2. 1. Introduction
• Class Mission Statements:
o Indoor Cycling:
▪ Increasing aerobic fitness while maintaining a fun, and friendly
environment.
o Circuit Training:
▪ To enhance quality of life for participants through circuit style of
exercise by increasing muscular endurance and strength.
• Class participant goals:
o Indoor Cycling:
▪ To have 100% attendance each class by keeping class fun and
entertaining with the opportunity for each participant to listen to
music they enjoy.
▪ To increase each participants view on their own personal aerobic
fitness by the end of the semester by 10%.
▪ Increase endurance by minimizing breaks throughout the semester
to scale the increase in muscular endurance.
o Circuit Training:
▪ To have 100% attendance each class by giving participants
opportunity to be involved in duties before, during, and after
class.
▪ Improve each participant’s muscular endurance by increasing the
number of crunches done in one minute by at least five crunches.
▪ Improve each participant’s muscular strength over the semester
by recording the weight used for bicep curls and increasing the
weight by at least five pounds by the end of class.
▪ To help provide each participant with a welcoming experience
where they can feel comfortable in their knowledge and ability to
execute exercises with proper form and technique.
3. 2. Program Evaluation
• Indoor Cycling:
o Pre and post fitness testing group results:
The two graphs above represent the data on average for participant’s view of
their aerobic fitness and pulse in beats per minute at the beginning of the semester
and the end of the class. Overall the results are positive for an average of increasing
aerobic fitness from baseline and decreasing pulse rate at end of the work out which
indicates for the faster recovery from high intensity aerobic activity. For future
reference, group data averages help me know whether or not an increase needs to be
Average Fitness Ranking 1-10
0
2.3
4.5
6.8
9
Pre Fitness Ranking Post Fitness Ranking
Fitness Ranking 1-10
Average Pulse Post Workout in Beats per Minute
130
135
140
145
150
Pre Testing Pulse Post Testing Pulse
Average Pulse Post Workout
4. made in one aspect or another to help the class reach the goal of achieving and
increase in aerobic fitness.
o Pre and post testing individual results:
The above graphs are the individual results of each participant that attended
class on a regular basis. Again the overall results are positive for increasing aerobic
fitness for each participant and decreasing in pulse rate after high intensity work
outs. In the future I can use this data to achieve a better understanding of how
challenging my work outs are to the participants and whether or not the intensity
needs to be increased to help achieve the class goal of improving aerobic fitness on an
individual basis. This form of data really gives me a better perception of each
Individual Fitness Ranking 1-10
0
2.3
4.5
6.8
9
Pre Fitness Ranking Post Fitness Ranking
Steve Abbie Erica Nelly Brett Kent Marianne Katina
Pulse Post Workout in Beats per Minute
0
45
90
135
180
Pre Testing Pulse Post Testing Pulse
Steve Abbie Erica Nelly Brett Kent Marianne Katina
5. individuals progress, and whether or not the majority of the class is being challenged
enough.
The quality of testing was held to high standards in the perspective of the
participants. For my testing, I really wanted the perspective of each of the
participants and their personal views on their fitness. After attaining the baseline
data I really aimed for increasing their own views on their aerobic fitness. As far as
my goals are concerned, I was able to accomplish a fair majority. Most participants by
the end of the class reported a ten percent increase in how they felt about their
aerobic fitness, and in comparison to the beginning of the semester they were able to
push through six songs instead of three or four. Class attendance was an issue. Due to
work schedules and other aspects of life, participants found it difficult to attend on a
consistent basis. There were twelve participants in class, and generally I had six to
eight participants attend class each day.
The comments on my evaluation for both classes caught me by a bit of surprise.
I expected more positive feedback from my cycling class than my circuit training
class. Overall, the comments were that I was very enthusiastic, able to motivate
participants well, open to feedback, and overall pleasant to work with. On the other
hand, I have very experienced cyclist in my class who do not see me as very
knowledgeable of cycling technique or capable of making more complex work out to
better suit their needs. This was a little rough to hear in the beginning, but despite
the negative comments I still had participants stating they felt their aerobic fitness
had increased since the beginning of the class as represented in the data in the graphs
above.
• Circuit Training:
o Pre and post fitness testing group results:
From Baseline to Post testing, there was a notable increase in both muscular
strength and endurance by almost five pounds and/or crunches participants were able
to perform within one minute. Most participants were male (seven males, two
females) and could have potentially have caused such an increase in the data due to
males tending to push themselves more than the females in the class. The attendance
Group Muscular Endurance and Strength
Results
0
5
10
15
20
Baseline Testing Post Testing Results
Muscular Endurance (Crunches)
Muscular Strength (Weight curled)
6. of the class was fairly consistent each week with the same participants each day
keeping the data fairly accurate.
o Pre and post testing individual results:
The two graphs above represent each of the individual increases in muscular
endurance and strength. For future programming I can use this data to see who can
use an additional push to increase muscular strength and endurance and further
improving overall statistics of the group to meet particular goals.
High standards for testing where maintained in accordance to ACSM guidelines
for testing, which allowed me to accomplish a majority of my goals. The classes I put
together were designed increase the muscular strength and endurance of the
participants. The class goal was to see measurable increase in the numbers of the
participants achieved from the previous testing. The one goal I failed to achieve was
100% attendance again. Out of the thirteen participants signed up for the class, only
eight attended on a regular basis. Of those eight, the majority had nearly perfect
attendance.
Individual Muscular Endurance
0
7
13
20
26
Muscular Endurance (Crunches) Pre Muscular Endurance (Crunches) Post
Susan
Lee
Linda
Greg
Andrew
John
John P.
Jerry
Individual Muscular Strength
0
8
15
23
30
Pre Muscular Strength (Weight Curled) Post Muscular Strength (Weight Curled)
Susan Lee Linda Greg Andrew John John P. Jerry
7. I was surprised by the comments in my evaluation. I was expecting lots of
negative feedback due to the structure of my class, because it was not “their usual
way of doing things”. To my surprise, I received very positive feedback. Most frequent
comments included that I was very upbeat and encouraging to each of the
participants, and they enjoyed the variety of exercises and mixing up the routine to
focus on specific areas. I was truly surprised my participants liked the new class
structure, and the variety of exercises.
8. 3. Future Instructor Information
Information that I would find useful for future instructors of these classes is
better communication. I feel that the communication I attained from my participants
was fairly successful, but somethings I wish I would’ve done to improve upon that
communication was to send an email before class started to introduce myself and
provide my background in physical fitness to each of my classes, so that they knew
what to expect from me as an instructor.
The participants in my circuit training class had been attending the class on a
regular basis. It would have been beneficial as I planned my classes to know what
types of workouts they had done previously, and what types of accommodations
needed to be addressed. Even when I introduced myself the first few days, I did not
hear anything about injuries till almost midterms. Again this could easily be addressed
by sending an introduction email to allow participants to respond in a more private
setting.
In regards to my indoor cycling class, the biggest change I would have made to
my teaching plan this semester would be the introductory email to give them a better
idea of what to expect of me as an instructor. Like I previously mentioned, all my
participants had numerous years of experience in cycling where I only had a week or
so of training. Long story short, teaching this class was extremely intimidating. If my
participants knew my background, I feel as though the expectation of the class
participants would not have been as extreme like it was walking into class blindly.
Along with a proper introduction, other information that would prove to be useful
would be to use heart rate knowledge and effective heart rate zones throughout the
work out as opposed to just the rate of perceived exertion (RPE). For most, RPE is
very helpful and simple but with the more experienced population heart rate zones
are more effective for the workout.
9. 4. Brief Summary
The most important success of my programs for each class is that I was able to
facilitate an increase in majority of each participants’ fitness in a positive way. It
might have not gone the exact way the participants might have liked the program to
be run, but overall I was able to accomplish an increase in each participants view of
their personal physical fitness in a positive way. Through all the struggles, complaints,
and negativity I faced day in and day out as a PEAK instructor, I still think this was one
of the most rewarding experiences of my undergraduate career.
