While I was in NYC last month I rode in two classes lead by Instructor Julie Jarrett. The first class was sold out, which was cool considering Julie has only taught for a few months + the studio Prime Cycle opened in September of this year.
After Julie's class I had the chance to sit and learn about her Reality TV production company Jarrett Creative and how she uses her time teaching as a inspirational break from day job. During our chat she explained to me how beneficial teaching has been to her marriage with business partner/husband Seth + how it has motivated him to start exercising after years of inactivity.
So why is Julie having so much success, so quickly? There's a lot of reasons; Julie and I explore them during my interview below.
As promised in this post, here's my interview with fitness equipment leasing expert Joe Schmitz from F.I.T. Leasing. During the interview Joe provides answers to many of the questions you might have if you're planning a new Indoor Cycling studio, or are considering an upgrade to any of the new Indoor Cycles with power; FreeMotion S11.9, Keiser M3i, Schwinn AC Performance or Star Trac Spinner® Blade Ion.
It was interesting to me that, depending on your financial situation & credit history, I might be possible to include some of the other component parts of your business (AV system, furniture, specialty technology, etc…) into your equipment lease.
Joe has provided some additional information that you can use for business planning and/or preparing to qualify for a lease.
Listen to our discussion below or contact us for more information on equipment leasing.
Here are a few questions about leasing we discuss during the interview:
When does leasing make sense for a new studio — or an existing studio looking to upgrade to new equipment?
When doesn’t it?
Should I lease my indoor cycles directly from the manufacturer?
What other costs can be included, besides new Indoor Cycles?
What is the approval process?
Is it more difficult to get approved for a lease vs. a bank or SBA loan?
What documentation will you need?
Is there anything you want to do, or prepare for, in advance of needing your lease funds?
How long is a typical lease?
What happens at the end of the lease?
Explain any tax benefits of leasing vs. conventional financing or paying cash.
You can use this contact form to submit your questions at any time.
Me with Master Parkinson's Cycling Coach Kathy Helmuth
This is without a doubt the most worthwhile project I've ever had the privilege to be involved in.
Over one million people in the USA suffer from the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s Disease. As of today, there is no known cure for Parkinson’s Disease, however, regular exercise has shown to help with the reduction of the symptoms associated with Parkinson’s Disease in many of those afflicted.
We feel Indoor Cycling is the safest and most effective form of exercise available.
The National Parkinson Foundation’s most recent study identified that 61 percent of people with Parkinson’s suffer from depression, with symptoms that ranged from mild to severe.
Exercise has been proven as an effective treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), and now there is sufficient research to help doctors prescribe the proper dose of exercise for depressed patients… again, we feel Indoor Cycling is the best form of exercise.
But there are very few clubs or studios offering Indoor Cycling classes specifically for people with Parkinson’s Disease. And for good reason; there are only a handful of fitness professionals trained to properly conduct these classes — we plan to change that!
We're looking for committed fitness professionals to join our army of Parkinson’s Cycling Coaches, who will provide these hugely beneficial classes!
Earn 0.5 ACE CEC's
Meet Master Parkinson's Cycling Coach Kathy Helmuth and learn how you can train to become an ACE accredited Parkinson's Cycling Coach by listening to our announcement podcast below.
Interested in becoming a Parkinson's Cycling Coach?
Coaching a room full of Parkinson’s people is very different from teaching a traditional Indoor Cycling class… so different that we describe your future role as that of a coach, not an Instructor. Classes are coached off the bike, with you working the room, addressing individual needs and motivating your class.
To qualify for this training you'll need to possess a verifiable combination of the following prerequisites:
#1. Current Certification in CPR and AED
AND
#2 Current National Group Fitness Certification — ACE, AFAA, NETA or similar
OR
Current Personal Training Certification — ACSM, NASM, NETA or similar
OR
BS in Exercise Science or related Medical field
OR
Athletic / Endurance Coaching Certification — USA Cycling, ITCA, USAT or similar
2 or more years experience in conducting indoor cycling classes is helpful, but not mandatory for this program.
We feel these qualifications will provide a strong foundation to the training we provide, resulting in quality Parkinson’s Cycle Coaches.
This is an online training program that will take ~ 5 hours to complete. It's a combination of written articles, audio interviews and video demonstrations.
Join our army by clicking here to start your training as a Parkinson’s Cycling Coach.
Questions?
You can email Coach Kathy: kathy@parkinsonscyclingcoach.com or feel free to call her (941)-313-0004
Click here to learn more about the initial research that discovered how Indoor Cycling can help reduce the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.
Display tracking of each rider's performance during an Indoor Cycling class is proving to be very motivating for the riders and profitable for the studio owners because those participants keep coming back.
Customer retention is hugely important to keeping your classes full. I hear over and over; “once you've shown me my performance, up on a screen and then on that email I get after class, I'm hooked. Why would I ever go back to that Big Box club, who doesn't show me anything?”
Jennifer Ashbrook is the owner of Inner Drive Cycling | Fitness Studio in Newtown Square, PA. Jennifer's studio features FreeMotion S11.9 indoor cycles that provide the performance data that drives the Spivi Display Training system she purchased to differentiate her studio, from other competing fitness clubs in her area.
Jennifer created this short video to help her prospective customers understand Spivi and how it adds to the “WOW” factor of her classes.
You can learn more about Jennifer and her studio by listening to our interview.
I forgot to talk about … It's common for guests to contact me, post interview, with a point or two that they felt should have been included, but weren't. Jennifer emailed me to add:
Hi John,
I just wanted to thank you for the chance to talk with you about Spivi this morning — I really enjoyed it! A couple of things I think maybe I should clarify about Spivi that I forgot to mention — when I explained how Spivi “normalizes” or handicaps riders, I indicated that they are normalized based on power output — and that’s a major part of the equation for bikes with power — but the system also takes into account cadence; it factors all of that together and “ranks” riders based on “Spivi Points” — which (as I understand it) factors in riders age, weight, gender, FTP (if know and power data is available), and cadence — perhaps other factors… The system can also pick up heart rate from ANT+ heart rate straps.
Click this image to explore all the resort options from our prize sponsor.
Instructor Lena Hershey and I both find it incredible that 96 Instructors have already committed to our 28 Day Challenge – they have no clue what we have in store for them and we're still a week away from the start on September 21st.
I invited Lena back on the Podcast so we could explain a little more about the contest and describe the awesome prize the two winners will receive 🙂
Listen to our interview below and be sure to join the 28 Day Challenge by requesting membership at our Facebook Group or you can learn more here.
