by John | Jul 10, 2012 | Big Box Instructor, Instructor Training, Master Instructor Blog
“It's gorgeous outside, why are you here?”
“Your class is a lot more efficient workout for me, than riding outdoors.”
My question was directed at my class in general, but I was looking at Jim, a buddy of mine when I said it. Jim is a member of what I called the A-Team, the regular participants to my Monday 5:45AM class. Jim is a typical A-type personality; a high-powered attorney who has more money than time. If you spend a few minutes talking to him you'd realize he's pretty much a no-nonsense guy and I'm guessing Jim had some court date or other appointment that morning. Otherwise he would normally be out on his bike.
Are your students looking for efficiency in your class?
I'm going to start by suggesting that the time of day your class occurs attracts a specific type of person:
- Early morning classes, in my opinion, are filled with people looking for efficiency. Like my friend Jim they want to go in, work out and get off to work at a set time. We (I'm including myself in this A-Team) are very structured in our schedules. Every Monday morning as I leave the club I hold the door for another friend, Dr Block, who's just arriving to the club… every Monday this happens without fail.
- Midmorning classes tend to be social events, attracting a large number of women… which is why many of us call these housewives classes.
- Noon classes are back to efficiency… Students want to get in and out within the prescribed length of time.
- Evening classes seem to be a hybrid of both efficiency and social. If you teach evening classes you may recognize members who appear to have nowhere else to go at the end of the day… and those who blast off 10 seconds after the end.
So if you're teaching either early morning, or noon classes I feel it's important that you recognize your student's need for efficiency and deliver on it.
Here are a few suggestions from a habitual early a.m. Instructor:
- Start on time. I've been in a lot of morning classes where it's obvious the instructor is expecting a number of late arrivals. Teach to everyone who's there on time!
- Demonstrate discipline as the Instructor. People looking for efficiency tend to be well organized themselves. If you are stumbling around, with no clear sense of direction, you'll frustrate your students.
- Keep your communication clear and concise. As I discussed in an earlier post where the microphone had quit early in class, because I had already laid out the class plan students new exactly what to do.
- Encourage early arrivers to lead themselves through a self-directed warm-up.
- Minimize the duration of your planned warm-up. I'm not suggesting you yell GO! at 5:46 am and then pound them for the next 60 min. But rather impress upon everyone, in the spirit of efficiency, to increase their work-load as quickly as they can comfortably do so.
- Teach long efforts near threshold. My experience is that people want to feel that they've time in class has been productive, but not feel trashed at the end of an early a.m. class. Despite everyone's best efforts, we're still warming up 30 min. into class. Long efforts give your students a chance to adapt, as their bodies allow.
- Minimize recovery between efforts. I rarely take my students above threshold in the morning class… but I may keep them just below it for 20 or more minute. I'll described it as riding in your Performance Zone â„¢ where I encourage students work as hard as they comfortable, for the specified length of time.
- Discourage the chatter. Efficient people do not appreciate distractions, while they are focused on a task. Believe me, many of the your students look at their participation in your class as a task to be completed within the specified length of time. Long efforts up near threshold, with minimal recoveries in between, will keep most everyone focused and above the Chatty Zoneâ„¢.
Did I miss anything [wlm_firstname]?
by Chuck Cali | Jul 9, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Chuck Cali
“Is there a way to find out what your class profile will be before the class?”
I’m never quite sure how to take this question, which I get periodically. Still, I screw up the courage to ask, “Why?”
The answer usually begins with, “If I knew…” and involves anything from “my knees can’t take the climbing,” to “the video makes me dizzy,” to “I would have come in earlier to get a bike.”
I’ve come to believe that riders benefit from knowing the objective for any scheduled class. I’ve wondered why facilities don’t improve programming, and hypothesized that those that did would flourish.
If facilities could flourish with a strong, well-marketed program, it seems they’d all be doing it. But it’s a weird world and sometimes doesn’t follow logic. So these thoughts became a personal research project.
This wasn’t a local issue. During years when business travel found me in far-off places, I sampled indoor cycling from a range of instructors and facilities. Different place, different instructor, same one-size-fits-all format.
It occurred almost exclusively at big-box facilities during prime time. But why?
Prime time classes are obviously scheduled early (before work), late (after work), after kid drop-off at school, and weekend mornings. Facilities exploit prime time with a popular instructor who handles the large crowd well, connects with the regulars, and delivers a good workout, perpetuating full classes.
Prime time is when members can participate in large numbers for reasons of convenience. But these times are convenient for all fitness levels. So trying to target specific goals during a prime time class is like herding cats: You never get everyone going in the same direction.
Imagine how a 30-minute beginner class would go over at 5:00 or 6:00 pm when over-stressed members pour into the studio for stress relief. Instead of the good cardio workout they expect, they don’t even break a sweat and have to wait for the instructor to bike-fit half the class.
What about the beginner who takes a prime time class described as “suitable for all fitness levels”, while the well-liked instructor plays to the regulars and kicks butt with cues only they understand?
Programming is difficult when it must accommodate all fitness levels in crowded classes. The big boxes leave it to the instructors and simply state, “Beginners welcome”.
Jim Karanas and I have discussed this at length. His experience, especially at big boxes, is far more extensive than mine. His position was, “It’s too costly to run the kind of program you suggest and is likely to meet with mixed success at best.”
Jim’s advice was sound, but I’m a program guy. There had to be a way to introduce and develop long-term training concepts during prime time.
What about boutique studios? Did they have regular programming by fitness level? I examined their schedules and interviewed the owners.
Boutique studios arose from the desire of an entrepreneurial instructor to do it better, to provide what’s missing at the big boxes — a coherent indoor cycling program — and, perhaps, combine it with yoga, pilates or personal training. Boutique programs were progressive and geared to smaller groups and personal service.
On the surface, the progressive nature of boutiques seemed to make real programming possible. But closer examination revealed that boutiques suffer the same malady as big boxes: Prime Time classes! At boutiques, even more than at big boxes, a paying member is not turned away, regardless of the class description.
Clearly, the most popular instructors, regardless of facility, were running their own programs. The best-liked instructors knew the regulars and were able to make both beginners and advanced riders happy.
Indoor cycling instruction is survival of the fittest. To keep the saddles full, we have to raise our game. Every instructor does his/her own thing. So long as the instructor is likeable and trusted, this doesn’t bother riders.
I never determined if facilities would flourish with real programming, but I realized there’s nothing stopping you from creating your own program. I plan a month or two ahead and publish it for my regular classes — everything from “Climbing to Classic Rock” to stages of the Tours.
I had fun this year doing stages three and five of the Tour of California. ICI/PRO is a great resource for class ideas. I’ll work Jim’s ‘Crit’ profile in soon. When I want to make a ride special, it’s communicated to the Group X director and we get the word out early enough to draw others.
Doing my own programming de-stresses preparing. My classes are usually full, and it wasn’t always that way. Also, by mixing up the rides I can find out what my riders like and do more of that.
At ICG® Academy, Jim Karanas runs a monthly instructor workshop to keep us on the same training page, right down to hand position. He pounds us on leading/coaching/instructing through the use of structured profiles that include training concepts consistent with ICG’s mission — all set to forward-motion video.
Jim’s cueing at the last workshop was spot-on as he delivered a kick-butt class. You just know this is one of his favorite rides and on his schedule often.
If you’re reading this, I’d bet you’re already working hard to prepare great rides. Hopefully you keep them around to categorize, save and re-use. They don’t all have to be cycling-specific. Change the music; call it something different. Last Thursday I introduced my “Shazam Ride”. Tuesday was my “five-minute ride” — all the songs were five minutes long.
Before you know it, you’ll have a full calendar.
Programming is another great way to connect with your riders. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.
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by Jim Karanas | Jul 2, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog
In the future we can have Rosie sub for us.
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Jim Karanas
Every day, countless products, services, and people provide us with positive or negative experiences. Not long ago, one of my students confronted me to let me know that she was annoyed and frustrated with a substitute instructor I had used for a recent class.
Now, substitute cycling instructors are often well-trained, decent instructors. But however good the sub may be, he/she is not the instructor for whom he/she is subbing. As we all know, indoor cycling students grow attached to their instructors, especially their favorite ones, and are critical of whoever comes in to sub that favorite’s class.
For 30 years, I was a program director in commercial clubs. Instructors sub out an average of 15% of their classes every month. A club that offers 20 cycling classes per week has a monthly schedule of about 87 classes. Taking 15% of 87, we can estimate that 13 classes per month are subbed. At $35 per hour, that works out to $456.75 a month or $5,481.00 per year spent on subs. Multiply that by 20 clubs.
If the students don’t enjoy the class, that’s a lot of money spent on a negative member experience.
The question is whether the cycling-instructor substitute provides a level of service that’s beneficial for the club owner and a sufficiently positive member experience for the cost. Of course, there are exceptions, but consider the market as a whole. How valuable is the current instructor-sub system that’s in place in most clubs? Could it be replaced or enhanced in any way?
My experience in the industry tells me that having an instructor in the room may be necessary for safety reasons. The substitute process is also a great way to check out and train new instructors. Yet, when you look at the cost, the aggravation and time spent dealing with subs, and poor member experiences, is the current system the best solution? Does it remain so in light of current technological advancements?
If you’ve read my posts, you know that my position regarding the use of video and virtual programming in the club setting is very positive. The production of virtual programming for indoor-cycling classes is accelerating and improving. I don’t believe that video will ever replace a quality instructor. But I do feel that a well-constructed video profile can do the job that many substitute instructors are doing. It could certainly leave a more positive impression on the students.
One of the reasons for this has to do with a change in expectation. An indoor-cycling student who sees that the class will be taught by a virtual coach has a completely different attitude about the situation. A sub will inevitably be compared to the favorite instructor, but no one could reasonably expect a virtual class to be as good as, or even similar to, the favorite class.
This “forced” opening of the mind almost guarantees greater satisfaction — or, at the very least, less dissatisfaction. The student’s mind has to go in a new direction altogether. The student will walk away thinking different thoughts. Thoughts like: I liked it. I didn’t like it. That was interesting. It was OK, but “real” instruction is better. That was kinda fun for a change. I can’t wait till ___ gets back.
At least these are a far cry from, “I hated the sub and won’t go to any class she/he teaches anymore.” Or “What a crummy way to start my day.” Or “Why can’t my favorite instructor find better subs?”
So we should still retain subs, but what if they were used in more specific contexts, when video just won’t do? Would this not ease the struggle of the indoor-cycling director, as well as save money for the club owner? Would it not reduce negative member experiences?
Teaching indoor cycling is my occupation and my craft. The time I spend preparing for it and doing it is equaled by some, not equaled by others, and disregarded by still others. My point is not that video is better than a live instructor, but that each sub prepares differently, is liked or disliked by individual students, and will be compared (typically unfavorably) to the regular instructor. If a well-done video can provide a good, solid class that is met with a better attitude for the reasons described above, wouldn’t that make it a better solution to the “subbing problem”?
I hope this topic generates some discussion. I’m interested in your thoughts and feelings. I see this as a real and viable possibility for the future.
by Gino | Jun 30, 2012 | Master Instructor Blog
Study Controls
One of the next most important aspect of executing your research is having a way to accurately and consistently conduct the prescribed drills and record their results. This is the proverbial “before and after”; also commonly referred to as “baseline” and “performance testing”. This is so important that we researcher types typically like to be physically present for all Baseline tests, as well as final and/or intermittent performance tests.
The training that takes place between these before and after events can be conducted without this type of close oversight, provided the subjects have a clear understanding of exactly how the training is to be conducted. If all of the subjects performed the drills in different ways, they couldn’t realistically be compared to each other. Likewise if they performed the drill in nearly the same manner, but then recorded the results differently, we would likewise have a significant problem comparing results.
Consequently, researchers must emphasize how important it is to be true to the method of the training drills as well as the “before and after” measurements. The tools and techniques we use for gathering the results must be defined and assigned clearly.
Indoors vs Outdoors
Fortunately for those of us who are enlightened as to the power and benefit of Indoor Cycling, this is one of the times where the indoor environment really shines. We can control so many extraneous factors, that we are virtually guaranteed solid repeatability in not only baselining and performance testing afterwards, but also the day to day training if it is done indoors.
When working on a bike that doesn’t move, where there are no “imminent dangers” as there are on the road and trail, and where we can control both temperature and airflow, we have a typical “laboratory environment”. Some argue that this makes it also unrealistic, and thus brings any conclusions from the study under question. While there is merit to that argument, it can be put to rest by including outdoor baselines and performance tests along with the indoor protocols if that criticism seems to be worth addressing.
The advantages of the indoor environment doesn’t mean that we can’t conduct any of these experiments or trials outside, it just means we do have an ideal environment inside if and when we need it. If weather or traffic disrupt our consistency or flow in executing the drills prescribed for the study, we simply move operations inside and resume.
Muscular Endurance Baseline Test
Given the fact that we are studying muscular endurance (not muscular strength), we know that we want to have our test be one with a significant time duration. In addition, university researchers use “the point of failure” as an measurement indicator when researching Muscular Endurance, so will also incorporate this into our baseline protocol. Finally we have already defined the parameters of muscular endurance training to fall within a certain cadence range and at a heart zone of no less than zone 3. Thus we have enough details to create our specific Muscular Endurance Baseline Test Protocol.
Protocol Details:
- Subjects will be instructed to warm up for 15 to 25 minutes before the test begins
- Subjects will hold a steady pedaling cadence at an average of 75 RPM as far as possible
- Subjects will find a resistance or gear level that will bring their heart rate into the middle of their zone 3 (using Heart Zones® methodology of zone determination)
- The subject will increase their effort by 25 watts every 2 minutes and maintain the new wattage level without more than a 5 watt fluctuation
- The test continues until the subject can not maintain the current watt level without fluctuating more than 5 watts, or they feel physically unable to continue increasing wattage.
Data Collected:
- Date, time, location, and type of bike used in the test
- Subject name, age, gender and self described fitness level
- From minute 00:00 the following parameters are recorded precisely as they read on the bike console:
- Time the readings were taken (00:00, 1:00, 2:00, etc)
- Heart rate
- Power Level
- Cadence Level
This is starting to look like a real project now. In the next post we will discuss Sample size for the study, and recruiting those squealers, er… guinea pigs…. I mean volunteer subjects 🙂
by Joan Kent | Jun 25, 2012 | Health and Wellness, Master Instructor Blog
By Team ICG® Master Trainer Joan Kent
Fitness and health overlap but sometimes need to be considered separately. You can be fit but not healthy. How often have we seen that with pro athletes? You can also be healthy but not fit. We may see this with our students.
This post focuses on health because teaching our students is typically fitness-oriented. As instructors, we know our health matters, and that just staying fit may not address health issues that crop up as we work hard, feel stressed, get older.
Probably everyone agrees that what we eat affects our health. Nutrition approaches to health are varied. Some people focus on organic foods, some on raw foods, others on herbs, phytonutrients and colorful pigments. There are low-carb, macrobiotic, and Ayurvedic diets, as well as a lot more.
One key, but often overlooked, factor in staying healthy is prostaglandin production. Prostaglandins are short-lived, hormone-like chemicals that are produced by the body’s cells and move from cell to cell, rather than through the bloodstream. They regulate all kinds of cellular activities.
Inflammation has become a hot topic in medicine. More and more research indicates that all disease begins with some kind of inflammation. As it turns out, inflammation is caused by a specific type of prostaglandin. And foods influence prostaglandin production.
There are three types of prostaglandins, made from different fatty acids.
Series 1 prostaglandins control factors that most people recognize as beneficial. They dilate blood vessels, reduce blood pressure, inhibit unnecessary blood clotting, decrease risk of autoimmune disease, improve T-cell function, improve insulin sensitivity, decrease pain, decrease inflammation, decrease the need for sleep, alleviate depression, and much, much more.
Series 1 prostaglandins are made from dietary fatty acids in the omega-6 category. These include black current seed, flaxseed, hemp seed, pumpkin seed, walnuts, borage oil, evening primrose oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, and more.
Series 2 prostaglandins do basically the opposite of all of the Series 1 functions listed above (as well as the unlisted Series 1 functions). Series 2 prostaglandins promote pain and inflammation, making them a prime culprit in disease.
Series 2 prostaglandins are also made from omega-6 fatty acids. However, high levels of insulin secretion will cause a different enzyme to act on the omega-6 fats, resulting in production of Series 2, rather than Series 1. As mentioned in previous posts, foods that trigger high insulin include sugars, processed carbs (like white bread), saturated fats, alcohol, and others.
Series 3 prostaglandins reduce the negative effects of Series 2. They decrease inflammation and enhance immune function. Series 3 are made from omega-3 fatty acids, which we hear about often these days because of their anti-inflammatory benefits. That anti-inflammatory property is one that can reduce what is presently considered the cause of all disease.
Omega-3 fatty acids include dark green leafy vegetables, fish, black currant seed, flaxseed, hemp seed, walnuts and pumpkin seed.
The easiest way to “bottom line” this and get the benefits is to:
- Consume omega-3 fats. You’ll note that many of them also contain omega-6s, so you’ll get the precursors of both Series 1 and Series 3 prostaglandins.
- Avoid junky carbs and limit alcohol. Both trigger high levels of insulin, which lead to Series 2 production.
- Avoid all-carb meals or snacks whenever possible. Eating protein and healthful fats every time you eat can modify insulin secretion.
Reducing the insulin impact of your diet can reduce the incidence of Series 2 prostaglandin production. This in turn may decrease the incidence of both serious diseases and inconvenient ones, such as colds.
I hope this helps you stay healthy.
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by John | Jun 3, 2012 | Big Box Instructor, Instructor Training, Master Instructor Blog
I don't know about you [wlm_firstname], but one of my biggest challenges when I teach is getting accurate feedback that I'm being understood.
Teaching with power has me off the bike a lot more than I had in the past – which was almost never. Now, multiple times during class, I'll explain a new Stage and get them started on the effort. Then I'll hop off and begin working my way through the room, asking students directly; “does this make sense?” or “are you following me?”
Dumb questions as it turns out… the answer was always “yes”… did I really think someone would say “no”?
Once I realized what I was asking dumb questions, which resulted in worthless responses, I was a bit ashamed of myself. As a 30 year sales guy I know better than to ask on question that can be easily answered “yes” or “no” when I'm trying to get an understanding of what a potential customer is thinking. These easily answered questions don't offer any context. Context that would come from a more detailed answer, that reflects a true understanding of the concept I'm trying to communicate… an echo of what I said.
In a previous post I talked about asking proper questions. I was trying to help future instructors understand the proper question isn't “where do I get certified?” but rather; “how do I get a scheduled class at a local studio?”
Once I recognize my error, I changed the questions slightly by adding what are called “opener words” in a conversation. Essentially these are words added to a sentence that don't allow for simple yes or no answers. They encourage more detailed and satisfying discussions.
My favorites are; Where, When, What and How.
- Where is your heart rate? I'm at one 153
- When will you be recovering? It looks like we have 1 min. and 30 seconds left.
- What zone are you in? I'm at the top of zone three.
- How much longer is this effort? I think I missed that… how much longer do we have?
Notice how each response reflects an understanding of my description of the effort or, If the student is unclear, it causes them to respond with a question. Either way we're communicating.
Asking the right questions also had an unintended result. Knowing I was expecting a more detailed answer than “yes John” appeared to have the effect that everyone pays more attention to my directions – which is similar to what I remember teachers doing in school 🙂
So [wlm_firstname]:
- Where else could you implement asking proper questions?
- When would you feel they would fit best in your class?
- What could you do to remind yourself?
- How many times would you try this in a normal length class?
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