Engage Your Students | Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast

Be The Instructor (Inspirer) Your Students Canâ€™t Wait To See Again…A Lesson On Being Grateful

by Dr. Shannon | Apr 22, 2012 | Engage Your Students, Learn Leadership Skills

Thanksgiving is not just a holiday that comes once a year. Thanks giving can make every day of your life a holiday and you a celebrity!

I will show you how.

The most powerful thing that you can do to make your life (no matter what you are experiencing) the best that it can be, is to be a giver of thanks. The more you give the more you will receive!

Every year celebrities from all over the globe walk the red carpet to receive their rewards. The lights, action, glitz and glamour are all a part of the celebration. Can you imagine what it would be like to put on your best…and have all eyes on you as you are celebrated for being you?

A celebrity is quite simply, “1. the state of being celebrated: RENOWN 2. a celebrated person” (Thank you Merriam-Webster J)

Can you imagine being a celebrity? Then imagine this.

People are lined up outside of your gym as far as your eye can see. There is standing room only in the parking lot! You have to park almost a mile away. You quickly move through the crowd as you head to the front of the line. The cameras are flashing and the people are going wild. The energy is palpable.

Your manager meets you at the door and welcomes you in. “Wow, what is going on?” you ask. He responds, “Your class is about to start. Weâ€™ll talk later.”

The entire gym is packed with people. Some you recognize, some you do not. Everyone is looking at you as if they know you. Who are all these people? Where did they come from? Why are all these people here? These are just a few of the questions that are flying through your mind as you are flying through the crowd, desperately trying to get to the studio.

The studio is packed! Every bike is full and people are standing everywhere! “What is going on”, you ask?

The crowd roars, “YOU are going on! We wanted to show up and tell you how awesome you are, how much we love and appreciate you, and we canâ€™t wait to watch you do what you do!”

Can you imagine what that would feel like? Would you prepare for class differently if you knew everyone was going to show up expecting your best class? Of course you would!

But what if you donâ€™t have hundreds of students fighting to get into your class? Well, guess what; YOU DO! They are fighting crowds of depression, obesity, and complacency. They are overwhelmed and under…inspired; under…recognized; under…appreciated. They have lived their life under the radar and they are desperate to SHOW UP!

They may be miles away, and not even know that you are there. They may find their way to your class, or maybe they will not. Regardless, YOU will be there with your best performance when they do! They need YOU to show up! Why?

Because you are one who is celebrated. You are the one they have literally been dying to meet because you celebrate people (this includes YOU). And they know that if they can just get near you, they too will feel significant.

So you may be thinking, “Yeah, right…if I were a celebrity…it would be easy to have a packed class every week, but I am NOT!”

If you go back to the definition of celebrity, you will see that in fact, you can be. Celebrate you and you will be celebrated. Celebrate others and they will celebrate you!

Itâ€™s time to see yourself and others as a gift. If you love to instruct, then do it with all your heart. Pour your heart into your class, even if only one or two people show up. Thank them for showing up so you can do what you love to do. A leader needs followers to lead, an instructor needs students to teach, and a celebrity needs to be celebrated to be a celebrity. So are you celebrating YOU, and those around you?

No matter what you or your students are experiencing, there is always something to recognize and celebrate. The more you are grateful for, the more you will have to be grateful for!

Often people will wait until they lose weight to give thanks, or their situation to change before they celebrate. But sadly, this day seems to elude them.

Does losing weight promise great health or is it the expression of the great health thatâ€™s within you (or your students)? When you stop trying to get something that you think you do not have, and begin to give thanks for that which you do…everything transforms! Change takes time, but transformation happens the moment we give thanks!

Give thanks!

People think that eating well and exercise are a guarantee of great health. The reality is that they are merely an expression of the great health that lies within them.

You may think that if you do “this” or “that” then you will be the instructor that everyone canâ€™t wait to see. Your reality is merely an expression of the gratitude that lies within you. When was the last time you told how a student how grateful you are to have them in class? When was the last time you sent a hand-written note to someone thanking him or her for being who they are?

Do you remember what it feels like to be in love? Everything seems so perfect. You only see the good (or great) in the person you love. You have so much energy. You feel inspired. And that excess weight just seems to melt away. Why is that? Because when we are in love, we are at our best. Not the other way around.

If you are waiting to love yourself until you lose that extra weight or get that promotion, you may never experience it. If you are waiting to be a celebrity only when your class is full and the line is out the front door, you will miss your moment!

One day I told one of my coaching clients that she looked as though she was in love. She was literally glowing! She looked so radiant and so happy! She quickly responded, “I am! I am in love with me!” For the first time in her life, she had fallen in love with herself. Not because she had lost weight, but because she had gained herself. She had discovered who she really was, and just how loveable she is. That has led to her becoming her natural, healthy weight, and she is now in the best shape of her life! Oh, and let me tell you, just recently she has attracted a wonderful man into her life too. Those who are celebrated are “celebrities”. And people want to be around a celebrity. Love attracts love!

I absolutely love it! This is why I do what I do!

Why do you do what you do? Tap into your passion again! (Look for my next post, Be The Instructor (Inspirer) Your Students Canâ€™t Wait To See Again…A Lesson On Being Passionate coming next week.

Have you ever written yourself a love letter? Why not? Why wait for someone else to write you one? Then if you really want to be a celebrity, stand in front of the mirror and read it out loud! Why should we wait for our funeral to hear our eulogy?

Grateful leads to great-full! Thatâ€™s right, being full of great! Your classes will be full because you celebrate the great in each and every one of those in the room (you and your students).

If you desire to be the Instructor (Inspirer) your students canâ€™t wait to see again, give thanks for the instructor and be inspired! Can I have your autograph?

Great-fully yours,

Dr. Shannon

chiropractor | coach | speaker | author

http://www.drshannonknows.com

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Taking the Indoors Outside – Part Three

by Christine Nielsen | Apr 4, 2012 | Engage Your Students

As we continue our training for the ride of the Cabot Trail we have some firsts to report.

Food (and drink!)

Part of our ‘pitch' during the information session included an insistence that this wouldn't be all hard work – that there would be social events throughout our training, both after rides and as stand-alone events. We also stressed that this was the participants' project, not ours. In other words, we wouldn't be responsible for the organization of anything beyond the training opportunities. A week ago we had our first social event – a potluck dinner in a home – and I didn't have to do anything but show up.

12 people attended of the 20 or so who now seem committed. Most were strangers to one another except for name and face recognition from classes. I was astounded by how easily they connected and even more amazed by the discussions that they initiated – principally about fear. Everyone shared, without prodding, their reservations about the trip. Some were deeply personal stories and several involved the lack of support they felt at home.

As an outgrowth of the discussions at the dinner, four of us have met to discuss ways to capture this information now and at several points during the training process. We all feel strongly that there's merit in recording the change we know will occur in both the participants and their support systems. We are actively pursuing radio and video documentary options and are committed, in any event, to a text-based record of our experiences. In addition, one participant is the editor of a local lifestyle magazine http://www.saltscapes.com/and a freelance writer. She is pitching the story to national publications with wide readership.

Data, data, data

March 31 brought the first pile of training logs to my desk. I am having people use the simple session RPE system which Carl Foster outlined in one of his presentations at the ICI/PRO conference. The logs were very complete which I think speaks to the ease of use and common sense nature of the system.

I was able to turn around the logs by the following day and handed out lovely colored charts and a page of notes to each person. They, in turn, were able to address the group on the impact of keeping a log. I predict that their observations along with the pretty pictures and personal comments will inspire more people to collect their own data.

New bikes, first rides

There are several new bikes in the group and all of the new owners have braved the iffy spring weather for their first rides of the year. I am delighted by their enthusiasm but truly impressed by the fact that they all used their heart rate monitors outside.

Drier weather and warming temperatures mean that we will do our first group trail ride in two weeks. That's a few weeks earlier than I had scheduled and it is possible not only because of good riding conditions but because people will be physically and mentally ready for the challenges I have planned. I'll send a report after we have done a few rides and skill clinics.

Stay connected with your class this summer

by John | Mar 15, 2012 | Engage Your Students, Giving Back To Your Community

Freewheel Bike MS150 team Captain Randy Erwin

Randy Erwin promoting MS150 participation at our club

I'm not sure about where you live [wlm_firstname], but we are having a glorious spring here in Minneapolis… and suffering the consequences 🙁

Last Sunday, of my typical 40 indoor participants, 25 or so decided they would rather enjoy the sunshine and ride outside. I can't say I blame them and I was actually a bit jealous being stuck inside. Based on how nice it is supposed to be the rest of the week, I'm guessing that this coming Sunday will be more of the same.

So what to do?

Might I suggest finding a way to keep connected with them, outside?

As a followup to Christine Nielsen's two excellent posts about planning and training to ride the 183 mile Cabot Trail, I thought I should share how we have created a team to participate in a local MS150 ride.

Did I say “we have created”? I should have said “he has created”

He; as in Randy Erwin, a good friend of Amy and mine who's also our MS150 team captain!

Amy and I first met Randy as a rider in our class a bunch of years ago. The cycling bug bit Randy quite late in life and now his passion for indoor and outdoor cycling knows no bounds.

Sensing Randy's excitement for riding outdoors, Amy had originally invited Randy to join our earlier MS150 team The Psycholers and he was hooked! Fast forward a few years and chronic knee problems forced the original captain to quit and dissolve the team.

Enter Randy – he was having too much fun every year not to jump in as the new team captain. But Randy wasn't content to just continue this as things were, he (if you knew him you would understand this part) wanted bigger = we needed a sponsor. And Randy found us one in the form of a local bike shop FreeWheel Bikes.

The actual sponsorship was a bit unique; FreeWheel provided a Chef for the weekend, his assistant, and most importantly transportation of our bikes from Minneapolis to Duluth where the ride begins. In exchange for their sponsorship FreeWheel was on display all weekend in the form of a very fast (and long) paceline lead by your's truly, my very strong Tandem Stoker Amy and Randy tucked tightly behind – with another 40 or so close person friends making up the rest of the train.

Bigger for Randy is a fluid thing. What was cool and impressive last year became so 2011 this year. Bigger this year equals starting an official Life Time Fitness MS150 team. His goal (bigger is better) is to have the largest team on the ride this year, which will need to be over 250 riders. I'll keep you updated.

Keeping connected with your class this summer doesn't necessarily mean it will only come as a result from your efforts. You're class has a few Randy's. Next class pick up your head and ask who would be willing to help you put a team together.

Let me know what happens when you do 🙂

With our Captain Randy at the start

Morning of the living dead class

by John | Mar 12, 2012 | Engage Your Students

Hate isn't the proper word… detest is a better way to describe my feelings toward my first Monday 5:45 am class after the Daylight Savings switch. Nothing more, just wanted to express that.

Taking the Indoors Outside – Part Two

by Christine Nielsen | Mar 10, 2012 | Engage Your Students

This place looks awesome!

In October I wrote about our plans to take participants from my classes to the 183 mile Cabot Trail for the ride of their lives. Link to Map My Ride Profile. In the new year that adventure was dubbed Take the Trail and we began serious planning.

My riding partner is by profession a Pilates instructor and personal trainer who is fascinated by balance and stabilization. Between us we developed a plan for indoor training which includes both cycling classes and strength and stretching sessions. Some of the work must be done by participants during the week but we all get together for an extended ride and other activities on Sunday mornings. When the trails and roads permit we will move our Sunday activities outside for longer and longer rides.

Each participant has received training goals in terms of hours of activity, both on and off-bike for March and April. They have also received a handout/lecture on training load and a simple log sheet. I am already hearing chatter about how people are using the logs. At the end of this month I will collect the logs and create some summary graphics as well as create a graph of weekly loads for each participant. Weâ€™ll use those individual data to help each person set goals for increases in training load.

All but a couple of the participants are regulars in my classes so they have been part of the periodized program which began in January. We do regular threshold tests and we will repeat those (and incorporate the new people) every eight weeks so they will have that additional data point to track their progress.

The owner of a really good local bike shop hosted a private session for riders who might not yet own a bike or want to upgrade. It was a fantastic two hour presentation which was all information, no sales pitch. Even if people eventually buy from another shop they will be armed with sufficient knowledge to identify the best bike for them, the most suitable components and add-ons and know if they are being fit properly.

We have been clear from the outset that this is the groupâ€™s endeavor, not ours. To that end we already have volunteers to book lodging, identify long-term parking and investigate van rentals. We have also created a schedule of ride captains for our outdoor rides. And best of all – we have a volunteer to host our first social event later this month.

How many people are involved? We have 15 training with us right now and there are many people around the periphery who might join us. I am most excited by the fact that three teen-age girls (and one dad) are considering doing the Trail to fulfill requirements for the gold level of the Duke of Edinburgh awards http://www.dukeofed.org/about-the-award. Two of the girls and the dad have been active in my classes so this is not a stretch.

I am excited about the ripple effects this activity will have in our small community in terms of promoting physical activity and encouraging individuals to set and achieve personal goals. Iâ€™ll send another update and some photos once we get outside.

Note from John: Christine included a sample of the presentation she uses to explain the trip and training plans.

ICI Podcast 200 Be The Instructor Your Students Can’t Wait To See Again

by John | Feb 16, 2012 | Engage Your Students, Free Podcasts

For our 200th episode I wanted someone very special! Meet my friend Dr. Shannon Subramaniam who is someone you can't wait to see again. I asked Dr. Shannon to be my guest to discuss what Amy and I saw as the four traits that made us so excited to see her over and over again.

The four keys to; be the Instructor your students can't wait to see again: