Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO » Instructor Tips and Tricks

Net Promoter Score (NPS) – What is it and why should you care?

John — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 09:51:13 +0000

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO - ICI/PRO is the Spinning ® Instructor and Indoor Cycling Instructor Community's resource for tips, free music, motivation, education, entertainment, class profiles and playlists.

They describe Net Promoter Score (NPS) as The Ultimate Question: How likely is it that you would recommend this Club/Studio/Class/Instructor to a friend or colleague? As a Life Time Fitness Instructor/employee I hear about our NPS scores frequently… and if you don’t understand what NPS refers to and the effect it could have on their business or...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Who’s in our classes anyway?

John — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:40:42 +0000

Have you have ever faced this dichotomy in your class? Two riders, call them Bob and Susan (not their real names) are sitting front, center, smiling at you. You know them both and what you know about them causes you to almost freeze with indecision about how you will coach the class. Here’s some background...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

I’m seeing a lot of these… so be careful what you open

John — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:07:57 +0000

With over 8,000 instructors receiving our weekly newsletter, my email address ends up in 8,000 contact lists. On occasion, I would receive random SPAM emails (see below) from people who’s email account had been compromised in some way. Typically one, maybe two a month… this week alone I have received 10! This tells me there...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Communicating Problems to Management

John — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:44:41 +0000

In my class this morning I noticed that the saddle on one of the Star Trac NXTs was way out of adjustment. Ouch! That can’t feel good to ride on no matter male or female. When I got closer I noticed that there was a white strap sticking out from the slider adjustment mechanism. This...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Adding some friendly competition to your class

John — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 17:47:31 +0000

Flywheel Sports is a chain of Indoor Cycling studios who started in New York city. They have had tremendous results and growth, now with 12 locations in three states; New York, Florida and Illinois. A big part of their success has come from a proprietary retro-fit system they have engineered to measure each rider’s power...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

And so it begins

John — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:06:58 +0000

GOOD MORNING! Today is the un-official start of the Indoor Cycling Season and I couldn’t be more excited! Are you ready? If you’re a new instructor you will soon learn what many of us old dogs figured out a long time ago; the change off of Day-Light-Savings is the trigger for many to move back...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

What can you learn from Chef Gordon Ramsay?

John — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:43:30 +0000

If you are interested in improving your class numbers or making your studio more profitable, I feel Chef Ramsay could help a lot… let me explain. On the remote chance you have never seen his TV show (he must have over a dozen to date) Chef Gordon Ramsay is a very successful and very...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Teaching Spinning In Jamaica!

John — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:57:32 +0000

I know it’s a little early to think about a warm vacation but I just had to post this. Instructor Brenda Moeske learned about Working Fitness Vacations on a Podcast. After talking to Amy last year at the conference Brenda scheduled her vacation to teach for the week at Couples Tower Isle. She sent this quick...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

How You Sound – Are you cueing on time?

Amy Macgowan — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:03:21 +0000

This week we are exploring How You Sound and in the spirit of learning about ourselves and our individual “sound”, I want you to do something….it will be easier for those of us that teach in a club setting, but hopefully those of us in a studio setting will be able to explore this as...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

How You Look – Your setup maybe wrong – if you didn’t have help.

John — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:40:29 +0000

One of my objectives is to model proper form to my students. I’m guessing you will agree that proper form is a component of How You Look and it begins with having the proper setup for your bike. Unfortunately, as an instructor, we face a unique obstacle; “who helps us get set up properly?” Every one of...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

How You Look – What do you see in the mirror?

John — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:33:26 +0000

In Tom’s previous post he talks about watching yourself on film to identify non-verbal movements / behaviors that if changed, could improve your class. But what if the whole camera setup and production is too much of a hurdle for you right now… how about this baby step? Get in front of a mirror and...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

4 weeks to an awesome new you!

John — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:06:19 +0000

Back-to-School signals the end of summer for many of us. *Our participants will begin thinking about Fall and the transition to riding indoors. I’m thinking that you will want to be ready for them. All of us here at ICI/PRO believe September is the perfect month to sharpen your Instructor skills for the upcoming Indoor...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Proper Indoor Cycle Position Setup

John — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 12:26:09 +0000

Master Instructor Clair Cafaro alerted me yesterday; “John, do you realize that you don’t offer readers any reference information about bike setup?” “I have something that maybe helpful to new Instructors.” Clair had been reviewing our existing content, looking for “holes” in our coverage of Indoor Cycling. I checked and saw she was right....

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Beating the Heat: Fill Your Classes Despite Summer Woes

Barbara — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:48:19 +0000

The dog days of summer are here with a vengeance, and your classes may be showing the wear and tear of hot weather. But there is no reason why your studio can’t be a riot of activity in spite of the heat. Consider these six easy perk-ups to generate new energy...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

I Can Help Tutorials – My Podcast Feed Isn’t Updating in iTunes

John — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:09:27 +0000

As far as I’m concerned Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Page and Sergey Brin all deserve a big hug! Without their fantastic companies; Microsoft, Apple and Google none of what we do here at www.indoorcycleinstructor.com would be possible That’s not to say that these services aren’t without their problems… Much of the Free and ICI/PRO Premimum content...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

The Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast now on Stitcher SmartRadio

John — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 10:51:55 +0000

Forget to sync your iPhone or Droid and don’t have the latest episodes of your favorite Podcast? Like they say in Jamaica, No Problem – Mon Go and get the Stitcher SmartRadio App that streams Podcasts directly to your Smart Phone. It’s completely FREE and is one of the few Apps that I see using more than once...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Your mother was right – you only get one chance to make a first impression.

John — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:12:17 +0000

ICI/PRO Member Chris Nielsen contributes today’s guest post and the picture was taken by one of Chris’s friends. How many of you read the ‘Tri-ing to be Athletic’ and ‘Revenge of the Friend’ posts here on ICI/PRO and quietly cringed or even got a little steamed at the behavior of the instructors in the stories?...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Promote Your Personal Classes With FourSquare

John — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 09:55:09 +0000

I love having a full class of students. But first they need to know my class exists. I’m continuously frustrated with how poorly my own club promotes the Indoor Cycling classes we offer. Based on comments offering similar frustrations, I’m guessing that I’m not the only one. So why not take a few minutes to do a...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Studio Design 101 – Acoustic Solutions

John — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Music is such an important part of our classes and yet I can find very little information available about what can be done to improve the quality of the sound in the studios where we teach. That scarcity of info ends starting today with this article, which is cross posted over at www.cyclingstudio.org Intro from Barbara...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

The Power Of The Right Click

John — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:10:48 +0000

Question from a PRO member: is there any way you can listen to a podcast and cruise the ICI website at the same time? Often I am tempted to hit a link while listening and then I am thrown off the podcast. Frustrating. I hate it when PRO members are frustrated, I can help… Short...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Tri-Lingo 101 – Part 4: Common Triathlon Transition Terms

John — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:00:00 +0000

As an indoor cycling instructor, you’re going to find a large percentage of your students dabble in triathlon, or engage in it as a serious sport. Either way, you don’t want to be embarrassed by using the wrong triathlon-related words or terms in your class when talking to them about triathlon (including the ever-popular pronunciation...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

When over 60% of your members are women…

Amy Macgowan — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 10:00:00 +0000

I see a big part of growth (both personal and professional) is being willing to take risks in your life. When I first started the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast there were probably a hundred reasons why it was a bad idea… but I chose to ignore them. A little over 60% of ICI/PRO members are women....

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Be engaged with your students…but not too engaged!

Amy Macgowan — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:52:56 +0000

John and I had the opportunity to take a Saturday cycle class at the Scottsdale Life Time Fitness this past weekend. I always learn so much when I take another instructor’s class and this was no exception. It was a super high energy class with a very interesting playlist- consisting of ...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

What’s That Squeaking Sound?

John — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:17:05 +0000

Everyone listened to squeak – squeak – squeak, from one person in the front row, for the entire two hour endurance ride Amy and I taught on New Year’s day. I knew exactly what was causing it and it was everything I could do not to go down and ask this person to leave. It...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Not Again@#$%^&**&#$%^&*

John — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 17:38:18 +0000

It’s dark at 5:30 am and I’m one not to have many lights on in the morning. Yesterday I wished I had as I knocked my Dell laptop off the kitchen counter and it hit the hardwood floor with a loud CRASH. I stood there in the dark and began to hear a Click –...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

This was a preventable – near disaster at the conference

John — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:12:12 +0000

We had a near disaster at this years conference that could have been easily prevented. Without using any names, one of our scheduled presenters contacted us three days before the conference to tell us her computer’s hard-drive failed and she lost her presentation power-point + everything everything else on her computer. The last time she...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Do you Bike to your Cycling class?

John — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:59:21 +0000

When the weather is nice, do you ride your bike to the club and then teach your Indoor Cycling class? Just curious…

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Indoor Cycling Shoes, What’s your recommendation?

John — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:51:02 +0000

When a student asks what they should purchase for Indoor Cycling Shoes, what do you recommend? Do you have a place to send them? Does your club sell Indoor Cycling Shoes?

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

An easy decision to make…

John — Sat, 08 May 2010 23:02:58 +0000

Well actually it was a non-decision I received this notice today via email - Dear Carbonite Customer, Your Carbonite Online backup subscription for your computer JOHN-PC is scheduled to automatically renew in 7 days. When you signed up for Carbonite you selected automatic renewal billing which provides uninterrupted backup protection. You do not need to...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

What’s your favorite ANGRY song?

John — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:38:28 +0000

Not ANGRY like; “I want to punch your lights out!” More like; “there comes a time where you want to turn the pedals with anger.” I like to use songs that communicate this type of intensity in my class when I’m looking for a very focused, very determined effort. Here is a good example of...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Spinning ® Indoor Cycling Instructor Class Profile Time Length Calculator

John — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:30:07 +0000

Whenever I solve a problem for myself I stop and think, “I wonder of other Indoor Cycling Instructors have this same problem”. So I make a video to show you what I’ve done. Let me know in the comments if this was helpful to you. Here is the link to the free online calculator.

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Did you back up your iTunes Music files last night?

John — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:39:56 +0000

I did…. Well OK I didn’t, but Carbonite did for me. Like it does every night Could this happen to you? Video after the jump. This company is Mozy. From what I can tell they offer the same thing at the same price.

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

ICI Podcast #82 – Meet Ben Greenfield our newest ICI/PRO Team Member

John — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:21:28 +0000

Ben Greenfield is our newest ICI/PRO Team Contributor. Through his new RockStar Triathlete Academy, Ben has promised to help me with my training for the three Multi-Sport events I have committed to this summer. Besides all of his education and experience as a competitive endurance athlete Ben is an Indoor Cycling Instructor just like us....

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Todays Secret Word…Eustress

John — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:39:36 +0000

Amy and I went to a Halloween party last weekend dressed as PeeWee Herman and Miss Yvonne. Yes my costume included a “shoe mirror” During the party someone asked me “what’s the secret word for today PeeWee?” and I thought why not add a similar feature to ICI.com. Note: yes I am aware that Groucho...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

ICI Podcast #64 – Master Instructor Janet Toussaint on how to sell endurance training to your class

John — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:02:12 +0000

One of the things that most excites me about the potential here at ICI and the technology we are tapping into, is that we have created a platform that allows us to seek out and interview some of the most progressive and experienced people in indoor cycling and bring them to you, our listeners and...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

New Organizing Music in iTunes Video

John — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:53:33 +0000

Your certification didn’t teach you this so I will. If you like to use music to encourage specific pedal cadences, check out this new video on how to use a tap-to-the-beat counter. Here is the link to get it for Windows Users. You can find the other 5 free videos over at http://www.mixmeisteracademy.com/using_itunes/

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Sneaky Little Tricks to Blow Up the Size of Your Class

Barbara — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:46:52 +0000

by Barbara Hoots Do you dream of teaching a kick-ass class in a packed studio with unstoppable energy? Follow my FIVE BEST TRICKS ON THE PLANET and I guarantee your dream will become a reality. 1. Volunteer to Be a Guest Speaker. Last week I spoke to a local civic club on the benefits of...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

A USA Cycling Coach: To Jump or Not To Jump?

Tom Scotto — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:17:35 +0000

Tom Scotto is the Program Director for Stage5 Cycling Incorporated and a Certified USA Cycling Coach. Tom asked if he could contribute to the discussion and offer his perspective on if you should incorporate jumps into your Spinning / Indoor Cycling Class profiles. Tom was a guest on Podcast #34 where we discussed his Indoor...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Freshen Up After Your Indoor Cycling Class

John — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:17:36 +0000

For those of you without showers at your studio, these will make you more pleasant to be around. Fresh Start are body cleansing washcloths you carry in your gym bag. I saw these this morning at a big event ride in my neighborhood. I know of a lot of you teach a noon spinning class...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO

Schwinn Triple Link Pedal Removal Tool

John — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:50:42 +0000

If you have ever tried to remove the shoe clip from these Schwinn® Triple Link Pedals, then you know exactly what I’m talking about! “Can you help me take these off? Always 2 minutes before class starts & leads to: Bruised knuckles Broken finger nails – 1/2 of us instructors are women You...

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast | ICI/PRO