Colorado has been found to be the most active State in the US of A, and my county, Eagle County, CO, is the 2nd most active county in the country! (Ha! Take that Aspen! Even more than you!)I knew there was a huge reason why I live here! :)
It also makes me realize even more that when I am referring to my Spinning® classes and students, we have a particular market demographic, and that what I experience here is not necessarily "reality" everywhere else. No, not everyone in my class is an athlete, or even a skier or cyclist, and some are even a little overweight. But on average I bet our students in classes here are more fit than in many parts of the country or world. And they plan their week around being outdoors, and won't come to class if it's a powder day (translation for you non-skiers: LOTS of fresh new powder snow!) And the women don't generally put on makeup to come to class (unless they already have it and come straight from work. My 6a.m. crowd - no way). In the 15 years I've taught indoor cycling here, I can probably count the women with freshly applied makeup on my two hands - and most were probably from out of town visiting this destination resort. That's Colorado.
In the Spinning® orientation, one of the Four P's of class design is know your Population! Each one has its specific needs.
Because I recognize the difference in where I teach, I try to take that into consideration when discussing indoor cycling students. Instead of assuming everyone experiences what we have here, or that all your students are like my students, I try to draw on my 14 years of traveling around to over 100 clubs in North America (and a few international destinations), certifying and educating thousands of instructors and presenting at 20 conferences over my career as a Master Instructor/coach. I've also got a few "go-to" instructors and Master instructors who teach in vastly different markets whose brain I can pick if I need to explore how to, say for example, work with an inner city crowd, a room of 70 bikes filled with Type A personalities or suburban housewives.
I am always grateful to learn more from you guys and the unique experiences and situations you encounter with your demographic.
4 comments:
Hello,
I am not an indoor cycling instructor, but I participate in indoor cycling classes.
I use to love the content on ICI, but ever since it went for profit, there is no content, or hardly any, for amateur users. Everything seems to be a commercial now.
I know people need to be compensated for their work, but maybe there can be a place for people who do this as a hobby and not as an occupation.
Podcasts and such have helped me improve my form and become a better indoor cyclist.
However, it seems if you don't pay, you can't even post things on forums anymore.
Runners have a lot of free content out there that is useful, but it seems like indoor cycling is monopolized and for pay only (for useful information).
I understand the need to make a living, but people like Ben Greenfield provide a lot of free, useful content, and seem to do well on the profit side.
It seems like indoor cycling podcasts have become a only-for-profit venture. Hope this changes.
For example, I would glady pay 99 cents for a video on a particular subject, like buying a song on I-tunes. For example, a 99 cent vid on seated climbs, or something like that.
It just seems like all the indoor cycling enthusiasts are so business minded, which is in contrast to other sports blog that provide a lot of great, free content on the net.
Hey Anonymous,
I agree! Runners have a lot of free podcasts in which they can derive a lot of useful information.
Indoor Cycling, it seems, is limited to a few podcasts, and if you don't pay, you really don't get a lot of useful information--anymore.
Second on the idea that Ben Greenfield does a great job supplying useful information for free, while also having a business. He has struck the right balance. It seems that other websites out there are more interested in profits than striking any kind of balance.
Thanks for the post! I have been thinking the same thing for quite some time now. LOL about the "commerical" comment. The free podcasts are like commericals now.
Population make a lot and saying that we can manage all population is being overselfish.
Every area and schedule will have a different population.
What you say and how you coach is different for each population.
I vary a lot and it is why I can keep as much people from different horizon but some day I would just prefer do what I really love all introspection.
Nice to have you back on your original website.
Pascal
I agree that knowing the culture you teach in may be the most valuable tool we have in our collective tool belts. In addition as a student venturing out knowing the culture of the new club will help you be more comfortable in your temporary environment.
I certainly don't live in overly fit culture, but we have brand knew walking trails being completed and I'm working on some grants help build light trails in our community.
Educate & Inspire
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