Master Trainer Cameron Chinatti from Stages Indoor Cycling joins me to offer suggestions on how you can solicit constructive feedback… and then what to do with it once you receive it.
Cameron's handout begins:
Dear _____________________________________________
As a fitness professional, I take every opportunity to improve my craft to better serve each and every one of you. In addition to the time and resources that I voluntarily dedicate to learning new exercise formats and methodologies, I also strive to improve myself.
My current self-growth project is entirely dedicated to being an effective “cue-municator”. I recently completed a cutting-edge indoor cycling course and one of my assignments is to fully understand and embody my strengths – not only as an instructor, but also as a person. If you are willing, please share your helpful, honest feedback.
[wlm_nonmember]
Cameron's handout is reserved for ICI/PRO members. We offer monthly and annual subscription options:
Are you taking advantage of our Super Secret iTunes RSS Feed to listen to our Audio Class Profiles – through your computer or portable device [wlm_firstname]?
If so, we've made a significant change that will simplify finding just the right profile for your next class > now the Super Secret iTunes RSS Feed only contains profiles and PRO/Podcasts – not other free Podcast episodes.
Here's what happened .
Based on the sheer number of Podcasts and PROfiles we've published over the past 5 years, the iTunes RSS feed (that tells iTunes what's new here at ICI/PRO) has put on a bunch of weight. The sheer volume of content included in the feed was really slowing down our communication with the iTunes music store + many of our old episodes got pushed off the bottom of the list. As weight-loss is on the minds of many at the start of a new year – we felt this is a great time to shed a few pounds.
Now we are publishing two separate feeds:
Our free iTunes RSS feed that's for everyone – .
Our new Super Secret iTunes RSS Feedthat's just for ICI/PRO members and only contains ICI/PRO member's only audio and video content.
If you're happy with things as they are, you don't need to make any changes.
But our suggestion is for ICI/PRO members to subscribe to both the free Podcast feed and the new Audio PROfiles RSS feeds.
Set up your Super Secret iTunes RSS Feed using iTunes on your computer
You don't need to, but I would first open iTunes > select Podcasts and then delete the existing ICI/PRO Podcasts.
to subscribe to the free Podcast.
Scroll down this page and Right Click on the “RSS Link” below > Copy Link Address
In iTunes – in the top left navigation select File > Subscribe to a Podcast > Right Click in the dialog box that will open and select > Paste (or us the keyboard Ctrl “V”) and then OK.
Depending on your settings in iTunes you will probably see just the most recent episode. Use the old episode button to add more.
Super Secret iTunes RSS Feed on your mobile devise
Once you have a Podcast App installed on either an iDevice or Android, open this page on your device, Simply clicking the “RSS Feed” link below should open the App and asked if you want to subscribe to the Podcast > click OK and that's all you should need to do. Here's the link to the Apple Podcast App for iPhones and iPads – here's an App for your Android.
Please let me know if you have any difficulties.
ICI/PRO Members – the link to your RSS Feed is right below this. You'll also find it in the RH side bar of every post.
If you're anything like me, good ideas are easy to come by – especially when it comes to “ideas” about how to improve my class, changes (desperately) needed at our studio and new formats / programming we should be introducing as new classes.
But unfortunately many of those fabulous ideas of mine are never realized… and it's typically my fault.
Why?
Because I hadn't invested the effort to really think through everything and then formally present my “idea” as an actual “plan” to management. In the past I've figured that my “idea” was so good, that I could just throw it at my Dept Head and she'd run with it. Doesn't work that way.
The person you report to (Manager/Dept Head/Owner) also has a boss, or at the very least a partner. They need to be well armed with the details of your plan, before they will even consider discussing your “idea” with upper management.
ICI/PRO member and Zoning Specialist Kay Mamo successfully worked through this process and was rewarded with her very-own new class on the schedule. Kay and I discuss the steps she took in this episode of the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast.
Kay has provided a template you can use to bring detail to your idea. You can download it here.NOTE: Kay's plan is specific to the introduction of a Boot Camp that include a Zoning 30 minute cardio session. Feel free to change it up to reflect your dream class 🙂
My interview with Douglas Brooks continues with a discussion of RealRyder's class planning – it maybe the exact opposite of how you create your profile.
Listen below to find out why.
Show notes:
During our discussion Douglas references their class planning template – you can download a copy here.
Douglas also described how they teach a method of trimming the length of a song in iTunes (setting the start & stop times) to fit a specific segment. I mentioned that we have specific instructions for trimming the length of a track available here for ICI/PRO members – but it's buried in a video over at the MixMeister Academy.
Here's how to “Trim” the length of a song in iTunes.
Sample the track and record where you would like it to begin and end.
Highlight the track in the list view.
Either go to: File > Get Info, Right Click the Track and select > Get Info or use the shortcut Control i
Tick the box you wish to change and enter your preferred start/stop times.
Finish with OK
Unfortunately this isn't an option in Spotify. Just to be sure I experimented with first trimming a song in iTunes, and then opening it in Spotify – both on my computer and iPhone. It played full length (not trimmed) in both cases.
Here's part two of my interview with Douglas Brooks – enjoy and let me know if this was helpful for you [wlm_firstname].
I've described her at times as the Human Metronome for good reason – the girl knows how to follow a beat.
And yes, when she and I dance, she leads.
As the Senior Group Fitness Instructor here, Amy has skills she's developed from teaching and cuing aerobics classes that can benefit both you and your participants.
One is how she will introduce a Waltz to help those of us who are rhythmically inept learn to hear, follow and pedal to the actual beat of the music.
Listen below to Amy explain why a adding a few Waltz tempo tracks to your playlist could potentially help those Laggards in class finally “get it.” At the end we've recorded Amy's actual presentation to her class so you can learn how you might introduce a Waltz to your students.
NOTE: Chim Chim and the two versions of Kiss from a rose we've used may be the most universally known tracks we're aware of.
Special treat from Allen Jones at EpicPlanet.tv – 30 minutes of audio from an actual Criterium bike race you can use to add realism to any Race Day profile!
It starts with the Race Director announcing “Cat 4 racers… take your mark, get set, go!!!! Then it ends with the bell lap – simply awesome 🙂
The actual audio is from Allen's latest video; epicRaceDay – Pensacola Stage Race! I had stripped this audio from the 30 minute Criterium race segment, with the idea of adding it to the background of my Race Day Audio PROfile that will be published this weekend.
I've taught a number* of Race Day classes using epicRaceDay – Pensacola Stage Race! and a students have commented that they really enjoyed hearing the actual sounds of a race, over layed with my music. This DVD includes the option to play just the racing sounds. The music system where I teach will play the audio from multiple sources, so I turn up the DVD volume along with the music and off we go!!!!
Then I had an idea. Not everyone has video in their studio to experience this amazing addition to their classes – so why not provide it to our PRO members as an MP3?
So I called Allen to ask his permission to publish this audio as one of our PRO/Podcasts. As you can guess, Allen thought this was a great idea and enthusiastically agreed. So here it is as a direct download (right click – Save As) and it will also show up as an episode of the Podcast.
I left it completely clean, so there's no introduction or anything on the end – just 30 minutes of pure bicycle racing sounds. My suggestion is to burn this to a CD that you can play along with the music from your portable device.
Please let Allen know if this is of value by leaving a comment below.
*I'm teaching this again tomorrow (Saturday 10/20 8:30am) at the Chanhassen Lifetime Fitness. If you're in town I'd love to have you.
Fast forward to the 27:20 mark to hear the finish!
