Back to business this morning at the “Spa” (Minnetonka LifeTime Athletic Club & Spa) after the summer break. Everyone calls it the Spa because it's full name is just too much of a mouthful, especially in the early AM.
It's amazing how consistent (or maybe habitual is a better word) people tend to be. I zipped into the parking lot at 5:30 AM with a full 15 minutes to spare and pulled into the exact same slot, next to the exact same contractor's pickup, that I always use. Walked up to the front desk and was greeted; “good-morning John. Are you teaching again?” by that same friendly smile. I surprise myself by actually producing my membership card. “Yes, Monday's are back on the schedule” is my response as I turn toward the steps down to the locker room.
“Wait” I thought. I stopped, turned and walked back to the reception desk.
“Forgive me… I've forgotten your name.”
“Cathy”.
“It's nice to see you again Cathy” I said before turning back toward the steps. I walked away feeling much better about myself for having the courage to confront something that I frequently struggle with… forgetting (or never asking) co-worker's and member's names.
Dressed for class and on my way up the stairs, when I had my second chance. A very familiar face, smile, “good morning John!” “I was excited to see that they added your class back for Fall.”
It worked the first time. I'll try it again. “Good-morning, but forgive me… I've forgotten your name.”
“Oh it's Betsy, but you have so many people's names to remember. I don't expect you to remember mine.”
“Good-morning Betsy.” “I'm looking forward to seeing your smile in class again.” I said, seeing a mental image of her on her bike.
“Thank you for saying something to those two girls. I can't tell you how frustrating it is for me to have to sit and listen to their mindless chatter while I'm trying to focus on my workout.”
It was yesterday and I had just finished subbing a class at one of the high-end clubs where I have a regular endurance class during the winter.
I started to say “You're wel…” when she interrupted me with; “Not all the Instructors will say something. I don't have a lot of flexibility in my schedule and this is one of the few classes that works for me… so thank you.”
I wanted to ask her why, when she is in that situation, she didn't say anything to the people who were disrupting her time in class? But before I could, I answered my own question.
She respected my social rank or status in the class and was waiting for me to demonstrate the leadership she believed came with my position as the Instructor. I have some knowledge of this member. She is a very successful local attorney and when you see her in street clothes you know she means business. I'm going to guess that her Social Status hasn't come from a meek or non-confrontational personality.
But when she's in class, with her Lycra shorts and a bright yellow jersey, she has the same exact status of everyone in the room, except one – the Instructor, who yesterday was me.
It's actually kind of funny when I think about it. I've often described my students as people who you will regularly read about in the business section of the newspaper or see interviewed on TV. And here's little old me, the leader of a group of high power Lawyers, CEO's and business owners… hard to believe. But for one hour every Monday morning I am the Big Dog 🙂
And more importantly, they all expect me to be the leader.
Put yourself in your student's position. Whatever social status they have outside of class vanishes when they strip down in the locker room and squeeze into their bike shorts. Some go from a position of absolute authority to near social impotence in the three minutes it takes them to change. Imagine the frustration they must feel riding in your class, trying to focus on their workout, but forced to listen to a detailed recap of yesterday's Housewives of the O C or some other nonsense.
There's a good thread running about this over at Pedal-On Students who won't shut up that has a bunch of suggestions about how you can address this problem. My personal favorite is setting clear expectations at the beginning of your class. Master Instructor Kenji Freedman is phenomenal at setting these expectations in his class opening. You can hear it at the beginning of Podcast #143.
Do you understand your role as the leader in your class?
Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. If you're like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, seasonal affective disorder causes depression in the spring or early summer.
Treatment for seasonal affective disorder includes light therapy (phototherapy), psychotherapy and medications. Don't brush off that yearly feeling as simply a case of the “winter blues” or a seasonal funk that you have to tough out on your own. Take steps to keep your mood and motivation steady throughout the year.
I don't mean to make light of depression – my mother struggled with it for much of her life. But this morning a number of us decided that even jokes about how bad the weather is here, are depressing. Worst one I've heard was this morning; “John, I'm not sure I'm ready for winter to start again…” Not sure if it was intended as a joke, but it got a few chuckles from the other's who heard it.
There is treatment available.Bright light therapy is supposed to be effective. I'm all about finding solutions to problems. This morning I may have come up with a way we could introduce this much needed therapy, as part of a special class we could offer.
An Indoor Tanning Triathlon!
We could run it just like a regular indoor Tri, except participants would recover between each leg with a few minutes enjoying some rays in a tanning bed. Our club is always forming marketing partnerships with local business. Why not have the local tanning salon roll a bunch of beds in for an afternoon?
You'd come out of the pool, dry off and then spend 5 minutes in a turbo tan – we could even have special UV protective swim goggles made so you wouldn't need to change them. Then into the cycling class, which ends with another blast of vitamin D, before a short run on the treadmill.
Our Cycling Studio Owners will want to check this out ASAP…
For years we've promoted Working Fitness Vacations – where you, the Instructor, teache a few fitness classes in exchange for a very low cost, Caribbean vacation. Hundreds of Instructors have followed our recommendations and have really enjoyed their all inclusive vacations.
Now there's TripTribe.com. They specialize in assisting fitness professionals who want to take a group of clients (your tribe) on a fitness retreat. For leading these trips you, the Instructor, will be paid as the Trip Tribe Ambassador!
To learn the actual scoop on these trips, I asked the marketing representative at Trip Tribe if she'd connect me with an Ambassador that I could interview…
Coach Kelly McCormack owns Club Inhale Exhale in Billerica, Massachusetts. This past May she traveled with a group of her clients to a ranch in the mountains of Costa Rica. It sounds like everyone had a great time and best of all, the check TripTribe.com sent her at the conclusion of the trip paid all of her expenses🙂
Listen to my interview with Kelly to learn if this would be something you could do with your tribe.
TripTribe.com offers dozens of exotic locations across the world, in a wide range of pricing, including;
Go here and create a free profile. Spend some time working with their retreat planning wizard to get an understanding of the possibilities. Then I'd encourage you to call and discuss your ideas for a group trip with one of their advisors.
Hi John,
I hear you talk about your ninety minute endurance class and I would like to work up to a 90 minute class at our gym. Could you give me the details of how your class is structured for the 90 minutes? I have done some steady state rides in my class but this has been a difficult concept for my group to accept as some of them still feel that you have to “cough up a lung” to get a workout. Thanks for all that you do.
Teaching 90 minute Endurance classes can be tough for many Instructors, dare I say impossible for those of you who don't understand what I'm calling an “Endurance State of Mind” (with apologies to Billy Joel).
So you have some background, I've been teaching winter endurance classes since 1999. My Instructor job with Life Time Fitness resulted from one of my students (who was also a Lifetime member) complaining to the department head about the lack of “cycling specific” classes offered at their Athletic Level clubs. His recommendation lead to my 90 minute Sunday endurance class being the first regularly scheduled class of it's type. Along they way I've developed a class that seems to play well to those who desire this type of class.
NOTE: My class typically transitions to a full 2 hours in mid March. This year we will be starting March 11th – feel free to join us if you're in Minneapolis some weekend 🙂
So, what do I mean by an Endurance State of Mind?
Endurance is all about being able to endure something over time – and it's something you experience independently from others.
I can endure something along with you… but I can't endure something for you – that's for you alone to experience.
I talk frequently in class about the four components of Endurance:
Muscular Endurance
Cardiovascular Endurance
Saddle Endurance – we spend a long time seated
Mental Endurance
In a normal class your students are conditioned to look to you for direction, for the full time of the class. This isn't the case in my endurance classes; I'm trying to remove as much of me as possible from the class and teach everyone to look to themselves for direction, focus and motivation = Mental Endurance. It's very normal to find me riding in with the class and I may not speak for long periods of time, after laying out the basic profile. I see my role as creating the Place where we are all riding virtually. I find it helps to use structured video that includes a terrain profile.
Don't get me wrong, I'm still offering encouragement and cuing, it's just that it comes from a “we're in this together” rather than the “do this…now do this” typical teaching mode many of us follow in a normal class.
Here's where this maybe difficult for you – having an Endurance Frame of Mind requires you to trust in the capabilities of your students…. and then let them run with it. By capability I mean viewing every student as a self-directed endurance athlete. I actually tell them; I came here this morning believing each of you has the capability to successfully complete this class… now it's up to you to show that I was wrong.
How can you tell if you do or don't believe your students are capable? So many of us have spent our Instructing careers feeling as if we need to direct every minute of the class; every surge, hill, jump and recovery, or our class will become bored or lost.
Could you give them some short (yet specific) instructions and then let them do their own thing? Or create a place for them to be accountable for the time they are spending in your class… and then get out of their way?
Try this sometime: Lay out your plan in the introduction and explain that today everyone is doing what they feel they need. Then find a bike in the middle of the room, keep your cuing/coaching to the absolute minimum – and ride 🙂
Yesterday was devastating. I began to think that after the tragedy at Newtown, our country had finally hit its breaking point. I was pretty sure that violence had won and that more and more of these stories would be told.
Today it seems I was right, and yes, it is true that violence continues. But if the trends I see on Facebook and Twitter and all around me in response to the explosions at the Boston Marathon are any indication, violence has not won.
Hope is making a huge comeback.
At times like these we wonder “what good can come from this?” The only answer is from you and me. There are many reports and examples of folks who refused to let senseless violence have the final say. But you don't have to be in Boston to make a difference.
There is a great quote from the late Fred Rogers making its rounds again, as it did in December. Mr. Rogers says that as a child, he was told that in times of distress he should “Look for the helpers.” It is a beautiful quote and has helped countless people remember that even though hatred tried to destroy, love rushed in to protect. But I personally think that looking for the helpers isn't enough. You and I are in positions of influence. We are leaders. We are called to BE the helpers.
I may not be in Boston today. I'm not a world figure or a solider or in any position to change the whole world. But I do have a sphere of influence in which I can encourage and help hope to flourish. That sphere encompasses my family, my co-workers, my friends, my students and more. As a fitness professional, I have the unique opportunity to nurture my students. I might even be an anchor of normalcy to a participant who is suffering and just wants to keep it together.
What can I do in my classes? I can foster the virtues and values I wish to see more of in the world: respect, dignity, patience, empathy, charity, generosity, integrity. These can grow right along side mental and physical strength in the hands of a caring coach. It can be something as simple as the encouragement to “get strong today so that you can be strong for someone when they need you most.” Even just a hug or a smile or a high-five can be enough to make someone's day.
On a day when the world is hurting, be the helper. Be a healer. It might mean sacrificing a little bit of your own needs to provide for someone else's. Reach out to do something for another human being not because it is your job, but because it is the right thing to do. You have no idea how far one act of kindness can reach. It could go so far as to prevent the next tragedy from occurring. That's what I'm hoping for.
