GINS SPINS South Florida: A Guest Blog Post by Adam G 430

I’ll start with a little background on how I began teaching indoor cycling, because it’s very different from a lot of other instructors or fitness trainers. The story begins just about 3 and half years ago when I entered into my very first indoor cycling class. I wasn’t in the best shape of my life, but not the worst. I, like most, frequented the gym to lift weights and get in the occasional run on the treadmill. By no means was I dedicated to fitness or coaching or indoor cycling. But when I took my first “spin” class, by the time we got to the cool down track, something clicked: loud music, club lighting, and fun choreography…the experience was life-changing and redefined who I was.

I should also mention that by day, I’m a Financial Analyst for a large healthcare organization in South Florida. You can imagine how different my persona is during the day than it is in the cycle studio!

But there was something about that indoor cycling class that brought out a different side of me. For whatever reason, I was noticed, in a room full of people, by two of the head instructors at the studio. Unbeknown to me, they were scouting and recruiting their clients to try out to become instructors. After I had finished my third indoor cycling class as a rider, one thing led to another and they asked me if I was interested in trying out for an instructor opening…I had extreme mixed emotions. I was quite humbled, embarrassed, and scared because it was so out of my comfort zone. My only natural response was that I was too busy during the time of the tryouts. But obviously, you know how this ends. They were extremely persistent, and even went so far as to tell me that the only way I wouldn’t get the position was if I fell off the bike during my audition. I liked the odds, so I tried out!

Over the last few years I’ve learned a lot about myself, about my riders, and about indoor cycling. In that time, there have only been a handful of days where I didn’t feel up to teaching or not excited for class. What most riders in my class don’t realize is that I am usually more pumped up for class than they are. There are a few reasons why this is true, but I’ll share two of the most important reasons because I feel they shape my style and attitude in class.

The first reason…
I am addicted to music. Specifically any upbeat, fast tempo, chest pounding music. If I’m not listening to music for my class, I am listening to my favorite radio show that sometimes fuels new ideas for my class. I’ve always heard that the most appealing thing of a fitness class is the instructor, but I often feel that the music is more important. I truly believe that there are great instructors out there who can easily be overshadowed by a few poor musical choices. At the same time, I feel that average instructors or someone like myself who came into this with no fitness aspirations whatsoever can benefit from possessing knowledge of different genres of music and good selections for their class. My musical selections include the usual genres: EDM, hip-hop, pop, and reggaetón. But I find the most effective way for creating my playlists is making sure that I am enjoying the music that I play just as much as the riders do.

The second reason…
Teaching class is more often than not the most fun part of my day and therefore I try to project that in the cycle studio. My philosophy is that one can get the most out of my class by letting loose and having fun…rather than taking the class too seriously and looking at it as just another workout. As I mentioned above, I didn’t start this gig with a background in fitness. What I’ve learned the most is that people get excited and have fun when I set a fun and exciting tone. My mindset when going into each class is that of a musical artist or DJ. I encourage my riders to scream, shout, and Woooo as if they were at their favorite artist’s concert.