With the new spring semester came a new group of fitness instructors at the Lilly Center and sophomore Laura Guild is one of them! She has recently expanded her horizons to teach spinning classes to her fellow DPU students. HerCampus sat down with Laura to find out more about what the job entails and how she’s enjoying it so far.
HerCampus: Which cycling classes do you teach at DePauw?
Laura: I teach the early morning 6:15 classes Tuesdays and Thursdays and 4pm on Sundays.
HC: I can’t remember the last time I woke up that early! Do you have a time you prefer teaching?
LG: Honestly I really enjoy the 6:15 classes. It gets me up. I have 10 am classes the mornings I teach, so I have a couple hours to do homework and just do my thing beforehand. It’s nice to be up early and have a little bit of free time that I wouldn’t have normally.
HC: How did you originally get involved with spinning?
LG: I don’t really have a bucket list, but I’ve always wanted to teach a fitness class at some point in my life, and I have been really interested in teaching either Pilates or cycling. I’ve participated in both those activities at home in Indy at my gym, and the opportunity came up where they needed another spinning instructor here. DePauw ended up paying for me to go get certified through Mad Dog Athletics in Michigan.
HC: That’s a pretty big accomplishment- how’s the instructing been going so far?
LG: Its been going really well! The first day really scared me because it was a full class at 6:15 am and I was like you guys are all crazy to go to this, and then the following class there wasn’t a single soul that showed up so I hope they don’t hate me! The past few morning classes though there has been a steady amount of six or seven- it just depends! There’s always close to a full class on Sunday afternoons. I’m feeling good about it so far.
HC: So I’ve got to know, do you have control over the music you play?
LG: Yeah, that’s the best part. I have complete control over the playlist, and a lot of times the music determines what kind of workout you do. So if it’s a lot of techno or upbeat electronic beats it’s a lot of sprints, whereas if it’s a slower, steady beat it’s more like a climb.
HC: Do you have a favorite song you like to play?
LG: The new Calvin Harris album has a ton of really good ones for sprints. Those are my favorite right now.
HC: I might just have to come to a class and check it out. So, Laura, what’s the final verdict, do you see your role as a spinning instructor being something you continue throughout your time at DePauw?
LG: Absolutely. I’m really excited because with the 2020 plan the new gym is supposed to be done by the beginning of my senior year. The spinning room right now only has 10 bikes, which is kind of small for a fitness class, even though we’re a small school. In the new gym part of the weight room is going to be a new spinning room with a large screen behind the instructor where you can input whatever scenery you want the bikers to visualize biking in. So, like, we could be biking up a mountain in Hawaii or through a rainforest, which is so cool. I fully intend on staying an instructor until I graduate.