Another Instructor Question

T

thundercat

Active Member
Here's my dilema. I'm trying to decide the best tempo for my step classes. I was teaching them no faster than say 129 bpm. Then I'd have people saying they liked my choreography but it was a little too slow. Now I go a maximum of 134 bpm. The majority of the class seems happy at that tempo, but one guy came up to me today and said, "You know your class would be better, safer and more effective if you go 128."

Okay. What do I do? I find most step teachers go WAY faster than 134. I thought I was playing it safe as it is. Does anyone have any input here?
 
Stick with your preferred tempo; in step (I do not instruct but I'm an avid home stepper) I never go over 129 bpm. It has been documented time and time again that the intensity increases are not worth the risk increases as well as the range of motion decreases.

You'll never please all the people all the time, but you COULD injure someone by going too fast - and members are known to sue!

Just my $.02 -

Annette Q. Aquajock
 
This is why I quit teaching step classes. I refused to go faster, people stopped coming to my classes because other instructors had faster music. (what do the students know, they liked fast stepping) I started using faster music, they came back. In the end I used music (OUCH!!) from 138-148 bpm and they still kept asking me to pitch up the music. That's when I quit.
I'd love to teach step, but at normal speed. But there are so many other instructors that use fast music.(not just at the gym where I taught, but all over the country)
It really is unsafe.
Ilja <http://home.hetnet.nl/~aliyah/images/fitnessmickey.gif
 
Fast Step

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Sep-26-02 AT 11:46AM (Est)[/font][p]At my gym this REALLY popular step teacher goes about 150 bpm! I took his class for a little while and almost tripped on a couple of occasions. That's why I thought a max of 134 was safe, yet not too slow for most people. If I slow down again I know everyone is going to gripe at me to go faster (except for that one student who complained about it being too fast). It can be depressing when people walk out of your class. I need a thicker skin, I guess.
 
RE: Fast Step

Thundercat - you'll go out of your mind if you try to please all the people all the time. It is depressing when people walk (or in my case slosh) out of my classes too; however, I'm pretty much able to see that the leavers are usually the people who don't know much about effective and safe exercise, and probably don't want to.

Maybe a good thing to start throwing in are some Cathe-esque power intervals a la Interval Max - that will probably shut up the types who thing safe step speed isn't effective.

Take care - and don't let the AWOL types get you down!

Annette Q. Aquajock
:):):):):)
 
I'm not an instructor but your post made me curious about the bpm's of Cathe's step tapes. I think that if I tried to go any faster than she does, I'd fall flat on my face or break something!
 
In searching old posts, I found that Cathe uses 128-134 bpm's for her classes. IMHO, I really can't imagine going faster than that safely.
 
Hi, ThundarCat!

If it make you feel better, you are not alone. I've been teaching for 10 years, used to teach step and hi/lo. Now, I do exclusively Kickboxing (I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do) and Body Sculpting. I've had people leave in the middle of class for various reasons, too slow, too fast, too much sweat. Don't take it personally. I think 134 is the max for step--and, fast at that. I recently took a step class (Cathe made me miss them) and I was appalled at the tempo they were attempting. If you can't use your arms while stepping because you are struggling to breathe, it is too fast (and, that was the instructor, sheesh)! And, they didn't even do a stretch after the warm-up !

For kickboxing, my warm-up is 135 (I keep it simple, side steps, hamstring curls, front kicks, some low jacks) and the tape progresses to 150. But, this is more for motivation and we encourage our students to work at their own pace--we use the standing bag. I'd never work at this pace if it was a CTX Kickbox type workout, the risk of injury would be too high.

Stick to your guns, if anyone asks you about the bmp tell them that your class offers both tempo and safety. Then, rec a class he/she might enjoy better. In other words, asta la vista, baby! I like the suggestion above about adding the Power Intervals, I tend to do a lot of plyometrics when I teach.

Be yourself and Keep Smiling!

Kerilyn
 
You're Welcome, ThunderCat! I'm glad the class went well. Did you add anything new? Amazing how you can do the same routine in w/ different groups and have totally different results. Been there :) I'm sure everythign will continue going well!

Kerilyn
 
Actually, I don't think I did much of anything different. Maybe it went better because they changed the name of the class from Advanced Step to Straight Up Step. People hear "advanced" and they think it's ultra fast, I guess.
 
ThundarCat, I think you are right about the name. Just like judging a book by the cover. I teach a Body Sculpting Class that my students wanted renamed. (Suggestions have been Torture Hour, OMG Why AM I doing This and YIKES! LOL) Another instructor teaches a BS class, too and she doesn't use more than 3 lbs and bands. I have them use 5, 8 and 12 pounds. So, there is a big difference. Both classes meet a need, but are vastly different approaches. Any suggestions?

Kerilyn
 
Hmmm... If there is a demand for "torture" perhaps "Torture Hour" would work. Isn't it funny? I know an instructor who says people come up to her and say, "Your class was great. It KILLED me!" Some people like pain and misery for an hour, I guess. As long as it's safe, okee dokee.

Hmmm. Names..."Sculpt and Scream", "Pain and Suffering", "Hate Your Instructor For An Hour", "Cruel and Unusual", "I Wanna Go Home!"

??? :)
 
ROTHFLMAO...Sculpt and Scream, I do believe is the winner!

What I've found regarding the need for Torture...those that like to work hard come on a regular basis and those who like to say they worked out come once and a while (to the other instructors class). I took the new name suggestions as a compliment! Can't stand when someone is in class and they are put off because you expect them to break a sweat!

TTFN!
Kerilyn
 
I used to get this mother-daughter super duo who would come in and never feel challenged. The daughter was a ballerina and the mother never got her heart rate up. I always felt the need to go extra hard whenever they showed up. I think that was really unfair to my regulars who didn't need me to go over the top. The mother of the duo finally got her heart rate up when she took the kickbox class I subbed once. I felt so proud.

Anyway, I rarely see clients like that, thank goodness. In fact, those two were the only ones I ever saw like that. Everyone else who comes to my class moans and groans in agony. Ahh, the sound an instructor lives for. :D
 
My favorite is when they come in and ask you not to do a particular move you did in the previous class that killed them...of course, that is a guarantee that they'll be seeing it :)

Kerilyn,
Princess of Plyos
 
Another night owl?!

I am still up and browsing sites--did a Cathe 2-fer tonight, and lived to tell about it!

I did CTX 10/10/10 until the weights section. Then switched to CTX PC until abs, back to 10/10/10 for triceps and finished w/ PC abs. It was an awesome sweat-a-thon!

Keri
 
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