I Love Being a Goodlife Fitness Spin Instructor
By Tim Doris
I started to take spin classes at our local GoodLife Fitness in Cobourg in the fall of 2009 two years after our second child was born. My wife was a GoodLife Member and had just become a Zumba instructor at the club and suggested that I go and try one of the cycling classes. I had no idea what to expect when I showed up for that first Saturday morning 8:30 class, but I wondered how could sitting on an indoor stationary bike be a great work out!
The instructor introduced himself, asked if there were any new riders and then put me and the other members through a grueling hour workout including hill climbs, speed intervals and some endurance pieces with some amazing music to spin too. Once the class was over and I had dried off the bike from my sweat, I knew that I had found another way to mix up my exercise regime and training. I was instantly hooked for the next year and a half I would make as many classes during the week as my schedule would allow which was usually 2 or 3. After a class the instructor approached me and asked if I would be interested in doing my certification to be a cycling instructor. I told my wife about the conversation and she said that it would be a good way for me to share my love of riding with others and also get in a great workout at the same time.
6 years later and I am still loving every minute of being a GoodLife Instructor. I enjoy challenging the members that come to my classes to dig a little deeper and push themselves to their fitness goals. The members who come to my classes are my extended family, we have a common interest which is fitness and share our stories, accomplishments and lows with each other.
They are confident that when they come to my class they can expect a great workout. People are too busy to have their time wasted on them. Every week I select the music for the weeks ride and review the choreography notes to ensure that the ride will be an effective workout. On the weekends I have more creative freedom with music selection and also deciding on the ride focus should it be muscular endurance or strength.
Instructing at the gym is also very social. I love being approached by members and hearing about their fitness pursuits outside of the gym setting and being able to talk to them about goals and races that I have participated in especially the Recharge With Milk Triathlon Series put on by MultiSport Canada and how I am a member of the Ambassador team for this season.
One of the responsibilities as a GoodLife Instructor is to attend 2 Instructor Summits a year one during the Spring and the other during the Fall or Winter. At the Summits there is a lot of sharing of information from the Head Office including new initiatives, goals for the upcoming year, upcoming events and also an opportunity to hear from other clubs and instructors on important issues to them. I had the opportunity this past week to attend the Durham Regions Instructors Summit in Oshawa and present on behalf of MultiSport Canada about the Recharge with Milk Triathlon Series. I was also handing out some draw prizes including some MultiSport Canada Hats, Singlet and even a free Give It A Tri race entry.
The reason for selecting an instructors summit was simple the instructors are the ones who are seeing their class participants daily or weekly and by giving the instructors the information about the series they will be able to direct interested members to the MultiSport Canada website or perhaps the instructors are looking for some fitness challenge for the summer themselves. I have two more summits to attend one in my Cobourg and the other in Peterborough to share more information with the instructors in these two areas. It is easy to talk about something that you enjoy participating in and racing in the Recharge with Milk Triathlon Series is just that a lot of fun.
