Christian Noni was recruiting Spinning Instructors at WSSC.
His homemade “I'm Hiring” badge got my attention as Christian Noni walked by me at WSSC. As the Executive Fitness Director for Revelry Indoor Cycling and Fitness, Christian has a problem that I heard expressed multiple times this weekend; where do I find quality Instructors in my area? It's not like they're sitting around, waiting for me to launch my new studio 🙁
The options are limited
Let me know if I'm missing any here – I'm thinking there are only two realistic options:
Recruit existing Instructors from other health clubs.
Develop/grow your own… and then take really good care of them so they stay.
The recent brouhaha over Soulcycle banning Instructors from their classes, suggests that many fitness businesses are getting protective of their prized positions – popular Instructors. Rightly so. Despite all the interest and effort being invested in rider metrics, video display systems, fancy studio designs, ect… the life blood of a successful studio is you – the Instructor.
Recruiting may work, depending on where you're located. Most big-boxes that I'm aware of don't require exclusivity agreements (just don't get caught mentioning you also have a class down the road) so a few Instructors may be willing to join your team. Word of a new studio in town tends to travel fast. As soon as you've signed your lease you should have signage up in the windows advertising your needs. Barbara Hoots told me all this was very inexpensive to design and have printed at a local sign shop.
Attractive signage is a must while you're building out your space!
Many of these new studio start-ups are filling an unserved fitness need in a community, so unfortunately not every city has other clubs to draw from. Which leaves… develop/grow your own as the better long term solution.
Barbara Hoots gave a wonderful presentation here at WSSC, where she demonstrated how successful businesses are continuously; NEW, IMPROVED & IMPROVING. She used the example of OREO cookies, which to my surprise, were first introduced in 1912. A 104 year old brand and they are still offering new and/or improved versions of Americas best selling cookie. My take away from Barbara's session was that studio owners need to be continuously developing NEW Instructors and of course IMPROVING those you have in place.
While I was chatting with Christian, he explained how finding prospective Instructors was just step one. He's planning a comprehensive training program for every new hire that he's developed with the help of his friend and mentor Lawrence Biscontini.
In case you missed my pair of very entertaining interviews with Lawrence, you can find part one here. Part two's here.
Christian told me he's open to sharing his Instructor training plans and we're scheduling an interview in the next few weeks.
Now I'm off to find my PST – (Personal Spinning Threshold) with MI Janet Toussaint!
Marketers have specific names for people, based on how quickly they purchase new products or embrace new technologies. The people who lined up, days in advance, to buy the first iPhones are described as innovators. Those of us who waited a few weeks for our new phone are early adopters. The few holdouts still using a rotary dial phone fall into the laggards category.
It maybe a “guy” thing, but I love new technology and feel I'm a bit of an innovator. I'm very comfortable experimenting with new software, especially if it includes a promise to improve my fitness or help me deliver a better class. For example; the second I saw Spotify I knew I needed to learn how it worked – both for myself, and then be able to help motivate the thousands of Instructors who visit here use it as well.
When it comes to Social Media, I hate to admit, I haven't been very innovative. Closer to a laggard. I've been privately wishing that FaceBook would fade away. You see, ICI/PRO has always been about others. My response to questions; “so, what do you do John?” has always been; “I have a platform to promote smart, talented and passionate people in our industry”.
So after multiple promptings to “get more active on FaceBook” and my realization that it isn't going away any time soon – I have finally decided to do just that… get more active on FaceBook and other platforms. Except I realized that I needed some help.
Enter Social Media expert, blogger and Indoor Cycling Instructor – Courtney Messier Lee 🙂
Courtney makes her living helping businesses develop their brands, online, using the various social media platforms. She has graciously offered to help me, starting with the creation of a FaceBook fan page.
Courtney joins me to discuss her plans to enhance my social profile and some of her ideas may help you as well.
You can learn more about Courtney and the services she offers, by following the (you guessed it) links to her profiles below.
UPDATE: Unfortunately we ran into contractual issues that prevent us from having this event this year. We'll keep trying.
ICI/PRO is partnering with ECA World Fitness to co-host a very special Cycling Studio Owner and Instructor education conference near San Francisco, CA over the weekend of November 7th – 9th, 2014.
We've chosen the beautiful campus of the College of San Mateo and their San Mateo Athletic Club as the event location.
Do you really know when your class music is at exactly the right sound level?
That it's not too loud so it's unsafe… but not too quiet that you miss out on the energy?
How about the level of your microphone… is it adjusted so your voice and cues are easily understood by your class?
I only know one Instructors on the planet who can answer this with, YES John, I do know when my mic and music volume are adjusted correctly – our very own Jennifer Lintz. That's because Jennifer teaches at a studio where they've spent $766.00 to purchase one of these soundear noise meters. In this article she discusses teaching class with it hanging in the back of her studio. She only needs to take a quick peek and watch the color changes to know when everything is adjusted properly.
Image from http://www.soundsafety.com.au/
$766.00, for something you could live without, is what my buddy Randy would call “Stupid Money”. To be fair, the SoundEar appears to have been designed for use in hospitals, where the intent is keeping noise levels very low.
Continuous understanding vs. checking once or twice a year 🙁
Do you still do this in your class?
Over the years I've seen infrequent requests from GF Dept Heads saying something similar to:
We're getting complaints about music levels in some classes!! Please check the sound levels in your classes!! I have a sound meter in my top drawer you can use. I'm also going to make spot checks of classes to check and see that you're under 100 decibels – which is our company policy.
How does checking my sound level today help me a month, week, day or even 20 minutes from now?
I can't help comparing an annual sound check to the good old days when we checked our pulse with fingers and a watch. This gave the illusion of doing something important, but it's a worthless exercise when you compare it with the understanding you get from a Heart Rate monitor that display BPM continuously. If my HR is too low, I can increase my level of effort, and then wait, check again and adjust as necessary.
The typical fitness studio sound system includes a bunch of knobs that will change the sound levels. Where I teach there are 5 ways I can adjust what my class hears:
Master Volume Knob
iPod Volume Knob
Mic Volume Knob
CD Volume Knob
And the volume level slider on my iPhone
+ don't forget how many tracks play at a different volume
All those knobs effect how loud the music will be in class. Making a mark on the Master Volume Knob (as often suggested) ignores all the other settings that will over ride the Master Volume Knob. I need a meter that tells me the correct settings to make for the best class experience.
You don't hear… what they hear
In most studios there's what I call a cone of silencer, that looks like this:
What sounds perfect to you on the instructor bike can be deafening to riders in the front row. The only way you can truly understand what your class is hearing, is to get off and walk around the room.
So I propose building a Fitness Studio Sound Meter that looks like this prototype
Why in the clock?
Every fitness studio (if it doesn't already) should have a clock hanging on the back or side wall, so the Instructor can easily know the time. I feel it makes perfect sense to incorporate the sound meter where it's plainly visible while teaching.
Visible to you… but discrete
I've already test marketed this idea to a few dozen Instructors and Studio owners. The one negative concern expressed was not wanting participants focusing or judging you based on their watching the sound meter. So our design features small LEDs that are very easy to see in any level light.
I have a saying; “my ideas always sound good… to me“. The purpose of this campaign is to find out if my idea sounds good to you 🙂
I'll be posting more details and a link to Indiegogo campaign tomorrow (Sunday 3/30/14)
When I get the same question, from two ICI/PRO members, a week apart, it means I should probably write a post about the subject.
First the questions:
Hi John –
I hope you are doing well and have the prospect of defrosting in the near future! A question came up at one of the places where I teach about minimum age for spinning. Back when I was certified, I understood that 16 was the earliest age based on growth plates, etc. Has there been any change in thinking? Can you point me to the most current research? The owner has been hounded by a member who wants his 12 year old to spin with him. I encouraged the owner to send an email to all the members spelling out the club's policy regarding kids and spinning (a tactic employed by the lovely studio owner from California who you interviewed on a recent podcast!). Having the research will give him the ammunition he needs.
Thanks, John. I appreciate any leads you can give me!
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Hello,
The YMCA I teach at wants to let children join the spin class. Is there an age limit or height recommendations that you can suggest? I have been on line before when some children came to spin with their parent. I found one source that said 4'10 but I need something to show my supervisor.
Thank you so much.
Here's how I initially responded
Hi Alice – I actually talked to Dennis Keiser about your question this morning during the early AM workouts here at IHRSA in San Diego. He doesn't have any specific research he could point to, but the engineer in him made these points – which I'm paraphrasing as I didn't record our conversation.
Most children are not just small adults. Although manufactures build Indoor Cycles to accommodate a wide range of adult heights, you can't compare a 5′ 12 year old with a 5′ 30 year old.
The crank arm length (typically 170mm) maybe too long for many young children. This forces the rider's knees to move through too large a range of motion.
The flywheels on IC bikes (and especially friction resistance cycles) have too much mass for children's underdeveloped leg muscles to control at low or no load pedaling.
That said, there are always exceptions to every rule – so making a blanket: no one under 16 rule is bound to have someone complaining when their 6′ 180lb 15 year old son is told they can't ride.
Not sure if this helps but it's what I have.
John
I'm thinking I may want to amend this a bit – truth is I was really squeezed for time when I responded to Alice.
Effective communication is a tricky thing and I totally failed to follow my own advice here. I know better than to give into the temptation to quickly educate – it's almost always the wrong initial response.
Instead I should have responded with questions, to better understand the issue.
I could (and should) have asked in response…
What's your goal or intent here?
Are you trying to protect kids from injury?
Do you dislike having kids in your class?
Are you trying to identify the nominal age where kids are mature enough to participate in a class?
Is this to create an easily understood standard for participation? You must be this tall to ride.
Are you trying to encourage more kids to get involved in our sport?
My view is that any response to these questions is legitimate. For example; one of the clubs where I teach is an Adults Only Life Time Fitness. The minimum age is 16 – period.
Your club may allow younger kids on the fitness floor, but wish to set a height/age limit for group classes. The reasons why can vary. You may be concerned about safety or a lack of maturity – it makes perfect sense not wanting a pack of 13 year old boys disrupting your class.
On the flip side, don't we want kids active and enjoying fitness? If a member wants to bring their 12 year old son or daughter to a class, shouldn't we try to find a way to accommodate them? Despite two fitness Instructor parents, neither of my daughters are very active. Abby and Carly work & play hard at their jobs and school, but they have almost zero interest in a structured fitness activity. I'd love to find a way to get them involved at our club.
If I had asked a few of those questions, I might have responded differently. My guess is that these Instructors don't want to have to be the “Bad Guy” = be the one who has to say “no, I'm sorry but little Billy can't ride with you.” There's an easy solution for this.
Appeal to a higher authority
We're in a service industry and it's hard to have to tell a customer; “no sir, your 10 year old daughter can't take this class with you.” As an Instructor it puts you in a very uncomfortable place, and often has you debating with the parent to no good end. There's a simple solution that theme parks figured out years ago. Create a very clear GO/NO-GO line and display it prominently. The MUST BE THIS TALL TO RIDE sign becomes the authority you can point to. I know it can make you seem like an un-thinking robot, but having something solid to point at can really reduce conflicts.
Each Official Spinning Facility has its own policy on age requirements. Also, consider the following information in your decision —
Size: Proper bike fit is very important for injury prevention. Participants need to be big enough to get their proper seat height and fore/aft adjustments. Spinner® bikes usually fit people who are at least 4′ 11″. However, this is not an exact minimum height. Leg and torso length determine if the fit is appropriate.
Age/Maturity: Children need to be mature and responsible enough to follow the safety rules. It can sometimes be tempting for kids to pedal as fast as they can, and that can be unsafe. Because the Spinner® bike is a fixed gear bike, the weight of the flywheel can turn the pedals at a very high speed with a lot of momentum if there's not enough resistance.
I really like the sign pictured at the top of the post, with it's three zones 🙂 Would it make sense to create something similar you could post at your club? Maybe with these three zones?
Can I ride?
Red: Sorry, you need to be 4'11” or an adult to ride.
Yellow: Under 13 (you decide) needs to ride with a parent in the front row – so you can keep an eye on them.
