, record the event appropriately, address equipment or practice issues, and use near misses as useful information for improvement rather than ignoring them because nobody was injured.
What do we need before opening an indoor cycling studio?
Requirements vary, but planning should cover competent staff, business and legal setup, insurance, health and safety, accessibility, music licensing, equipment maintenance, emergency procedures, and any local requirements that apply to your operation.
Need something more specific? Use ICI Help or the relevant Studios & Employers guidance rather than relying on a generic answer that may not fit your venue.
Need a more specific answer?
Use ICI Help
ICI Help can point you to the right course, rider guidance, professional standard, or studio resource without making you search the whole site.