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You’re passionate about fitness, you love indoor cycling and you may even be an outstanding instructor yourself. You recognize the amazing energy in a great class, and you’ve also seen a lot of poor or mediocre classes that frustrate you. Maybe you’ve wondered if a dedicated studio can make money?
Should you start your own studio? Great questions.
While not nearly as common as yoga studios, there are in fact a good many successful, dedicated cycling studios (and Spin® studios) around the country. We have worked extensively with a number of them, and in the right community, with the right model, these can be tremendous small businesses.
There is nothing more thrilling than waking every day knowing your decisions and actions are building a business, developing a community, making people healthy…….and generating a stream of profits!
Here is the first question we ALWAYS get asked. There is plenty of indoor cycling and Spinning® at gyms and health clubs in my area — why would people go to a new dedicated
studio?
4 reasons cycling studios are successful! – Free Registration Required – Click Here. Opens in a new tab.
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Dedication.For the same reason there are thousands of successful Yoga studios, despite ample yoga classes at gyms and health clubs — a dedicated studio focuses
on one thing. It pays attention to the details and delivers a more consistently excellent product.
Atmosphere.
Many people, for a variety of reasons, prefer a small intimate studio
to the feeling of a big gym or health club. As evidence, look at the vast number of Yoga, Pilates and personal training studios — despite the availability of those services at gyms.
Pricing flexibility.
Studios typically offer a variety of programs including “unlimited classes” or “pay-per-visit”. This variety and flexibility appeals to a broad range of potential clients. This service makes it easy to set up online payments.
Community.
There is a community spirit in a small studio attended by dedicated cyclists with a common passion.
The notion of a successful, dedicated cycling studio is not just a concept — it is a reality in dozens of instances around the country. That being said, the number is miniscule compared to the opportunity, and there is very likely a need near you.
I was greeted by another Spotify update this morning and see they've added a new way to accidentally screw up your class 🙁
Forgive me if you have already experienced this Spotify update. I might be a few days late reporting the change – I've been using the new Schwinn Class Tamer app and wanted to use a past Spotify playlist today.
That big Shuffle Play button sits there at the top, taunting you to inadvertently touch it (or drip on it) and mix up your song order. It won't go away. Swipe up or down to scroll through the playlist to see what's next and that dang button stays right there at the top. Who thought that would be a good idea?
I do like the white on black fonts – they're a bit easier for me to see/read – but still the same frustratingly tiny track length time font.
During class this morning it took me a few tries to get out of the Now Playing Info screen. Tapping anywhere on the bar across the top doesn't work anymore – you need to carefully tap the little X in the top-left corner.
For some reason I couldn't see that X this morning.
This week's track will bring your class up a slow, steep hill as the rpm remains the same, but the gear becomes more intense with each minute. Bishop Briggs‘ song, River is one that will get stuck in your head long after this hill is over and you'll want to use it again and again. It would also make a great standing climb. (64rpm)
This is a video of my all time favorite Tour de France Stage and it includes my all time favorite indoor cycling song, O'Fortuna.
[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']
Right Click on the blue underlined link
Select “Download Linked File As”
Select a download location
Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library
To download the above media on a PC:
Right Click on the blue underlined link
Select “Save Link As”
Select a download location
Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library Click here to watch a video on how to download media files from ICI/Pro.
The big news at this years IDEA World Fitness Convention was the launch of Fitness Connect, which is the world’s largest fitness professional directory, connecting more than 16 million consumers to more than 100,000 fitness professionals with credentials verified by the top 14 fitness certification bodies.
While I was at the convention I met Jason Davis -IDEA’s Internet Revenue Director.
Jason walked me through a demonstration of Fitness Connect and while I watched I was struck by how intuitively it was designed and it became very easy to see the potential value it could bring to both individual fitness professionals and fitness clubs and studios.
During my interview with IDEA's COO -Mike Bannan we discuss additional details about why I feel strongly that you, as a Fitness Professional, need a profile on Fitness Connect.
Listen to the Podcast below or subscribe for free using
So you made it through your audition and your name is listed as “Instructor” on the schedule. Congratulations!
It's very common for the initial excitement, “I can't believe it…I'm an Indoor Cycling Instructor!!” to quickly fade away, replaced by fear and anxiety. The realization that in __ days you'll be mounting the bike and leading your class for the very first time, typically solicits “HELP! I'm teaching my first class on Thursday!!”
That “HELP” is based on FEAR > the perfectly natural fear of presenting or speaking to a group. Fear that you won't do a good job. Fear that you'll look foolish. Fear that you won't be liked, etc…
So to help you manage the fear that's going to come when you teach your first few class, I thought you'd appreciate three suggestions for mitigating that fear. Then you can get on to the task at hand > which is delivering a FUN and entertaining class for everyone who shows up.
Step #1 Prepare… But Not Too Much
If you were to ask me, “John – which do you feel would be better for my first class?
A. I walk in super prepared, with lots of detailed notes and cues on multiple 3×5 cards…
or
B. I have a simple/basic framework/profile for the class, leaving some room for spontaneity and my personality to shine through?[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']
I'd always suggest “B” and here's why.
Yes it's important to be prepared, but IMO having too much detail; your minute by minute profile reduced to writing, on a bunch of note cards, is a recipe for disaster > or possibly a very boring class presentation.
First you need to give your class what they want; a FUN and entertaining workout. It's only after you've accomplished this can you begin to add in what they need; structured, effective cardiovascular training.
When you climb up on that stage for the first time, there's a huge amount of stress and sensory/emotional overload. You're now faced with; using an unfamiliar sound system, getting your music going, all those faces watching you, you watching them, “am I showing good form?, “what is her frown communicating?”, do they like me? Are the enjoying the class?
So there you are, with a handful of note cards, that you proceed to read to your class while you manage everything else required to teach the class. Have you ever watched a speaker who gets up and just reads his/her speech? Head down, drowning on and on, with no audience engagement and certainly no personality? Not what you want to do in your first class – is it?
If you commit your early classes to a complicated series of notes, there's a good chance you'll do the same thing = despite all of your preparation something will happen (a late arriver/Spotify will skip a song or to your horror it will be on shuffle) something will happen that will throw you offand your well planned class could quickly become your worst nightmare.
Trust me on this. It's better to have a very simple structure to follow. There's nothing wrong with doing one activity/movement/intensity for each song in your early classes. Without the need to follow a script, you'll probably lift your head up and smile at a few participants in your class. I know it may sound crazy, but that's all many of them really want from you!
Step#2 Salt the Room
Back in the gold rush days, unscrupulous mine owners would sprinkle gold dust (Salting the Mine) to fool people into thinking the mine was valuable, in the hopes of selling a worthless hole in the ground to an an unsuspecting investor.
This strategy also works very well during an audition.
You can do something similar to make the room or studio more valuable for YOU, but it doesn't involve gold – something much better. Invite a number of your friends or family members to your first few classes – effectively Salting the room with friendly faces. I'd have them all sitting right there in the front row.
Now you'll have a bunch of familiar participants you can feel comfortable engaging with / get energy from! I had my wife Amy front and center during my audition with LifeTime Fitness. When ever I was feeling anxious I would look at her. She'd smile back and then turn and look to one side > my cue to not focus on her and make eye contact with others in the class. It worked like a charm and look at me now 🙂
Cycling Team getting warm before a big event. Image credit http://velonews.competitor.com/
Step#3 Pre-Class Warmup
It's a learned art to be able to ride with intensity and still be able to communicate effectively as an Instructor. I chose the words ride with intensity specifically because participants want to see you working > nothing reduces your authority in the room more than being labeled as an Instructor who fakes it – I've never seen anyone who can effectively pull off pretending to add resistance, so don't bother trying.
So until you develop the skills (and specific fitness – I don't care how fit you are, this is different) needed to comfortably breath and talk in full sentences, while in Zone 3 – I suggest you take the time to warm up before your class. No cyclist would think of starting a time trial without a complete warm up. They have to be able to perform right from the start and you need to be able to perform as soon as you press play.
Let's say your class starts at 9:00. You want to make sure you're standing at the door to greet everyone starting at 8:45. Twenty minutes should be long enough for a nice gradual warm up that include 3-4 short hard efforts to get you up to threshold and a few minutes to cool down. Leave 5 minutes for the bathroom break you know you'll need = you need to be riding at 8:20.
This would be the perfect time to practice your first few tracks. Listen for obvious changes that will cue you to make a change. If possible, try speaking out loud to loosen up your voice. Or maybe pick out a quiet segment where you flash that big smile and thank everyone for attending your first class… doesn't Madonna have a song, something about the first time?[/wlm_private]
professional directory, connecting more than 16 million consumers to more than 100,000 fitness professionals with credentials verified by the top 14 fitness certification bodies.
