Main picture and
top: Myride+ can be used with or without an instructor. Below: a Trixter VRX (Virtual Reality Xbiking) class. Trixter also has links with schools and cycling clubs
Lapetra agrees: “The perception
that indoor cycling is about super high intensity training understandably makes it unappealing to the majority of everyday exercisers. Why are Zumba classes so popular? Because they’re not about emulating an elite athlete – they’re about having fun with friends. Indoor cycling needs to create an accessible environment where people can ride at their own level. If there isn’t a spread of ages, shapes, sizes and fi tness levels in a class, alarm bells should be ringing.” So how can clubs bring new members
to cycling? When the ICG launched Myride®
, distributed in the UK by Matrix,
Warren put the bikes, with their on- screen instructor, on the gym fl oor rather than in a studio “to create a culture of interest and reduce intimidation”. Meanwhile, Tim Colston of Keiser
advocates offering new types of classes to appeal to less fi t or less confi dent
august 2011 © cybertrek 2011
“INSTRUCTORS OFTEN TREAT INDOOR CYCLING LIKE THEIR OWN PERSONAL WORKOUT, WHICH ALIENATES MEMBERS”
members. He says: “In a few clubs, it appears that the class is more for the instructor’s benefi t than the members’ – they just get on and go like the clappers. We need to be much more fl exible if we’re to introduce a whole new type of user. Keiser’s bikes have a console that gives instant heart rate feedback, so you could run a heart rate class, a ladies-only class, a 5k class or a beginners class, as well as the power class.” Lapetra agrees: “Instructors often
treat indoor cycling like their own personal workout, almost competing with each other to deliver the hardest class. This alienates those members who
don’t want to feel on the brink of death during a class, and it won’t give them the results they want either: most exercisers are motivated by a desire to manage their weight, attain a level of fi tness suffi cient to make everyday activities comfortable, and generate an overall sense of wellbeing. “Having well-educated coaches who can
deliver classes in all the different training zones is paramount if we want to broaden indoor cycling’s appeal. For a lady in her 50s, for example, a recovery class could be positioned as a weight loss class.” She continues: “Diversifying the
programming is probably the best way to drive use of the rooms/equipment. There
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 37
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