It seems I made a few enemies on Wednesday. I subbed a “Housewives” 9:30 am class that had a bunch of talkers in it. I'm not too tolerant of people disrupting my class. So I told asked them to please save their conversations until after class. As it turns out, a regular of mine overheard a conversation the following day, between the scheduled Instructor and a few of the participants. Though you might enjoy seeing his email to Amy describing the exchange…
John Macgowan is on the unofficial Eden Prairie Housewives “hit list”. You may want to let him know to keep a low profile and wear a disguise if going out and about in EP.
Thursday morning during his spin class he mentioned that he subbed for XXXX at 9:30 Wednesday. I had scheduled interviews with some candidates for a job and used the restaurant at LTF (Life Time Fitness where I teach) this morning.
Had a two hour break so was able to go to XXXX's 9:30 and those housewives were giving XXXX hell because “the sub instructor” (John) worked them too hard and (here is the best part) seemed annoyed because they wanted to carry on conversations during the class.
I personally have complained to XXXX multiple times about the nonstop talking in her class and went so far as to call XXXX (Dept Head) about it. I held my tongue for as long as I could this morning, then I let those housewives have it.
You (Amy), Adam and John run organized classes, XXXX's tends to be a yard sale, but she is a really strong instructor. This morning I proceeded to say something along the lines of if you want social hour go upstairs and have it there and don't criticize the instructor for properly managing a class.
I also referred to the loudest and most annoying lady in the class as a manatee who should be more focused on the workout and less on annoying the entire class. Needless to say, I probably need a disguise now as well.
Kind of made my day to hear John overwhelmed them. Hope you all are well. Happy Friday!! See you tomorrow.
If you're one of the 10,000 Instructors who teach at one of the 300 clubs or studios currently using GroupExPRO to manage class subs and Instructor communications, you can skip listening to this Podcast.
If you're not, please read on…
For Instructors who are tired of; sub requests for class formats you don't teach, the endless string of needless Reply to All mass emails that fill your inbox, the difficulty you have simply finding a sub or worst of all (at least for me) not being notified when there's a class you can teach.
Or maybe you manage your club's Instructor team and are completely overwhelmed by Instructors who can't (or won't) find subs for their own classes and expect you to pull a rabbit out of your hat at the last minute to cover their class – or end up teaching the class yourself.
Either way you'll want to take a few moments to listen to this interview with Schwinn Master Trainer Shannon Fable. Shannon is a long time group fitness department manager who, together with her husband, created GroupExPRO to solve the problem of managing the continuous need for fitness class subs.
If you can relate to the frustration I express during this interview Shannon has a simple way for you to forward information about GroupExPRO to the proper person in your organization. Click > indoorcycleinstructor.com/subhelp to be taken to her referral page. Add your info and your manager's – then please add a short note about how you see this improving your club or studio.
As her way to thank you for your efforts, Shannon will be sending you a $50.00 gift card if your recommendation leads to GroupExPRO being implemented in your facility.
Hey John & Amy, I have an audition coming up with LIFETIME for cycling instructor. OK, I'm given 3 minutes to present my best ride. Crunch time. Any suggestions or advice on this?
How exciting for you! Amy and I enjoy teaching at Life Time with their dedicated cycling studios, great sound systems, video projectors and fabulous bikes.
NOTE: What follows will apply to any Instructor audition, at any club or studio. 1) Memorize the LTF mission statement
Our Mission is to provide an Educational, Entertaining, Friendly and Inviting, Functional and Innovative experience of uncompromising quality that meets the health and fitness needs of the entire family.
This isn't about drinking the Life Time Kool-Aid. It's showing your determination to work for Life Time. I'm not kidding when I say memorize it as you may be expected to deliver it as part of your Instructor audition.
2) Understand that first and foremost your role as an instructor is to deliver a fun and entertaining experience for the members. You may teach the most real/authentic cycling class on the planet, but if it's boring because you feel constrained by focusing too much on what not to do, it will show in your class presentation and your chances of getting hired are slim.
3) Be prepared to teach a class that's appropriate to the audience. LTF wants to see that you are flexible as an Instructor and can teach appropriately to varying member groups. You may teach a very “cycling specific” class, but if your audition is to a room full of housewives during a 9:30am class see #2. That said you should be familiar with the LTF Heart Rate chart – 5 Zones with the top of Zone 3 being AT (it isn't LT at LTF) and give a few HR based cues.
Beyond that I would…
4) Choose an energetic song, without lyrics, that you love to teach to. But don't over think it 🙁
5) BE ENERGETIC! LTF doesn't hire dead fish. If it takes an extra cup of coffee then drink it. Your excitement and your energy should radiate from you like a spotlight.
6) Stack the Deck! If at all possible get some of your friends in that class. If you can't, I would be sure to get there early and connect with a few participants who are setting up in the front row. Nothing says “Friendly and Inviting” like connecting (eye contact) with members during the class and it may help reduce your nervousness to have someone to focus on. I had Amy come to my audition and having her there in the class, to draw energy from, was invaluable.
7) Teach an intense, simple profile. Think K.I.S.S. Maybe a three step ladder profile where you have them up, out of the saddle, for the last 30 seconds when you…
8 ) Get off the bike and quickly work a few riders in the front row. Clap and congratulate your students at the end and then thank them sincerely for taking your 3 minute class!
Hope that helps and feel free to ask other questions.
I'd say good luck with your interview, but you don't need it… you're going to be awesome 🙂
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What I've described as the “SoulCycle Effect” appears to have caused a nice jump in the starting rate for IC Instructors. At many new boutique studios, the $50 – $75 per class rate advertised is the starting base pay rate. Consistently fill the room and the added $'s per-head incentives you'll receive could push your pay to $125.00 or more per class. Teach just six classes a week and you'll be making $15,000 to $37,500 a year… for a part-time job.
I don't know about you, but that's real money to me!
Big Box Clubs are feeling the labor pinch
Large health clubs are sensing competitive pressure from small/boutique fitness studios and it scares them. Not only are they losing customers, they're also watching their best Instructors walk out the door to join a startup down the street.
How do I know this? Because it was a common theme voiced by multiple club owners and equipment distributors I spoke with last month at IHRSA.
Which is a 180° flip from six or so years ago. That's when the small/boutique studio boom was ramping up. Then a fitness entrepreneur's primary strategy was differenciation. What can I do to be different from the local Big Box? Now it's the owner's and managers of these same large fitness clubs asking the same thing – LOL!
If it's been awhile, you're probably due a raise
If it's been a few years since your last review, now is probably as good a time as any to ask for an increase in your per-class rate.
Do a little research to learn what other studios near you are offering. It wouldn't hurt to graph out your class attendance and possibly list all of the times you agreed to sub other Instructors classes – so you can demonstrate your value to the business. Then be brave, schedule an appointment and politely ask for a raise. Unless you're a real flub, or there's no other option where you can teach, your current employer will want to retain your services = will want to keep you satisfied and offer you some additional $$$.
If that doesn't work – you can always check indoorcyclinginstructorjobs.com to find a studio who would love to have you on their team 🙂
We were saving Kim Moody's profile; “The Gate” until it was closer to Halloween – and here it is!
Kim was one of the winners to the first Ultimate Instructor Class Profile contest as we really appreciated her take on creating a holiday based ride theme.
This profile is based on the urban legend, “The Gate,” in Libertyville, IL. One can find more information about this frightening place by going to www.hauntedusa.org/thegate
For this Halloween mixed ride, I wanted members to visualize the dark and desolate location so I began the class by retelling excerpts from the article to provide some background information and imagery material.
I have a friend, a very accomplished cyclist, who fancies himself a Ferrari. To look at Eddy you'd have to agree; he's long, lean and very sharp looking. But to ride with him may have you thinking more Peterbilt, than Ferrari. You see my friend is very strong and rides with a slow, powerful cadence. Many who ride with him remark; “the guy never shifts… he did the whole ride in one big gear.”
I'm finally continuing with this series, comparing the athletes in your class with the engine in their cars.
Let's explore the difference between small displacement > High RPM engines found in High Performance Sports cars and the large displacement > low RPM engines found in a Semi Tractor- Trailer or Lorie you see running down the highway. Then see if we can draw a a few correlations between them that would be interesting to the Gear Heads in your class… after all, if your class is anything like mine, you're beginning to see more men, now that it's getting cold outside.[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
The F430 Ferrari is an incredible car. It will go zero to 60 in 4 seconds, a top speed of 200MPH and you can get one of your own for only $200,000 US. What moves this 3,200lb rocket, when you push on the “fly by wire” accelerator pedal, is a 4.3 liter gasoline engine that develops 483 horse power – once it is spinning at the maximum of 8,500 RPM.
A conservative choice for an engine in your new Peterbilt truck is a Cummins ISX15 diesel engine. This engine makes 485 horse power while turning a leisurely 2,200 RPM
So the F430 and the Peterbilt both have essentially the same horsepower (483 vs. 485) available to the driver.
What's the difference? Isn't Power… Power?
TORQUE
The Cummins engine creates 1,850 Ft Lbs of Torque, over 5 times that of the F430's puny 343 Ft Lbs, while only turning 1/4 the RPM. The Peterbilt needs all this Torque to move the combined tractor and trailer weight of a 50,000lbs up over a 6% grade. To create that Torque the Cummin's engine is massive (weighing over 3,000lbs – about the same as the whole F430) with huge pistons that are (you guessed it) about 4 times as large in diameter!
Torque in an engine is created by the force of combustion acting on the surface area of the piston. While there's a lot of other physics that go into the creation of Power, I'm reminded of an old racer's adage that goes something like; There's no replacement for displacement.
What's true in engines is true in humans… with all other things equal; bigger muscles can create bigger forces = more Torque. But Torque doesn't get you up the mountain – that's Power. So of two women of equal weight, the one with the biggest legs doesn't get to the top first.
The winner to the summit will be the one who can continuously make the most Power, for the duration of the climb.
My buddy Eddy, like most endurance athletes, is a student of himself. Over 10's of thousands of miles, he's learned exactly where his body makes the most Power, the most efficiently. In his case, he understands that his very strong legs work best while powering through at what many would say is too slow a cadence.
Fans of the Tour de France may remember the climbing battles between Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich – where the contrast between Lance's 90+ RPM and Jan's 60ish RPM had them climbing at the same speed = they (I'm assuming they have similar body weight) made the same amount of Power. The same Power that is, until Lance turned, looked, then accelerated to 100 RPM and dropped Jan due to his superior Volumetric Efficiency – ability of an engine to process Oxygen, by efficiently moving air through itself.
After all Lance Armstrong is truly a Ferrari – but that's a subject for another post.
A fun class you can offer (if you teach with Power/Watts) is to create a profile that includes a series of laddered efforts of increasing cadences – while maintaining a set percentage of FTP or some baseline wattage. The purpose of the class is to help each student find the RPM range where they are the most efficient, i.e are they a Ferrari or a Peterbilt?
Amy and I experience this every time we ride our Tandem. In His, Hers and Ours Audio PROfile we explore how different cadences can be used to create the same amount of Power, or ground speed, which is essentially the same thing.
You may choose to use only RPE or you could tie each step to a HR. Maybe you cue wattage as a multiple of body weight; Now everyone find their One Watt Per Lb wattage at 70 RPM. Now let's add 10 RPM and reduce resistance to stay at that wattage… after 3 minutes ask, what's the result? Do you feel like you are working harder? HR higher or lower?
This might be a fun exercise to use a few weeks ahead of an FTP assessment – where we first teach everyone their Natural Cadence (best efficiency) and then have them ride at that RPM during their assessment.
Sounds like a question for Cameron Chinatti – stay tuned…[/wlm_private]
