Janet Toussaint has been teaching Spinning® and indoor cycling since 1996, when she was first certified as a Spinning instructor by Mad Dogg Athletics. She became a master instructor the following year. Since that time, much has transpired in the world of indoor cycling, from the bikes to the certification process, and the continuing education that surrounds it. She first wrote this article for ICA in 2011, and to this day continues to educate Spinning instructors, including teaching the SpinPower program. Her coaching tips in this two-part series still apply, whether you have high-tech equipment and power meters or bikes with no metrics at all.
As mentioned in my previous article, your coaching radar should always be “on.” After each class you teach, take stock of what you have noticed among your riders and their reactions to your profile and your cues. What can you help your students refine and improve upon? Take your observations to the next step and use them to help you develop your training objectives for your next class or series of classes based on what you observe.
Here are a few examples. You may have found through your observations that cadences look high while resistance looks light; maybe you observe certain students that seem to have trouble staying focused; perhaps you notice an imbalance in their pedaling or a misuse of the flywheel, indicating they need to refine their pedal strokes. I think we have all encountered the student that just never seems to have enough resistance on the wheel.
Love this. I’ve been experiencing some chatter lately in my classes at the beginning and I know it’s because they aren’t pushing enough and rather than calling them out I love this approach. Thank you for sharing.