This Podcast is originally from 2008, I have updated it with our new Podcast host information and I am representing it now. I hope you enjoy it. While the New Leaf systems are not easy to find anymore, KORR Medical Technologies (https://korr.com/) does have Metabolic Testing equipment that is available. Perhaps we will have them on the show soon. – Joey
How effective are you at coaching to specific levels of exertion? Do you use the RPE Scale? Or some percentage of age predicted maximum heart rate? As an old bicycle racer it was common for me to reach my max heart rate at the end of a sprint. How many of your participants have really been to (and know) their true max?
Communicating my intended exertion level was a real struggle for me until I learned how to describe the specific feelings that relate to the five different Heart Rate Training Zones. Zones based on a understanding of Anaerobic Threshold. But we were still guessing.
This past January (2008) I had a Metabolic Assessment and it really opened my eyes. I was no longer guessing. Now I knew my exact Anaerobic Threshold and my heart rates for each heart rate zone. I had some questions about how to best communicate the value of having a Metabolic Assessment to my Spinning class, so I found another expert.
Jessica Christiansen is the Education and Training Manager for New Leaf Fitness.
Listen to the show below or subscribe with iTunes with the link on the right
Leave a comment or question and I will have Jessica respond.
Technology can be a great thing for our classes – as long as all of your Instructors have been trained to use it properly.
I'm seeing a bunch of clubs and studios having enormous success with performance data tracking and display systems. These systems connect to the consoles all of the new Indoor Cycle's with power and then display the information on a big screen + send out those informative emails that your participants love to receive.
Unfortunately some studios and/or Instructors aren't having the same amount of success. During many of my consultations with studio owners, I'm hearing them say that they would have appreciated (and benefited from) more in depth Instructor training, i.e. exactly how do we integrate these systems into an actual class?
So when I was at IDEA this past Summer I was encouraged to see that Schwinn Indoor Cycling has developed specific education, for the use of their Schwinn branded version of Performance IQ 🙂
To get the low down on what they are offering I invited Schwinn Indoor Cycling's Director of Education, Julz Arney, join me to discuss their education and get her thoughts on Best Practices for using Display Training.
During this interview Julz mentions that she would provide everyone with a PDF of her 10 Best Practices for using a Display Training system – here's the link to download it.
Would your club or studio benefit from additional Instructor training, regardless of the brand of cycle you're using? ICI/PRO has an experienced team that is available to provide intensive Instructor training at your location – please contact us and we can schedule a call to discuss your needs and see if we can help. We can also help you with decisions regarding Indoor Cycles, website design and performance data tracking and display systems.
How much planning did you do (or should you do), before launching your new cycling studio?
What research did you complete to understand the difference between successful studios and those that are struggling?
Fitness entrepreneur Callie Bowling has completed an exhaustive planning process in anticipation of opening a new Indoor Cycling Studio in Boise Idaho next fall. Callie interviewed over a dozen studio owners and she shares what's working… what's not and what she sees as the future of boutique Indoor Cycling studios.
This interview is an hour long, and needed to be to record much of what Callie has learned.
If you own a studio, or are considering opening one, I suggest grabbing a pen and paper, find a quiet spot (maybe with a hot tea) and listen to the podcast below in it's entirety, while taking notes – I consider this one of my top five episodes ever, it's that good 🙂
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Update: This episode wasn't showing up in the podcast feed = I republished it and it appears fixed 🙂
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I was originally alerted to Callie Bowling by Amy – she had talked with her and was very impressed by how thorough she was in her business planning and the amount of research she had done via interviews with other studio owners.
So I reached out to Callie about possibly appearing on the show. This was her response 🙂
Let me give you a little background, so you can be thinking of questions on your end:
I have learned quite a bit actually, so much that just when my business plan and financials were all buttoned-up and ready to go – I was literally sitting across the table from my lender – I decided to go back to the drawing board to lay some more ground work (A MUST) and further examine my goals for my business and a smarter implementation strategy solely based on the experiences I obtained from interviewing eight indoor cycling studios across the nation. I learned a lot, the owners of these businesses were extremely generous with their time and the truly sensitive information they were divulging (the scary icky stuff like money)… lol, perhaps it's my degree in Psychology, but I've usually never had a problem getting people to open up around me… it's a double-edged sword 😉
I've learned this “dream” for us who wish to open these studios is always opened with the best intentions and out of a passion for the “sport”; we're all fitness enthusiasts who wanted to bring our passion to our communities and also make a fortune at it! I mean why not, the preliminary financials reflect success, which is a super simple function of attendance… it seems like a no-brainer right!? Get people in the door and become profitable… minimal overhead, no accounts receivables, cash based service industry, no inventory, etc. … the business model is set up for instant success! I'm sure you see I'm being simplistic and sarcastic, because nothing in life is ever that easy, and if it looks easy… take a deeper look, because you're probably missing something 🙂
With that said, there have definitely been some strong and shared commonalities amongst the failures and the successes amongst studio owners that can't be ignored… but, they're probably taboo to talk about so no one ever does, because no one likes to admit they've failed or fallen flat on their face… but, the truth is the truth, and in the same token no wants to invest their life's savings or nest egg into a business that might be doomed from the get-go, so we need to talk about it.
I will say, I don't know what came over me, but I emailed studios in XX, YY, ZZ, BB, NN, RR, and FF (on the podcast I won't disclose which states though to respect and maintain the anonymity of these studios, because in some states there is literally just one studio, so that would probably give it away, and the information they shared is certainly sensitive – we can just accurately say I reached out to studio owners across the nation) and I didn't know what to expect. I was equipped with my generic list of questions, but those soon fell to the wayside and the conversation became personal and very much a theoretical conversation about what it takes to survive as an entrepreneur in our industry and what those basic principles are.
Alas, we can go over all of this & more on the podcast, I'm loaded with info, lol, and honestly I think the things I am ready to touch on will be useful information not just for others in the “pre-startup” phase, but also for any studio owner in general that is perhaps struggling or “hemorrhaging” (as one studio owner stated) and can draw even the smallest parallels in their own business with what I have understood has also been choke holding others.
What do you think!??! 🙂
P.S. Here's the juiciest part… I think I see the future of our industry!!! lol… that may be a bit pompous for me to predict, but I've done a lot of research and there are signs and clues I'd love to cover!
Callie Kelley Bowling
Founder & CEO
CKB Fitness, Inc.
Fitness author Pamela Light joins me to discuss her article in the latest IDEA Fitness Journal — Crystal-Clear Cuing for Indoor Cycling. In it, Pamela encourages Instructors to: Be smart about the exertion scale you use to help participants get the best ride.
Excellent Instructors use a system to describe what they expect for performance, and it's usually a combination of what they've learned in certification courses and what they've gleaned through real-world experience. Indoor Cycling teachers often rely on numbers to convey effort. While this is a good idea at face value, there are many variations on a theme.
Listen below to Pamela expand on each of the seven component parts she feels are important to Crystal Clear Cuing!
I love discovering smart, talented people who are passionate about Indoor Cycling and Lena Hershey is someone I feel you should get to know. Lena is a brand new (she started in May) Spinning® Instructor at the Carlisle Family YMCA in Carlisle, PA.
Lena's journey to become a Spinning Instructor began with a pretty large life event – moving from her native Russia to the United States three years ago. While you listen keep in mind that English is her second language 🙂
She describes what happens next at her blog LeanLena.com
My name is Lena. This blog is mostly about my way to my personal transformation — from the body I have been abusing and neglecting for the most of my life, to the body I always wanted to have — fit, strong and beautiful.
I am not there yet, but you can see the progress
I write about my exercise program/routines and my meals, share healthy recipes, health tips, etc. etc.
I have started this journey on an ordinary day in February 2013. I was in the car with my husband and two step-kids, driving home from somewhere when I said: “I will go and work out at the YMCA every day for a month starting today”. Just like that — out of the blue. I can’t even remember why I said that or what prompted that decision. I just said that and once I did, I had to do it. So I did.
Once I was done with one month, I just couldn’t stop. I did adjust my exercise program by now and I am not working out every single day, but I am doing so much more for myself thanks to that decision in February of 2013.
Results — I’ve lost almost 20 pounds (9 kg) and counting, I am 2 sizes down in clothes, and I feel lighter, better, healthier and happier than ever.
ICI/PRO Podcast host Joey Stabile talks with Suhail Maqsood of the Wheel House in San Francisco and John Bogosian of Zingfit about the importance of keeping your customers.
This was a great conversation, and many of us overlook the most valuable asset that we have in our businesses, our customers. Suhail and I have a great talk about the importance of the customers and what we can do to increase their experience with our club and how we can safeguard their privacy while retaining our branding.
You can learn more about The Wheel House here at their website.
You can learn more about Zingfit here at their website.
