by Joey Stabile | Sep 27, 2026 | Engage Your Students, Instructor Tips and Tricks, Instructor Training, Motivation
This week I have the extraordinary privilege to be working from my balcony in Punta Cana. I have never been to an all inclusive resort before, and it is quite the experience. The grounds are beautiful, you can go to any of the many restaurants or bars on the property, and there always seems to be a smiling face nearby ready to wait on your next need.
Last night we attended an outdoor band that was playing and there were six younger people that were hired by the resort to provide entertainment and get the crowd dancing etc… While all of them were great dancers, the lead young man was simply incredible. His feet were light and fast, and yet somehow thoughtful and deliberate. He was smiling from ear to ear, and seemed to be having as much fun doing his job as we were joining him on the dance floor. As talented at this young man was, one of his gifts seemed to be the ability to dance with a wide range of partners (guests that he would engage) and have them seem comfortable and loose. You could see the transformation in the people in only one minute: they went from thinking “oh, no, I can't dance with him, he is too good” to relaxing and enjoying themselves and then going back to their tables only to return to the dance floor with their spouse or partner.
It really got me thinking about customer service and how that impacts our industry and profession. Yes, being an indoor cycling instructor is, well at least should be, a profession. We have customers (riders) and it is really our job to guide them through this fitness experience that we have (hopefully) spent time and effort creating. In many ways, we should be presenting an image similar to this young man's for not just our riders, but all of those that are in the club or studio.
As with any great performer, his performance moved me, and has me thinking….Am I providing a high quality performance for my riders and most importantly, am I providing that experience to most of my riders or only just a few? As with most instructors, I have a core group of 10 or so people (about a third of the class) that seem to be in all of the classes I teach. They are all cyclists (they ride outdoors) and they work hard, they work very hard. They are inspirational to teach to and certainly in the midst of a very tough set they help to get me to the other side. But what about the other 20 or so people in that room? I am reaching them? Is my class actually fun and enjoyable, or has it become a 60 minute grueling experience?
I have often heard group exercise instructors talk about the class they just delivered and the gist of the conversation always seems to revolve around “killing” the people, or it being the “hardest” class they have had or something similar. Very rarely, if ever, do you I have pleasure of hearing about how they had the entire class pedaling to the beat and enjoying themselves. I am not sure that I myself have ever measured the success of one of my classes by the number of smiles I have seen on the participant's faces; but perhaps I should. Some, well really most, of my riders will never be on a triathlon course, so I should be mindful about training them like they headed there in three weeks.
So I challenge you, take a few moments and think about your next class. Are you providing great customer service? Are you including most of the riders, and not just your hardcore following? Are your riders having fun? As for myself, when I return I plan to taking the time to be sure that I am dancing with all of my customers, not just the cyclists!
Originally posted 2018-04-02 07:00:10.
by John | Sep 9, 2026 | Big Box Instructor, Instructor Tips and Tricks, Instructor Training
If you promise me that you won't get a big head, I'd like you to go look in the mirror and repeat after me;
“I'm a celebrity and it's about time that I started acting like one.”
Now I'm not suggesting that you should start arriving for your next class in a chauffeur driven limousine, nor am I recommending that you follow these seven steps to becoming a celebrity. But I am suggesting that you consider acting in a way that will cause others to be interested in you… which is really no different than the people you are interested in and some of our attraction to other celebrities.
The dictionary lists ce·leb·ri·ty [suh-leb-ri-tee] as a noun meaning 1. a famous or well-known person. If you've been teaching for a while, I'm going to guess that within your little world, you are well known = you are a celebrity 🙂
So if the though of you as a celebrity is intriguing, here are a few things you can work on…
Develop your Shtick
Fernando's lines; “You look marvelous my darling… you really do!” and “It is better to look good than to feel good” launched the career of Billy Crystal back in the 80's. Your shtick may not be as corny as Crystal's, but what made these lines so memorable were how Billy delivered them with an accent that many of us have tried to imitate. A very popular Instructor I know starts every class with “GOOD MORNING MINNETONKA” with a delivery fit for the opening of a World Wrestling Match or Boxing title fight. People in her class look forward to it in every class and would feel something was missing if she didn't do it.
Consistency is key to both your Shtick. What you say and how you say it should be unique and your delivery should be as consistent as possible.
Dress the part
What's the first thing you think of when I say the names of these famous singers; “Lady Gaga?” (her wild clothes) “Bono” – lead singer with U2 (his sunglasses) Brett Michaels (bandanna head wrap) “Dolly Parton” (her… wigs) you get the point.
Consider a Theme Song
Where would Gilligan's Island be today without … five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour, a three hour tour. Admit it, you could hear the song as your read the words 🙂
What would be wrong with having a consistent song for your class intro [wlm_firstname]? A song that your students begin to associate with your class?
Promote yourself
There's a great article at the Wall Street Journal about Rock Star Instructors and what they do to promote themselves.
Gyms are experiencing a surge in the popularity of group fitness classes, and as they move out StairMasters to make way for aerobics studios, they're finding that the linchpin of a successful class is a charismatic instructor. Often former dancers or musical theater dropouts, instructors motivate students, mostly women though some men too, to pack themselves like sardines into a studio and to come back, again and again.
A demi-class of female friendship is developing: the fitness instructor and the student. “My friends and I always gush about the instructors we have a girl-crushes on,” says Katie Lee, a writer and TV personality in Water Mill, N.Y., who takes spinning classes about four times a week.
Instructors market themselves on the Web by teaching free classes on Google+ Hangouts. They attract followers by posting videos on YouTube and offer daily affirmations to sometimes tens of thousands of Facebook subscribers.
Originally posted 2012-09-06 08:35:45.
by Christine Hawthorne | Sep 3, 2026 | ICI/PRO Team Member Articles, Instructor Tips and Tricks, Instructor Training, Promote and Build Your Class
As a long time educator, I’ve learned some lessons that have been very valuable to me as I added ‘Cycling Instructor’ to my resume. One of the things that I’ve learned over my years in education is how much my students and parents appreciate being connected to what’s going on in the classroom. In addition, my students are made to feel like they are a part of a family. Getting to know each and every one of them on a personal level is a goal I have in my classroom each school year. It builds camaraderie and it lets them know that I care. In return, I’m greeted with happy parents and almost 20 beautiful smiling faces every day.
This concept can be translated into your indoor cycling class in several ways. Connecting with your students can be as simple as sending out weekly emails. Or if you’re really ambitious, you can connect by blogging or through your own personal website. Your options are limitless!
How many times has a student come to you after class and asked you , “Now, which days/times do you teach”? Even though it’s surely posted on every wall in the facility. How often do you hear, “Wow, I loved that one song, what was it”? Or “I wish I had known class was cancelled-you added a class-you were subbing for so and so.”
Your students want to know what’s going on, and the easier you make it for them to get that information, the more they are going to appreciate it. In return, you WILL see your class size grow.
If you have a computer and five minutes a week, you’ll be off to a positive start. Here are a few simple ways that you can connect with your students:
Weekly Emails:
- Bring a sign up sheet on a clipboard with you to class and ask your students for their email address if they would like to receive updates and important information regarding your class.(Of course let them know that you would never share their information with anyone first.) As new members join and become consistent in your program, they will appreciate the connection, so keep that clipboard in your gym bag at all times. Every so often, make an announcement to see if anyone would be interested in receiving emails. If a member comes to you with a question about your classes or teaching schedule, suggest that they join your email list.
- Send out a mass email once a week. In the email give your students information about any closings or cancellations or special classes that you might be teaching that week. Your students will also appreciate the heads up when you’ll be subbing for another instructor or if another instructor will be filling in for you.
- If it’s a slow news week in your cycling world, add in a link to a good article about indoor cycling or a funny clip or picture.
- If you have your weekly playlists on iTunes or Spotify, add a link so your students can have a listen.
It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but I promise you-your students will appreciate you for it!
Connecting Through Facebook:
Facebook Groups
- You can easily create a group through Facebook where members can post, share and ask questions about your indoor cycling program.
- Creating a Facebook ‘Group’ is really pretty simple. If you have a Facebook account, click on ‘Groups’ under the ‘Applications’ menu on the left side of your home page. Enter your group information and invite members from a list of your Facebook friends.
- You have the option of keeping your group private or open to the public. Facebook members that are not already your ‘friends’ can search your group and request to be added to it.
- You can customize who can post on your group page, but it’s fun to keep it open for all group members to post.
- You can add photos and links to your Facebook groups. This is a good place to post your cycling playlists for your students to view.
Facebook Pages
- A Facebook ‘Page’ differs from a Facebook ‘Group’ in that it allows only the page administrator (you) to post. It is open to the public and anyone that ‘Likes’ your page can see your updates on their newsfeed. It is not as interactive as a ‘Group’, but still a great way to get information to your students. Page administrators (you) can also track your page’s activity.
- To create a Facebook ‘Page’: Go to this link which will take you to the Facebook page wizard. It will lead you through the steps and you will have your very own page in no time! You can view my Facebook page here.
If you’re feeling ambitious, here are a few other ideas for staying connected:
- Of course you could always create your own blog or website. I originally created my blog, Chrispins, with my students in mind. And while they still check it out, it has really blossomed into place where I communicate with other instructors around the globe.
- If you’ve never checked out FitGuru, it is a good (free!) tool for communication with your students as well. It takes a little bit of time to set up, but once you have it rolling, it is quick and easy to maintain your site. It allows you to easily email all of your members with the click of a button and you can post your teaching schedule there along with important news.
If you are not already connecting with your students in some way, give one of these ideas a try and see the difference it can make in your classes.
How do you communicate with your students? Are you already using some of these methods or do you use a method that I did not mention?
Originally posted 2013-01-22 05:44:28.
by John | Aug 4, 2026 | Instructor Tips and Tricks, Instructor Training, Master Instructor Blog, Promote and Build Your Class
“Because that's where the money is…” was famous American bank robber Willie Sutton's reported answer to the question; “Willie why do you rob banks?”
I can imagine a similar conversation with an upscale restaurant owner; “so why do you cater to business people?” “Because they regularly entertain important clients and pay with expense accounts!”
Now that business people (and their prospective clients) are moving away from the two-martini lunch and adopting a more healthful lifestyle, expense accounts are paying for fitness classes.
Sweaty Wall Streeters Skip Booze for Spin-Class Meetings
Wall Street’s salesmen and dealmakers, whose expense accounts help fill downtown chophouses and box seats at ballparks, are now treating clients to a different kind of entertainment: high-end workouts.
Pre-dawn and afternoon classes at Manhattan fitness studios SoulCycle, Barry’s Bootcamp and Flywheel Sports are growing popular with bankers who want to bond without loading up on liquor and fatty foods, according to traders and salesmen. John Abularrage, head of Tullett Prebon Plc’s Americas unit, takes clients to 5 a.m. sessions at Barry’s Bootcamp in Tribeca, where they run on treadmills and lift weights to thumping dance music.
…
Bankers who sell stocks or bonds have long plied mutual-fund traders and hedge-fund managers with tickets, meals and drinks in the hopes that friendship — or at least familiarity – – will lead to more trades. Health-conscious clients increasingly view steak dinners as “three-hour ordeals,” said Chelsea Kocis, a 26-year-old former equity saleswoman.
“‘Let’s meet at 5 for a workout,’” she said, describing the way she’d invite out traders. “‘You can be home before your kids go to bed.’ That’s an enticing thing for a lot of people.”
They're calling it sweat-working
New Yorkers have been wooing clients and forging business relationships in yoga classes and locker rooms for more than a minute, but after the New York Times introduced the term “sweatworking” to the public at the end of last year, the concept entered the serious spotlight.
And at the center of it all was Sarah Siciliano, an advertising production executive who has turned sweat-working into a branded business. Siciliano now has a website and a group of clients who work out with her two or more times a week. They spin, stretch, and make business deals.
CREATING BUSINESS CONNECTIONS OUTSIDE OF THE OFFICE HAVE BECOME TOO MUCH ABOUT EATING AND DRINKING, OFTEN TO EXCESS. THE CONCEPT OF SWEAT-WORKING IS THAT EVEN BETTER, MORE MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONS CAN BE FORGED WHEN A GROUP OF LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE WORK TOGETHER TO IMPROVE THEIR MINDS AND BODIES. IMAGINE IF ALL THE TIME WE INVESTED IN NOISY, CALORIE-LADEN, ALCOHOL-SOAKED NETWORKING EVENTS WERE PUT TOWARDS INVIGORATING, CLARIFYING, ENERGIZING ATHLETIC CLASSES AND EXCURSIONS.
Now you don't have to wait for someone like Sarah to organize a group of like minded people and have them meet regularly at your club. You could do it yourself by using a free service like www.meetup.com.
I encourage you to visit meetup.com, search by your studio's Zip Code and scroll through all of the results. I did a quick check for groups located within 5 miles of ICI/PRO member Joe Ducosin's CycleQuest studio and found these groups…
Would any of these groups be interested in holding a meeting at your studio? I have no idea, but the group leaders are easy to contact.
Another option would be for you to form your own networking group that meets after your class for coffee. What types of business are prominent nearby? Who's already in your class that would benefit from meeting more people?
Joe has a huge (6,000 employees) new health care provider moving in just up the road. I'll bet there will be a steady stream of sales people visiting who may appreciate a sweat-working opportunity at his studio – and will pay for the privilege with an expense account 🙂
Originally posted 2017-12-28 09:00:58.
by John | Apr 8, 2026 | Big Box Instructor, Promote and Build Your Class
Image from netpromoter.com
They describe Net Promoter Score (NPS) as The Ultimate Question
:
How likely is it that you would recommend this Club/Studio/Class/Instructor to a friend or colleague?
As a Life Time Fitness Instructor/employee I hear about our NPS scores frequently… and if you don't understand what NPS refers to and the effect it could have on their business or your class, you may be thinking; “so what?”
Well the short answer is your NPS score is an indication of how likely your students will be to promote the club where you teach or your class to their friends.
Let's start with some understanding from the people who developed this concept:
What is Net Promoter?
Net Promoter® is both a loyalty metric and a discipline for using customer feedback to fuel profitable growth in your business. Developed by Satmetrix, Bain & Company, and Fred Reichheld, the concept was first popularized through Reichheld's book The Ultimate Question, and has since been embraced by leading companies worldwide as the standard for measuring and improving customer loyalty.
The Net Promoter Score, or NPS®, is a straightforward metric that holds companies and employees accountable for how they treat customers. It has gained popularity thanks to its simplicity and its linkage to profitable growth. Employees at all levels of the organization understand it, opening the door to customer- centric change and improved performance.
As you can see in the image above, NPS is based on a 0-10 rating score in response to the question; How likely is it that you would recommend to a friend or colleague? The responses are then broken down into three categories:
- 0-6 Detractors – Unhappy people who will talk down your class or club – damaging your brand through negative word of mouth.
- 7-8 Passives – Satisfied, but won't go out of their way to promote your class to others.
- 9-10 Promoters – these are your fans 🙂 The students you look forward to seeing and they in turn look forward to telling others about the awesome class you just taught. In a nut shell, these are the people who will help FILL YOUR CLASS!
To calculate the NPS you subtract the number of Detractors from Promoters, which leaves you with either a positive number (good), zero, or a negative number (bad). So if you have 100 people respond to a survey of the ultimate question if you have more Promoters than Detractors you can expect to see your class size grow.
NPS ignores the Passives as they really don't hurt or help your business. I see the real improvements coming from moving the Detractors up the scale.
I have a few personal complaints and/or concerns with NPS:
- The score tends to be skewed by the number of respondents and getting busy people to respond is tough… which is why your manager is forever asking you to ask your participants to complete a survey.
- I'm personally more inclined to give negative feedback, actually… I'm guessing we all are.
- You may have very little influence on your clubs NPS. If your bike maintenance is lacking, one of the two projectors isn't working or the locker room has a funny smell that causes a member to score your club as a Detractor, there isn't much you can do. This could be a good reason to drill down and solicit NPS for specific areas/departments.
So beyond Life Time, who else uses NPS to measure how successfully they are satisfying their customers? Apple for one. The link is to an article that dispels the myth that Steve Jobs never listened to his customers – Apple listens every day.
In Podcast # 196 Studio Owner Emmy Ragali explains why she has an Instructor Evaluation form on her Go Cycle website. The link to it is easy to find and she and her instructors encourage participants to give feedback regularly. I see that one of the questions is; Are you likely to recommend this instructor's class to a friend?
Which is really all that matters 🙂
Does your studio use NPS [wlm_firstname]? What have been your experiences?
I'll be discussing how we all can help to improve our clubs NPS scores in later articles.
Originally posted 2012-01-18 04:51:13.
by John | Mar 21, 2026 | Instructor Tips and Tricks
Updated: 10/27/14 I continue to be confused by people's insistence that Indoor Cycling is in someway unsafe – so I thought I should republish this post.
Updated: 7/11
My mic failed this morning. We were about 10 min. into our hour class when any small movement of my head caused the loud crashing sound many of us have experienced. I was teaching to our latest Audio PROfile, Paceline Cycling in France and had everyone set up for our first 20 min. effort when I thought; Houston… we have a problem!
I've had enough “technical difficulties” in my career as an Instructor to know the best response in this situation is no (or a very minimal) response. Any attempt to solve the problem just leads to a big disruption in your class, so you just go with it. So off goes the headset. I offered a short apology for the problem and then I explained to everyone; “I see you all as self-directed athletes and now is your chance to prove it” 🙂
And they did.
Because I had given everyone a full explanation as to what's to come, they didn't have any trouble following the video and by all appearances everyone seemed to enjoy the class… and no one hurt themselves.
While we all rode along I got to thinking; “what would be different if I wasn't here?” I was thinking specifically of Jim Karanas' last post about using a virtual ride DVD as a substitute Instructor. I am convinced that, left to their own motivation, my class would not work as hard as they do with my prompting. But would they be less safe?
My personal observation – no.
I've been participating and/or teaching Indoor Cycling since 1995. Over that 17 or so years I can only think of one specific time where someone was injured. That's once out of – it must be over a thousand classes.
The only injury that I can remember was during the first week our club began offering indoor cycling classes. We had these shiny new Johnny G Spinners and Amy was all excited to begin teaching a class that I could actually attend. I don't know if they'll came as standard, or if the club purchase them separately, but in those very first classes the bikes used some very aggressive mountain bike pedals. When I say aggressive I'm referring to how the pedal platforms featured serrated edges, designed to keep muddy shoes from slipping off. The concept of a fixed gear bike was new to everyone. During the class a woman's foot came out of the toe clip and when the pedal completed another revolution, it carved a nasty gash in this poor woman's calf. The next time I was there, every bike sported a set of smooth Schwinn triple link petals.
So where do the concerns over safety come from? Because I don't see it.
My perception is that Indoor Cycle probably the safest activity you can do at the club. Orthopedic surgeon's dream homes are built from repairing 40-year-old Achilles tendons, torn from running up and down the basketball court… treadmills spit people off on a regular basis and I personally had to have my biceps tendon reattached from curling too heavy of a dumbbell.
People trip, fall and crash into one another in step & Zumba classes. I know a number of victims who hobbled out after a yoga class complaining; I think I pulled something 🙁 And yet class after class, year after year no one gets hurt in my (or anyone else's) Indoor Cycling classes.
Am I missing something here?
Update 7/11
Screen shot from http://www.spinningtv.com
I've been digging into this more and started to think about all the home users of Indoor Cycles. Spinningtv.com says they have sold nearly 1,000,000 Spinners to at-home users. With Amy's involvement over at ShopNBC I've learned all about the crazy numbers of sales they make via infomercials. Based on the number of infomercials Spinningtv.com runs, I'm going to bet that “Nearly 1,000,000 Sold number isn't an exaggeration!
When someone orders a home version Spinner bike they also receive a selection of DVD's featuring Josh Taylor or other Instructor who leads the customer through a virtual ride. I haven't watched any of these DVD's so I can't say with certainty, but I'm going to guess that Josh and Co. lead viewers through changes in positions and intensities… just like we do in our classes.
I Googled “spinning bike lawsuit” to see if some enterprising attorney had attempted to seek damages for a user (s) who was injured riding sans Instructor. All I could find were two #1 #2 lawsuits. Each had resulted from mechanical failures, both in clubs.
My next search was for “spinning bike consumer safety” to see if there were any warnings, recalls or other notices from some regulatory agency. I found nothing.
When you consider that indoor cycling has been popular since the late 90's, there have been millions of indoor cycles sold, who have been ridden by many millions of people – at all levels of experience – over 10's or 100's of millions of hours, I'd have to say that Indoor Cycling is a pretty safe activity for most anyone.
But I'm still confused… where do the concerns about Indoor Cycling safety come from?
Originally posted 2014-10-27 09:37:48.
