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Note: Gino's articles are supposed to be for ICI/PRO members only. He feels very strongly about this subject and asked that I make it available for everyone. – John
As an Indoor Cycling / Spinning® instructor, you know how important good air flow is. Don’t you? What??? You LIKE your students to sweat buckets!?! It proves how “kick-ass” your class is? Uh… well… not so fast. If that were true, then just build a bunch of steam rooms and saunas and let people sit and sweat. Ah, but it’s not that simple is it? You know they don’t lose real weight that way. It’s just water. But really, it’s worse than that.
Short of provoking a sexual harassment suit, this maybe the best way to get your class excited about what you have in store for them.
I’m grateful because my riders often take the time to leave comment cards at the club’s front desk after class and my group fitness directors continually share the feedback with me. One “positive” comment that has been consistent is that members feels that I “set them up for success” from the start. When pushed further, they said, “Tom always tells us what his goal for us is and then how we are going to accomplish it”.
I — MUST — HAVE — AN – OBJECTIVE
As an indoor cycling instructor, I’m a slave to my coaching tendencies. Simply put, I can’t design a ride unless I have a clear objective. Because of my cyclist tunnel vision, I consider indoor classes either a training session or event (something we have trained for). So before I start selecting drills or music, I first determine my overall goal for the ride. Am I trying to help them develop some aspect of their fitness (if so, what is it)? Is the goal to climb to the top of a feared moutain? Are we racing in a stage of the Tour de France or a local criterium? I can’t help myself — I MUST HAVE A PURPOSE! Fortunately, this seems to be viewed as a positive.
Do You Have An Objective For Your Class?
Instructors often mistake all of the tedious work that goes into a profile as the objective. I do not doubt that a tremendous amount of time was invested in creating our ride profile, but more specifically, was the class designed around an objective. To find out, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this ride? What does it produce or help my riders achieve?” Unfortunately, an answer of “to develop general fitness” usually doesn’t cut it.
Do You Explain the Objective To Your Class?
I proctor numerous auditions for instructors and sometimes sit in on classes (usually spying). In most cases, I’ll take a moment to talk with the instructor afterwards to introduce myself and ask a few questions about the ride. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to discover that many instructors have some cool objectives for their ride, but never told the class. They were equally surprised that riders would be interested in that level of detail. “Absolutely, it demonstrates not only a purpose for the ride, but the amount of thought and planning that went into designing it. Your class wants to know what to expect (physical demands), as well as, what (long-term) value it will provide.”
A Sample From This Week’s Ride
Here is the objective I communicated to my class for this weeks leg speed development ride:
“One key element of cycling fitness is steady, fast and powerful leg speed. Since we are in our base training mode, this is a perfect time to focus on it. We are going to approach this by first performing a drill that helps engage more muscle followed by a series of drills that trains the brain to send the signal to the muscle quicker so we can pedal faster and stronger.
Keep in mind, as you look at today’s profile (I hang an 11”x17” color laminated chart for each class) you will see a number of consecutive drills before we receive more substantial recovery. So pace yourself. Finally, remember that leg speed is a skill that must be trained. Be patient as you develop your own leg speed. It takes time.”
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If you are in the habit of creating classes with a specific focus or training objective, make it known to your riders AND reiterate after class the value they received. If you have not been approaching your rides with a specific purpose, I want to encourage you to start. You don’t have to be “Joe Coach”, but it should be something that can be explained to your riders. Practice saying your objective out-loud and to yourself. If you are finding it difficult to come up with an objective for an existing class, well…. you may want to revisit the profile and tweak it until you can explain its purpose.
Just to clarify, “fun” is not a purpose, but rather how you deliver it. So Have fun! Really!
Gene Nacey and Tom Scotto kept this a secret during the ICI/PRO conference … Cycling Fusion and Stage 5 Cycling have merged their Indoor Cycling certifications into one. They will operate under Cycling Fusion for Indoor Cycle Certification and Stage 5 Cycling will continue to provide Outdoor Cyclist training.
Lots to understand about what this means and we try to answer your potential questions in this interview with Gene Nacey and Tom Scotto. Information about our lost Podcast episodes is here ICI Podcast — The Lost Episodes
I love knowing what's expected of me and I bet you do as well. It makes life so much easier! When told; “I need you to do X,Y and Z”… I know to do X,Y and Z. But we've all been in the position of being told something was expected of us, but the “something” was never communicated and then the problems begin.
Do you have clear expectations from your club manager or owner?
I do 🙂
It came in the form of a well written, three page document from my new boss, Joe Ducosin. Joe is the owner of Cycle Quest Studio where I recently started teaching. Here's the begining:
CycleQuest Studio Guiding Principles for Instructors
From Joe Ducosin 9/27/11
This document outlines the expectations of CycleQuest Studio instructors and also provides tips and guidelines to follow to create a motivating and enjoyable indoor cycling experience for all customers. Instructor responsibilities
Try and arrive to class at least 15 minutes before the class start time. Remember that not only do you have to change into your workout clothes, get your own music, bike, stereo, and video setup, but there may also be a few new customers that need to be setup on the bike properly, have the bike computer explained to them, and instructed on what their expectation of the class should be. Also before class is the best time to connect with them on a personal level, learn their name, what their fitness goal is and answer questions they may have about the class and the studio. This is the most important aspect of the studio that sets us apart from other indoor cycling studios — that we are customer focused and make sure all beginners are setup properly on the bike and made to feel comfortable in the class.
All classes should start on time and you should not wait for customers that are running late. At the end of class remind them to gently drop their handlebars and seat, and wipe down their bikes and any wet spots/puddles on the floor with the paper towels and anti-bacterial soap on each side of the class….
This was really helpful for me because after 10+ years of teaching I have become a bit set in my ways and some of what Joe is asking from me is very different from what I have done in the past. Joe understands what he wants for his studio and has taken the time to lay it out in a format where I can understand pretty much exactly what he's looking for from me.
The funny thing about communication is it takes two willing participants for there to be any communicating. Each person involved is equally responsible. If I have expectations for you, I need to clearly communicate them. And the opposite is true as well; If you aren't getting clear expectations from you manager you might want to let them know you don't fully understand what's expected of you.
Take a few minutes to read Joe's Guiding Principles for Instructors and decide if having some clear expectations would be helpful where you teach. Feel free to forward this article to your manager or use this to draft your own list of expectations for your instructors.
