I see a big part of growth (both personal and professional) is being willing to take risks in your life. When I first started the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast there were probably a hundred reasons why it was a bad idea… but I chose to ignore them.
A little over 60% of ICI/PRO members are women. Does it make sense to include content here that only applies to them?
As an experiment Amy has written an article about another passion in her life. It's one that she feels is very applicable to the presentation skills she needs to teach an engaging and effective Indoor Cycling Class.
Let me know.
John
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“Do you really wear lipstick when you teach?”
Amy's alter-ego as a Lancôme makeup artist
My answer to that question is yes.
Always.
There are a number of reasons why, but it truly started years ago when a member asked me, “are you feeling okay?” I felt great… but apparently didn’t look it 🙁
After class, I looked in the mirror and tried to be objective. What had she seen that would cause her to ask me that? There staring back at me was a harried mom of two young children who had rushed out of the house with her hair scraped back in a ponytail and not a stitch of make-up on, in the dead of a MN winter. I looked rather, well, cadaver”ish” if I do say so myself. It wasn't the face of an instructor who looked well prepared for her class, even though I really was – having spent hours the night before putting my ride and play list together. It was then and there that I decided I wanted to look as well prepared for my classes as I actually was.
Flash forward a few years…my kids are now 20 and almost 17. I still love teaching and I also love my job as a make-up artist. My passion for helping women use make-up to enhance their natural beauty may have started that fateful day at the gym. I do not go into class in full make-up artist regalia. But I do take just a couple minutes to apply a bit of mineral foundation- it is long wearing and water (read sweat) resistant, a little bronzer and blush (remember, I live in MN and am MN pale) and some relatively tame lipstick. I stay away from the “Burlesque reds” while teaching. I also make sure to put lotion on my Minnesota dry – flakey legs. That’s all I do.
Then I feel ready to teach.
I was in a training session a long time ago that described teaching as being “on stage”. I couldn’t agree more. This little make-up regimen prepares me for my own “on stage” time. I think of it as putting my best “work-out” face forward. We are in front of people, usually with some sort of lighting on us at some point during the class and a darkened room. Actors/actresses would not think of going on stage without make-up. I wouldn’t either anymore. I feel more confident with a minimal amount of make-up on and it helps me communicate the fact that I am well prepared, inside and out.
Amy and I met Kenji Freedman when we were in Keystone Colorado for the Cycling Fusion Summit. Kenji is a USA Cycling Coach with Stage 5 Cycling (one of Tom Scotto's stable of talent I mentioned) and a very accomplished Indoor Cycling Master Trainer. He has a captivating presentation style when he's leading a class that I feel we all could learn from. I have him scheduled for an interview next week so stay tuned 🙂
Kenji is a Personal Trainer and get this, he is also a Personal Chef who has appeared in a number of infomercials.
In the past, the prevailing attitude was that we should allow anonymous comments here at www.indoorcycleinstructor.com. Anyone could comment and no log-in was required. This was based on a belief that the quantity of comments was much more important than the quality of the commentsor who it was making the comment. Visitors and ICI/PRO members were treated alike.
I never liked that policy and feel that it was misguided. Commenting is a privilege that should be reserved for registered users at the very least. I can't post a reply on Pedal-On without first logging in, why would here be any different?
Not requiring a log-in to post a comment also makes it easy for Spammers to post advertisements for Viagra and links to malicious software. We employ the best anti-spam software available and it blocks hundreds of spam comments every day. But, like the spam filters on your email, sometimes a legitimate message is blocked. That's when I get the “why did you delete my comment?” emails.
We are a community of passionate Indoor Cycling Instructors. We should know who we are talking to because it leads to a feeling of safety which = more and better discussions that will benefit all of us.
After a number of discussions with ICI/PRO members and members of the ICI/PRO team we have decided that comments will be restricted to ICI/PRO members only.
Do you feel this is a mistake? ICI/PRO members can leave a comment below 🙂
Chase the winter blues away with incredible heart pumping funk and reggae mixes courtesy of the Fort Knox Five, a world renowned party band from Washington, DC. The boys in Fort Knox Five graciously donated music for the Spinning® program at Half Moon Resort in Jamaica and are now offering ICI members a FREE Friday Download!
With the release of over 20 acclaimed remixes to their credit, including monster hits on albums by Bob Marley, Afrika Bambaattaa, Louis Armstrong, Ursula 1000, and Krafty Kuts, Fort Knox Five keeps the vibe centered on the city they love, Washington, DC. Home to pioneering artists like Marvin Gaye and Chuck Brown, they draw upon their city’s rich musical heritage of funk and soul.
Amy was having this trouble when she was trying to download music into iTunes on her PC. She would click Open with iTunes and the song would play but it was missing when she tried to find it at a later date. If you have this trouble here's how to fix it. John
When you click a download link, PC users are typically offered two options (depends on your Internet Browser and settings)
If you choose Open with iTunes and find that the track isn't there the next time you look for it, you need to make this change to your settings in iTunes. Go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced Tab
If this box is not checked the song will play, but not be saved, in your iTunes library.
As an indoor cycling instructor, you’re going to find a large percentage of your students dabble in triathlon, or engage in it as a serious sport. Either way, you don’t want to be embarrassed by using the wrong triathlon-related words or terms in your class when talking to them about triathlon (including the ever-popular pronunciation of triathlon as “triath-a-lon”).
So to help you look better and converse intelligently and confidently with your indoor cycling students who are triathletes, this is Part 3 of a five part series called “Tri-Lingo 101” that will teach you how to use the correct triathlon terms. In this article, you’ll learn common triathlon run terms. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
5K: 3.2 mile run or race. Generally the distance in a Sprint triathlon.
10K: 6.4 mile run or race. Generally the distance in an Olympic triathlon.
Aerobic: This term is used to define the intensity of a run that is primarily conversational at a slow, easy pace. Generally, you burn more fat as a fuel and produce less “painful” lactic acid.
Anaerobic: High intensity pace that allows lactic acid to build-up, and can generally not be sustained much longer than a 10K.
Chip: a device worn above the ankle or on the shoe that allows timing during a race or event.
Elastic Laces: The “stretchy” laces many triathletes have on their shoes to allow easy and fast entry into the shoe without having to tie a knot.
Fartlek: A style of running that is “random” or variably paced. For example, a Fartlek run might involve running 5 miles on a trail, and sprinting at various intervals throughout the run. Also known as “speedplay”.
Hitting The Wall: Generally happens about mile 20 of a marathon — depletion of carbohydrate and drop in blood sugar leads to immediate fatigue and loss of energy.
Intervals: Short, fast repeats of generally 30 seconds to 5 minutes, interspersed with easy walking or jogging in between each effort.
Marathon: 26.2 miles. Generally the distance in an Ironman triathlon (and a Half-Marathon is the distance in a Half-Ironman, or 70.3, triathlon)
Pick-Ups: Short accelerations performed during the run, generally to stretch out the legs and prepare them for speedwork or a run. Usually 10-30 seconds long.
Plyometrics: Jumping, bounding, hopping or other explosive movements designed to train the body for reducing ground contact time.
Pronation: The inward roll of the foot as the arch collapses after the foot strikes the ground. Overpronation is excessive inward rolling due to weak support, which can cause many running injuries.
Runner’s High: An intense feeling of exhilaration or being “in the zone” that can occur during a run, usually due to the release of endorphins.
Strides: Similar to pick-ups, but usually performed as intervals (i.e. a set of 8 strides to warm-up prior to a race).
Supination: Opposite of pronation. Outward rolling of foot after foot strike. Less common, but also a cause of running injuries.
Bio:
Ben is a fitness business coach, triathlon author, and sports nutritionist. If you want more videos, aricles and audios about swimming and other triathlon related topics, visit Ben’s free blog and podcast at http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com . Also be sure to check out Ben’s endurance sports website Endurance Planet, at http://www.enduranceplanet.com and his Rock Star Triathlete Academy, at http://www.rockstartriathlete.com . Finally, if you want to learn how to grow your fitness business and make more money, visit Ben’s fitness business advice website at http://www.trainfortopdollar.com .
After more than 6 years operating a 46-bike cycling studio in the suburbs of Boston, I have seen a ton of instructors come and go. We’re not a big health club, we are a dedicated indoor cycling studio, so the survival of our business depends on our instructors abilities to fill up classes. Because we have no other source of income for the studio, our definition of a “good” instructor has to be quite pragmatic: If you fill up classes (and don’t do anything unsafe or stupid), you are by definition “good”.
This may sound mercenary, but in fact the instructors that are able to fill classes are the ones who are adept at a) engaging their students and b) providing expert guidance towards a fitness objective. They use a wide range of tools including music, imagery, language and cuing and
all the best ones have a natural ability to vary their workouts. Variety is indeed the spice of life (and of indoor cycling classes)
At our studio, the great instructors are not all alike. In fact many have vastly different styles, and while there is no sure formula for creating an experience that keeps indoor cyclists returning, I have noticed one thing all our best instructors do intuitively: they believe in variety: Variety within a class and variety from class to class.
Everyone knows the benefits of exercise, so what is the one reason we hear again and again why people won’t commit to regular workouts? “It’s boring”. What is the single biggest complaint we here about an instructor that is not drawing in our studio? “They’re boring”. A great instructor’s class is not boring, and one of the primary reasons is because they know intuitively to commit to variety.
Easier said than done of course, but here are some examples of variety from the top-drawing instructors at our studio:
Vary playlists. Never, ever, use the same playlist twice in the same month. Not only because your regulars will notice, but also because your own energy is not as sharp. If you want to use the profile again, find substitute songs.
Vary counting and intervals. If you are doing intervals, vary the length or at the least vary the way in which you count them up or down. (i.e. instead of counting down from 20 every time, try counting “one, two, one, three, one, four, etc. etc.” It’s a small thing but it keeps students mentally engaged.
Vary genres of music. You may love techno or classic rock or pop….but I guarantee someone in your class does NOT. If you play only one genre, you are likely to annoy someone totally. Mixing genres is a great way to assure you find something powerful for virtually everyone and they will tolerate the stuff they’re not crazy about.
Vary positions: most drills can be done, and most heart rates can be achieved…in or out of the saddle. Technically there is really no reason to ever come out of the saddle — other than the fact that the variety of moving in and out is appealing in an indoor cycling class. Students love it…..but they will get bored with too much work, in our out of the saddle.
Variety is simply more interesting, and more fun. It is an antidote to the worst enemies of working out: drudgery and boredom. What are some other examples of variety you use? I’m hungry for ideas!
