Morning, friends!
I was up at 5:30 again this morning to sub for the 6am Spin class at the Y. I’m SO sweaty right now. Just felt like sharing.
Here’s the playlist I used:
Fellow spin instructors out there — what style of class do you teach? I’m wondering because I think I teach my cycle classes very differently than most. I typically pick a “theme” to use for each song, and then once that song is over, so is the theme. For example, for “Abracadabra” today we alternated between high third and low third for the entire song. Once Sugar Ray was done and Flo Rida came on, we switched to 2nd position with isolations. Then MJ was sprint work, Britney was a climb, then jumps, and so on. I like to challenge the class but also make them feel like there is an end in sight when we are doing tough work — they just know they need to make it to the end of the song before I’ll be switching it up again.
I find that most other cycle classes I take will do rolling hills, sprint intervals, etc. over the course of several songs. I sometimes find that I’ll get distracted this way, but I also really enjoy sometimes zoning out and just trucking up that huge climb for 30 minutes. Plus I think these methods actually mimic REAL road rides, which is something I don’t have a lot of experience with.
I don’t think either way is wrong or better than the other because it’s always good to switch things up, but I’m just wondering what some different styles are to get some new ideas.
Also, if you take Spin — which style do you prefer? I’m subbing again for this 6am Friday class next week, so maybe I’ll switch it up a bit. If there are any song requests for next week, let me know!
Have you ever taken a Spin class before?
Time to shower, make breakfast, and tackle my day.
Happy Friday!!
Hey chica! I actually take Spin with 3 different instructors and all of them are different. One of them does what you do, where each song is something different. We do jumps through one, then keep a certain cadence through another one, and then some isolation, etc etc. Each song is different and she switches it up every time. Another woman I take it with does rolling hills, etc, like the other thing you described. And the last person I take it with does what she calls levels, so she’ll say how maxed out you should be for each position and she doesn’t let us break between songs. Honestly, I like all of them for different reasons and taking all of the different ones each week keeps them from getting monotonous… so there is my long winded explanation basically saying “It’s all good… no matter what I love to Spin.” 😉
I think I prefer when people teach the way you do. I’ve taken classes with probably a dozen instructors so I’ve seen many different approaches. I definitely like the encouragement and motivation you give during class. Big bonus for you! You are one of my all around fave instructors 😉 Keep it up!!
I love love me some spin classes, especially the early morning ones. One of my favorite spin instructors has a similar teaching style to yours. I love doing various types of drills on the bike, it keeps the class exciting and time goes by much faster!!
Wish I had a Y near me to take a spin class sounds awesome!
How often do you give verbal ques? I am an instructor as well and I have been teaching 2-3 classes for the last 3 years now. My rides are basically set up the same as yours, I try to pick a theme for each song. The majority of my participants go out of their way to tell me how much they like my class and style of instruction however, in the past few weeks I have been told that I give to many ques for an experienced rider.What are your thoughts?
I definitely recommend using verbal cues. Obviously don’t go overboard, but I think it keeps the class high energy and serves as a good reminder on form, etc. Also, when I’m taking a spin class, when an instructor gives a verbal cue, I’m more likely to push myself harder. I think you should stick with the majority!