Some riders are present to train and give 100% every class.
Many, however, are present simply to be…present.
Through The Customer”™s Eyes
When was the last time you really looked at the Indoor Cycling experience you offer through the eyes of your customer?
The riders who consistently attend your classes relate to you. But ... have you taken the time to consider how a first time rider relates to you and your teaching style. Have you taken the time to
walk in a first time riders”™ shoes or ride in their saddle. If you have had new riders in your class who chose to not come back, have you asked yourself…
Am I current and relevant to today”™s customer?
Keeping up with our customers”™ evolving WHY means accepting the radically different concept that an increasing number of riders don”™t care about the workout. It means embracing riders who are more concerned with recovery from daily stress than recovery from working effort. It means delivering a fun, safe, and effective class to riders who train for LIFE alongside riders who TRAIN for the road or for a specific event. It means making them feel safe the moment they walk through the door.
Have you ever considered that the rider on the end in the 3rd row may be...
Overwhelmed by numbers, spreadsheets, and thinking in general
Or … Suffering from an eating disorder and low self esteem
Have you ever considered that the rider in the back row, 2nd bike in may be…
Training for the Special Olympics...grateful for a 2nd chance at life
A parent whose child recently tried to commit suicide
A rider whose spouse committed suicide
An ex college athlete whose body feels older than his years...
who rides for the non impact cardio, weight loss, and because he can escape
A verbally abused housewife who quietly arrives late and leaves early every class…
not wanting to be recognized and grateful to be alone for almost an hour
A recovering addict who rides to get high…and to stay sober
A military wife who misses her deployed husband
A depressed teenager who doesn”™t seem to “fit in” anywhere.
A mother battling post partum depression
A parent of a Marine that never came home
A 50 year old father with 100lbs to loose before walking his daughter down the aisle
Or … A veteran who feels lost and unappreciated.
Have you ever considered that the rider directly in front of you …worries about losing their job?
Each one of these riders is real and has a name.
Each one of these riders wants to escape, to check out, and to get lost in the music.
Accept … Don”™t Judge WHY
Welcome every rider free of judgment and celebrate that they have a WHY that is different.
Accept that a rider may not want to push outside of their comfort zone. That”™s OK!
It doesn”™t mean they are “lolly-gagging,” “wasting an hour,” or “need to leave if they aren”™t going to make an effort” because they aren”™t working as HARD as you are asking them. That”™s not WHY they are there. For them, it was HARD WORK, just getting there.
For these riders, the CardioTherapy benefits of Indoor Cycling outweigh any interval or strength training benefit. These riders and countless others stepped out of their comfort zone simply by walking through the door. If we, as instructors are current and relevant to their WHY … these riders have a better chance of returning. Make them feel SAFE and FUN follows. If we are doing our job correctly, EFFECTIVE falls into place and riders see results ... mind, body, & spirit.
Accepting and understanding that every rider is not in your class to TRAIN like an athlete is the first step to delivering the ultimate Indoor Cycling experience, to every rider in the room, every time … regardless of their WHY.
- Keeping It FUN … A Year Later - July 2, 2023
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- RECOVERY, ADDICTION, & INDOOR CYCLING - April 25, 2021
Amazing article and a great reminder that not everyone has the same goals or motivation in our classes.
Karen I really like this – there’s a lot of “assuming” in our industry where we decide we know what’s; best/needed/expected/etc… from our riders.
Thank you Jeannette and John~
It is a beautiful thing to watch the life transformations that occur when instructors don’t assume and don’t judge WHY people are riding. This makes riders feel safe and for many is why they keep coming back.
I love that an elite athlete can train alongside “Chanel” who doesn’t care if she ever gets a watt above 80. “Chanel” makes me smile when I see how lost in the music she gets. “Phil” makes me smile when I see he just put up a PR average watts. I know that “Chanel” and “Phil” got what they came for when they walk out of class. So COOL!!!
KC