Simple advice for beginner spinning indoor cycling instructors

A new instructor asked me for advice on teaching a spinning class. I teach almost all group exercise class formats and I find spinning to be the easiest format to teach.  You don't have to worry about choreography, the 8-count or the 32-count phrase.  No one has two left feet in a spinning class, so everyone can take this class regardless of fitness level.  Tell your participants that they decide how much resistance they want and whether they want to get off the seat or not.  I never tell people how much to turn up the resistance (i.e. quarter turn).  I just tell them to turn up the resistance.  If we're going to climb, I might tell them we're going to turn it up every 30 seconds, four times. Then, they can decide accordingly how much resistance they want.

I think the key to a fun spinning class is music.  You can't please everyone, but I try to music I think the general population will like.  I pick songs that I think go with the spinning exercise.  Slower songs for climbs, like Brick by Dazz Band.  Fast songs for sprints, like Tequila.  Tubthumping by Chumbawumba is a good example of a song that feels like interval training.  You can kill about 10 minutes easily with a pyramid.  One minute intervals:

20 seconds off the seat & 40 seconds on the seat
30 seconds off the seat & 30 seconds on the seat
40 seconds off the seat & 20 seconds on the seat
50 seconds off the seat & 10 seconds on the seat
1 minute off the seat & 30-60 seconds on the seat
50 seconds off the seat & 10 seconds on the seat
40 seconds off the seat & 20 seconds on the seat
30 seconds off the seat & 30 seconds on the seat
20 seconds off the seat & 40 seconds on the seat

Do a pyramid after the warmup and before the cooldown.  20 minutes total!

A lot of clubs don't have microphones in their spinning studios. In this case, I use my hands to signal when to get off the seat, especially for "jumps" when you're queuing them to get off and on the seat in regular intervals (i.e. every 4 or 8 counts).

I keep my notes (as I've formatted them on this blog) in a Tyvek CD sleeve on my towel on the handlebars so I know what's coming.

Have fun, relax, and don't overthink it.  It's bike riding. If they were outside, they'd have no music and just ride or put their iPods on and just go.  If you have fun, they will too!

Comments

[Jeannine]

Awesome idea on the pyramid. I've been feeling stale in my spinning classes lately. I'm doing this TOMORROW! Thank you!

[Orlando Vacation]

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Enjoy!