Before I continue with this post, I want just wanted to call out a couple of things about when I post my spin-rides.
Since I believe the majority of readers are not spin instructors, I try to keep the focus more on the music and less on the details of what I do for each song. This is why my descriptions are usually pretty vague. In addition, I often times go by the vibe and mood of the class I’m teaching. If they seem like they’re coasting by as a result of being seated, I’ll make them stand, etc. If any instructors are looking for more detail on my rides, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll gladly share/elaborate. (or explain any odd terminology like “pick-ups”) 🙂
I am a by the book Spinning instructor and I don’t do anything that is termed as “contraindicated”. Therefore you will not find hovers, figure 8s, push-ups or any sort of weight baring activity on the bike. While some people may feel that this makes a class boring, I disagree and invite you to talk to anyone who takes my class.
I love teaching spin. When I teach a class it is one of the few times during the week when I’m truly happy with what I’m doing. I’d like to one day find a “real” job that gives me the same joy as instructing.
That said, here’s the ride from last night.
My apologies if that is really hard to read. I was trying to get creative with the colors. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. 🙂
Class was great! I’ve been teaching this class for about 6 months or so and like most classes, it started slow and I was happy when I had 8 people and ecstatic when it hit 15. For the past two weeks we had 19 and I was thrilled. Last night we had 21. Crazy! There are 22 bikes, so we only had one open bike. I was blown away. So exciting! I honestly didn’t think it was possible to draw such a crowd to a night class at this gym. Guess I was wrong. Of course we’ll see how it holds as the weather improves.
Normally we hit up boxing on Wednesday mornings but they switched up the instructors so we weren’t feeling it. Plus we watched Zero Dark Thirty last night (or rather I watched part of it and then called it a night while DJ finished it). I will finish it another time but it was 11p and I was TIRED. A 5a wake-up was not in my future. It was hard enough to wake up at 6:30a when the alarm went off. Let me tell you it is HARD to wake up to go to a job that stinks.
Now it’s Wednesday and the first day of spring!
fittalker.wordpress.com 
Good clarification…pretty much the same here. Thanks for the posts / music!
Enjoy the Ride
Steve
Thanks! Glad we’re both on the same page.
When I got my certification a few weeks ago I truly couldn’t believe that all of my classes had so many contraindicated moves in them! actually hadnt taken a class in 2 weeks after my orientation and just went to one yesterday and performed just like I was taught in that orientation. My instructor knew I had gone, but still tried to get me to do things like turn up the resistance til you can barely move your legs! No thanks. I wondered why I had knee pain during and after some classes and insanely heavy resistance, ‘hovering’ and popcorn jumps were many of the reasons!
It is crazy how many instructors do things that they shouldn’t.
It makes it very hard for me to take other instructor’s classes, which stinks. I know I can just ignore what they’re saying, but it pains me to see students following along.
Did you have your audition?
What a fun ride! Your posts make me want to be an instructor to incorporate these songs!
Thanks! It’s definitely fun to put the playlists together but it can be time consuming and tough at times. I call it spinner’s block.
So nice to have something like teaching spin to add extra fun and happiness into the day (esp if you’re not crazy with your “real” job). A 5am wake-up call is way too hard for me on most dates too
I wish I lived close to you! I’d be at your classes!! I appreciate a real ride instead of all the ups and downs. Things I’d never do on a real bike.
Scream and Shout is one of my favorite songs right now. I actually created a Scream and Shout Pandora station. It’s perfect for running.
What kind of songs/artists show up on that playlist?