8 Things I Learned at Spin Class about Teaching

My legs were going almost as fast as my brain. This felt oddly familiar.

Working out has always been important to me. About 10 years ago, I became even more intentional and committed. I find that while working out may not always give me physical results, it helps me to focus and channel my energy. When I don’t work out, I tend to get more easily depressed and irritable. When I do, I am more productive and generally more positive…ok let’s be real…at least neutral. It gets me fired up in the morning, like that TED Talk about making your bed. TBH, I’ve never watched it, but I probably should, especially before adding it to my blog. Oh well.

Anyway, I like to start and end my day (when possible) with a workout. When it’s above 65 and sunny, I will go for a run. When I run, I also get to play Pokemon Go, which is a huge incentive and motivator. However, now that it’s cold and rainy, I’ve traded jogging for spinning.

I’ve done spin on and off for several years, and have had the pleasure of learning from some phenomenal instructors in the DMV, such as Reem, Tee, and Marky-Mark. There are also some great ones at my current regular gym such as Caron, Mary, Ashleigh, and Ashley. If you are in the DMV and you ever have the chance to learn from one of these spin instructors, I highly suggest you take it. There are many more who have been amazing, so I am sorry if I left anyone out, but those are a few that come to mind.

Today, I went to an instructor’s class for the second time. As he was teaching, I realized that he did some things that I’ve found to be effective in the classroom. In no particular order, here are the top 8 things that spin class today taught me about teaching.

1. Transparency
2. Goal-setting
3. Personalization
4. High expectations
5. Unloading baggage
6. Celebrations
7. Setting a purpose
8. Relationships

Let’s be like Drake and start from the bottom.

Relationships

Let’s be real…today I wasn’t feeling getting out of bed early. I came home late last night and had a hard time falling asleep. When I woke up and saw that it was 8:45 (30 minutes before class), I jumped up, threw on my clothes, ran out the door, and hustled to class. Yes, I was five minutes late, but I wasn’t about to miss class. I have a spin app on my phone locked and loaded, but I would much rather be here.

Teaching take-away: Apps/programs can’t replace a good teacher.

Setting a Purpose

During the class, the instructor told us why we were doing each block. When we geared up to level 24, it was to build muscle. When we dropped it down to gear 10 and rode 85 RPM, it was to flush out the lactic acid that we built up. By varying our workout, we hit upon a variety of functions. Knowing why I was doing something made me more intentional in trying to do it to fidelity. I wanted to try to get to that 24 so I could build as much muscle that I could. I wanted to get that acid out of my system so I wouldn’t be as sore tomorrow.

Teaching take-away: Adding relevance to learning can help students be more intentional.

Celebrations

This kind of goes back to the relationships piece. Today in class, there was a first-time spinner, who we celebrated at the end of class with a special round of applause. I want you to envision that for a second…someone who attended their first-ever spin class. Who do you see? I wonder if you’re as shocked as I was…this lady was very young and very fit. I would have never guessed that she hadn’t been doing this from inside the womb. Nevertheless, it was her first time. We all were so happy for her. The instructor mentioned that 70% of newbies leave during their first class, and she had stuck it out like a champ.

This was a good move on his part for many reasons:

• Often, the high fliers get overlooked.
• Everyone in the class had a first time at some point, regardless of how well/poorly it went. By making it through, she was officially one of us.
• Piggybacking off the last point, the instructor celebrated something accessible to each person in the room. This minimized potential hateration from anyone and kept the focus on supporting one another (instead of competing with each other).

This simple act had a high return on investment (ROI) in building both community and morale.

Teaching take-away: Celebrations are important and can benefit the whole community.

Unloading Baggage

Sometimes the students we teach come to us with baggage from prior experiences. Perhaps they were told something negative in the past that they internalized, holding them back from reaching their potential. Today, I was that student.

Once upon a time, I got a gym membership that came with four personal training sessions. I had a couple of trainers before, who were each great. However, I didn’t particularly want these sessions, as I was doing a program on Fitocracy at the time. I decided to take them anyway as they were thrown in at no additional cost with the package. Long story short, I found this particular trainer to be a bad fit, who (successfully) tried to scare and shame me into signing up for an expensive package. I actually never used all those sessions that I paid for, and I never will.

I’ve been up and down the scale several times throughout my life, and have come a long way into accepting and loving myself at any size. Honestly, I’m still on that journey, but making small, consistent steps forward. Anyway, during my first training session, over the course of approximately 15 minutes, I allowed this trainer to knock me backwards several steps. I won’t share the specifics of what was said, nor my actions in the aftermath, but I will say this incident triggered a pretty severe spell of depression which lasted nearly a year. However, I’m glad it happened because ultimately, I grew and became stronger for it.

Back to today in spin class. At one point, the instructor was walking around, giving each of us personalized feedback (more on that later). At one point, he told me to point my knees straight ahead. In my mind, I wanted to say, “I can’t…I’m bow-legged,” as the trainer had told me those years ago; but something in me told me to shut up and I decided to try it. To my surprise, I could comfortably pedal, even faster, with my knees pointing straight ahead.

Teaching take-away: We can help students unload baggage that gets in the way of their potential.

High Expectations

The first time I came to this particular spin class, I noticed the instructor was very explicit in his directions. “Level 10, 85 RPM.” With each change, he would state a level and RPM (rotations per minute). Wait a minute, I thought. This isn’t fair…it’s totally unrealistic! I can’t go as fast as he can. He’s the professional. My “flat road” is not the same as his “flat road.”

I even tried to game the system. Ok, I’m just going to listen to the last thing he said. Level 10? Done. *goes 60 RPM* Oh, 85 RPM? No problem. *speeds up and turns the lever down to a level 8*

I wasn’t entirely trying to skate by. I did challenge myself to a large extent, pushing to the highest gear where I could maintain his most recent direction (something like, “out of the saddle, gear 15, 80 RPM”). This was all well and good until he got off his bike to see how everybody was doing. Uh oh…

I was super-nervous when he started heading my way and I hurriedly pushed the lever to the correct gear, which slowed me down. I started going as fast as I possibly could, but it was nowhere near 80 RPM. In my mind, I was expecting a familiar series of events to escalate rather quickly. He will come over, see I’m not where he said, and draw a lot of unwanted attention my way. I will get embarrassed, and sneak out when his back is turned. I’d done this dance a million times before.

Instead, he came over, looked at my gauge, and said, “Great job, sis. Give me a little more. Let’s get to that next level.” I was around 65, and he stood there, cheering me on until I got to 70. “There you go!” Then he went over to the next person and did the same for them. The only two people in that room who knew I did not reach 80 were him and me. I saved face, and his coaching helped me push myself further than I thought I could go.

After he went around and checked on everyone in the room, giving them personalized coaching and feedback. When he got back to his bike, he addressed us as a group. “A lot of you weren’t at 80, but know that you will get there. Keep pushing.”

Teaching take-away: Stay positive and encourage students to dig deep to give you more. Allow them to save face when they don’t meet the expectation while encouraging them to keep working towards it.

Personalization

See above. The only thing I will add to this is that I was wearing my Apple Watch, so I got analytics as to when I had room to go harder and when I needed to back off.

Teaching take-away: Give your students space and trust, and help them find tools to regulate their own learning process. Provide support as needed.

Goal-Setting

At the end of class, our instructor shared with us that he had set a water goal for himself and that this class, it didn’t work out. I think I will do the same next time. Even if I don’t meet it, it will be more than if I did nothing.

Teaching take-away: Allow your students to set goals prior to beginning, and perhaps adjust when needed. Share your own as well.

Transparency

See above.

Also, in most spin classes, instructors will also do the workout with you. This is very important because it allows them to model. For example, today there was some move called Figure 8s that I had seen people do on Facebook, but looked really complicated. It was, but I was able to get the hang of it more or less on the second try by watching him demonstrate it.

The instructor participating in the ride also establishes their credibility. They are doing exactly what they are asking you to do. If they tell you to go hard, you are more likely to do it because they are walking the walk (or in this case “riding the ride”). Yes, the instructors will get off their bike sometimes to coach you, which is also beneficial. But for the most part, they will be on the bike in front of the room for the majority of the class. (Side note: Once, I saw the opposite, but this was out of the norm for him, and he let us know up front that he was sick.)

Today, it was sort of liberating when the instructor told us that he was up until 2 a.m., fully enjoying his Friday night. This humanized him and really made me trust him more. I loved the fact that he did not act holier-than-thou, and I could relate as I, too, was up until 2 a.m. (not exactly partying as he said he was lol…but still knowing that I wasn’t the only one dragging was empowering).

Teaching take-away: Be human. Learners appreciate you recognizing that you’re not perfect.

That’s it for me. I will definitely be back for more spin in the coming weeks, as it continues to be “way-too-cold” degrees outside. I miss you, Pokemon, but in the meantime, I am going to get my spin on. I was surprised to find that even after a hiatus of several weeks, I was able to pick up my running app exactly where I left off when I traveled to a warmer area. Cardio is cardio, and apparently, it is also transferable.

Spin class is so much like the classroom. Yes, the seat may hurt your butt the first few times, but after a couple of sessions, you don’t even feel it. Thanks to all of the great instructors who make spinning fun, engaging, and effective.