Not sure I will be teaching much longer.

[cleo29]

At least not where I am right now.

This week the manager and another higher manager rearranged the cycle studio for better acoustics but with little regard of what this means for the instructor.  I was annoyed and emailed my manager. I was surprised they did not even reach out to us just to get a consensus on what we thought this might mean as the one teaching the class. I was not the only one.

So tonight we get an email  pretty much blasting us for daring to complain. pointing out that we already have to pay for out mic belts, wind screens, etc, so this will just be one more thing. If we don't like it we can leave.

then says how we are all a team and closes with please feel free to come to me with questions or concerns. Which is what we did and had our asses chewed out for it. So....not really sure this will last. i am just really frustrated. our concerns and annoyance was valid.

This is the cherry to my weekend. i need to talk to my good friend because her daughter said really hurtful things about C this weekend (more than the usual drama), so I am not looking forward to that. ugh

Sorry, just needed to vent.

[Jalapeñomel]

I’m sorry Cleo. I hope things get better.

[cleo29]

Thanks. i am feeling frustrated. This gym, in general, does a lot of things that do not make sense in terms of where they are willing to spend money.

[blondemoment123]

((cleo29))

[namasteak]

Ugh that sucks!

If it helps any, its not personal at all! I have been teaching at gyms and studios for 11 years and have dealt with that kind of thing several times. Management often makes changes for the student/customer without thinking about employees which means turnover higher and actually makes students/customer unhappy.

And my commiseration - my current studio is making changes that make things very difficult for staff AND no one can see how it actually benefits the students/customers so I may leave soon too.

[starburst604]

Ugh I’m sorry. I don’t know why, but a lot of gyms/studios seem to have the worst management teams. I just quit a gym where I’d been teaching for 6 months, and still they had not updated the online schedule to reflect my class, despite me asking many times. People would come in expecting the class that they’d seen online, which was completely different.

The district manager was a total ass when on group chat the instructors all demanded to know when the mic would be fixed (answer - never). He scolded us saying that we should all know how to teach while projecting our voices. I was so happy to be out of that shithole.

[namasteak]

Dec 9, 2018 22:29:10 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

The district manager was a total ass when on group chat the instructors all demanded to know when the mic would be fixed (answer - never). He scolded us saying that we should all know how to teach while projecting our voices. I was so happy to be out of that shithole.

Dude, we can teach when projecting but thats not going to last ESPECIALLY if you teach multiple classes a day! 

[starburst604]

Dec 9, 2018 22:34:53 GMT -5 namasteak said:

Dec 9, 2018 22:29:10 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

The district manager was a total ass when on group chat the instructors all demanded to know when the mic would be fixed (answer - never). He scolded us saying that we should all know how to teach while projecting our voices. I was so happy to be out of that shithole.

Dude, we can teach when projecting but thats not going to last ESPECIALLY if you teach multiple classes a day! 

Exactly. It’s unnecessary wear and tear on the vocal cords, and really not the best experience for clients. I felt especially bad for the spin instructors. They rely on music to be loud and motivating and they can’t exactly move around the room to try and interact with everyone. Also for yoga instructors, trying to breathe a certain way while having to yell. The room where I taught was also HUGE, which made it really challenging.

[cleo29]

Dec 9, 2018 22:34:53 GMT -5 namasteak said:

Dec 9, 2018 22:29:10 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

The district manager was a total ass when on group chat the instructors all demanded to know when the mic would be fixed (answer - never). He scolded us saying that we should all know how to teach while projecting our voices. I was so happy to be out of that shithole.

Dude, we can teach when projecting but thats not going to last ESPECIALLY if you teach multiple classes a day! 

It also effects your heart rate. Talking, while doing the exercises, already makes it climb higher, but when i have had to yell due to a mic issue, it gets higher and stays there longer.

i am going to be looking into other places; just to see what they require, etc. i will be quitting my membership to their orange theory like classes and simply join OT. I would rather have my money go there.

I'm bummed to learn this might just be an industry wide issue. :/ i wonder if a pure cycle studio would be the same.

[starburst604]

Dec 9, 2018 22:42:22 GMT -5 cleo29 said:

Dec 9, 2018 22:34:53 GMT -5 namasteak said:

Dude, we can teach when projecting but thats not going to last ESPECIALLY if you teach multiple classes a day! 

It also effects your heart rate. Talking, while doing the exercises, already makes it climb higher, but when i have had to yell due to a mic issue, it gets higher and stays there longer.

i am going to be looking into other places; just to see what they require, etc. i will be quitting my membership to their orange theory like classes and simply join OT. I would rather have my money go there.

I'm bummed to learn this might just be an industry wide issue. :/ i wonder if a pure cycle studio would be the same.

IME, smaller studios are better. My friend has been a group ex director for a long time and says that gym management generally regard group fitness as an annoyance. They have to have it because people want it, but they don’t really make any extra revenue from it like they do with personal training; and they just don’t feel like dealing with it.

I teach at a small studio that does classes only, and since that’s their focus, they actually care about the classes and if people are showing up etc. This gym gave zero fucks if anyone actually showed up at the classes, as long as they could show classes on the schedule. Because members who took them paid a higher membership rate.

[cleo29]

Dec 9, 2018 22:51:20 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Dec 9, 2018 22:42:22 GMT -5 cleo29 said:

It also effects your heart rate. Talking, while doing the exercises, already makes it climb higher, but when i have had to yell due to a mic issue, it gets higher and stays there longer.

i am going to be looking into other places; just to see what they require, etc. i will be quitting my membership to their orange theory like classes and simply join OT. I would rather have my money go there.

I'm bummed to learn this might just be an industry wide issue. :/ i wonder if a pure cycle studio would be the same.

IME, smaller studios are better. My friend has been a group ex director for a long time and says that gym management generally regard group fitness as an annoyance. They have to have it because people want it, but they don’t really make any extra revenue from it like they do with personal training; and they just don’t feel like dealing with it.

I teach at a small studio that does classes only, and since that’s their focus, they actually care about the classes and if people are showing up etc. This gym gave zero fucks if anyone actually showed up at the classes, as long as they could show classes on the schedule. Because members who took them paid a higher membership rate.

i will be looking into the cycle studios near me. I know they will want me to teach in the manner that they like, which is fine, but I will need to see what that will entail beyond doing a weights segment.

at our gym, the people who pay to be able to take the classes, pay a higher fee. so it is frustrating, for them, to see the gym floor get all these updates and new equipment, but won't replace worn out pool equipment or replace the speaker for that room. Everything your friend said I can see how that is how the gym feels and it makes it no less frustrating.

i do know that my gym has gone from instructors practically begging for classes to teach, to now you can barely get a person to sub a class for you.

[namasteak]

cleo29 in my experience it is industry wide but the worst at chains. That said, I really liked working for LA Fitness and want to try to go back after baby is born.

[cleo29]

namasteak, i am going to investigate the two nice cycle studios near my house. See what they require, other than an audition, and go from there.