Besides running Cycling Fusion Indoor Cycling, Gene Nacey also produces the Global Ride series of Indoor Cycling Class Videos. One of my favorites is the Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen climbing race. It features 13 “bring them to their knees” climbs that are perfect for your next climbing class. The countdown timers show the length of each interval as well as the length of each recovery.
Gene just sent me a link to a story about the Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen done by Pittsburgh TV station WQED. It has a lot of detail that you could use to really spice up your class narrative. I suggest saving it for the recoveries, no way you will be able to talk during the actual climbs, if you ride with your class like I do 🙂
ICI/PRO Member Bill Roach joins me to discuss his “Four Reasons Why You Should Consider a Newsletter for Your Spinning® Indoor Cycling Students.
Bill Roach is a Star 3 Certified Spinning Instructor and NASM certified Personal Trainer in Des Moines, Iowa. He served thirty years as a communications expert in the Iowa Attorney General’s Office before he took early retirement this year to devote more time to his fitness career. He has also been a long distance competitive cyclist competing in 24-hour and cross-state races.
Do you ever feel that you just can’t say everything you want during the course of teaching your indoor cycling class? Would you like an additional opportunity to teach, communicate, and bond with your students to keep them coming back? You might consider a newsletter for your students as a “value added” benefit. It’s easier than you may think. This is the first of two Podcasts covering the basics of writing a newsletter. In this episode, you'll learn the benefits of providing a newsletter for your students. – Retention. The most tangible benefit of a newsletter is that it builds student
loyalty and retention. If you are paid on the basis of class attendance, retention is
your lifeblood. Even if you aren’t, retention is one measure of your success as an
instructor for your management. And bigger classes are just more fun to teach. – Authority. The use of a newsletter distinguishes you as an instructor that will go
the extra mile. It also establishes you as someone who is knowledgeable about
health and fitness. This credibility makes your students more confident in your
knowledge and your teaching. – Teaching. A newsletter offers the opportunity to explain training concepts in
detail, a conversation not possible while riding during class time. You can
address periodization, threshold training, and contraindications while your
students can give these important concepts their full attention. And you can
coordinate the newsletters to your class plans to further encourage learning. – Bonding. Most important for me, a newsletter is a way to further the remarkable
bond between indoor cycling students and their instructor. A newsletter should be
personal in style – but not too much about the author. It should make readers and
students feel a part of an important “club” – which is exactly true! By promoting
the value and identity of that club, classes take on a more cohesive feel making
them more fun to teach!
Does a newsletter sound like something you might like to try? Bill walks us through the process of what you might say in your newsletter and how to deliver it, in an upcoming ICI/PRO Member Podcast.
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“From the lighting to the music to the actual cycling, it’s a total experience. No one wins in a spin class. It’s not about competition.”
Hoots should know. She took a local spinning class shortly after outdoor enthusiast Johnny Goldberg (“Johnny G”) and his good friend John Baudhuin (who co-founded Mad Dogg Athletics) came up with the concept circa 1992, but her passion wasn’t ignited until she made several trips to Miami to train under master instructors.
When she fell for spinning, she went all in.
SPINNING A NEW LOOK
“I came back to Albany and asked Tony if he’d give us some space for a spinning room,” Hoots said. “He had an area that I think had been for women only that he said we could use. I recruited John Medlin, who’s a phenom with a skill saw, to redesign the room and started negotiating with others who could help with the makeover.
“We redid the whole room – the look, the lighting, the sound system – added a few more bikes and once we found acceptance in the community, we couldn’t keep people out. Now we have a waiting list for all our classes.”
Powell, who opened Tony’s 29 years ago this May, has seen every fitness fad and fashion that’s made the rounds come and go at his popular gym. But he says he’s never quite seen anything go over the way spinning has since Hoots’ program evolved into a local craze.
“We’ve offered spinning here since it started; I think we started with 15 or so bikes,” he said. “It did OK, but once Barbara started teaching and making changes to our spinning room, it’s just become a phenomenon. It’s such a unique activity; from the atmosphere of the class to the state-of-the-art sound system, spinning is the total fitness experience.
“Spin classes here have become the hottest ticket in town. If you don’t get to a class a little early, you’re not going to get a seat. And we’re up to 55 bikes.” Read the rest if the story.
From AccuWeather.com Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi may have bad news.
I'm forecasting full classes till March
While cold weather is of course a part of winter, the persistent nature of colder-than-normal conditions and a lack of brief warm spells people can typically look forward to during midwinter have been unusual this season. Temperatures since Dec. 1, 2010 have averaged below normal from Boston and New York City to Chicago, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Atlanta and even Miami.
Bill Pryor and I want to introduce you to CyclingStudio.Org, the very first resource and community dedicated exclusively to the Owners and Managers of Spinning® – Indoor Cycling Studios located around the world!
Welcome to CyclingStudio.Org The mission is simple: A place where cycling studio owners and those passionate about this business can learn, share, and network. A place specifically designed to help you grow your business.
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When ICI/PRO member Kerri Fleisher showed me this video of her Kids Cycle class it was hard not to think “she may be on to something here…” I'm sure some will question the safety of small people on big bikes and I asked her about it. Kerri responded with …
Safety is number one with me!! (Fun is number two!). I have my own kid in there! I would NEVER put a child on a bike unless I was 100% sure they were safe, and if I sense they are getting tired and losing form, I make them take a break. I teach 100% off the bike so I can give my undivided attention to the kids!
Amy and I would have jumped at the chance to have our two girls participate in this class, when they were that age. It's sad that we have blocked kids from enjoying this form of exercise.
So what would happen if there were Kid Sized Indoor Cycles? That fit them properly … With some fun music, like Kerri uses … And fun programing?
Watch the video and post a comment about how you could make this happen in your club or studio if you had the proper equipment.
Besides running Cycling Fusion Indoor Cycling, Gene Nacey also produces the Global Ride series of Indoor Cycling Class Videos. One of my favorites is the Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen climbing race. It features 13 “bring them to their knees” climbs that are perfect for your next climbing class. The countdown timers show the length of each interval as well as the length of each recovery.
