Home > Training

From yoga for cyclists to getting involved with Canadian newcomers through sport: Free online webinars cover a range of topics

Recordings of the sessions are available for free online

With more free time than usual, many people have taken this period of isolation as an opportunity to do some extra-curricular learning. Fortunately for Canadian cyclists (or anyone with access to the internet), a number of groups and organizations are hosting ongoing webinar series.

Most of these online seminars are hosted on platforms such as Zoom, where listeners can tune in with or without a camera. Participants are involved in discussions and ask questions either with a microphone or through instant messaging. Seminars are often recorded and posted by the organizers, so you can go back and watch whenever you have some free time.

The Ontario Cycling Association

The Ontario Cycling Association (OCA) created a webinar series to help motivate, educate, and create a sense of community for athletes during social isolation. Although the seminars were targeted towards developing athletes (age 14-22) athletes of any age will find the sessions useful. Currently there are no new seminars scheduled, but most previous workshops are available for free on the OCA’S YouTube channel.

Sessions include, ‘Home Workout for Cyclists’, yoga for cyclists, ‘Nutrition Tips to Support Your Immune System’ and more.

Canadian Sport Institute Pacific’s Speaker Series On Demand

The Canadian Sport Institute Pacific provides Olympic and Paralympic daily training environments to elite athletes and coaches in BC. The institute has an huge online bank of videos which are free to access for any athlete. Recently, they have been focusing on mental health an resilience with videos such as Disruption by COVID-19: A Conversation on Mental Wellbeing in the World of High Performance Sport, and Developing Resilience: The Role of a Challenging Mindset.

Canadian Women & Sport

If you’re looking for ways to get involved in your community through sport, Canadian Women & Sport has a great suggestion. The organization put on a free seminar called ‘Supporting Newcomer Girls and Women Through Sport’. The seminar explores strategies that community, provincial, and national service providers in Canada have used to better understand the needs of newcomer girls and women and increase their engagement in healthy living, physical activity and sport programs. The full recording is available online, along with their e-learning modules which focus on key concepts and practical tools centered around gender equity.

Bike East Bay’s urban cycling 101

California based organization Bike East Bay has made their award-winning cycling education program available for free online. The class focuses on urban cycling and will be taking place on Apr. 18. The organization will also host a session on biking after dark on Apr. 15 and one on the basics of bike commuting on Apr. 22.