If you are an Indoor Cycling instructor and aren’t familiar with Chris Carmichael, please leave this blog immediately and go to Bicycling.com to start a subscription to the magazine outdoor riders read. Chris Carmichael is Lance Armstrong’s coach and he is an incredible resource not only for road racers, but for indoor cyclists as well. His training article in Bicycling Magazine this month is incredibly eye-opening and reveals quite a bit about the weaknesses of many indoor cycling classes. There are two big takeaways from his article: 1) develop your spinning profiles and teach your classes with a training purpose and 2) know your students. Adopting these two simple teaching habits will take your class to the top among gym rats and outdoor riders alike!

Here is his article: Q: Will an indoor-cycling class at my local gym help me in the winter?

AFAA APEX is coming up! Dates are February 12, 13, 14 2010. Here are the cities:

Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA
Charleston, SC
Chicago, IL
Columbia, SC
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Ft. Lauderdale / South FL
Kansas City, KS
Las Vegas, NV
Los Angeles, CA
Nashville, TN
New York, NY
Orlando, FL
Phoenix, AZ
Raleigh, NC / Chapel Hill
Richmond, VA
Sacramento, CA
San Antonio, TX
San Jose, CA / Bay Area
Washington, D.C. Maryland

They have a couple of early-bird specials posted on the site — if you register before December 31, 2009, you can get discounts on training materials and some of their other courses. See you in Charleston!

AFAA APEX

Just a quick post to share some blog posts I’ve found that provide some excellent information about the Primary Group Certification. They add details I have missed, and also share insights that I couldn’t have had. There are differences to be noted for location, who is the presenter, and more, so if you are looking for more information on getting the best out of the Primary Certification Workshop, or to hear how others have felt through the experience check out these posts:

• The Chic Life – “AFAA Primary Certification Day”
• Goodboy Norman Featherstone – “AFAA  Cerification Training”
• Fun Life Fitness Inside and Out with Paule Valerie - Don’t You Just Love that Post Exam Feeling?
• Geek Turned Athlete – AFAA Primary Group Exercise Certification

If you have blogged about your experience with the AFAA certification process, please share your links with us by leaving a comment.

I’d like to thank all of you who have visited and provided feedback and questions for the series to assist with your fitness instructor training through the AFAA Primary Group Certification Worshop. Since those posts went up, there have been questions asked both on and off the blog about various aspects of the certification process that I did not specifically cover. In this post, I will attempt to further aid you in becoming a fitness instructor by providing answers to those questions. It is my hope to give you further insight into the workshops and fitness certification process. If you want to see the series, start with Post 1.
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Here are the step moves from the choreography I used in my intermediate step class on Monday. We had three beginners, so I took it a lot slower than usual, which turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected. Have fun with these!

Combo 1

5-count mambo x2 (10)
3-count mambo x2 (6)
Basic 360 or reverse turn(4)
3-count mambo x2 (6)
stomp (2)
kick the corner (4)

Combo 2

hangover V (4) – R lead
squat the corner (4) – R lead
3 squat repeater (8) – L lead
power play (4) – R lead
crossover x2 or Scissor over the bench x2(8) – R & L
turn step (4) – R lead

Combo 3

2-knee repeater travel to the front of the bench(8) – R lead
“Touchdown” x2 or Charleston x2 (4) – L lead
Over-the-Top x3 (12) – L-R-L
Jumping jacks x2 (4) L-lead (if low impact) or none

Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn

To see the right and not to do it is cowardice. – Confucius

The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was. – Walt West

Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable. – Franz Kafka

Do you see a pattern here?  Every job, no matter how big or small can be done the right way, or the wrong way.  Today, in support of my fellow blogger and Spinning Master Instructor Jennifer Sage, I am sharing with you the right way to teach an indoor cycling class. 

Before we have this discussion, you should hop over to Jennifer’s blog and take a look at her posts on Contraindicated moves (CI moves), especially her latest: Just don’t do it in your indoor cycling classes! In addition to being one of the most respected and knowledgeable Master Instrctors at Spin Fitness, she is an avid road cyclist who owns her own bicycle touring company. She literally wrote the book on Keeping it Real in indoor cycling, so when she speaks up about the goofy stuff going on in classes these days, listen up!

Now, I’m not here to pass judgement on anyone who teaches their students CI moves, nor am I completely innocent of having included them in my classes the past. But I believe as Jennifer does that CI moves are hurting our students and hurting our indoor cycling programs. Students are being taught, through the introduction of CI moves, that they don’t need to take responsibilty for themselves or their workouts. They are being taught that it isn’t the quality of the workout that makes a difference in their health and wellness, it’s how much the instructor can make them hurt. And that is a shame.

I recognize that group fitness as a whole is suffering, and gyms are doing everything they can to keep participants in their classes. But I urge you as an instructor, if you are heavily loading your class with CI moves, especially like what Jennifer describes, please reconsider what you are doing. Not only are you putting your students at risk for injuries, you are failing to provide them with the true benefits of cycling. My mantra is, “If you wouldn’t do it on a road bike, don’t do it in Spinning class” and to that I would add, “no matter what they are doing on YouTube.” My students have always been appreciative of my ability to “Keep it Real” in Spinning class, and I know they will appreciate it from you too. And when they realize that you have empowered them to be stronger, fitter and faster, they will love you all the more!

Keep it real, guys!