As I hit the streets after teaching at one of my downtown clubs, I bumped into a friend of mine who appear to have been run over by a car. She had a large gym bag clawing at her shoulder with cycling shoes peeking out of the end pocket. The bag apparently weighs over 50 pounds, because she appears to be struggling just to lug it to the corner.
“Hey, how are you?” I said in apparently too chipper a tone. She turns only her head and glares at me with one eye bigger than the other. Assuming that were her response, I prodded some more in order to jump start an under-powered conversation. “Did you just get out of a cycling class? How was it?” She released the gym bag as if tossing a heavy sack of potatoes off her shoulder. “You can say that. The instructor was a maniac”.
Being a coach for 10 years, one realizes that everyone has their own perception of what is hard, what is easy or when they are tired. Often times it is different that my interpretation, so it is usually best to get things defined. Plus, I was particularly interested in her definition of a “maniac” instructor. “Wow, sounds pretty extreme, what happened?”
Her stare became intense and her tone aggravated: “Our regular instructor was away this week, so we had a sub. I think he was either new, insecure or just terrible. Our usual instructor”™s class is quite popular. People really respect her workouts because she has a reputation of giving a hard class, that provides just the right amount of work and recovery. So maybe this guy felt he had some big shoes to fill and decided to show us how hard he can make us work. We barely had a warm-up and we were led into a hard climb followed by 10-minutes of jumps. Then some long sprints where he only provided 15-seconds of recovery followed by another climb and more jumps. He ran us ragged with no rhythm or reason until 2 minutes before the end of class and then told us to cool down and stretch on our own.” With the exception of those 15-second recovery periods, I don”™t think he gave us any other break. I don”™t know why I tried to keep up. I think I was just aggravated and just kept hammering away. Oh well, I”™m late for work so I”™ve gotta run. I just hope he never subs our class again.”
She heaved her bag back on her shoulder like it was a limp body and headed in the opposite direction. This is not the first time I”™ve heard this unfortunate tale, but my mind started connecting a few of the stories. Many of them involved a sub which people deemed “horrible”. Now I don”™t think all subs are horrible, I”™m sure we”™ve subbed many classes ourselves (I hope). I know I have. However, I do think there can be a greater tendency to put on our “A” game when walking into a cycling studio with new or unfamiliar stares. Let”™s face it, it can be intimidating to enter a room when you”™re NOT the person everyone is expecting. I”™ve even had a person walk out of a class I was subbing seconds after I walked through the door. I hadn”™t even make it to the stereo yet or said a word. So I understand the pressure of feeling you have to overcompensate for not being THE instructor. It doesn”™t even matter whether the instructor you are covering for is good or not. It is their class. Their riders. Their style.
So what”™s my advice? you can”™t be THEM, so be yourself. When you sub for another instructor, teach, instruct and coach with that same style that has won your riders over year after year. Sure, bring your “A” game, why not? But teach a sound workout. Take that extra energy (albeit, nervous energy) and excitement and direct it toward getting to know some of the riders in class. Connect. Be real. Don”™t be a Maniac!
PS. No one who has every subbed one of my classes has been accused of this. Just incase “you” were wondering.
Originally posted 2011-03-03 13:56:51.
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Hey Tom,
I found your post quite entertaining – we’ve all been subs –
and the experience can be terrific or slightly unpleasant to traumatic. For the most part, it’s about giving your best
effort for the hour (remember: confidence!) and you will win over more people than you think 🙂 If the experience was traumatic, then just brush it off as a learning experience.. (maybe you could have been better prepared/or just need to grow a thicker skin).
The woman you encountered after that maniac sub will either 1). run the other way when that same sub walks in the door
or 2). stay and know what to expect next time!
Tom, you rock!!! 😀 I would love it if you walked in as a sub!! 😀
What I find most amusing when I return from a trip and my classs has had someone whose profile they did not like…I just ask them “why did you do it ? It ‘s your ride”.”
I love to take other instructors classes,but I do what works for me and am not tied to “keeping up”. I always encourage my class to listen to their bodies. I am the cruise director, you can choose to take this excursion, or not…
There was a previous comment by someone who said they told the class the most important thing they brought with them to class is their brain, so use it and I agree!
Thanks for a great reminder, Tom.
I’ll confess that I’ve been guilty of this before when subbing at a different facility. You’re so afraid of losing their (what you assume must be minimal-to-zero) attention that you compile a playlist of all of your most emotionally uplifting music, include your favorite six sprints, the 12 minute threshold climb, and then throw in a couple of the hottest Top 40 hits to round out an hour of intense craziness and sweat without purpose.
OR you are so intent on being Miss Bossy Boots Know-it-All that you use the one hour to impart knowledge that you would normally spend six months doling out.
I’m not so sure that being a ‘maniac’ in this situation isn’t the right approach. As we all know it *does* take time for people to learn to trust that your balanced and educated approach actually has the greater benefits than a simple smashing. However you don’t have that luxury of weeks and months. Sub classes are frequently like auditions for a permanent slot and you need people walking out saying “wow!”.
I would contend that without knowing anything about the person you are covering for then going in and cheerfully tearing their legs off is probably going to get the best response from what is (95% of the time) a fairly uneducated rider group. Remembering too that the capacity to actually work hard is learned and most of the general public have to be tricked into it with short intensive intervals in the first instance. They can ALL learn to produce an athletes response but you’re never going to teach that in one sub class.
Sub classes may well be a special case. Your best humor, minimal corrections, lots of progressively tougher intervals and the cream of your fun drills/games. CRUSH them for the first 20 minutes and then tell them they’ve just finished the warm up. This is not to say you can’t use some of Sage styled PROfiles but you do need to choose the tougher ones (in my opinion).