Technology can be a great thing for our classes – as long as all of your Instructors have been trained to use it properly.
I'm seeing a bunch of clubs and studios having enormous success with performance data tracking and display systems. These systems connect to the consoles all of the new Indoor Cycle's with power and then display the information on a big screen + send out those informative emails that your participants love to receive.
Unfortunately some studios and/or Instructors aren't having the same amount of success. During many of my consultations with studio owners, I'm hearing them say that they would have appreciated (and benefited from) more in depth Instructor training, i.e. exactly how do we integrate these systems into an actual class?
So when I was at IDEA this past Summer I was encouraged to see that Schwinn Indoor Cycling has developed specific education, for the use of their Schwinn branded version of Performance IQ 🙂
To get the low down on what they are offering I invited Schwinn Indoor Cycling's Director of Education, Julz Arney, join me to discuss their education and get her thoughts on Best Practices for using Display Training.
During this interview Julz mentions that she would provide everyone with a PDF of her 10 Best Practices for using a Display Training system – here's the link to download it.
Would your club or studio benefit from additional Instructor training, regardless of the brand of cycle you're using? ICI/PRO has an experienced team that is available to provide intensive Instructor training at your location – please contact us and we can schedule a call to discuss your needs and see if we can help. We can also help you with decisions regarding Indoor Cycles, website design and performance data tracking and display systems.
How much planning did you do (or should you do), before launching your new cycling studio?
What research did you complete to understand the difference between successful studios and those that are struggling?
Fitness entrepreneur Callie Bowling has completed an exhaustive planning process in anticipation of opening a new Indoor Cycling Studio in Boise Idaho next fall. Callie interviewed over a dozen studio owners and she shares what's working… what's not and what she sees as the future of boutique Indoor Cycling studios.
This interview is an hour long, and needed to be to record much of what Callie has learned.
If you own a studio, or are considering opening one, I suggest grabbing a pen and paper, find a quiet spot (maybe with a hot tea) and listen to the podcast below in it's entirety, while taking notes – I consider this one of my top five episodes ever, it's that good 🙂
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Update: This episode wasn't showing up in the podcast feed = I republished it and it appears fixed 🙂
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I was originally alerted to Callie Bowling by Amy – she had talked with her and was very impressed by how thorough she was in her business planning and the amount of research she had done via interviews with other studio owners.
So I reached out to Callie about possibly appearing on the show. This was her response 🙂
Let me give you a little background, so you can be thinking of questions on your end:
I have learned quite a bit actually, so much that just when my business plan and financials were all buttoned-up and ready to go – I was literally sitting across the table from my lender – I decided to go back to the drawing board to lay some more ground work (A MUST) and further examine my goals for my business and a smarter implementation strategy solely based on the experiences I obtained from interviewing eight indoor cycling studios across the nation. I learned a lot, the owners of these businesses were extremely generous with their time and the truly sensitive information they were divulging (the scary icky stuff like money)… lol, perhaps it's my degree in Psychology, but I've usually never had a problem getting people to open up around me… it's a double-edged sword 😉
I've learned this “dream” for us who wish to open these studios is always opened with the best intentions and out of a passion for the “sport”; we're all fitness enthusiasts who wanted to bring our passion to our communities and also make a fortune at it! I mean why not, the preliminary financials reflect success, which is a super simple function of attendance… it seems like a no-brainer right!? Get people in the door and become profitable… minimal overhead, no accounts receivables, cash based service industry, no inventory, etc. … the business model is set up for instant success! I'm sure you see I'm being simplistic and sarcastic, because nothing in life is ever that easy, and if it looks easy… take a deeper look, because you're probably missing something 🙂
With that said, there have definitely been some strong and shared commonalities amongst the failures and the successes amongst studio owners that can't be ignored… but, they're probably taboo to talk about so no one ever does, because no one likes to admit they've failed or fallen flat on their face… but, the truth is the truth, and in the same token no wants to invest their life's savings or nest egg into a business that might be doomed from the get-go, so we need to talk about it.
I will say, I don't know what came over me, but I emailed studios in XX, YY, ZZ, BB, NN, RR, and FF (on the podcast I won't disclose which states though to respect and maintain the anonymity of these studios, because in some states there is literally just one studio, so that would probably give it away, and the information they shared is certainly sensitive – we can just accurately say I reached out to studio owners across the nation) and I didn't know what to expect. I was equipped with my generic list of questions, but those soon fell to the wayside and the conversation became personal and very much a theoretical conversation about what it takes to survive as an entrepreneur in our industry and what those basic principles are.
Alas, we can go over all of this & more on the podcast, I'm loaded with info, lol, and honestly I think the things I am ready to touch on will be useful information not just for others in the “pre-startup” phase, but also for any studio owner in general that is perhaps struggling or “hemorrhaging” (as one studio owner stated) and can draw even the smallest parallels in their own business with what I have understood has also been choke holding others.
What do you think!??! 🙂
P.S. Here's the juiciest part… I think I see the future of our industry!!! lol… that may be a bit pompous for me to predict, but I've done a lot of research and there are signs and clues I'd love to cover!
Callie Kelley Bowling
Founder & CEO
CKB Fitness, Inc.
ICI/PRO member Joey, a Cycling Fusion Master Instructor and routine contributor to The Weekly Ride on ICI/PRO, delivers a ride. THIS IS THE COMBINED FILE THAT INCLUDES THE MUSIC AND THE VOICE. IT IS NOT AVAILABLE ON ITUNES.
This ride is from Joey!! – “This ride is designed as a decreasing cadence endurance ride with three repeats. The goal is to work through the various levels from primarily cardio work (cadences 90+) through muscular endurance work (cadences 70-89) and finish up with strength work (cadences 69 or less) to produce complete fatigue in the rider's legs by starting with the slow twitch fibers and progressing through the fast twitch fibers for total exhaustion.” Joey
This look may not always be appropriate when you teach.
This was awkward. Have you ever had a dream where you're naked in some public space? Well yesterday I wasn't dreaming, I was dressed, but inappropriately it turned out. The feeling I had was very similar.
That's because yesterday I had the privilege of taking a class at The Firm in Minneapolis. They were the very first official Johnny G Spinning® studio in the Midwest – introducing Indoor Cycling to us here in the frozen north around 1995*. As far as I know, they could be the oldest operating indoor cycling studio. Do you know of another?
I had met the one of the owners, Neil Miyamoto, at IHRSA. I sheepishly told him that I hadn't been to his studio for about 20 years. Turned out he understood us suburban folks don't stray far from home. To remedy that, Neil invited me to come downtown to see his club and meet his wife Kelly. She actually started The Firm back in 1986. Our plan was for me to take a class and schedule a time for me to interview Kelly. I'm guessing there's a lot of new studio owners who would love to know how The Firm as been so successful, for so long.
So yesterday was the day and as I'm driving into the city, I'm thinking; who comes to a 3:00 pm class, on a Saturday?
I got checked in, quickly dressed and ran up the stairs to a nearly full studio. My quick count showed about 50 riders… many of them watched me as I walked in. And a number continued to look at me. Not in an unfriendly way, no. Their expressions seemed friendly enough, some even smiled as they continued their appraisal of me. I started getting that awkward, I'm standing out like a sore thumb, feeling as I set up my bike.
What are they looking at? Could I be the only new guy here… Is that it?
Then it dawned on me. I was the only person in the room wearing a full cycling kit – my Life Time Cycle Team bicycle jersey and matching bib shorts. There were lots of t-shirts, running shirts, ripped sweatshirts, women's workout tops, gym shorts, regular shorts and yoga pants – but nothing remotely like what I typically teach in. 50+ people and I only could see three pair of bike shorts. No wonder people were looking at me funny. I couldn't help but think how silly and out of place I looked. What was I thinking?
They're not cyclists
This experience has me re-considering something I feel I've mistakenly believed; at some level all indoor cycling participants are cyclists and I should look like a proper cyclist (to set a good example) when I teach.
These folks at the Firm seemed to really enjoy riding indoors, wearing whatever they wanted, but by no stretch were they cyclists.
Kelly (the Instructor) was wearing a cute top and yoga pants. Nothing to distinguish her role as the leader. She looked like her tribe and her tribe looked like her… and they fill the place, on a Saturday afternoon, in part because she makes everyone feel comfortable. There was no pretentious; look at how cool I look in my fancy getup.
In fact the entire club is much the same. Simple concrete floors and white walls. Quite a change from the cherry walls and bamboo flooring where I normally conduct class.
So what to wear?
This picture is of Stages Indoor Cycling Master Trainer Doug Rusho, at a past ICI/PRO conference. Notice there's nothing that screams I'M A VERY SMART LOOKING CYCLIST in what Doug is wearing. He looks sharp and professional, but nothing about his shorts or shirt would communicate; I'm a hard-core cyclist. If you aren't a hard-core cyclist like me, well… you might not fit in here. Which I'm now concerned I have been communicating (and not always subtly) to the people who come to my classes.
*1995 is my best guess. Amy was originally certified and her club (The Flagship Athletic – now a Life Time) added Spinning around 1996.
ICI/PRO member Amy, a Cycling Fusion Master Instructor and routine contributor to The Weekly Ride on ICI/PRO, delivers a ride. THIS IS THE COMBINED FILE THAT INCLUDES THE MUSIC AND THE VOICE. IT IS NOT AVAILABLE ON ITUNES.
Amy Smith and her Race Week Ride: “This is a race week. On this course I have less hills so we have to keep them on target in the saddle pushing to zone 4 with some high zone three's for them to catch a drink or two. As always allow them to ride their own ride /race.” Amy
ICI/PRO member Joey, a Cycling Fusion Master Instructor and routine contributor to The Weekly Ride on ICI/PRO, delivers a ride. THIS IS THE COMBINED FILE THAT INCLUDES THE MUSIC AND THE VOICE. IT IS NOT AVAILABLE ON ITUNES.
