Have you ever met someone and liked them instantly? You can't explain why but you immediately felt an emotional bond. I'm not talking about sexual attraction, but rather a genuine and wholesome feeling of fondness and respect towards this person.
In a job interview, you are more likely to be hired if the interviewer connects with you as a person. In a business situation, you are more likely to get your foot in the door and seal the deal if the client connects with you as a person. As a cycling instructor, you are more likely to have students follow you to the ends of the earth and never dream of skipping a class if they connect with you on this personal level!
Although your technical skills may be outstanding, if class size has dwindled it may be time to develop some love-ability skills! The qualities of a lovable instructor can actually be cultivated with these simple tips.
Awareness
Awareness is the most important Spinning® Indoor Cycling Instructor skill you'll ever master, but one you won't find taught by any certification program! When surveyed, most students who quit any exercise class quit for reasons that have nothing do to with their physical limitations or the instructor's competence. Students leave over the little stuff: The room too is hot or too cold, the music is too loud or not loud enough, the music is offensive, the instructor has an ego, etc.....the list goes on and on!  Awareness will teach you how to anticipate stumbling blocks and make your class an experience all students will enjoy. How? Use awareness to make them believe your class is focused on their needs.
Personal awareness and insight comes by first getting to know the little quirks of your studio as well as the quirks of your students. Match the two whenever possible. Most every facility has “hot” spots where air flow is minimal, “loud” spots near the speakers, and “dark spots” where a new student may feel more secure. When students arrive, make quick mental notes (not judgments!) and follow through with sincere, genuine suggestions to make their ride exceptional. For example: If you notice an older woman has selected a bike in an area of the room where air gets stale, kindly suggest a bike near the fan.  Is there a student in your class going through a divorce? Call on your awareness skills and don't play songs that bring up painful memories ("Lips of an Angel" by Hinder is the all-time worst!) Increasing your awareness skills can decrease the reasons students disappear. A happy student is a returning student.
Keep it Clean and Keep it Working
Are you guilty of leaving the empty water bottles, paper, gum wrappers, and broken pedal straps for “someone else” to throw away?  Nothing says you Don't Care like a cluttered studio. Your cycling room should be a special place to disappear from the world and not a place for storing used gym equipment or empty coffee cups! What about those nagging repairs that never seem to get fixed - a mic that continues to short out or a speaker that rattles? Gym owners are notorious about putting off repairs, so offer to lend a hand and you'll gain the reputation as the instructor who “gets things done.” Your class will notice the difference and love you for it!
Remembering Names
Personally, I'm always impressed when someone I've just met remembers my name and uses it in a sentence. It certainly gets your attention and makes you feel respected, filling a natural desire for attention and love. If remembering names is not your strength, try my nifty little trick that really works! Make a 'seating chart' and jot down the name of each student along with a brief physical description in the area where they usually ride. Review the list before each class and greet students using as many first names as possible.
Gratitude
Making gratitude your business is a winning way to let students know how much you appreciate them. In the words of Rousseau, "What wisdom can you give that is greater than being kind or thankful?" Often we're forgetful, self-consumed, or just too busy to put THANK YOU into words or actions. Don't miss the chance to express gratitude to your students; it will lead you to a deeper sense of happiness and yes, students will adore you.
What did I miss?
Leave your ideas for others as a comment 🙂
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Originally posted 2010-04-18 12:12:48.
Skilled at interpreting the needs of each client, a variety of consulting services can be tailored to meet your vision, budget and timeline.Whether spicing up a corporate franchise or launching an upscale boutique, Barbara and her team of experts will ensure your studio is the most popular ride in town.
Unlike traditional architects or interior designers, Barbara directs a successful
60-bike program and combines over a decade of teaching experience with cutting-edge design skills to create safe, versatile studios that accommodate a variety of ride styles.With an eye for details and cost-saving opportunities, her consulting services more than pay for themselves.
As a columnist and presenter for REX Roundtables for Executives, World Spinning and Sports Conference, MindBody, Club Industry Magazine, Mad Dogg Athletics and Indoor Cycle Instructor Pro, Barbara is regarded as a trusted leader in the industry.In addition to studio design, she offers class building workshops, grand opening rides and special event fundraisers.
Clients include:
â– Miramont Lifestyle Fitness, Fort Collins, CO
■Gold’s Gym, Atlanta, GA
â– Lipscomb University, Nashville, TN
â– Grit Cycle, Costa Mesa, CA
â– Mad Dogg Athletics, Venice Beach, CA
â– KOR180, Austin, TX
â– U.S. Army, El Paso, TX
â– Body Boutique, Lawrence, KS
â– Velo Vite, Montreal
â– Pedal Studio, UK
â– Paul Venning Fitness, UK
â– BodyCycle, Philadelphia, PA
â– Surge Cycling, St. Louis Park, MN
â– Half Moon Resort, Jamaica
â– U.S. President Jimmy Carter
â– Special Olympics, Vermont and Georgia
â– Cancer Coalition of Georgia
Contact Information
Email: Barbara@indoorcycledesign.com
Web: www.indoorcycledesign.com
Social: LinkedIn / Facebook
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- Amp up your Indoor Cycling class with time management - March 29, 2021
Thanks for the practical tips Barbara.
I know first hand that you practice what
you preach. Also it helps to communicate,
which I know you do, to your students that
we would not be instructors if we have no
students. I try and let them know that I could not do what I do if it were not for them coming class after class and adding to that energy level in the room. I do not want to take them for granted!
I agree with many of these suggestions. However, I also am in the position of working in a facility that has inadequate AC, won’t allow fans and I continually get complaints. Even letters to the Corporate level mentioning the simple fact that sweat only cools people when there is air movement hasn’t helped. So my people would love me (and my fellow instructors) if only LAfitness would realize that their idea of adequate AC is not enough to provide a comfortable envioronment in an indoor cycling class. (rant over)
Love the article and I work hard to make sure my studio says I do go the extra mile.
Should I be expecting my instructors to do the same ? They give awesome classes, music shows the effort.
But there is a cleaner who should be cleaning but I often notice the studio is left in a state and I cannot always get to it.
Should I expect my instructors to become the cleaner to ? I have purposefully not asked them to help, preferring them to focus on the amazing classes the riders love.
Just wondering what other studio do ?
Andrew
Last winter we had a “FREEZING” spin room…people came in and wore jackets the first part of the class….even attmepting to open the locked door to the spin room early, did not relieve the chill…so instructors started bringing in space heaters from home….although the members and teachers all joked about the winter chill inside, the members, really appreciated the effort…now that it is spring, the isssue has been resolved! Oh well!
Thanks,Raindrop! Here’s a word many gym owners don’t want to hear: LAWSUIT. Because there are strong industry standards regarding air flow and ventilation, it just takes one member to faint or have an asthma attack for a trial lawyer to be all over your club. That magic word got my management’s attention and they quickly made sure we had ceiling fans and a separate air system! Give it a shot – money (or loss of!) seems to get their attention.
Andrew, thanks so much for your comment! I became friends with the cleaning crew! Yup, brought them all Wendy’s take-out one evening as the began their shift and thanked them for doing such a great job (not exactly true then, but after Wendy’s they DID begin cleaning much better!) I also found the cell number of my gym’s maintenance man. Now I call him directly when I need a light bulb replaced, etc. They love the attention and now pay extra attention making sure the spin room is clean. Avoid the middle man if possible and go straight to the source of repair.
Great tips, Barbara! I usually teach spinning with the lights off, red rope lights around, etc- creating that environment most conducive for the mind-body connection. However, before I start class the lights are just ever so dimmed so people can set up…I have one lady who is a bit overweight, and at the 6 am class wears no make-up, etc. She asked if we could make it pitch black the whole entire time (including set up, etc)….how should I use awareness and consideration to make her more happy and it be a win win for everyone (people who need light to set up and chat with others)?
Katherine, I do hope you have enough light to check HR monitors and students aren’t riding in a Bat Cave 🙂 It appears your student may have a case of very low self esteem. Maybe a bit of extra TLC is what she needs rather than darkness. Tell her you’re so proud of her for supporting the class, but safety and ensuring proper form is your first priority. Remind her she’s beautiful on a bike and seeing her leg muscles flex is encouraging to you!
Barbara,
excellent article as usual, and fantastic responses and support!
Andrew, when I used to run the program at a club I’ve worked at for 15 years (I ran it for 8 years), I did ask my instructors to tidy up. Not to get down and scrub anything or take a lot of time mind you, but when they show respect for the room, the members are likely to follow suit. I asked them to make sure the stereo was closed up, towels were in the bins (and not thrown next to it), pick up any trash from the floor if any (newspapers, kleenex, etc). They could do this as they were chatting with members, so the time commitment was minimal. The instructors were required to clean their own bikes and to ask members to wipe down theirs as well. If a bike was gross with sweat, I asked them to wipe it down, but this didn’t always happen (but when I taught I did).
I only sub there occasionally any more and I think the bikes aren’t as clean, and instructors aren’t inspired to do as much to respect it anymore (and the program has fallen apart in the past few years).
However, you should have a separate cleaning and maintenance crew who does a full clean of the bikes outside of the classes. Maybe that’s you?!
By the way, Barbara’s comment about being the instructor who gets things done, and having your members love you for it is VERY true! When you go that extra mile, they notice it. It doesn’t always win you points with management though.
This winter we had some issues with the cable for iPods. It didn’t work well so one speaker in the very back would go in and out. the riders in the back would always point to the speaker, I’d jiggle the cable, and it would work. When I complained to management, the manager would come in, plug in his ipod stand at the front and email me that nothing was wrong. A member complained and he left her a 3 minute voice mail that he had checked many times, that there wasn’t a problem, and that “Jennifer needs to learn how to use the stereo”. Ah man, this left me irate!
I bought a new cable ($12.99) – he almost didn’t reimburse me (I wouldn’t have cared from the money perspective, just from the principle) because he said the other one worked fine. Long story short, I have a mgr who is pissed at me (I don’t care, I don’t deal with him – I have a good GX coordinator who I deal with and she is just as frustrated with mgmt as me), but members who are now very happy. They said the other instructors knew about this but never did anything – I was the only one who spoke up.
So, the point is, be that squeaky wheel! Take the extra time and energy as Barabra suggested and your members WILL LOVE YOU for more than just your fantastic coaching and music. It’s an entire package!
I read all the the comments and think: How lucky I am, to have good managers !
In one facility, I had problem with the bike they were brand new but not really well assembled, it took me one month to find the right person to contact … I was in another, tchating with the manger about the hockey game, the gym has the same franshise. The BIG manager, the owner, was there, I just told him about the problem the day after everything was fix.
We need to be more heard by our manager, for that we have to find what touch them as Barbara said lawsuit is the best argument but it is, the last argument we have to use, as it is really an aggresive one.
It is a nice subject but really complex and complete one, I think the most important is to show members that you are them for them and there are plenty differents way to do it. Members know when you work for them.
But a problem can appear how “keep it real” and have “big” number, that is a tuff job … for that we need to be able to disturb some crow to bring them without they notice where we want them to go. With some it will never work, for them we have 2 options wait and find want will talk to them or ignore them.
I’m a long time student of spin, and have taken many classes and seen a LOT of different instructors and styles.
My favorite classes: Teacher starts on time, and is able to get right in their groove. I’m there to work out and some folks tend to chit chat a bit too long while the class is getting going. I think it’s important to get to getting. The instructor should start by getting the class focused. Please don’t gab on forever about bike, if there are no first timers in the room; set some expectations and start your workout.
A few words of inspiration are good, but you can easily over salt anything by sharing your personal stories. I’ve found the most successful spin classes are the ones where the whole class is ready to hammer for 50 min. A good class can even bring along the newbie’s. When I travel through Denver I love to ride there because everyone has the game face on, and I can draw on the strength of the room. I love to see you spin teachers work hard, and breath hard. Makes me feel like were riding together.
Please instructors when you see other folks a gabbing in the spin room make a comment like…’If you can say more than a few words turn your dial right, and speed up’, If that doesn’t do it turn your music. They are definitely bothering someone else; if someone comes into the spin room late, kindly point out the open bike in the back of the room.
When the room is full; grab the sign in sheet before class starts and a highlighter. Walk to the first bike, and highlight that person’s name off the list. By the time you get to bike 3 they folks that didn’t sign in will quietly leave, and open the bikes up for all who signed in.
Thank goodness for new website with good spin music routines. I have no advised there. You all have good music taste although one teacher played a slow Seal song on a climb and I nearly crashed my spin bike…and that’s hard to do!
Great article as usual. One thing you may have missed is compliments, generic and specific. I usually end most classes with an overall compliment to the class – ‘You all did incredible: 20 minutes at threshold (or whatever the profile called for) is amazing.’ Compliment them for what they accomplished as a group. Also, before or after, I find the opportunity to compliment individuals with something specific that I saw that class (if afterwards) or the previous class (if beforehand). Something like: ‘Joe, I can see the progress that you’re making when we did that 30 minute climb last week’ or ‘Susan, you worked incredibly hard during the intervals and I could see that you were truly breathless when we went anaerobic in the last set’. I don’t feel compelled to compliment everyone for everything. That’s insincere and comes off as phony. But, when it’s deserving, it’s very well received. Something like: ‘Barbara, another brilliant article.’
Our studios do not mandate specific styles, music or class types — but we do offer “guideliness” that every teacher, no matter what their particular style should adhere to to make the classes the best possible. Examples: greeting and knowing names, helping newcomers, overviewing the class goals in advance, making sure your voice is clear and audible, registering complaints and noting them to studio owner…..to name a few. These guidelines are in writing and we talk about them….makes the teachers feel part of team.
Bill, my club, like yours, has a policy manual to maintain consistency among instructors regarding air temp, volume, etc. However, problems arise when one or two instructors don’t comply. Do you terminate an instructor if they don’t follow your studio’s guidelines? I’m curious….a situation is developing and I’m wondering how to handle it!
Thanks so much for your comments!
A note to Andrew–our department head asks that we all contribute to the cleaning detail–we’re each expected to swiffer, clean mirrors, fill towels, and to clean two rows of bikes (she has a schedule for us to follow). It’s great–the philosophy is “Many hands make light work.”
I appreciate coming in to a clean room, and, although back-to-back classes can make it a challenge, each has a 15-minute window between classes to accommodate cleaning.
Great article, Barbara.
Barbara:
As a newbie, I found your article very helpful and consistent (+some) with what I learned in the Schwinn Cert Class. I guess I’m spoiled with the gyms I’ve visited over the last year. the several Equinox clubs in CA and DC were always clean with excellent equipment. My current club Universal is also consistently clean, well lit and equipment working with excellent instructors. Being in sales I recognize that awareness and remembering names is critical to making a connection. One of the most important aspects of what I do in sales and spin is to ‘think like the customer’ by seeing, hearing, doing what they are experiencing…that’s where the exchange of energy comes from because they know you’re into them and not yourself. “Great Leaders are not those who do great things, Great Leaders are those who get others to do Great Things’ a favorite quote from Ronald Reagan. Be well! Bill
Hi Bill New Instructor,
Thanks for incredible quote! It reminds me of my favorite line from The Ultimate Gift, (the BEST inspirational movie ever) “My gift is helping you discover your gift…”
You obviously get the concept of awareness! I LOVE IT!!! It’s interesting that many incredibly intelligent people appear dull because they lack awareness. And people of average intellect can appear brilliant by honing their awareness skills. Thanks so much for your comments….and check out the movie…it’s a true story starring James Garner (Rockford Files guy) before he died.
Currently I work at a club that does not foster employee input. For example, the microphone was not fuctioning for FIVE months. We were not allowed to say anything. Even when the members were complaining loudly about how unacceptable it was – if we said anything we were reprimanded and management said, (quote: “WE HATE COMPLAINTS!!!!). So for five months we were forced to do without a very important piece of equipment (the instructors resorted to yelling or not using the microphone at all, or rarely). To me this is incredibly stupid. You are very lucky if you work at an establishment who actually cares about its employees and members. I’m currently looking for other places to work or hope that one day these bad managers leave or quit.
I teach in a few places, one being a big chain gym. We have a huge new cycle room, All state of the art Keisers, wonderful room to teach in for sure. I am new to the club and already have many regulars. Before class starts I make sure to bike fit newbies, but I also go thru rows saying “Hi, hey what is up to pretty much every one. So many people look at me like i am nuts, (they are not used to instructors greeting them) but I want to make sure they know I see them, it is important to me that they are there. And, if I see them for a few classes I make sure to know their name. Then I get the class started and get down to business. Funny enough as friendly as I start if people talk in my class, (which has 50 to 65 or so regularly) I first say, hey if you are talking you need to gear up cause you aren’t working hard enough. If this doesn’t work, i have grabbed my ipod and paused the music this gets everyone’s attention. I say, hey if you are thru, we can keep working cause that is what we are here to do,(then I give them a big grin and start the music). Funny enough people always say thanks for shutting those people up! I’ve only had to do it twice, but it has worked well.