Category — Motivating Others

What’s your message?

I am a huge fan of Spinning, and since I began my journey as a Spinning instructor in 2003, I have been unable to explain why the bike has such a strong grip on me.  I could never understand why it was so fulfilling even though it could be so grueling.  I could explain in “personal trainer’s” terms all of the reasons why I SHOULD be there and what was happening as a result of Spinning.  But those reasons are the same reasons I could have chosen running, Step, Tae Bo and often did.  While I still run and teach Step and Tae Bo from time to time, I pick the bike whenever the choice exists. 

Last night, I was given a marvelous gift.  Master Spin Instructor Luciana Marcial-Vincion, who I am priviliged to work with, presented her “Message Ride” from WSSC to our club.  She adapted the format and the messages to speak to group of students and members, but still spoke to the instructors in the room.  She spoke in a way that truly opened my eyes to what I get from Spinning and more importantly what I give.  This 90-minute ride was so refreshing, I walked away feeling as though I had awakened from a perfect sleep ready to greet the day and share the good news with everyone around me.  And guess what?  I’m starting with you.

No matter what genre of class we teach, we are held to a higher standard.  But what makes a Spinning instructor so special is their ability to help their students recognize their own inner strength and make positive changes in their lives.  That’s not to say that Step instructors don’t do it in some way too, but let’s consider the dialogue.  In a Step class, this is what you’ll here 90% of the time:

“Basic Right.  Turn Step. Mambo Cha cha.  How’s everybody doing?  Don’t forget to breathe!  If you get confused, just come back to a basic.  Woo!  You can do it!”

Lots of directions, few opportunities to truly inspire.  That’s not to say you aren’t motivating, but most of the words are about cueing.  Same with sculpting classes – mostly form descriptions.  And don’t get me started on Tae Bo…  (Hush, now.  I am a Tae Bo teacher too!)

Here’s what I heard last night:

“Spinning is about what’s in here [pointing to chest] and here [pointing to the head].” 
“Allow yourself to feel connected to your breath.” 
“Your muscles don’t move on their own; your breath moves them.” 
“Don’t ask for an easier hill.  Ask to be a better climber.” 

Now some of that is paraphrased or my interpreted version of what she said, but the message in Spinning is clear:  You have a purpose.  You have special gifts.  Your body WANTS to be fit and you come to class because you WANT to satisfy that desire.  On the bike, you are free to do what needs to be done in your own terms and in your own time. 

I have a long soapbox speech for the people who come to any class to be entertained are missing out on something far more profound and beautiful.  It’s even longer for the instructors who treat indoor cycling like aerobics on a stationary cycle.  I’ll save it for another time.  Right now, I just want to share with you the reason why Spinning is so important to me, and why I think it is the most popular form of group fitness out there.  As Luciana pointed out to me, Spinning is pure.  It breaks us down so that we can be rebuilt into stronger, better versions of ourselves.  When we let go of our judgements and fears, the bike can teach us about ourselves in a way no other experience can.  It is, as Johnny G says, what it is.  And that purity is what keeps me coming back.

Spin On!

To follow up my post, Make $100 or more per class, I wanted to share with you some success stories about folks who are making more than $100 per hour teaching group fitness.   These are individuals who took some great ideas and ran with them.  You can do the same!  Be inspired by these folks and know that you absolutely can do it too.

Operation Boot Camp

I learned about Operation Boot Camp from a friend of mine who lost 20 pounds through the program.  These instructors took exercise and weight loss out of the gym and out to the parks of Atlanta.  They have a great following and an excellent product which includes nutrition advice, early morning workouts, and motivational assistance (if you don’t show up, you get a call and extra pushups!).  I saw them featured on a CNN health segment.  You can see what they have going on at their website.

 Bella Vita Retreat

 Can you imagine being paid to take groups of men and women to tropical resorts and teach classes to them on the beach?  My friend is doing it with her new business and I can’t tell you green with envy I am that I didn’t think of that!  Her travel packages include hotel arrangements, spa-style meals, personal coaching, indoor and outdoor fitness classes and beauty treatments.  What a treat and what a money maker!

There’s been a lot of interest in my Spinning Profile which focuses on pedaling technique, Endurance Profile – Smooth Riding.   It seems that many of you are interested in improving your technique on the bike and I applaud you!  It can be tedious and academic to actually LEARN how to do something and to fully understand the mechanics of it.  Rest assured that time spent understanding these fundamentals will pay off in the end.  Since these are more focused activities that work the heart between 65-75% typically, they work well with your endurance rides.

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I pray that you are the epitome of organization.  I hope for your sake that you are one of the folks who are on top of their stuff and never forget or leave anything out of place.  But, if you’re like me, and are over stressed, always rushed, never in the same place twice, then you’ve probably done what I did this morning at least once or twice. 

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It is only fair that I follow up my post about making money from the internet with a post about making more money doing what you love.  After all, it is why you are here! We all recognize that Group Fitness isn’t a high-paying profession, but there are ways you can turn the tables in your favor and generate more money for yourself, your family, and your employer.   This is going to be the first in a series of posts that are dedicated to helping you literally make the most out of teaching.  We’re going to discuss some very basic approaches here that really come down to how to find the best gyms for your bottom line.  Then, we’ll look at some “out-of-the-box” ways to command more money for your time.

Economics 101

First, let’s start with basic economics.  You currently earn $X per hour teach 2 classes per week at ABC Fitness Club.  The easiest thing to do would be to take on more classes and sub as frequently as you can, thus increasing your salary proportionately.  The limits to how much you can make in this structure are your time constraints, and the number of classes you can teach in a week (AFAA recommends no more than 12).

The next economic lesson is to go where the money is at.  Check into every gym and studio in your area, find the one where you will bring home the highest dollar amount per class and start teaching there.  Be careful with this one.  If you live further away from a particular gym, it may not be worth the gas money.  Here is an equation to help you determine your costs for comparison.

First, determine your net rate for ABC Fitness with the following:

Distance (in miles) round-trip to ABC DIVIDED BY the gas mileage of your car (miles per gallon) MULTIPLIED BY the cost of gas ($ per gallon).  Subtract your result from the rate ABC Fitness pays you.

Then, perform the same calculation for the second gym and compare the two numbers to decide which is more profitable.  Here is an example:

I work at East Shore Health and Racquet which is literally across the street from my development.  Their highest pay rate is $22/class.  I drive a gas-guzzling SUV that gets 18 mpg (shame on me, I know, but we can’t afford a new car right now)  and gas in Charleston, SC today is $2.67/gallon.  Meanwhile, EcoFitness in Mt. Pleasant is 14 miles from my house, so 28 miles round trip and they pay $25/class.  My math looks like this:

22 – (.25/18*2.67) = 21.96 net rate at ESHR

25 – (28/18*2.67) = 20.84 net rate at EcoFitness

You can see that on paper, ESHR is the place for me to work, especially if gas prices continue to climb the way they have.  However, for roughly a dollar difference, I benefit simply from having the flexibility of teaching more classes in more places.  Do the comparison for yourself to make sure it is worth the commute.

Improve your Hourly

The next best way to increase your salary is to get paid the highest amount per hour that you can.  Many gyms offer incentives for their instructors to seek out continuing education.  The gym benefits from having more qualified and knowledgeable instructors and you get a raise for each workshop or certification you earn.  At two of the gyms where I teach, instructors receive a raise of $1 per current cert above your base group fitness cert and CPR and $.25 – $.50 for workshop attendance.  If your gym does not currently offer such a program, bring it up to your director and see if you can arrange to have it implemented.

Another way to increase your hourly rate is simply to ask for a raise.  Be prepared to show your director or the owner exactly why you deserve more money.  If you are certain that you add value to their club then go for it.  Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you take this step:

• Have I been a loyal team member and employee of this club for long enough to establish that I am committed?
• Do I regularly teach my own classes, arrange for subs in advance, frequently sub for others, and take all necessary steps to get coverage in emergency situations?
• Do I go above and beyond the call of duty in matters of customer service?  Do I assist my students in ways that extend my role as a fitness instructor?  Do I perform tasks that help out the club or the members, even if they are not listed in my job duties?
• Do I consistently have high attendance in my classes?  Do I have a strong reputation as an excellent instructor?  Do students beg for more of me?
• Are there any examples of exceptional work on my part that warrant an increase in pay?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you have a case for asking for a raise.  As a Group Fitness Director, I would not hesitate to arrange for an increase for you if you regularly exceeded my expectations and were a proven asset to my program. If you cannot answer yes to these items, do not despair.  We’ll have another post in this series detailing how you can.  Then, take a few months to improve your performance in any or all of these areas and approach management with your request.  Just make sure you are prepared to keep up the good work!!

Perky perks

Sometimes, it isn’t just the pay rate alone that makes it beneficial to teach at a club.  You might consider taking a cut in hourly rate to teach at a club that offers excellent perks to its instructors or staff.  I worked at a club that only paid $15 per class to teach, which sounded like peanuts at first!  However, they hosted continuing education and certification workshops regularly at the club that I was able to attend for more than 50% off in many cases.  This often amounted to the equivalent of $100-$200 bonus in my pocket everytime I went out for a workshop.  I would have to teach 20 classes at a higher-paying gym to cover the additional cost to me.  No thanks!  Here are some other perks to keep an eye out for:

• Complimentary membership for you and your family.  It makes sense that you get a membership and that your kids can stay in child care when you teach, but some gyms have a “minimum classes per week” policy before you are allowed to work out there.  Also, check into whether or not your spouse can have a membership and whether or not you get free childcare when you are there to work out as well as teach.  This can easily add up to the equivalent of $100 per month depending on the gym.
• Discounts on merchandise.  If your gym has a boutique of items you can get at a discount or cost, you could end up with a significant savings on items you need for teaching anyway.  Find out what you are entitled to at a gym when you apply there.
• Discounted or free services.  Similar to the boutique, find out if you can access other services at the gym for a reduced rate.  My favorite perk was the complimentary 30 minute massage I received every 6 months at one health club where I once taught.  Now I can have free unlimited tanning, free smoothies after teaching, half-price personal training, and access to a pool, sauna and hot tub.  Unfortunately for me, I don’t actually use any of these services, but if I did, they would be like free money since I’d no longer pay full price for these things.
• Health care.  You might have to go to one of the bigger chain clubs to have access to health care, and you might have to work a minimum number of hours per week to qualify, but in today’s world, you can’t afford not to look for a club where this is an option.

These are the most basic lessons in our quest to improve our salaries as Fitness Instructors.  Tune in for more information about how to outperform your bosses expectations so that you qualify for raise, a step-by-step guide to approaching your boss about the raise, and some out-of-the-box ideas on how to earn $100 or more per hour of your time as an instructor.

See you then!

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.” – Eric Coffer

This winter provided me with absolute proof that you truly reap what you sow, especially when it comes to how you treat your students. There was a period two months ago when the temperature dropped significantly enough to entice my warm-blooded, South Carolinian Spinners to sleep through their 6:00 am workouts. Not that I blame them all that much — when it is cold, I’d prefer to stay under the covers as well. But, as the instructor, that was not my option, so I’d drag myself out of bed, slog myself to the gym and sigh with great resentment over the ever-shrinking number of bikes in my room. Where is everyone? I grumbled aloud, causing the students who were there to grumble along with me. Pretty soon, I was down to only two grumbling students. It seems that my negativity over what I wasn’t getting out of class (namely, an audience) was pushing my remaining students out the door one by one.

Never underestimate how your attitude will affect the people who come to your class. I did, and it nearly cost me my entire class. Fortunately, I picked myself out of my funk and got things turned around. I am proud to say the class is again full after two dismal months. While I can’t take credit for the nice weather helping folks get on over to the gym, I can tell you how I took my lemons and made lemonade. These simple tips can save your class or be the difference between being okay and being amazing:

1. Be grateful. Count each blessing that comes in your door and let them know how much you appreciate their presence. Try not to just be thankful you have students. Be grateful for their health and their willingness and their lives. Be grateful for your own health and abilities and the opportunity to interact with these people in a positive way. If you aren’t sure of the difference, you might check out what Steve Pavlina has to say about gratitude. Once you’ve stated the thought, “I am grateful for each of my students and their health and their fitness,” then treat them like you are grateful. Show them extra courtesy, provide as much personalized attention as you can, and go the extra mile to give them added incentive to always be in your class. It starts by acknowledging your gratitude, then sharing it with everyone.

2. Be excited. From the moment you enter the room, overflow with enthusiasm for the class you will teach. Leave the traffic, the kids, the fights, the drama or whatever is riding you… leave all of it in the car. Get in the habit of feeding yourself motivating thoughts as you walk from your car/subway/bikerack to the fitness room. Imagine you are like the football team awaiting their burst on to the field to the tune of ACDC’s “Thunder”. If that isn’t your speed, then carve out a minute or more to sit and meditate before you arrive so that your heart and mind are clear of clutter and you can genuinely be glad you are there to teach. Your excitement will be contagious, so “Fake it Till you Make it” if you have to!

3. Keep the comments to yourself. No matter how horrible your day is or how sick you feel, resist the temptation to unload it on your class. Chances are, they won’t even notice you skipped out on the extra riser, or slipped in a minute late. Just plaster on the biggest smile you can handle (fake if you have to) and get started! No matter what, keep the negativity to yourself and channel it into your workout. At the end of class, you can always explain or take responsibility for your behavior if it is necessary, e.g. you showed up very late, or you just didn’t deliver a solid class. They’ll appreciate knowing after the fact, without it festering through the whole class. If you find that you MUST say something at the outset, try to phrase it in the most positive words possible. If you get on a rant, your emotions will spread like a toxic spill.

4. Say “Thank You.” Don’t forget to thank them for coming before they walk out the door. Even the ones who try to sneak out early can be turned into die-hards when they sense that you are thankful they came and stayed for whatever length. Take time after your class to interact with your students, learn more about them, and encourage them to keep trying. The personal touch can make all the difference in getting someone who is non-committal to commit to your class.

It really is true that you reap what you sow. I learned the hard way by alienating my entire early morning Spinning class. You can prevent this by simply counting your blessings and sharing your gratitude with the students you do have.

Check out some of my posts on similar topics:
Making a Strong First Impression

Presentation is Everything