Tuesdays are for Teaching

On Tuesdays, I teach indoor cycling at the Sport & Health at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, Maryland. The format I teach is called SPARK! This is a signature class was developed by an indoor cycling instructor with US Fitness, and she led the class where I got certified!

People often ask me what the difference is between SPARK and my other indoor cycling classes (I also teach a 45-minute and a 60-minute traditional class). It’s really quite simple: The format/layout of the class is always the same, but the music is different. As an instructor, this makes my life so much easier. It’s really quick and easy for me to develop a profile each week because, well, the profile is almost exactly the same!

We always start with a warm-up track, and we always end with a cool-down track. We have a strength segment, followed by a cardio segment, followed by a HIIT drill, with a “party track” in the middle before we run through those drill types again. I can always vary the types of drills I’m doing within each segment (or stage, however you want to think about it), but the order of the focus of each drill remains the same. This means that I don’t have to think so hard about music, and can have a lot of fun with the playlist.

Here’s an example of one of my SPARK playlists. Fun fact: You can follow me on Spotify! I add new indoor cycling playlists every week! Just look for the playlists with “Spark” in the title and you’ll know that’s what it’s for!

I have a kinda funny routine on Tuesday nights. I try to leave work by 6 p.m. on the dot so that I can get to the gym, change, and get to my class early. The class before mine ends at 6:30, and my class starts at 6:45, so I usually have about 20 minutes to kill once I arrive at the gym. But herein lies the problem. Sometimes, if there’s a little more traffic than usual, or I get stuck at the office working on something until a little after 6, I run out of changing time.

By the time I get to the parking garage, if I run up to the locker room to the change, I inevitably end up running into someone and start running my mouth – and running out of time. HOWEVER, and this is something that I don’t recommend to anyone, if I change in my car in my top secret spot in the parking garage, I can get changed in about two minutes. Granted, I usually have to do that whole awkward underwear stretch when I get out of the car, but it is a massive time saver!

I could write a whole post about the mindset shift I have to make when I go from the office to the gym, but I’ll spare you guys tonight. 🙂

After my class, I may lift weights for a short little bit, though this plan is often foiled when I stay after and talk to members after class (which is probably 90% of the time). Afterwards, I often walk over to sweetgreen and get myself a DELICIOUS salad.

I’m loving my Tuesday evening routine because I have it down to a science! You know how you fall into a routine and then you don’t even have to think or worry about something? That’s how my Tuesdays are!

Now that I’m home, clean, fed, and ready for bed, I’m signing off!

Do you have a Tuesday routine, fitness or otherwise? Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever changed for a workout?