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 Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) has become more widely utilized by fitness professionals for one simple reason: it is effective. Allowing participants a moment to connect mind and body and to assess their perception of how hard they are working has yielded much better results than a mere heart rate count. Further, establishing a “scale” of exertion allows trainers and instructors to more clearly communicate how difficult a specific exercise or interval should “feel”. This ensures that the perception of the participant is valued by the pro, the participant remains focused, and pushes to the “next level” can be coached correctly ensuring a safe and effective workout.
Some fitness professionals incorporate this method alone. You may find that some trainers or instructors will simply ask you to “rate” your exertion, as you perceive it, on a scale from 1 to 10. What, EXACTLY, is a 10? Take for example the pain perception scale utilized by healthcare professionals. “10” is to be the worst pain you have ever felt. In fitness, it is the point at which you cannot perform one more repetition, take one more step, or hold one more second. It is well beyond any level where you should be working. 1, in the clinical sense, is the absence of pain. In the gym, it is the absence of fatigue and/or effort... it is virtually at rest. Some instructors may jokingly reference, “1 is ‘oh please’ and 10 is ‘dial 911’ “ That pretty much sums up the number scale. The goal is to work primarily in the 5 to 7 range so that you are pushing your limits, but not to your utter detriment! This scale was initially developed by Borg and had values up to 20. Members of the fitness industry have simplified and/or adjusted it repeatedly.
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January is almost here. That means more memberships being sold, more participants in classes, and perhaps more classes on the schedule. How does one create a schedule that serves members, is fair to instructors, and stays within the budget? There is no perfect way, but there are some things that will help group managers take their bias out of the process.
First, look at where you are NOW. Most clubs run a skeleton schedule during November & December. On average, facilities increase the number of classes offered by 20% in January. If you are currently offering 20 classes, then 24 in January is a good goal. Be honest, though. If what you offer now is not achieving 80% capacity 80% of the time, there is no reason to think you need more classes. It is better to have crowded classes and add more as needed than to beef up your timetable only to end up with cancellations. Look at how many participants you have had during the month of October and expect 10-15% more in January. If that will not take you to the 80%/80% mark, then no new classes are in order.
he hardest part of creating a winning timetable is the “who” factor. Who gets to teach and who wants to participate. Determine instructors carefully. Allowing “divas” to dominate schedules can alienate new members and also drive away talented teachers. Team should come before anything else in order to create an entire schedule that succeeds. Your instructor team should “look” like your membership. If you have a membership of 60% men, your instructor team should be roughly 60% men... don’t laugh, it should. If the average age of a member is 45, then a staff of 20 somethings is not going to serve you well. That is not to say that if you serve a severely obese population you should employ unfit instructors, but all things being equal, you should hire people who speak to those you serve.
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You are up for a 5 a.m. cycle class, shower @ 6a, gotta be home by 7a to pack lunches and drive the kids to school by 8a. Must be at work by 9a, pick up kids @ 4p, throw something in the crock pot, piano @ 4:30p, practice @ 5p, teach again @ 5:30p; pick up from practice, dinner @ 7p, homework, argue about baths, sign field trip forms..bed by 8:30p—for them, you still need to load the dishwasher, flip a load of laundry, converse with your co-parent... MAYBE get to bed before Leno... 5 days a week!
Where is a fitness pro supposed to find his/her “me” time? Our lives are just as hectic as those of our participants, only they get to come to us for 60 minutes of exercise and regeneration. We must find 15 minutes to deep breath, take a walk, hold hands with our spouse, have a glass of wine or dance like an idiot on the back porch. Fitness is not necessarily what we need to fit in... but we often neglect ourselves because of our “giving” personalities... we give all our time away.
TAKE SOME BACK! What do you say to your clients and participants? Don’t feel guilty over your one hour a day of “me” time... you are a better spouse, parent, worker, human when you get it. Doesn’t that sound vaguely familiar? It’s time to practice what we preach. Our classes and sessions may inevitably become our workouts, but we still need “down time” as much as anyone else. Below are some suggestions for multi-tasking that actually feels like a break...
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Instructors, trainers, fitness professionals, and MANIACs thank you so much for your continued support of SCW Fitness, MANIA, and our publications. We are very pleased with the growth and development of our e-newsletter and your faithful click throughs that have made it so successful.
We are happy to introduce the SCW Owner’s EDGE eNewsletter focused on the needs of fitness facility owners, directors, and managers. It will release monthly, beginning in December. Look for your first installment just before the holidays! The existing SCW eNews will continue to release monthly as well and will remain focused on your needs in the classroom and on the training floor. We feel that adding a second convenient, informative release addressing your needs for management issues will help us provide you with a broad range of applicable information to ultimately improve you as a professional and positively impact your clients, classes, and clubs.
Finally, we want to make sure you know what this means to you. You do not have to sign up for anything. As an SCW member/subscriber you will automatically begin receiving this brand new Owner’s EDGE eNewsletter in December. It will come to you monthly and will focus on the business side of the fitness industry...
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