Certs: What's the Big Deal? Part 1

In the past couple of years, I have seen a few group exercise instructors lead their class participants through some very questionable (and downright unsafe) workouts. I won't go into detail, but needless to say it makes me cringe. From crazy high intensity to poor form to reckless exercises to no offerings of modifications...I have witnessed the gamut. I recently met a woman who was so turned off by the instructor of her first cycling class that she actually stopped going to the gym all together. It's situations like this that make me question the motivation of some instructors and wonder who certified them in the first place. Not to mention the gym that allows them to teach without any quality control or standards concerning which certifying agencies they recognize. Many gyms don't care who certifies their instructors, as long as they are "certified".

When I was first looking into fitness as a fun way to make some money on the side, I wasn't really sure where to start. It was 2004. I was living in Enid, Oklahoma and had fallen in love with Spin classes at my local gym. Wouldn't you know, one of my favorite instructors was planning on moving and she offered her classes to me, assuming that I got certified. Score! FYI: Spinning and indoor cycling are not the same thing. Johnny G Spinning refers to a certification given by Mad Dogg Athletics. Indoor cycling is a blanket term that covers all types of cycling certs across a variety of agencies.

It seems like a simple task: "Go get certified to teach indoor cycling!" But, as someone who was relatively new to the "gym scene", I wasn't sure if there was a difference between all of the certifications. You just get in there and hammer, right? Most instructors that I knew held cards from Johnny G Spinning. But there are other companies out there, too: Schwinn Cycling, Reebok Cycling, Cooper Institute Indoor Cycling, Keiser Cycling, Les Mills, Krank & ICG, just to name a few. At the time, the YMCA held a Group Instructor training course that spent less than a couple of hours on indoor cycling in it's 1-2 day seminar.

Overwhelming was an understatement. Although I had been cycling outdoors for a few years, I had only been taking Spin classes for a little under a year. There is a big difference between heading out for a ride for a few hours, enjoying the weather, scenery and your friends...and leading a group of focused riders as you imitate hills, headwind and sprints to music on an indoor bike.

I spoke extensively with a variety of instructors in the community as well as the AF Base exercise physiologist. Ultimately, I went with Johnny G Spinning, the original indoor cycling certification. I appreciate their standards and the longer that I teach, the more differences that I see between Spin and other certs. Does that mean that someone with a Schwinn or Keiser cert is less qualified? Absolutely not! In fact, there are a few JG Spinning instructors that have strayed from the values upon which they were certified and have gone off the deep end with some of their workouts. I mean, seriously, jumps for 5 minutes?

I guess the point I am trying to make is that you should feel confident enough to ask your instructor about their certifications and why he/she chose the one(s) he/she did. If they care about the quality of your workout and structure it with a plan in mind, you will rest assured. If they can't tell you why, and choose to ride/teach however they want as long as the music is good, there is a problem.

And let's be frank: your workouts should have balance. If you think that you had a crappy workout because you can walk out of the gym afterwards, something is wrong. Exercise and training should make you feel good, not worse. Yes, work hard...but blurred vision and nausea isn't always a sign of a good workout.

As I enter my 9th year as a Spinning instructor, I continue to learn about balance, technique and cues. Some of this comes from the thousands of dollars of continuing education through the years, but mostly I learn from the students. Keeping my eyes and ears open in and out of the Spin studio has benefitted me immensely. Hopefully my students have benefitted from it, too! As a friend of mine likes to say, we never stop learning.

I'm not naive enough to start listing the things that point out an instructor that needs some educating....I live in a town far too small for that. If you have questions about why a workout was structured a certain way, or if your form needs improvement, how to modify movements due to pain, etc, then a good instructor will oblige. A fantastic instructor might even say, "I'm not sure, but I can find out for you. That's outside of my scope of practice."

I am also not so naive to think that I am the goddess of all Spin instructors. As I said before, I never stop learning. And some people simply don't mesh well. Some participants appreciate a different style of instruction than I offer. Sure, it hurts a little to know that someone does care for you, but I totally understand. If I were in their shoes, I would have my favorite teacher(s), too.

What qualities have you noticed that make an instructor stand out (in a good or bad way)?