I'll bet somebody at Apple/iTunes is getting an ear-full this morning…
SoulCycle sent out an email this morning, announcing their new iPhone App. The email included this link to their App in the iTunes store… which of course opens in iTunes so you can download the software.
Except most people (like me) don't use iTunes to install an App. We download and install Apps directly from our phones.
Which is great as long as the App Store can find SoulCycle's App when a user (in this case me) searches for SoulCycle… which returns two available Apps, neither is the SoulCycle App 🙁
So I guess I'll have to go old-school and transfer it from my computer, before I can review it!
413 Update – I'm now seeing you can search and find this now in the App Store using your iPhone.
I wasn't sure how to answer this question emailed to me from a new Instructor. So I blasted it out to a bunch of Smart & Talented Instructors I know for their responses.
John:
You and I have exchanged emails before. I am a relatively new instructor (at age 48!)…. Just got my first steady teaching gig (3 classes per week). What I find to be the single biggest challenge as a new instructor is music- music flow, and knowing what drills or activities to do to what music. It is SUPER easy to get a certification…. I am Madd Dogg certified, and will be attending my first WSSC this May. I feel at such a loss though when it comes to setting up a class…. And feel as though I let hours of time evaporate listening to music but not knowing how to incorporate it effectively into what I am doing….
I have a ton of respect for what you do and have been following your facebook page and blog for sometime. I am happy to buy an ICI/pro membership, I am just reluctant at this point to invest in any more resources that I underutilize. Wondering what advice you might have?
Thanks so much for your time!
Irene
Thanks for writing Irene! Here are a few ideas for you…
First from contributor Chris Hawthorne AKA Chrispins – that's a link to her excellent website. You can find all of Chris' informative ICI/PRO articles here)
Hi John,
Happy to help. Here's my answer:
The best way to know what drills or activities to do with your music is to find the BPM (beats per minute) of the songs you would like to use. I use this handy website to help me figure the BPM of new songs : http://www.all8.com/tools/bpm.htm There are also several free apps that will do the same thing.
Once I have the BPM I transfer them into RPM (usually that means dividing by 2). Then I can plug the songs into my profile. Hills are 60-80 RPM's and Flats are 80-110.
Another helpful tip is to keep song folders so that you can easily have the songs you want to ‘plug in' to your profiles. I use Spotify, but you can do this in iTunes as well. You can have folders of songs labeled by BPM, or you can label them with titles such as ‘Warmup', ‘Flats', ‘Hills', ‘Cool Down', etc.
And don't be afraid to use other people's profiles and/or music until you get the hang of it. There a a lot of great instructors sharing their profiles and playlists out there on Facebook, blogs, and sites like ICI/PRO and Pedal-On.
In response to her simple, yet complicated questions. Here is my answer:
The most basic way to address this is to think of your class in two parts.
1. The design of your class
2. The music you will play to fit the design
For me, the design comes first. I decide what I want to do in the class. The warm up is first, and the cool down is last. What goes in between? I teach the “newer vertical” of Indoor Cycling or rhythmic style classes. So for me, “everything in between” is usually a combination of drills that move side to side or front to back, climbs and sprints.
When it comes to listening to music, it should clear right from the first listen, “this is a sprint song” or “this is a climb”. If you have to spend a lot of time deciding what type of song it is, it probably isn't a good song for you to use. Within my iTunes, I create playlists dedicated to different sections of my classes. I have playlists called “Climbs”, “Sprints”, Weights, “Figure 8s”, “Warm Ups”, “Meditations” and “Cool Downs”, for example. When I find a song that fits a category, I add it to the proper playlist.
When building my class, I take the basic design and plug in the songs. This works well for the beginner instructor.
Still having a difficult time? Stop searching for “new” music, and use music that you know and love. Your energy will shine because it's a song that you feel comfortable playing vs. looking crazy because you are trying to make a song that you don't know “fit or work”.
Cassie
Cassie is also a Social Media expert – she offers her ideas on tracking the success of your social media campaigns in this episode of the podcast.
I teach either performance-oriented timed interval rides or visualization rides. In the first case, I pick music to accompany the intervals based on rhythm (appropriate cadence, level of aggression) and length. It is definitely simplest to have intervals of fixed length and layer songs on top which motivate riders.
But visualization rides require helping your participant engage with the course. I ride my bike outdoors year-round and I base my visualization rides on routes I've been on. I tend to turn to my own feelings during those rides. Over rolling hills on a beautiful day, I can get lost in a smooth electronic track with a steady beat. On sharp, punchy climbs with the wind in my face, I need the hook from an aggressive rap track or a wailing guitar from a punk rock song. From my outdoor experiences, knowing there are multiple climbs or anticipating a hard sprint in a group ride, it is okay for the music to run on a little long, to build up, to create some frantic energy.
To manage musical flow, you have to understand the physical demands of the ride. If it's going to be a long, hard ride with little rest, don't be afraid to keep things aggressive – but remember to lighten up at the end of an effort. Every climb eventually ends, every sprint has a finish line, and, at some point, you can always choose to turn out of the wind. Your music should do the same.
Dunte and I had a fun conversation here where you can hear why I instantly added him to the Smart & Talented list 🙂
I've got a bunch more responses that you'll find here. But before you go… how would you have responded?
There's an old saying that goes; “I've been at this so long… I've forgotten much of what I didn't know, when I first started.” I've taught Indoor Cycling classes since 1998ish. A long time ago for sure. Even back then I had an advantage over most new Instructors. I'm married to the “Senior Group Fitness Instructor” in my family. Amy began her fitness career in 1994 and Spinning® in 1995. She was there for many of my early classes to help guide and critique me and my classes. I had her positioned front-center in the class during my first audition at Life Time – yes, I passed 🙂
So a lot of time has passed between those first classes and today. It's hard for me to think back on the nervousness and insecurity that's common in most new instructors. What's needed is a newer Instructor who's willing to share their ideas and solutions. That sounds like my friend Lena Hershey 🙂
This page at leanlena.com has links to multiple articles writen by Lena > New Instructor Tips specifically for those of you just getting started in your teaching carreer 🙂
Master Educator Cameron Chinatti with Stages Indoor Cycling joins me for a fun followup to their very successful IHRSA convention where they launched the new Stages SC3 Indoor Cycle. We've got a bunch of videos that relate to my interview, which you'll find below.
One of the highlights from the show was the amazing efforts of two cyclists, during their 60 sec challenge.
First there was
Junior Nationals competitor Dominic Suozzi decided to try his hand at the #60secchallege today. The kid's wearing Converse and he destroyed everyone. 1100 Watts!! That's crazy-ville!
Then how about the huge effort from Kat Haskins … aka TheBarnKat > she's an Instructor at CB Cycle Barn and wasn't an outdoor cyclist, up until now. She won a new Giant bicycle with Stages Power Meter for her efforts 🙂
Here's my interview with Cameron. Enjoy!
Cameron and I discuss their new “Sprint Shift” innovation. Here's a quick video showing how it works. You can read more about how I used this new feature at my review of the Stages SC3 Indoor Cycle.
Before I get a bunch of hate mail from Schwinn Instructors. I make the comment that Stages is the first Indoor Cycling company that is focused on both Indoor and outdoor cycling. Yes I realise that the brand “Schwinn” was first a bicycle company – my first road bike was a green Schwinn Varsity, second was a white and purple Schwinn Paramount. But the Schwinn Indoor Cycling brand has/had no connection with the bicycle company known as Schwinn bicycles. Stages is currently selling products to outdoor cyclists (the Stages Power Meter+ Endurance Training Education) as well as Indoor Cycling studios (the Stages SC3 Indoor Cycle + Instructor Education) Does my comment make sense now?
John, I feel we need an official organization of Cycling Studio Owners + an annual conference where we can all meet and learn from each other.
I've heard this dozens of times from Studio Owners, including this past IHRSA and last month at our Full Psycle/PRO PIQ training in Chicago.
That's a great idea, I would say repeatedly, followed by; So who's going to organize it?
Well… you are John – always said with a big smile 🙂
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There's a simple sales technique that's called; If I could… would you? The purpose of this exchange is to confirm if a person's question (do you have this in blue?) is conveying actual interest. Your open ended response is designed to understand more, keep the conversation going and possibly gain an early commitment (if I could get you one in blue, would you purchase one today?).
An example of using this at your studio:
Customer question; do you offer a “beginners” class for new riders?
Your response; If we could offer a “beginners” class… would you come?
Notice how responding directly; yes, we have a beginners class, doesn't have the same effect? That response ends the conversation and now you're left waiting for your customer to offer more.
An alternate response to this (if you have an existing beginners class) might be; yes we do – Wednesdays at 9:00. If we have an open bike, can I count on you being here to ride it?
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So back to the original question:
If we organized a meeting for Cycling Studio Owners…
…would you join us?
Now I understand that isn't nearly enough information to say Yes, or No. You'd need more detail. This would be open to Owners, Managers and prospective fitness entrepreneurs. We have some early interest from a number of potential sponsors and have scouted a possible location. Here's what we've found:
At an upscale hotel in Stamford, Connecticut > very close to NYC and LaGuardia airport – the east coast has the highest concentration of boutique studios.
Rooms are only ~$110.00 a night.
We're thinking about meeting over two days, during the third week in August > that dead time, after youth sports and long before Labor Day.
Having hosted two ICI/PRO conferences, I know that events like this are a huge undertaking and will be very, very expensive. Beyond your tentative Yes/No, I probably will/won't participate, I have a bunch of additional questions for you:
What are the best days of the week for this?
What should the format be?
What would you like to learn, see, experience?
Does it make sense to establish a formal Studio Owners organization?
I've created this survey to collect your responses.
If, or how, we proceed will depend on what you tell us!
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