I'm curious, what's the average age of the participants in your Spinning Indoor Cycling class? Click "Read More" to add your vote.
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Host of the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast - the #1 Internet radio show for and about Spinning / Indoor Cycling Instructors and Cycling Studio owners.
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
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Hmm, that’s pretty difficult: the participants in my classes are somewhere between 18 and 70 …
One club is 55+ (which is how I voted), but the other where I teach more often is 25-60.
We seem to get a dichotomy: 1)the motivated late 20 to early 30-somethings (fit and trying to get fit)and 2)the mid 40 to early 50’s kids-are-grown-I-want-to-get-in-shape-again group
I do have a 76 year old gentleman in one of my classes, and he’s been a regular for six years. He is amazing!
Don’t you love it Colleen? I used to have an 80 year old man in my class – and I fell over backwards when I learned his age because you’d never know. HIs “young” wife (74) came as well.
It’s so true, Jennifer! Bill does not look his age, and he uses his fitness routine to help him continue his active lifestyle of visits to the city, canoe trips, amazing foreign hiking trips, including a trip to Mount Kilimanjaro AND China last year! The rest of the regulars in that class are young moms, and you should see how he inspires each one of them when he rides. I am so fortunate to know such an incredible guy!
good fun question! I have on a regular basis 3 people over 70, (72, 72, 71.) 4 over 60, and with only 10 that doesn’t leave a lot of room for the youngers. I have a few 20 somethings show up quite often. Maybe it has to do with the fact the gym is in a quasi retirement town (Sidney, British Columbia) and I myself am pushing 68.
Terry – “pushing 68” but going on 38 I bet! 😉
It really depends on which class we are talking about … but like many of you, I have plenty of students who are 50+ – including myself! 😉
I teach an early morning class where the average age would be 40 – 60 and mostly male. They are regulars to at least 2 early morning classes a week and pretty fit. The second class is a mid morning which is mainly mums my age (35+) and my 3 fav gentlemen, Ian – 57 and the fittest of the class, Michael, 65+ and another man who is 76 and is seriously fit and muscular! I love it!
My classes are generally filled with the 40-60 crowd. Living in a resort town we sometimes get younger visitors. The people here who cycle are in amazing shape. Not only do their bodies show off their hard work their attitude and endurance rival any younger group I have ever taught!
Kristen,
where do you live/teach? I too am in a resort town and have the exact same experience. We have lot of people who have retired here, or moved for the lifestyle and exercise, fitness, and outdoors are very important to them. They can blow away some of the “younger” crowd!
I did want to comment that my 76 year old rider did have a complaint…the HR charts posted throughout the gym go up to only 60 years old! Bill does use a HR monitor and has been told by his physiscian where to keep his HR, but still finds the HR charts to be discriminatory! (Said with a light-hearted smile, mind you.) He’s off for the rest of the month to hike through Spain!
I teach three classes per week. Since it can be a challenge trying to guess someone’s age in my classes (because of their fitness) I’ll do my best: at the country club where I teach
the regulars are between 40-70. In the summer and during the college breaks, the 20somethings will appear. At the other club, the regulars are a bit younger 30-60. I have a regular who is 57 but appears 30years old. He’s an inspiration! The men look amazing-they are eye candy in their 40s, 50s and 60s!
Is it safe to say that many of our students have some limitations seeing clearly up close? Perhaps have difficulty reading their HR monitors?
Our students?? How about the instructors?! 😉
My Sunday 9:30 am class has a lot of older people- 45 and up and often in their 60’s and 70’s. Boulder is a fit place and these folks take their fitness seriously. I think I need to do more to meet there needs.
My 5:30 Tuesday night is very young – 20’s and 30 something – lots of energy! (Although I must confess I feel a sweet alliance to the older set -they are MY EXAMPLES, really! )
Kate, where are you in Boulder? I am coming down this week to talk to clubs about doing some Master Classes or CED. And yes you’re right, Boulder is like Vail – our “older” population can beat the pants of many younger folk in other towns! 😉
Jennifer, I was in Utah for several days, sorry to have missed you. Its the 24th, if you are around call. I teach 5 classes this week at Boulder One: 303-646-7157.
Hey
Do the programs that people train in the 70s different to the people in their 20, 30s??
Max,
Excellent question! I would say that for most people in most places of the world, yes, you would train people in their 70’s differently. That said, it totally depends on the person. I have a class in the winter that is an older population, 50-mid 70’s, and they are pretty darn fit. Then again, I live in an area where very fit people come to live and play (Vail, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains). In the mid-west the answer would be very different.
This winter I will be doing a small group training program for my classes, including this older population. I also will do a similar program at another club with a lower average age. Yes, there will be some subtle differences, and I won’t push the elder group quite as hard, but since they are mostly cyclists and already fairly fit, I also won’t have to handle them with kid gloves either.
For the older population, you should make sure to know more about them. What medication they are on, their past fitness history, injuries, and most certainly, a Par-Q and most likely doctors consent. (Which in most cases is handled by your club membership, but check to make sure). Make sure to read our articles by our medical correspondent Melissa Marotta, she has done two articles on high blood pressure, which is one of the things you should be aware of with an older population.
Keep checking back this fall and winter, because I will be posting information about my small group training and also about the success of both groups. It should be very educational!