“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?
Fun pic from Julie's facebook.com/TheWallCyclingStudio
Hi John,
My name is Julie and I am the owner of a cycling studio in Philadlphia, PA called “The wall cycling studio.”
This past weekend I had a couple instructors over and after a little time we somehow got on the discussion of how one of my biggest dreams to live is to show up to a spin class while on vacation, the instructor not show up and for me to be able to jump up and say “I'm certified and ready with a playlist!”
My friend then sent me the most recent email from you about traveling instructors. I think it is amazing and a great way for places to be able to offer quality classes!
Could you let me know some more info? This would be a dream trip for my husband and I!
Thanks again and I look forward to listening to your pod cast!
Julie we've helped hundreds of Indoor Cycling Instructors make this fantasy a reality – except for the part about the absent Instructor – unless it's you who's supposed to teach, but you're asleep in a hammock, on the beach 🙁
My wife Amy and I have been teaching group fitness classes, at All-Inclusive resorts in the Caribbean, pretty much every year since the mid 90's. Every trip has been a dream and we could not have afforded to travel as often as we have, without the assistance of our (now friends) at Fit Bodies, Inc.
We have a separate site devoted to these teaching fitness vacations – and the process is super simple. Here are the basics:
About Fit Bodies, Inc.
Fit Bodies, Inc. has been offering international leisure travel for the fitness instructor since 1992. FitnessProTravel.com is home of the Fit Bodies teaching vacation program.
Instructors offer a couple hours of teaching to resort guests daily and in exchange you and companion(s) stay at luxury all-inclusive resort with accommodations and amenities provided just like a full paying guests. You wine and dine, enjoying an all-inclusive vacation usually costing thousands of dollars for a fraction of the price.
How does it work?
With the Fit Bodies, Inc. program you do not pay the hotel for your stay. You pay a fee for each week you travel, it’s roughly $500 for you and a companion (family resorts include two kids 12 or younger as well) to stay at the resort with all-inclusive everything for seven nights. The resorts are 4-5 star all-inclusive luxury destinations. Teach one or two indoor cycle classes on your non-travel days. It is a WIN WIN! You get a low cost vacation and guests have a great fitness experience! There are even more opportunities to the cycle instructors who also offer group exercise formats.
The details are instructors’ pay for flights and sometimes airport transfer costs (to and from hotel). All resorts participate in the GIFT FUND where we keep the hotel’s activities and sports department up to date with items or money contribution. The gift fund has a value of $150 at most hotels so that is part of your expenses.
There is no cost or obligation when you apply but I encourage you to apply by completing an online account with us at FitnessProTravel.com. The account gives you real time booking availability at all the resorts you qualify to teach at. So then you can choose when and where to travel, book it online with us, and be quickly confirmed with permission to buy flights.
Once you are online at FitnessProTravel.com and going through the app process you will come across membership levels. I know it’s explained on the site but want to elaborate here- With the BASIC (free) membership you can view complete availability but with your free membership you only have access to book 15 resorts. By upgrading to any premium account (including TRAVEL) you will then have booking access to every resort you qualify to teach at. You can view resort details without even having an account by clicking on “TRAVEL SPOTS” on the FitnessProTravel.com home site.
Fitness Connect from IDEA is something I feel all of us Group Fitness Professionals and Fitness Studio owners need to jump on soon. I'm scheduling an interview with IDEA's head of business development for a future Podcast. In the mean time if you are an Indoor Cycling Instructor with a Spinning® or other certification, Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer or you own or manage a Fitness Club or Studio here are a few thoughts about why I feel you need a profile there.
1) Rise above the noise and be found by standing on IDEA's shoulders. The internet is an enormous place. Search engines sift through billions of web pages in their effort to deliver a relevant result to what could become your next client, member or student. Your profile on Fitness Connect has a much better chance of being displayed because www.ideafit.com is seen as a respected source by Google and other search engines.
Running a successful fitness studio takes a lot of passion, experience and hard work. The husband and wife team of Xavier and Nadia McClinton who run Body By X Skill Development & Training Center in Marin County California sound like they have all three covered… and more!
Together they have developed a unique fitness offering that combines strength training, along with Indoor cycling and includes the MyRide+ virtual ride video system. Body By X's experiences with MyRide+ were covered in more detail in this case study we published back in February.
Listen to my interview with Xavier and Nadia to get an understanding of how they are able to succeed by creating a real sense of community at their studio and a simple idea you can use to retain members who (for whatever reason) decide not to show up.
You can subscribe to our free Podcast in iTunes by clicking here.
John,
Greetings from Korea… I would just like to let you know my current situation. At this time, I am not able to continue my membership with ICI/PRO due to financial reasons. As you may not remember, I am in the US Army over here in Korea and someone in the States (most likely Washington) decided that we were getting paid too much and cut the BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) and COLA (Cost of Living Allowance)… so, I lost over $500 this month, and have to pay for more out of pocket expenses. I would like to know if it is possible for you to keep me as a member and I pay at a later date? I will keep you informed of when and I will put some aside to make the payment. If this is not possible, please let me know.
Respectfully,
Tim [redacted]
SFC, US Army Korea
Yes Tim, I do remember you and how last year you requested that we host a conference in Taegu, Korea – Boston was a little too far for you to travel.
I don't know about you, but I feel very blessed by those who serve as Active Duty Military. It also brings me a lot of joy to know we have ICI/PRO members serving in Korea and the Middle East who are using our resources to keep their base personnel fit and ready for duty.
I'm also glad that I could help former Spinning MI Debbie Miller promote Sweat for a Vet – where 51 clubs, with hundreds of riders, will participate next Saturday 11/12 to raise money to help wounded warriors become fitness instructors.
I also feel very blessed by the support of the ICI/PRO community and felt compelled to do my part and give something back…
So I responded to Tim explaining that I had him covered and his subscription would continue. Not wanting to limit this to just Tim, I decided that new and renewing ICI/PRO members on active duty (any country) will qualify for a 6 month Gratis level membership = FREE 🙂
Please forward this information on to anyone you feel would qualify. If you are aware of any Military Fitness Instructor social media groups or email lists, I would appreciate you posting this information.
