“Spinning won’t make you fit”. Or will it?

This week I came across an article on one of the forums for indoor cycling instructors: http://www.stack.com/2015/09/16/spinning-probably-wont-make-you-fit-heres-why.

It has caused quite a stir so I decided to respond to it. I will just take out the main points it makes to allegedly prove why indoor cycling will not make you fit as opposed to having a personal trainer and lifting weights. It is based on an interview with a personal trainer Brian Nguyen. He’s not just a PT. He’s “trainer to Mark Wahlberg” which clearly makes him much more of a fitness authority. Let’s dive right into it.

“Spinning is tough. After an hour of pedaling at high speed, you’ve probably left a puddle of sweat on the floor under your bike. (…)The classes are fun, and the routines can easily lead to the assumption that participants get a great workout”.

Anyone who has taken a properly well structured indoor cycling class with a qualified instructor will ask: are we talking about the boutique style “dance-on-the-bike-doing-crazy-stuff” type of class or are we talking about a proper indoor cycling class? Because the latter involves much more and the speed used in these classes is way more controlled.

If however you refer to the classes advertised as a full body workout involving using tiny weights, resistance bands and full of what we call “fluff” then I wholeheartedly agree. But please do not put us all in the same bag.

“Spinning produces similar effects in the body as jogging. (…) Once you finish a spin class, your body no longer burns calories”

Here is where I got really kind of pissed off (my blog, I can say that 🙂 ). He didn’t even say “running”. He said “jogging”. I used to jog. I lost a bit of weight, gained some muscle but I agree, the results were not WOW. Question to FF CJS members who have ever taken Jitka’s, Cheryl’s, Serena’s or my class: would you compare it to 45min of “jogging”?! What classes has this dude taken in his life to make such a statement? The answer is: really bad ones…

If I were to give an “expert opinion” the way he has I would say even a workout with a personal trainer using weights and what not has the same effects. How? If you have a bad trainer who tells you to use weights that aren’t enough to cause an overload. One that makes you follow a programme that’s not tailored to your needs. What kind of PT would do that?! A bad one. Have I ever seen these? Yes, I have.

Now as far as the second part of the statement goes – that the effects of the class finish as soon as you get off that bike? I really question fitness qualifications of that guy. Whatever exercise you choose: rowing, cycling, running etc you can do them at different intensities, with different goals in mind: speed or strength endurance, HIIT, threshold work etc. If every spin class involved pedalling at the same tempo for 60min who on earth would keep doing it?

And I have news for you Brian. You better sit down though and brace yourself: YOU CAN DO TABATA ON A BIKE!

I am convinced this guy either took ONE class and it wasn’t a good one or is basing his opinions on hearsay. He doesn’t seem to think you can do intervals in a spin class.

Here comes the big one folks:

“Spinning doesn’t build muscle.(…) Cycling never makes your body gain lean body mass, and that’s the thing that burns fat. At the end of the day, metabolism isn’t improved on a bike.”

First reference to spinning is already incorrect but Mr Nguyen goes far beyond that and refers to “cycling” in general. I would ask him to check out a few names and relevant pictures of their legs: Marcel Kittel, Chris Hoy, oh hell: Tom Scotto! And I would invite him to watch this (extreme) little clip:

“Spinning doesn’t give individual progression”

It definitely used to be true however you could always test yourself periodically and compare the results. But these days we have bikes with computer consoles and data. We have coaching by colour brought by MatrixIC7 bikes. Please Mr Nguyen, do your research first.

Finally we get to the last one:

“Spinning reinforces common injuries”

Yes, cycling involves sitting, we agree on that. But it is also the best low impact activity next to swimming that actually helps with many health problems and is used in physiotherapy. There is such a thing as bike fitting Brian, and any good instructor will ensure your set up prevents any back or other discomfort. As per the core not being engaged: you need a strong core to be a strong and efficient cyclists even indoors. You may not feel it as much indoors as outdoors but no, cycling is not a “complete full body workout” nor is it claiming to be. If you refer to those “fluff” classes that make that claim – please make the distinction between those and SPINNING or proper INDOOR CYCLING.

To sum up, Brian seems to know his stuff when it comes to what type of exercise gives what effects but clearly knows nothing about spinning/indoor cycling when he says:

“When combined with strength training, spinning may give you that extra calorie burn you need to accelerate fat loss. When done on its own, your results from spinning will likely fall short of your expectations.”

Spinning is all exercise I do. In 2.5 years dropped 3 dress sizes and kept it off. My recent fitness tests show that my cycling performance levels are that of a trained athlete.

So Mr Nguyen, I respectfully disagree.

It’s getting hot in herre so take off all your clothes!

We have all been there both as instructors and participants: an indoor cycling studio with an insufficient or broken air con system. Or a non-existent one. Or one that is set up to a temperature that is way too high for 45 people riding bikes.

Tony, who you learned a bit about in my last blog, recently picked up on that and asked me to write about it. We aim to please, so Tony here it is.

Anyone who has ever been to an indoor cycling class knows how warm the studio feels a few minutes into the class and how hot it gets half way through. And it generally does not matter how big the space is or whether it is full or not. Yes, it will partially depend on WHAT PROFILE people are riding and HOW HARD they are working. But the main WHY is simple: cycling is a strenuous cardiovascular exercise that by its nature raises the body temperature.

Hence even if the studio feels really cool when you walk in and you even resort to keeping your long sleeve top on or you towel over your shoulders, within the first few minutes of the warm up you notice the difference.

Now if you ask 5 random people in any indoor cycling class how they feel about their studio being not ventilated properly or getting really hot really quickly I guarantee you will have responses varying from: “that’s the nature of the class”, “it should feel really hot, shouldn’t it?”, “if the mirrors steam up that mean we are working really hard!” to “I feel like I can’t work as hard as I know I can if it’s too hot”. So which on is it?

IS IT THE CASE OF THE HOTTER THE BETTER THEN?

You know heat will raise your HR (heart rate). The important thing to understand is that that increase in HR has nothing to do with working harder. It makes your body work harder at the same power output just to deal with the heat.

Say what? Basically if you trained on a bike with a computer where you could see the power output in Watts and your HR, if the room was so hot your HR would raise as a result, you would sweat more and feel more tired (no doubt) but your Watts number would stay the same or lower.

What I mean is that your PERCEPTION may be that you worked much harder than usual! But the numbers will prove that you actually produced the same OR LESS power or if your focus is calories, you would have burnt the same number of calories (OR LESS) as in a class with air con on, lower HR and not feeling spent.

Let me say it this way: the higher HR may actually mean YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO WORK OUT HARD ENOUGH, SO IT REDUCES YOUR ABILITY TO TRAIN AT YOUR FULL POTENTIAL.

The misconception that the higher HR the better is the reason why many people love taking classes where they are encouraged to ride at crazy speeds (over 120RPM) without much resistance. It raises their HR significantly, making them sweat buckets hence the conclusion they draw is: this is a great workout. These ideas mainly thrive in places where bikes have no consoles and people don’t question their instructors.

If they had numbers in front of them they would see that higher speed makes the HR go up but all the important numbers down. Plus, let’s be honest, it’s much less comfortable to work up a sweat going at 80-90RPM with a decent resistance than 100-120RPM when it’s the bike that is riding you rather than the other way round… Yes, I have said it.

A good quality certification will cover the issue of thermo-regulation and the dangers of body overheating. That’s why I found it shocking that some boutique studios market “Hot Cycling” classes where they purposefully raise the studio temperature to seemingly make you burn more calories.

The argument for taking these hot cycling classes are that you warm up faster and sweating profusely will get rid of toxins in the body. I would say you risk mild cramps (unless you hydrate properly) and also unless you allow long cooldown and stretch, if you just run out of the studio like many people do, your muscles may just seize up which never feels nice.

I have made the joke: “Welcome to Bikram cycling!” a few times when we were faced with no air con from the start but I would not try telling my participants that this class would make them work harder due to the temperature of the studio.

Quite opposite: apart from reminding people to keep hydrated I have been known to change the class profile either half way through or from the start. I cannot expect people to do sprints or go for a HIIT class when there is simply not enough oxygen in the room to perfom these at the level required.

To quote an article from a medical professsional on from WebMD: “If the body can no longer cool itself, it starts storing heat inside. The core temperature begins to rise and you put your internal organs at risk”.

You may say: “Gee Izabela, you are exagerrating!” Well, if we are talking about a recreational rider who really is not pushing themselves that hard and not training to higher HR or power zones then maybe. But if they have high blood pressure issues or are pregnant, the risks are real.

You may say: but people cycle outside in high temperatures all the time! Yes, but if you have ever done that you know that the actual movement creates cooling airflow. Let me remind you: in indoor cycling class your bike is stationary.

MY ADVICE:

1. Remember that higher HR does not automatically mean harder work. HR is body’s response to what you put it through and not a measure of your effort.
2. If you are or may be pregnant or suffer from high blood pressure and the studio is too hot, please let the instructor know.
3. Hydrate and listen to your body.

The Big Leap – pondering on my life as an indoor cycling instructor

Another amazing sunset in Wandsworth tonight. It was a beautiful and busy day. In fact a busy week.

This post is to update you a bit on what’s happening now in my professional life as an indoor cycling instructor. And quite a lot is happening actually.

Those who know me know how passionate I am about being the best instructor I can be. I have now taught over 900 indoor cycling classes. Some will say that is nothing compared to their 10 years of teaching but it is a lot for me. Approaching the big 1000!

I have taught at GymBox, FF, VA, Nuffield, GoodVibes, various corporate gyms, 37 Degrees & The Fitness Mosaic. Variety of people, bikes, sound systems, class length and expectations. I have taken many professional courses to date and more are still coming. I am off to a big fitness event:The Big One in Sheffield with some friends from FF Clapham Junction on 5th September (please contact me if you want to join us! http://www.chrysalispromotions.com/shop/products.php?product=The-Big-One-2015) Then a week later off to Manchester for a big conference on new media. Exciting stuff. Then finally in November the biggest cycling trip so far: Costa Rica, Panama & Nicaragua!

And all my hard work seems to be finally paying off with gyms now contacting ME to offer classes just based on referrals from other gyms and instructors.

That’s why I feel like I am finally ready for making the Big Leap in my career and moving into fitness. Full time? Probably not yet. But it’s becoming much more of a WHEN rather than IF question.

Why? There comes a point in your life when you have to make a choice: are you satisfied with comfortable life or do you want actual professional satisfaction and fulfilment? I now know where my passion is. And I have met the right people to help me make the leap.

Without getting too philosophical, I do believe that you meet certain people for a reason. So if you ever come across someone in real life or online and you have a strong feeling that you should get the person’s contact number, even if you were on your way out – go back and ask for the details. If you know the person’s name but it’s too late there and then – find them online. I have met one of the most influential people as far as my career path choice is concerned at a Barclays branch! She was my personal banker – accidentally became one. Then I found her on FB. Then after she had left the job we kept in touch and I visited her and her family on the Isle of Wight. Now she’s very much present in my professional development and she and her husband helped me make many important decisions. Including starting this blog! So thank you Izabela Russell!

Tyrese Gibson said: “People come to your life for a reason or for a season” and I agree. Many people in my life turned up for a reason but they only were in for a season – when I needed their help. Others have stayed.

Now, why would I even consider swapping a cushy office number for a freelance indoor cycling instructor job? With the unsteady hours, stupidly early or late classes, troublesome mikes etc. Honestly? If I were to only be an instructor – have my own workout in front of a bunch of people I have no connection with and get paid for it – I wouldn’t do it. But I love TEACHING, motivating people, being there when they have their “light bulb” moment, when they do a challenge and achieve their goals. The plan is to move into coaching, training etc. I also have got something else I have been researching for a while but I will tell you about it on a separate occasion.

And for stories like the one from this morning when I was covering a class. I asked about injuries and this girl put her hand up. I went over and she told me she had a wrist injury so it was hard for her to stay out of the saddle unless she put her weight on her left forearm.
I said: ‘Don’t worry there is not much time out of the saddle planned for today’.
‘Oh! are you one of THESE then?’
‘Pardon?’
‘One of these instructors that will make us stay in the saddle for 45minutes?’
I kind of ignored that one, gave her a smile and told her: ‘Don’t worry you will be fine’.
After the class ended she came over and asked if I had a regular class at that gym. I said: ‘Ermm, no. However THIS class will become my perm class in a few weeks’ time’.
‘Great!’ she said with a genuine smile. Then added:
‘Don’t get me wrong: I HATED IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH but you were so motivational and your energy was so high I pushed myself the extra mile. I think I have become a bit complacent in my classes. See you soon’. Another satisfied customer! (was a comment from Tony, one of my regulars)

Watch this space!

Empower your spin class training. May the force be with you!

I first heard the word POWER used in relation to indoor cycling when I had my basic instructor training on Wattbikes. Well, I have heard about power being used on Keiser bikes but I was not taught about how to use it, let alone teach with it.

So I learnt a bit about the concept of using power in your training on a Wattbike but there was an issue here – these bikes are fantastic for training but not so much for exercising. It’s like using an Aston Martin to nip up for milk to the corner shop. I ended up teaching the “old school” way on them: using the RPMs and resistance.

But then a gym where I have regular classes brought in those new shiny bikes that light up in different colours and have the most futuristic name to go with it: Matrix IC7. And the concept of POWER in cycling came up again. Like it or no Izabela – Welcome to Coaching with Colour.

I was a bit sceptical to begin with. There is loads of data that the bike feeds back to you but why would an average Joe be bothered with it? However since the bikes came in a couple of months ago I have done loads of reading, online research, online training and actual 2 day course on training with power in indoor cycling or cycling in general. There is still loads for me to learn but I feel ready to write this little guide directed as much at an average spin class attendee and someone who wants to take their fitness to another level. Or even an outdoor cyclist who may be a bit doubtful how sitting indoors can make them any stronger or better outside.

WHAT IS POWER? In simplest terms related to cycling: it’s your speed/cadence x your resistance/gear. It is measured in WATTS. The number of watts you produce is a MEASURE of how hard you are working. With no consoles you can only guess your speed and resistance. Do you want to see it?

I DON’T EVEN OWN A REAL BIKE SO WHAT DO I CARE ABOUT POWER?
I spoke to Ruth, one of my regulars and now more like a friend, last week in the changing rooms: “Hey Ruth, I haven’t seen you in the class today?”. “No, I had to change my gym routine. You see I started putting on weight again. I can see the change in my body. Cycling doesn’t seem to do it for me anymore. I am doing weight training now”. So Ruth used to do about 5 indoor cycling classes a week. On Tuesdays she would do both mine back to back. What happened then? Has she reached the level of too-fit-for-cycling? No but it is quite simple: we do not appreciate how clever our bodies are.

If from nothing you go to 2 classes a week with the intent of losing weight, you will lose it. To a point. Until your body gets used to your gym timetable. When I kept teaching more and more classes a week: 3-4-5-6 I was constantly hungry but I seemed to be able to eat loads and still lose weight. Now I am on 10 a week and I don’t anymore. Why? Because this is now a regular number. The body knows what is coming and it found a coping strategy. I hit the dreaded plateau. I can see you screaming: WHAT?! 10?! AND NOT LOSING WEIGHT!? I CAN’T DO MORE THEN 10?! And that’s not the way forward. You change the WHAT or HOW and you don’t have to change the HOW MUCH.

Yes, you can change your routine completely and move into weight training but what if you really, really like indoor cycling? You re-focus your training. Do you actually know how hard you are working? Do you know if you are any stronger on the bike than you were 3 months ago? Do you know what your strong and week points are?

NO STRESS – NO ADAPTATION.
Until the bikes with power meters came around we had really no way of measuring any of this. Now we can. Now you can test yourself and retest 3 or 6 months later and see if you got fitter. And by watching the numbers on the consoles and working towards your goals you can still keep the same number of classes a week and if your goal was to do with losing weight – you will keep losing it. I kid you not!

Don’t worry though: this does not only apply to HIIT classes. It doesn’t have to be all out effort each time.

WHAT DOES POWER TRAINING DO FOR ME?
It will increase your muscular strength. It will improve the toning of your legs (hello!). It will improve your cardiovascular fitness overall. It will add variety and motivation to your training: you will know what you are working towards and you will know when you get there. Hell, it will make you a better runner too! I can put you in touch with Russ who takes my classes twice a week and over the last 12 months his half marathon times improved significantly since he added indoor cycling to his fitness routine.

MAKE IT PERSONAL – SPECIFIC
Do you want to get stronger? On the Matrix bikes you keep to your colour zones and pay attention where you are in the zone: lower end or higher end. Maybe you want to get faster? When given an RPM bracket stick to the higher end – you can see your speed in a number format so you can monitor it.

IT ALL SOUNDS LOVELY. IT SOUNDS LIKE LOADS OF FUN. YAY!
DISCLAIMER: NO. IT CAN REALLY, REALLY SUCK. You know me. I tell it as it is. But it will get unpleasant. It will get uncomfortable. You will be panting and sweating more than what you are used to. Exercise can be fun. Training is great fun when you put it into use on a race day or when you achieve your goal in the class by hitting that RPM or that WATT number you were aiming for. A wide grin and a fist pump will come. Later. But not during. It is hard. Your brain will tell you: “Stop now, I don’t like it. Why? WHY? You could have been in a pub right now!” You will leave a puddle of sweat underneath your bike. When given a 2 min recovery song in an exercise class you go: “Oh God, 2min!? Boring! Let me check the view outside…” When you train you go: “Oh, God! 2min?! I need 4. Please, please can I have 2.5?!”.

Now in a group class environment you will always have yourself as the worst enemy. You will have that little devil on your left shoulder saying: “She can’t see you now… She doesn’t know what your goal is anyway… Take a bit of the resistance down… You know you can push 200 WATTS, you KNOW it. You don’t actually have to DO it now… Just scrunch your face so it looks like you are pushing it…” But at the end of the class when you press your SUMMARY button and see those numbers and actually see whether you have achieved your targets you will KNOW you won’t have to GUESS. I don’t need to see it. But YOU will.

WHY THEN? WHY?!
The key is knowing why you are training. You hear me ask this question at the start of many of my classes: “Why are you here? Why are you in an (often) hot studio, willing to sweat next to other 20 people instead of being somewhere nice, relaxing?”. “Why are you training?” is a bit of a broader question that will focus not on that one class but a few weeks or months. In simple terms in any sport you train to be faster or stronger while suffering less in the process. This will not apply if your goal is workout pain: unless you are sliding off the bike after every single class and have to be reminded where the changing rooms are you don’t consider the class good.

But if you want to know where you are at with your fitness, where you can or should take it to become better and you want to see in black and white (or colour) the journey and the results – welcome to the world of training with power.

Are you willing to take on the challenge? I am actually getting a coach myself and will be embarking on this fitness road with you so watch this space. Starting in a couple of weeks!

Meanwhile keep an eye on the next post coming: the importance of fitness testing when training with power.

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. find out what it means to me

We are all guilty of that. We are all busy trying to fit a workout around the busy lifestyle so if we spend 45min in a class all we want is to be out of the door ASAP, 30sec shower and we want to be on our way.

We don’t think it’s that important. I am fine I don’t have any aches or pains. I don’t need it. What am I talking about? The ugly sisters of a workout: COOLDOWN & STRETCH.

I started using a phrase from Cuez at the end of my classes: “Now is the time to say THANK YOU to your legs for doing such a great job. Respect your body. Allow it to go back to the resting mode. Don’t just jump off the bike and go.”

Some will say that the 2 min after the class is not enough anyway. Well, maybe not but in 90% of the cases this is all stretching the people will do, so it’s better than nothing.

I used to think that I had to pack my class with the workout itself and people would be getting impatient if the warm up or cool down were too long. Now I know these two elements are so important for the quality of the class and the experience overall that I don’t compromise on these. Well sometimes. In 1% of the cases. If for some reason I get delayed.

My warm up is at least 2 songs. One sitting with increasing resistance, one with a slight incline where we practice standing up. Nice and easy hill 64-66RPM. That’s for a mixed class. If we are going into long climbs – as in over 20 min uphill – I will use at least 4 songs to gradually prepare the participants.

The cool down is usually 2 songs as well: easy ride to get the HR down in first and get off the bike in the second. Yes, there will always be those running or walking out as soon as you mention easing off. I stopped worrying about them and instead focus on the ones who do stay behind. I also recommend stretching outside of the studio using the foam rollers etc.

From time to time I mention that getting a sports massage as a great way of rewarding yourself. And I find it really strange when people think this is a waste of money or when they give me the impression that they are too tough for that with a dismissive: “Naah!”

I have a regular who is around mid 40s and plays any sport imaginable: squash, tennis, he runs, takes about 8 spin classes a week and then jumps on the trampoline with the kids. Yeah, I know. No, he works full time. He has a few bad habits when it comes to indoor cycling like freezing his upper body and sprinting with not enough resistance, that I have been trying to correct for months. I warned him that these might cause him lower back issues in the long run. And about 2 months ago the “I told you so” moment arrived. I advised him to see a physio or at least get a sports massage. Every week I would ask him how he was and every week I would hear: “No change” yet he wouldn’t go to get help.

Why is that? Maybe because he was worried he would be told to slow down? Or maybe he was worried he was going to be told: “Well, you are not exactly a spring chicken…” I also blame the culture that plagues the fitness industry of all or nothing workout: you have to be nearly sick every time the 45min is up! You gotta man up! No pain no game!

We had an interesting discussion with two of my regulars today about different instructors and the different types of classes we teach. I teach interval/all out classes once every few weeks but they are not my favourite to teach. I always feel like unless I have a group at the same experience level (not fitness, just technique, ability to stand up, understanding what a sprint is), such a class may be great for regulars but a car crash for newbies. Hence if I do it every so often and then make other classes focus on other elements giving people a chance to learn how to do it safely and efficiently, they will get better next time. If I did all out class EVERY time, when would I teach? This is again about respecting your body and conditioning it for a HIIT class.

I am currently running a TDF challenge where people earn points for the cycling classes they attend. But they get extra points for attending as many Pilates, Yoga or Bodybalance classes too. When I ran my 4 months challenge at the end of last year, the mission was to complete 50 classes in 120 days. One of the options was to do 25 cycling classes and 25 any other classes on the timetable. Many people tried yoga and Pilates and actually stuck with these after the challenge was over. They quickly realise the benefits.

I created a Cycling Clinic workshops which I delivered last year too. These included a section of stretching for cyclists. I wish we could all go out after each class and do 15 min stretch. But if you lack ideas, there is a great book out there called Yoga for Cyclists by Lexie Williamson. I took a workshop with this lady before the book was released. I really enjoyed it and the book is a great resource.

So guys, please listen to the Queen of Soul. She may not have had cycling (definitely not Soul Cycle) in mind when she was singing this but it’s a fitting closing to this post 🙂

Blowing my own trumpet – can’t help I am fabulous

You know I like to experiment. With music, class format, type of workouts etc. I spend hours scouring YouTube and Googling stuff that would shake things up in my indoor cycling class a bit. I have talked about music in one of my previous posts. Today I would like to talk about class format and workout types.

I read this article today and I couldn’t agree more: http://greatist.com/connect/militarization-fitness.
People feel that if they don’t get a whole body workout or all-out-gonna-puke indoor cycling session, they wasted 45 minutes. In indoor cycling it basically translates into HIIT interval session. What’s my take on it?

Personally I am not the biggest fan of HIIT as an instructor. I mean don’t get me wrong: this type of session has its place. It’s a great workout. From the instructor’s point of view though, taking into consideration my passion for teaching and helping people to gain new skills I find them somewhat tedious to teach. Oh my, I hope I won’t face a backlash here from both fellow instructors and participants 🙂

What I mean exactly is I would prepare the playlist and tell the riders: up, down, fast, recover, slow, run up this hill, recover etc. But my view is that for a really good and powerful interval session you need to be conditioned. Going all gung-ho with poor form and technique will just tire you out but you won’t gain half as much as from a more “boring” endurance session which will allow you to practice riding efficiently. Or a proper sprint training session. Or long hills.

If you take 3 or more classes a week and try to make them all HIIT sessions you face fatigue and possibly an injury.

A friend who teaches Pilates told me once she could never teach indoor cycling as there was nothing to teach. She couldn’t be more wrong, believe me.

I remember creating my first DIFFERENT session: warm-up, then 3 fast pace 80-90RPM songs followed by 15min hill climb. I was worried people will be bored with the first 20 minutes in the saddle but I was so wrong. The feedback was so positive. Or after the first class with a 30 min climb.

Which brings me to the main point. The feedback. You have no idea how important it is for an instructor. Now sometimes the energy is so high in the studio you don’t need any words. At other times you think throughout the class: “This is not working, they are looking bored. Why? It worked in the other group…” And one of the two things follow: despite your reservations people come to you after the class saying they thoroughly enjoyed it DESPITE looking like zombies 🙂 or this class just wasn’t right for this group. It may be the music, their fitness level, whether they are used to using their intrinsic motivation or maybe your own energy wasn’t there?

I always ask people for feedback. I say: “I am here for YOU not the other way round so if this is not what you want to do, please let me know”. Now mostly people who loved the class will come and speak to you. The ones who didn’t enjoy it just leave quickly. I make a point of trying to talk to these guys after the class, even in the changing rooms. I also give out my cards so they can FB me or e-mail me and I do give out questionnaires once or twice a year. These are anonymous and very helpful.

We as instructors need particularly the constructive criticism. We know we won’t be able to please everyone. I always make it clear at the start of the class what we will be doing and why. If this is not your favourite type of training just remember that by doing the things we don’t like doing we get better at them.

But if you didn’t enjoy the class because you found it boring as we did the same thing for 30min and I didn’t motivate you enough to keep focus, I talk too much, my instructions were not clear, you find using a video distracting etc I need to know so I can improve your experience and improve as an instructor. Maybe get some extra training.

I love positive feedback – let’s be honest, we all do! It’s great to hear my classes are different and that you love coming to them. This definitely tickles my ego and puts a smug smile on my face. But I know how to blow my own trumpet – I know I am fabulous. Runs in the family. What I need is for people to tell me the bad and the ugly. So please don’t be afraid to speak up. Bother me anytime.