Instructor's Blog

Have you ever walked into a cycling studio and felt the lack of energy or enthusiasm in a room and tried to figure out how to break the ice with your class? Perhaps you have subbed or took over a popular instructor's class and now people don't know what to do with the "new" instructor. It happens. Sometimes the energy is simply low because the weather has changed, they are stressed at work, it's a holiday season, or people are simply tired. Our jobs as instructors is to create energy, but it isn't always an easy thing to do, especially if...

The Halloween season is a fun way to engage your riders and build upon your community. Over the past 18 years, Halloween has been a spooky and sweaty experience at my studio and the traditions will continue this year.  Here is a photo from one of our first spinning parties in 2001: If you have never hosted a Halloween themed cycle class, here are a few helpful hints to get you started: 1. Set a Date Give you riders enough time to prepare for the class and this also allows for the option to not participate if they are not...

As Fitness instructors, we are caring individuals. We generally become fitness instructors to help others. As caring people, we put value on people's opinions - positive and negative and often the negative opinions can wear us out over time (if we are not careful); especially new instructors. As an instructor for the past 18 years, this is something I personally struggled with as a self diagnosed "People Pleaser." I always want my riders to enjoy their workout, so when a negative opinion would smack me in the face, it used to really hurt, but thankfully I have learned how to...

Are you new to teaching and feel lost when creating drills? Do you struggle to come up with ideas for your classes? Let's simplify the process and make teaching easy and fun. Creating a drill starts with keeping things simple. There are many ways to create a drill and what I am going to share with you is the method I have used which has worked well for me, but it's not the only way. Explore your own ways to create drills for your classes and write them down! 1. What's Your Intention? The first thing I do is ask...

Sometimes a little freestyle can go a long way if you coach the instructions thoroughly. Today I gave my riders two slow songs back to back. The first song was "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey, and the second song was "Not Afraid" by Eminem.   I asked them to use these songs back to back for a total of 8 minutes to climb a hill seated or standing (rider's choice) and to focus on creating power through their hills. At any point they could switch from seated to standing by adjusting the tension.  Its not always easy to let them...