Us vs. Them

Good Morning Psycho's! 

I know, I know, I have been an absentee blogger.  So many exciting things have been happening with the Saratoga Cycling Studio, LLC that I have been really tied up.

Four members of the SCS team just completed a 9 hour Spinning training and we couldn't be more proud of them.  There are lots of indoor cycling programs out there, but Spinning (in my opinion) is the biggest and the best in the world! 

I thought I would touch on some of the reasons I believe this to be true, along with the other millions of folks that would agree with me.  Spinning is located in over 300,000 facilities in over 100 countries and has been around for 20 years.  While they continue to always evolve the program, the core principals seem to remain the same, keeping our participants happy and healthy.

We all know there are some Spinning instructors that go "rogue" and do not follow the guidelines that they were taught, we are going to focus on the SCS team who follows the program very carefully.

What you will see from our certified Spinning instructors:

• Experts in helping you with bike set-up.
• Knowledge of heart rate zones, keeping you right where you need to be - attaining your goals! 
• A prepared ride or "profile" to ensure you are getting the most out of your class in an organized manner.
• Proper form and techniques keeping you as SAFE and HEALTHY as possible.
• No gimmicks!  At places I have taught Spinning in the past, I have had participants ask me why their backs or knees hurt after instructor "abc" taught.  My response is: if you don't see me doing it in class, do not do it.  It is probably not safe.  While we all have a different style of teaching, at SCS we all teach SPINNING and nothing else, so the key movements will always be consistent.

What you could see from non-certified instructors:

• A very knowledgeable Master Spinning instructor once told me, if you don't do it on an outdoor bike, don't do it on an indoor bike.
• Plugging in their ipod and just teaching a random ride to random songs with no plan.
• Hovers, floating, or as I like to call it, "grinding your knees".  This move doesn't exist in Spinning and is quite dangerous to your joints.
• Push-ups on the bike.  This is horrible for your back and other joints!  Plus, you do not get any health or strength benefits from it.  Should you happen to slip on the handlebars while attempting this, you could lose a few teeth.  Cute?
• Pedalling as fast as you can with no resistance. OUCH! 
• I have heard of an instructor doing "four corners" of their body on the bike.  While this instructor is known to be super "fun", he is also super dangerous.
• I could go on and on, but just google "contraindicated spinning moves" and you will see article after article of what we just discussed.
• Here is a great article that highlights the most dangerous moves: http://mail-dog.com/page.html?p=000001XDDtjL1IFLkXd2E1xaNcJ1mfvJA1bHaA

I am not trying to bash any fellow instructors by any means, I am just trying to explain how to keep you safe and happy on the bike.  From being in this industry for almost 10 years, I can tell you that 99% of the instructors I have seen do not want to hurt you intentionally, they just don't know any better.  So, if you are in an indoor cycling class, do not be afraid to ask your instructor about his or her certifications.  Also, do not hesitate to ask about a certain move that may have caused you some pain.

When I was first Spinning certified, I was petrified to teach according to the rules I was taught.  I was used to a class that was filled with those contraindicated moves.  But, when I started to share with my class why we do things like this, they listened and responded really positively.  Knowledge is power!! 

Happy cycling!