Are you teaching to the squeaky wheels?

Are you teaching to the squeaky wheels?

by | Mar 10, 2026 | Best Practices, Boutique Instructor, Master Instructor Blog

Howdy Fit Folk!

John Macgowan has so graciously invited me to contribute to the vast wealth of knowledge that is the ICI/PRO community--  woohoo!!  Lucky me. 🙂 To those of you that I had the great pleasure of meeting at the 2011 ICI/PRO conference, hello again!  To those of you that I have yet to meet, I look forward to many opportunities to open a dialog, discuss new concepts and create amazing ideas.

Speaking of ideas, I love good ones!  I know it's been a good day if I've had at least --what I consider-- one good idea. Generally speaking, my best ideas come from thought-provoking conversations with others.  With all the wonderful discussions I'm reading on the posts and forums, I'm bound to have a lot of good days moving forward.

So pull up a chair (if you dare!) and enter the head-space of Cam...  I wish you the best of luck!

Happy reading,

Cameron Chinatti

Director of Education for Stages Indoor Cycling

Here's what I've been thinking about today...[wlm_private 'PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']

Cameron Chinatti Director of Education Stagesâ„¢ Indoor Cycling

Do you ever find yourself spending a disproportionate amount of your mental and perhaps physical energy trying to please or quell the “squeaky wheels”? Typically the squeaky wheels are your most loyal attendees. They sit in the front row, they have "their" special bike, they enjoy filling out lengthy complaint cards, and they dislike any of your substitute instructors. These are the squeaky wheels, always generating a low-level disturbance. More on these folks in a moment!

Recently, a friend of mine shared a link to a blog post titled "Don't Tell Me I'm Wasting My Time!"

Intrigued, I decided to check it out. The author of the post, Marjorie Clayman, is an expert in the field of enhancing the use of Social Media as it applies to the marketing world. Her frustration, as she puts it, "...is the selfishness that exists in the online world when it comes to covering topics that relate to beginners." As you'll see in her article there is a perfect parallel to the challenges that we all face as teachers of indoor cycling.

Now, back to those squeaky wheels!

We tend to teach specifically to please these individuals because we become acutely aware of their verbal tendencies. This makes it very challenging to recognize the needs of the 29 other individuals in the room. More importantly, we fail to see the hundreds if not thousands of potential participants that have never set foot in our classes.

As Marjorie puts it, "If you approach content on occasion from the perspective of someone who is brand spanking new to this space, you will get to meet people and help people whom you may not have met in any other way. What can be more valuable than that?"

So, are your squeaky wheels unconsciously (hopefully not consciously!) creating a "secret society" that makes the newcomer feel uninvited? How do we please them both? In the words of the great Bob Marley, "You can't please all the people all the time." Quite the conundrum, I know.

When you feel the pressures of oiling the squeaky wheels or as my friend and Schwinn Master Trainer Shannon Fable calls it, "teaching to the front-row frowners," take a personal inventory moment. Are you trying to please them to keep an angry person off your back or are you considering the needs of all?

In my time as a Co-Director of a group exercise schedule consisting of 120 classes per week, I fielded many squeaky wheel complaints.

Here are my Top 5 takeaways from my time spent with the dreaded comment cards box:

1. Never throw your team under the bus! It may be tempting to tell the class to fill out a comment card and cast a vote for you to have more classes on the schedule, but a) that's a bit self-serving and b) there are so many reasons why the schedule is created the way it is. Cost per head per instructor, school schedules, child care schedules, maintenance, special programming, weekly class balance, etc. Likewise, if you have a personal gripe about something at your facility, telling your participants to fill out a comment card in order to achieve your goal accomplishes one thing: The squeaky wheels learn that if they are loud enough, they'll get their way, even if it is not in the best interest of the program. This leads to my 2nd mantra...

2. Think big picture. Contrary to popular belief, the individuals that attend your classes are not actually your members. They belong to the facility and you belong to the program or programs that the facility offers. You represent a piece of a puzzle. The more you think of yourself and your fellow instructors in this manner, the more the participants will view you all as a cohesive unit. Amazingly, participant complaints become positive shout-outs when the instructors have a sense of solidarity amongst the team.

3. Stick to your guns. You and your fellow instructors are the resident experts at your facility and you are there to guide your entire class in a safe and effective workout. The squeaky wheels may think that it's cool when Jane Doe instructor takes their saddles away, but you as the professional have to step up sometimes and say what needs to be said. Of course, you must keep in mind that your position is really that of a customer service specialist. So, how can you easily stick to your guns and provide a top-notch customer-first experience? Enter the Bad News Sandwich.

4. Bad News Sandwich. Here's an example of a bad news sandwich.

"Hey Sally, I totally understand where you're coming from and I hear you. You're right. Riding an entire class without the seat is very challenging and it does make you "feel the burn." However, there are actually more effective ways to achieve the same end result and in an environment that is safe for everyone. Can you imagine how terrible it would be if someone were to fall on the seat post during our class?! I'm sure I would lose my job and I would feel awful. After all, my job is to help people achieve optimal health, not promote injury. I know you understand the predicament I'm in; I have to look after everyone's well being -- including yours. Let's discuss a plan that will work around your fitness goals. I'm sure we can come up with something that will challenge you even more."

Okay, so that was a bit on the cheesy role-play side of things, but I'm sure you've had similar conversations before. Just remember: Bad News Sandwich = Recognition of issue or compliment (Good News) + Addressing the issue (Bad News) + Recognition of issue (Good News). You can't go wrong with the Bad News Sandwich. Or ending emails with a smiley. 🙂

5. Equal attention for all. Some people may disagree with me on this one, but no one at your facility should be valued higher than anyone else. This goes for members and instructors! Even if a member has been paying dues for 20 years, the new person that just joined or just attended class for the first time should get the same kind of attention and treatment. Likewise, an instructor that packs the room and has been teaching for years is as much a part of the team as the newer instructor that supports a different set of participants (and thus increasing the number of unique users). The minute a hierarchy starts to form, problems arise. Suffice it to say, everyone plays an equally important role in developing a top-notch indoor cycling program.

Think about your classes this week whether indoor cycling, group strength, step, etc. Ask yourself: Am I teaching to the person that looks miserable or am I teaching to everyone? Am I dividing my attention equally amongst my attendees?  Don't overdo it when it comes to greasing that squeaky wheel-- you never know when the chain might fall off.[/wlm_private]

Please share with the ICI/Pro community: How have you been addressing the "squeaky wheel" situations? Any good stories or ideas to share?

Originally posted 2011-11-10 13:22:22.

Are you teaching to the squeaky wheels?

Staying Safe Online = Knowing The Strength Of Your Password

by | Mar 7, 2026 | Best Practices, Instructor Tech Help

Last spring I was getting a flood of emails from hacked email accounts 🙁

Because we are regularly emailing close to 10,000 Instructors, my email address is in all those contact lists. When an account is compromised, the first thing the hackers do is send an email to everyone on your list. That email typically includes a nasty link that, when your mom/dad/babysitter or club department head clicks, could infect their computer with a virus or worse… like taking complete control of your computer.

It even happened to me – an old yahoo.com email I haven't used in years started sending out spam emails. Embarrassing to say the least.

I wrote two posts here & here about the importance of using a good/strong password to prevent this from happening to you. Here were my suggestions.

… take your existing password (if it has 8 or more letters) and add one capital letter and two special characters.

So “password” would be greatly improved by changing it to “@Password!”

Another option would be to combine three easy to remember words, separated by special characters. The three girls in my life are Amy, Abby and Carly so a reasonably secure password could be Amy&Abby&Carly. You can use your first name, your dog’s name and your city or any other three words and special character combination.

One more suggestion — You may have heard you should have a different password for every website — unrealistic. But I personally use a few different passwords, depending on the type of website where I have a user name.

  1. One simple password for sites that don’t matter (No email or financial data) Here’s where you can use “password” :)

  2. One password for important sites (No financial data)

  3. A complex password for each website that has financial, medical or credit data. Create a prefix password and add the name of the institution at the end like; @Password!=visa or @Password!=bank or @Password!=401k

To be clear, my example of @Password!=visa would in actuality be: @Password!=FirstBankVisa but please don't use “password”  instead use an easily remembered root word. Password is the number one, err – password and it's the very first word the hackers try.

But how do you know what you've created is really a good/strong password? This online password strength checking tool can tell you the relative security of any password you dream up. Suggest testing a slightly different version of your password – change one digit-just in case this site is an elaborate scam to actually steal passwords. It did come to me from a trusted source… but you never know. 

So “password” (without the quote marks) returns:

Please don't use this password.

Please don't use this password.

Which is pretty much like posting your password online, but @Password!

Much better

Much better

Is a big improvement, while @Password!=FirstBankVisa should be pretty secure.

Now you're talking :)

Now you're talking 🙂

So until we all have the new iPhone 5S with fingerprint recognition, please protect yourself and change your passwords.

Originally posted 2013-09-11 14:49:42.

Are you teaching to the squeaky wheels?

ICI/PRO Podcast #237 – Scripted Starts and Flawless Finales Part 2

by | Sep 10, 2021 | Best Practices, PRO Podcasts

Now here's part 2

As promised, ICI/PRO members will enjoy hearing part 2 of my interview with Lawrence Biscontini where he describes the importance of a scripted transition, as part of “Scripted Starts and Flawless Finales”.

I didn't address this during the interview (but it is obvious when you hear him speak) – Lawrence must be a Mensa Candidate.  His website lists that he teaches and presents in; English, Spanish, Italian, and Greek – which amazes me as I struggle with just plain English.

Download the transcript of this podcast.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Originally posted 2018-05-15 05:58:10.

The Weekly Ride – 10/22/18 Halloween Endurance

The Weekly Ride – 10/22/18 Halloween Endurance

by | Aug 29, 2021 | Audio PROfiles, Best Practices, Class Work-Sets, Creativity Indoor Classes, Instructor Training, KEEPING IT FUN, Master Instructor Blog, PRO/Playlists, Training With Power

Welcome to the The Weekly Ride by Cycling Fusion

Welcome to our new era of The Weekly Ride, you get:
  • Full Ride PDF
  • Apple Music Playlist
  • Spotify Playlist
  • File to Download the Ride directly into My Fitness DJ (Yes, no Programming)
  • The Ride will be available for purchase in the iClass Builder Store (No Programming)
  • A Podcast of the ride being delivered by a master instructor.

(more…)

Originally posted 2018-10-29 20:39:40.

Are you teaching to the squeaky wheels?

Is a 20 Minute Threshold Field Test realistic for your class? Part 3

by | Aug 11, 2021 | Best Practices, Zone based Heart Rate Training

Use first and second ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2) to assign heart rate training zones in your spinning classes

Recommended by ACE – The American Council on Exercise

In Part 1 and Part 2 of Is a 20 Minute Threshold Field Test realistic for your class? I was trying to make the point that although completely appropriate for Endurance Athletes, these 20 minute assessments aren't really appropriate for the typical students in our Indoor Cycling classes.

So if the old 220 – your age is a waste of time, Metabolic Testing is unavailable / too expensive, RPE scales are too subjective and a 20 Minute Field Test isn't practical, what should we use to establish a students Heart Rate Training Zones? And then how do we communicate training intensities in our classes?

I suggest that WE look very strongly at what The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is now recommending with their ACE Integrated Fitness TrainingTM (ACE IFTTM) Model. Follow that link to an exhaustive article on the Two Threshold / Three Zone ACE IFT Model for Cardiorespiratory Training.

Watch this video and then let me know what you think.

A few things that I feel are important to note:

– After watching the video, do you see how you could be conducting a VT1 (Low Threshold) assessment as part of every class you teach?

– This Two Threshold / Three Zone system and the Talk Test method of determining VT1 & VT2 is based on research by Dr. Carl Foster who is presenting at this years conference. Dr. Foster is lecturing on this exact subject 🙂

– The Zoning Blink Heart Rate monitor, with it's Blue – Yellow – Red lights, is based on this same Two Threshold / Three Zone system.

Originally posted 2011-06-25 15:33:38.

Are you teaching to the squeaky wheels?

When in doubt… re-boot the Pig

by | Jul 18, 2021 | Best Practices, Instructor Tech Help

Help Our family has nick-names for just about everything; Ruby, Jade, Baby Rocket and Scootie are in actuality; my red Mazda 3, Abby's green Mazda 3, Amy's black Acura TL and Carly's Honda Scooter. No, you don't want my car insurance bill 🙁

But when one of them (or some other mechanical / electronic device) has failed in some fashion, its name changes to a less endearing term, typically – Pig. So when I saw this text from Amy on Monday, after she had taught her noon class at Cycle Quest, my first thought was; “well, bring the Pig home and I'll see if I can help you figure it out.

Once I had the Pig her Android Razor in my hands, Amy showed me that there were in fact a bunch of her Spotify playlists that wouldn't play. They appeared to be correctly downloaded (Spotify describes making tracks available off-line as Downloaded on a Droid vs. Make Available Off-Line on an iPhone… go figure) and when you clicked a song it showed it as playing, but no sound came out.

I'm not an Apple computer user, so I don't know if  the below applies to you – but it probably does.

My brother Dan taught me a number of years ago that the first step in diagnosing any PC computer problem is to Re-Boot (shut down everything) and see if that will fix the problem. Many times that's all that's required.

Dan explained how device software and the hardware they run on are not 100% perfect – resulting in small errors that occur each time you load or run a program. The operating software system can deal with these small errors (which build up over time) until they become unmanageable, resulting in your computer/device changing into a Pig.

So after poking around unsuccessfully, I asked Amy when was the last time she re-booted her phone. She couldn't think of a time, but she did remember seeing a notice that Spotify had updated. This appears to be another difference between Android and Apple. Droid Apps update on their own. Apple device Apps display a little red arrow indicating an update is available & you manually approve each. Hearing Dan's voice in the back of my head saying; “you need to re-boot the Pig”, which we did and problem solved 🙂

Side note Over the past 4 1/2 years I've answered hundreds of tech related questions from ICI/PRO members. A common theme that runs through these requests is; I'm not very Techie, I must be doing something wrong or similar self-defamatory statements where the questioner takes personal responsibility for the problems/issues they are experiencing. THIS IS ALMOST ALWAYS NOT TRUE!

A lot of the technology we use as Instructors IS confusing, frustrating, problematic or just plain doesn't work like you think it should. In nearly every instance I can think of, what was preventing the person asking me the question from solving it themselves, was a reluctance to take the next step.

The next time you run into something confusing, frustrating, problematic or just plain doesn't work like you think it should – give yourself permission to try something else; start clicking buttons… every one you can find. If that doesn't work close the program, walk away, and then return with a fresh perspective.

My brother Dan is really sharp with computers – a real Techie. I've watched him work trying to solve a problem for me and he'll be zooming around my laptop, opening and closing stuff faster than my eyes can follow. I'll ask him; “what are you doing?” and he'll say; “I have no idea… I'm just trying different things, hoping one will work.”

And of course, if all else fails, please know that we're here to help 🙂

Originally posted 2013-03-06 04:52:19.