We're seeing a crazy number of new small/independent/boutique studios opening all over the world - which is awesome. I love being part of a growth industry, not to mention how all these new studios need Instructors!
But what's driving all this growth? I know that a whole bunch of studios have opened, who's owners will tell you that their initial motivation came from hearing my first interview with Bill Pryor/Spynergy Consulting; Start Your Own Indoor Cycling Studio from 2010.
But there has been another force at work in our industry; SoulCycle.
Google Trends is an interesting service where you can observe the popularity for a particular subject over time. The data is based on mentions in prominent media and Google searches. You plug in a few search terms and Google displays a trending line to show the popularity of the topic and easily compare with other searches.
So here's a comparison between the search terms; Soul Cycle and Spin Class - with apologies for omitting the ® which isn't normally used in an article or search.
Through the wonders of technology, Google makes it possible for you to see and interact with the results.
Admittedly, I needed to try a few different search terms before I found this one that I feel most accurately reflects the impact SoulCycle has had on the popularity of Indoor Cycling. "Spinning" alone doesn't work as there are too many uses of the word that don't apply. I did try to add Flywheel into the mix, but there are very few mentions of searches.
Google's data only goes back to 2004 - it would make this more interesting if we could see back before then. The graph does show "Spin Class" as relatively flat until the first mention of SoulCycle in the fall of 2005. I'm not sure we can draw a direct correlation (but I'll try anyway) to the noticeable uptick around the time we launched ICI/PRO in the fall of 2009 and then again around the time of Bill's interview in 2010 🙂
Love them or hate them, SoulCycle has had (at least by this method) a hugely positive effect on the visibility of Indoor Cycling and small studios.
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,
In my opinion your search on Google trends only validates what I’m seeing in new instructors. Indeed at a local search engine company where I teach several classes that trend is accelerated. I have had to modify my tried and true cycling specific classes by focusing less on the ‘training’ and more on the high energy experienced in Soul Cycle classes.
Music and video play a more important role the ever before as we evolve as instructors in the post Soul Cycle world. My competitors at the above mentioned company – whose first letter starts with a G – actually are employees. These young, talented high tech professionals (many of whom came from YouTube) are experts at stripping and editing high quality music video for use in our on campus studio’s.
At the end of the day I believe such and evolution is good for our industry, a motivator for us older instructors to keep our material fresh and – most importantly – what the customer wants.
The problem – such that it is – comes from poorly educated and non-policed instructors that have Masters Degrees in everything but fitness. Couple that with a decided lack of a facility wide ‘training philosophy’ and you get is contraindicated moves and little to no understanding of cardiovascular training.
I believe the industry needs these new young instructors that deliver an experience the customer seems to want. My wish is that they would read these and other pages that help an instructor deliver a safe, rewarding and high energy workout.