by John | Apr 16, 2014 | Big Box Instructor, Boutique Instructor, Member Spotlight
Not that big box.
I sent out an email last week, asking:
Do you teach at a Big Box and a Boutique Studio?
By “Big Box” I'm referring to one of the majors with multiple locations; 24 Hour, LA Fitness, Club Sports, Equinox, etc..
If so I'd like to talk to you and (if it makes sense) interview you for the Podcast…
After sorting through over 300 responses (thanks to you all!) I followed up with some additional detail about the topics I was hoping to explore:
What I'm trying to learn from you is:
- Is teaching at a Big Box different from a small studio?
- If so, how are you or your classes different?
- Are you a “different” person/Instructor at each location?
- Do you enjoy teaching at one vs. the other
- Do you feel limited and/or empowered at one vs. the other?
- Are you more motivated to promote and build your class numbers at one over the other?
- What quick advice would your offer a new instructor on-boarding at either?
​Your thoughts?
What I got back from a number of Instructors was amazing and exactly the type of thoughtful responses I was looking for. ICI/PRO is a platform for smart talented people and it looks like I've discovered a few more 🙂 I'm in the process of setting up these interviews and plan to produce them starting next week!
One question I'm seeing I could have asked differently (and will during the interviews) is; do you feel you need to project a different personality at each location? Instead of; are you a “different” person at each location. Of course you're the same person… it's just that over the years I've experienced Instructors who appear to be very different, depending on where I take their class.
Is that true for you?
by John | Mar 19, 2014 | Featured Studios, Instructor Training, Member Spotlight
Co-founders Carter Wheeler and Charla Goodnight
“YOU TAUGHT ME TO USE SPOTIFY!”
“I think she's talking to you John” was the response from Mad Dogg's Tony Berlant, as we both watched a very excite women running toward us. Tony and I were enjoying an adult beverage during the reception at last fall's MindBodyFitPro convention in LA when the women confirmed who exactly she was addressing:
YOU (she's now pointing at me) John Macgowan… YOU TAUGHT ME TO USE SPOTIFY!
A big hug completed my formal introduction to ICI/PRO member Charla Goodnight. What followed was an hour long conversion with one of the most passionate Indoor Cycling Instructors I've ever met. Charla explained to me how she had benefited from the information she had received here and how she was at the conference to finalize her equipment and studio management software decisions for her new Indoor Cycling studio – Time Trial Cycle in Naples, FL.
Well the big day is this Friday, March 21st and I'm very excited for both Charla and her business partner Carter Wheeler.
Here's how they describe their new studio
When you enter the friendly doors of Time Trial Cycle, judgment and fear are left behind. Offering expert coaching and a variety of classes for all ages and fitness levels, the only person you have to be better than is who you were yesterday.
As the premier indoor cycling studio in Naples, we offer:
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Stadium seating with plenty of elbow room to grind up the hills
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Audacious sound system and LED lighting
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Top of the line Star Trac Blade Ion bikes that provide constant display of RPM’s, Heart Rate, Calories Burned, Speed/Distance and Power.
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Two massive flat screen TV’s to track your performance on the Performance IQ board
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Post-workout reports emailed to measure your progress
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Changing rooms, shower, spa quality amenities and alkaline water tap
Charla and Carter appear to have done a good job promoting their launch – today they were featured on the local Fox morning show and this Naples newspaper ran a great story about the new studio.
It’s “Time” for Naples to pedal its way to an unrivaled indoor cycling experience as Time Trial Cycle, Naples’ premier dedicated indoor cycling studio, celebrates its Grand Opening on March 21. Taking place from 5:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m., the event will celebrate “Fitness, Food & Fun” and will be co-hosted by Fit Nation Magazine. The stunning high-tech studio, located at 3080 Tamiami Trail N, offers indoor cycling classes for all ages and fitness levels.
Guests at the Grand Opening event will enjoy complimentary food, beer and wine as well as door prizes for the first arrivals along with a raffle. In addition, the event will feature two competitions: one for athletes to compete to win the “Time Trial Cycle Most Power” Award as well as a “Self-Proclaimed ‘Couch Potato’ Competition” in which participants challenge each other for 10 minutes. Participating event vendors include Collier Family Farms, Helen Jon Swimwear, Megan Rose Boutique, Femme Couture, Blue Martini, Naples Pathway Coalition, Endurance Sisterhood, Pizza Fusion, and Organically Twisted Food Truck. RSVPs are requested to info@TimeTrialCycle.com.
With regular classes kicking off on March 22, Time Trial Cycle will continue its celebration with a special offer of participants’ first class free, as well as a special price of $99 for a month of unlimited cycling.
I met up with Charla and Carter at the ECA conference in Fort Lauderdale and had lunch with them both. I see them as having very complimentary personalities and feel they're going to have a very successful fitness business.
by John | Oct 22, 2012 | Big Box Instructor, Master Instructor Blog, Member Spotlight
Larry “Link” Russell will be representing ICI/PRO and presenting at SCW's Boston MANIA on Saturday 11/10 and Sunday 11/11.
I need to thank Sara Kooperman with SCW Fitness for extending this opportunity for ICI/PRO to partner with her MANIA conventions. She recognises that we have some very talented people involved here at ICI/PRO and it was with great pleasure that I could recommend Link as a presenter 🙂
Saturday 4-5:30pm ICI/PRO Class PROfile: Ramp, Attack, Sustain
Saturday's ride is Ramp Attack Sustain where the focus is on anaerobic performance. This by no means a beginners ride profile. A solid aerobic fitness base is recommended before challenging this class profile. We will be using two approaches, one is the Ramp and Attack which is a progressive ramp of resistance followed by a all out attack and the other is an all out Attack followed by varying times of Sustained effort of one minute or more. During Attack and Sustained efforts, RPE will be 9-10, thus an all out effort! As with all class profiles of this type, it is recommended to have students train at their own pace and not to exceed the limits of their fitness.
Sunday 10:15am-11:45am ICI/PRO Class PROfile: Lactate Tolerance Workshop
Sunday's ride is Lactate Tolerance Workshop which is based on a 45-60 minute indoor cycling training session only represents one effective way to build up tolerance to lactic acid using HIIT and Tabata style intervals. This style of class is both fun and challenging for the indoor rider where the lactate threshold (LT) is reached and surpassed many times during the ride along with active recovery, to build balance in the energy system and recruit fast twitch muscle fiber. True LT testing cannot be performed without blood being drawn during performance activity, thus we project it in this class as 80-85% of the VO2 Max or your VT2. As with all class profiles of this type, it is recommended to have students train at their own pace and not to exceed the limits of their fitness.
Both of Link's classes are on Schwinn AC Indoor Cycles. Each will feature the Cycling Fusion ClassBuilder iPhone App and Heart Zones Cycling training principles
Find out more about Boston MANIA
Here's a link to download all the session info.
by John | Oct 1, 2012 | Featured Studios, Latest News, Member Spotlight
I'm a very “random” person – just ask anyone who know's me – in that I'm not one for long term planning. That's why I so enjoy operating ICI/PRO… when I discover or hear something (or someone) that sounds like it would be of interest to you, I post about it or try to schedule an interview.
I find not knowing what tomorrow will bring very invigorating.
Stressful at times to be sure!
But as a whole, watching all the new developments in Indoor Cycling and communicating them to you is very motivating, and the randomness of it all fits my personality.
But I understand that some many of you prefer order – and we are working very hard to bring order to the massive amount of information we have amassed here over the past for years – as of today we have over 1,000 posts published 🙂
Behind the scenes we are developing a new website with our primary goal of making ICI/PRO a better resource for members; i.e. making everything easier to find. Not an easy task to be sure.
For example, this morning I was focused on ensuring that all of our 20+ informative articles about using Spotify were actually findable, if you click on the Spotify category tag in the information at the top of each Post.
They weren't, but are now.
Another part of our planned redesign will be a place to feature Indoor Cycling Instructors and the Studios where they teach. With nearly everyone owning a digital camera, we'd love a short video of you walking us through the place where you teach. Nothing fancy, maybe just a minute or two of you saying hello, telling us the name of your club, where it's located, showing off your studio, introducing us to your boss/manager/club owner, etc…
I'm sending out an email this morning to ICI/PRO members explaining the details.
Stay tuned as we continue to bring order to my randomness.
by John | Jul 25, 2012 | Member Spotlight
Kim Moody – Shannon Schweiger Photo
Kim Moody was our 4th place winner with her “The Gate” – Halloween Mixed Ride profile.
Because Kim's profile would be more appropriate later this Fall, I've decided to save it until them. I'm also going to ask her if we can record it so everyone can hear her presentation 🙂
But I still wanted you to know who she is, so I'm publishing her bio for you now.
Kim has been in the fitness arena for over 20 years and is an AFAA certified Group Exercise Instructor, a Turbo Kick certified instructor, and is also Schwinn and Mad Dogg Cycle certified. Kim holds a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education, which shows that teaching is her passion, both in the classroom and in the studio.
Just like a classroom teacher needs a lesson plan, each of Kim’s classes are planned out with great thought and detail. Kim believes that students connect more with a ride when they have a destination in mind, and she loves to incorporate cycling tours to actual sites in her plans. What would a ride be without a motivating coach and as much fun and entertainment as you can sprinkle in? Her planned ride, during the busy holiday shopping time this year, was a trip to Target with Kim dressed as “the Target Lady”. The members loved the reenactment of the Target commercials during recovery sections of the ride. Another fun holiday ride included a 56 mile bike trip down the Schuylkill River Trail in Pennsylvania to one of the largest malls in the United States, The King of Prussia Mall.
“I was excited and proud to enter my Halloween Mixed Ride, THE GATE, in the ICI/PRO Contest because it was another ride that students really connected to, and the gory history behind the destination allowed so much room for imagery and creativity. Kim believes the “stage” is the meat of any ride, but MUSIC selections are the perfect mouth-watering sides. “Music is my mantra and the most critical element of a successful class. It is my driving force behind every plan, every cue, every intensity, cadence, and position change. Music creates an experience, not just a workout. It creates the energy force that connects instructor and class, and it greatly impacts the mood, feel, and attitude of the ride.”
Kim is originally from Kentucky, and uses her southern background in her classes by reserving the #10 spot on almost every playlist for a country song. She moved to Illinois with her husband and two children in 2007, and currently teaches cycling and kickboxing classes at Lifetime Fitness in Vernon Hills, IL.
“I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to use my educational background to teach cycling and fitness classes. I love to see people smiling, singing, feeling successful, but challenged, and confident and thankful that they made the choice to come to class that day. For those reasons, I will continue to put in the time to create a unique ride every chance I get.”
You can find Kim's presentation of “The Gate” Halloween Mixed Ride Audio PROfile here.
by John | Jan 5, 2012 | Latest News, Member Spotlight
It's with great pleasure (and a bit of pride) that I get to announce ICI/PRO member and frequent contributor Doug Rusho has joined the Stages Indoor Cycling team as a Master Instructor!
ICI/PRO members have enjoyed a number of Doug's Audio PROfiles and he did a great job presenting at our last conference.
Doug's first official duties will be to assist his new boss, Cameron Chinatti on Saturday January 14th, for an Instructor Essentials Training.
Cameron, Doug and I have an interview scheduled for next week to discuss all of this 🙂
The location for this training is InMotion Cycling Studio in Sayville, NY. PRO member Nancy Bachety opened her new studio last month with her husband Frank. They both had met Cameron at the conference and this training is designed to get her Instructors up to speed with the FreeMotion S11.9 Indoor Cycles that Nancy and Frank first rode this past fall in Boston.
Open to all Instructors. Here is the information:
Host Location – InMotion Cycling Studio
1/14/20012 8:00 am — 4:30 pm
63 Railroad Ave
Sayville, NY 11782
Contact: Nancy Bachety
Phone: 631-256-5256
InMotionInfo@yahoo.com
