Please learn from this article
You need all three sides
My good friend John Macgowan of www.indoorcycleinstructor.com effectively outlined the three components of a group fitness class: 1) foundation, 2) media (i.e. music) and 3) presentation. It is my opinion that neither one, alone, will make your class great, but one, alone, can ruin it.
I participated in an indoor cycle class this morning and I am confident I will never attend this instructor”™s class again. The foundation was great. The instructor chose to lead us through a moderately challenging endurance ride. We performed a combination of high and medium cadence sections both off and on our seats.
The music selection was good. Most of the music was easily recognizable and appropriate for the ride.
The presentation, on the other hand, was extremely poor. There was zero excitement and enthusiasm in the instructor”™s tone and facial expressions (if there were any facial expressions at all). Eye contact with the fitness participants was minimal. Lastly, there was too much talking and explaining during the 60-minute class.
Unfortunately, the instructor”™s poor presentation skills trumped the foundation and media components of the class, making the experience a negative one. I didn”™t exert every ounce of energy I had to give. I can say the same for the other participants because they were busy chatting amongst each other during the entire class.
I have always taught athletes, coaches and fitness professionals to highlight their strengths and improve their weaknesses. I do not believe you have to be excellent at everything, but you must be adequate in all of the components involved in your craft.
I would bet this instructor spends numerous hours planning the foundation and the media components of the class while dedicating little time to the presentation and delivery. Although the foundation and media components were good, if not great, the poor presentation ruined the class. When I looked around I saw people talking and doing their own thing. A few participants left before the class was over, most likely to never return.
Call to Action:
We can all learn from this instructor. Identify your weaker links and spend the time and effort to improve them. If you don”™t improve, your participants”™ focus will be on your weaknesses rather than your strengths. However, if you do improve, it will be easier for the fitness enthusiasts to gloss over the weaker components of your class and focus on the components you excel at.
Believe and Achieve,
Dr. Haley
You can read more from Dr. Haley at http://drhaleyperlus.wordpress.com/
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Dr. Haley,
Thank you for this well written message. As an instructor who is constantly updating my list of weaknesses I could not agree more.
That said, we all have an off day. Like any sport, we cannot be at our peak everyday. Moreover, the downside to having an off day is that the riders complain to management or worse don’t come back. They almost never say a word to the one person who needed to hear it, the instructor.
Indeed your message says just that. If the instructor had hit all three sides of the group fitness triumvirate we would not be having this discussion. Everyone would have had a great workout, left happy and returned for another class.
I do have to wonder; Was this the first class you have ever attended lead by this instructor? Were they a new instructor who could have benefitted from your feed back at the end of the class?
It seems atypical to me for an instructor to pay so much attention to foundation and media and then blow then presentation unless they are a beginner or just having a bad day.
Regardless, as good as your message is to instructors, I would hasten to add that it is incumbent on us as educators to ask our riders for feedback. Positive and NEGATIVE. I do – at the risk of my ego – ask for feedback during the cool down. If the class believes you are sincere they will comply. Some of my best learning experiences have come from informal talks with my riders at the end of a class.
As they say, we can all learn from our own mistakes.
Chuck
To add to Chuck’s comments, perhaps the presentation side did not speak to you (or spoke too much 😉 but someone else found that the music didn’t work for them. Or the ride components. Or all three were bang on.
We strive to hit all three components for each of our participants, but sometimes that may not be possible.
Dr. Haley & others: This topic really intrigues me particularly because of a charity indoor ride (benefiting families financially effected by cancer) that I will lead in two weeks. In both year year one and year two the coordinators of the ride have asked me to be the lead-off/kick off instructor for hour one of the ride that goes six hours. This year will be the third year of the ride and I am asked to be the lead-off instructor again (so I must be doing something right). I am also a cancer survivor, so I represent hope for those suffering.
My sense is that with a group that large it is very hard to get the presentation and the structure out to everyone. The sound system is typically good but not great and the excitement level of the ride is such that many are chatty and getting settled in and then there are some of the participants are totally dialed in. I recall some of the very large WSSC conference group rides being almost no structure and riding more from emotions. That seemed to work very well but it was mostly, if not all, instructors who had paid for the class and were dialed in and focused.
My group of riders will exceed 100 and I am curious as to input from others here as to whether I can really provide consise ques and real structure to the ride or go with a presentation that feeds off the group energy dyanamic and off emotions. I have a song list and there are some strong them correlations and messages from the music that tie to the cause. So I feel like I have some foundation. Where I am still formulating the presentation and struggling a bit on to what extent is leading a 100 riders like trying to herding moths? And in reading Dr. Haley’s comments it does have me really thinking about presentation and she is spot on with how an instructor can hit it well on the first two aspects of a ride but come up short on presentation. I will submit to the readers and contributors for a little help here in terms of your thoughts. Leading up to 20-25 riders where everyone has just that class to get their ‘fix’ in is easier as most if not everyone is dialed in. Leading over a 100 riders to me is where they challenge gets exponentially more difficult. Thoughts anyone?
Hi Ralph, It sounds to me as though you are right that theme, music and emotion are going to be much more powerful elements of a ride like this. I’m sure that you will have some structure, but I would have the same reservations as you about trying to focus too much on that aspect of the ride for this event. You have such a powerful message that you are presenting to your riders (and what an effective messenger you must be!) that I think the typical ideas we associate with structure might detract from the energy that theme, emotion and music will bring to the ride. I think you are right to plan for “structure light” and let the emotion of the day give shape to the ride. Have a great time!
Ralph,
I’ve tried to do a 1-hour version of my Moving Mountains ride for a part of a 6-hour ride of 200+ riders. Although some told me afterward it was their favorite part, that it was very moving and they really got into what I was asking, I’d say the mental focus work was lost on most of the group. Moving Mountains is pretty intense (mentally) and I think is not as helpful for a larger group (unless they are all instructors like at WSSC).
Now when I do a charity event with lots of people I go more for the emotion and fun. I still do the mental-focus stuff (it’s my specialty!) but not as structured, not as in depth. I think your ideas of using the songs you’ve chosen is great – just make sure you have their attention – or as many of them as possible, so they can actually pay attention to the song. So for your presentation, make sure you use your voice well, use motivating words, give them time to ride without you talking, and make sure it is fun! Being the instructor for the first hour is not the easiest, because you have to keep your intensity in check – otherwise some will have a hard time making it through the end if that is their goal.
Make sure to tell us about it after the ride! Enjoy!
I can totally understand what you are saying. As a manager, when I hire instructors one of the first things I look for is “personality”. We are up there in front of a room full of people and we have to engage them, get them to want to do what we are proposing for that day. If someone is engaging, smiles alot and gives off a good energy, that is half of the battle. For our clubs, customer service is paramount so hiring people who make eye contact, interact with members and engage them is so important. In addition, of course I also look for their knowledge, form, how they plan their classes, music selection, etc. That I can work on with them though, you cannot teach someone “personality”.
Dr. Haley, where you in my Manhattan Equinox class two Saturdays ago? LoL
Dr. Haley, were you in my Manhattan Equinox class two Saturdays ago? LoL