A whole lot of good can come from being over-prepared.  You may or may not have noticed that I haven’t posted a new Spinning profile for a while…  has it been months?  The explanation is because I haven’t needed to make a new one.  August and September are typically two of the busiest months for me due to travel and back to school schedule changes.  This year, I got it together early.  Starting in May I started creating a backup collection of rides that worked and I made a new profile nearly every class (2-3/week).  I hoarded them.  I experimented with Cadence Revolution.  I joined pedal-on.com and found a plethora of great ideas.  I participated in a CD Tree and obtained 10 CDs of new profiles and options….  Long story short is that after two months of hard work to build up a collection of 20 excellent rides, I can sit back and repeat to my hearts content.  My classes won’t hear the same song for close to three months if I play it right.  So now that things are hectic, I don’t have to stress about putting a ride together late at night in a panic.  It is working out so well, that I am going to adopt this process when these rides get worn out and it is time for new ones. 

Since it worked so well for me, I want to share it with you, on the off chance that you are not remarkably organized, as I typically am not.  Here are some guidelines to building up your library:

1. Pick unusual music that your students aren’t already sick of.  When creating a new ride, try to choose timeless songs that will not seem annoying when played back 6 months from now.  You don’t have to exclude Top 40 hits from your playlists, but try to pick the popular songs that aren’t played every ten minutes on the radio. (Hint:  If you have ever heard it on one radio station, switched stations and heard it there too, do not put it on your list).  This is why many instructors rely so heavily on electronica, tribal, world, etc styles of music.  If your students haven’t heard it, there is less for them to complain about!

2.  Two for the price of one.  When I create a new ride, I typically end up with more songs than I can use at one time, or I find myself torn between two or more songs for the same segment of class.  Instead of making one ride at a time, create two.  You can even use the same profile and just create two rides for it with different music.  Your class will probably never even notice.  You can save a lot of time just by getting the maximum number of profiles out of that time you’ve carved out to think specifically about music and riding.  The time saved just from overcoming creative inertia more than once is incredible for me!

 3.  Borrow profiles and music when you can.  As mentioned earlier, I love the pedal-on community and I am getting a lot of mileage from Cadence Revolution.  The best part about using music from Cadence Revolution is that the uniqueness of the songs allows them to be played more frequently with less noticeability.  Take advantage of CD-swapping arrangements with folks from your club, or from pedal on, or wherever you can find them.

4.  Keep track of what you played and where.  I keep a note on the liners of my profiles about where and when it was used so that I cut down on repeating too soon or frequently.  I don’t want to accidentally bore a single class by overplaying a CD that happens to get rotated into their time slot over and over.

I look back and see that this is all pretty common sense stuff.  And yet, I sense that there must be more people like the me I was before this summer.  I used to procrastinate, then scramble at the last minute to pull a ride together.  The beauty of organization is definitely being able to sit back after all the work is done and simply reap the benefits!

Ahhh, yes.  Summer is here.  The weather has turned hot, my mailbox is stuffed with wedding and graduation announcements, and my inbox is flooded with requests for subs.  It’s not so much summer anymore, as it is sub season.  In spite of the fact that members start heading outside, leaving your classes a little more sparse, exciting things can happen during sub season.  Here are a few things to help you make the most of it.

Advance Notice

Since it is sub season, you can expect that the pool of available instructors to cover for you will be smaller than usual.  It is important that you request coverage 4-6 weeks in advance of your planned vacation to ensure that you get a sub.  It is very stressful to everyone involved if you wait until the last minute to get a sub, only to learn that anyone who could have covered has made other plans.  One of my personal rules is my “Golden Rule of Subbing”:  Sub unto others as you would have them sub unto you.  You wouldn’t want to get an emergency call two hours before a big class, so don’t put anyone else in that situation.

Also, if you need a lot of subs, return the favors as often as you can.  My favorite instructors to cover for are the ones who volunteer to “give me a day off” in return for subbing for them.  Even if I don’t take them up on it, it reflects the right way to treat your coworkers.

 Get More Experience

If you are new to teaching and want to increase your opportunities to pick up regular classes, get on as many sub lists as you can now!  If you are already on sub lists, but you are unknown to the instructors at the club, get permission from the director to send out an introduction email.  After a greeting, and brief description of yourself and your abilities (2-3 sentences is sufficient unless you are wildly experienced or specialized), offer your services to anyone who will need coverage.  Some instructors prefer to email directly the folks they know are willing to cover for them so as not to bother the entire list.  After you start receiving the mass email requests, respond to them all, even if you can’t cover.  In some cases, this may not be taken well, but usually it will be a great chance to develop a rapport with your colleagues.  This could lead to them asking you directly the next time an opportunity arises, especially if you have a one-time conflict with the day they need a sub.

 Care for yourself

There is only one of you, and if you want to keep doing this Group Fitness thing long term, you have to take care of yourself!  I find that summer is usually when I get the most burnt out, and suffer the most injuries.  This is due in no small part to the drastic increase in the number of classes I end up teaching.  Here are some basic tips:

• Allow yourself to rest completely between intense workouts and/or classes.  You know what overtraining is, and you are not immune to it, so pay attention to your body!  AFAA recommends no more than 12 classes per week. 
• Don’t push it if you have an injury — you don’t want to end up out of the game completely. 
• Protect your voice by always using a microphone.  Pack extra batteries to have in case the gym doesn’t have any.
• Stay hydrated and well-fed, but avoid consuming food 2-3 hours before classes.

Here’s wishing you a happy sub season!!

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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The most essential piece of gear I have in my arsenal of fitness paraphenalia is not my CD case, it’s not my foam roller, and it is not my heart rate monitor.  It is so simple and yet so often overlooked by many professionals who seek to improve their performance in any arena.  The most essential item I have and which I keep by my side throughout the day and by my bed at night is my fitness notebook.  That’s right.  A spiral bound “Fat Book” that fits nicely in my purse or gym bag and holds a ball point pen snugly enough that I rarely find myself hunting for a writing tool.  Paper, plain and simple. 
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