Episode 49Mar 18, 2026· 18:23
14 Years at the Front of the Room: What a Real Fitness Instructor Actually Sees
About this episode
If you have ever wondered what your fitness instructor is actually thinking when they scan the room, Rhonda Goode is about to tell you. In this episode, she pulls back the curtain on fourteen years of watching the fitness industry from the inside, and she has opinions. We get into the single biggest mistake she sees instructors make that costs them student loyalty, why she intentionally shows up five to seven…
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Full transcript
00:00
What's up, you guys? Famous Ashley Grant here,
00:01
and welcome back to the More Movement Please
00:03
podcast. We are right in the middle of a very
00:05
special week of episodes, and before we get into
00:07
today's conversation, I want to just take a quick
00:09
moment to set the stage. More Movement Please
00:12
is participating in the fourth edition of Podcast
00:15
Thon. This is a global event where thousands
00:17
of podcasts have come together in one week to
00:20
raise awareness for a charity of their choice.
00:22
The organization I have the pleasure of spotlighting
00:25
is the Humane Society Animal League for Life
00:27
of Madison County, Kentucky. It's a local organization
00:30
in my area that's doing genuinely important work
00:33
for animals in our community. You can find their
00:35
link in the show notes, and if you'd like to
00:37
support them with a donation, please do. The
00:40
main goal of Podcast On is awareness, but every
00:42
bit of support counts. And as I mentioned in
00:46
episode one, Rhonda Good isn't back on this show
00:48
just because I adore her, although that is absolutely
00:51
true. She's here because when I asked my community
00:53
which charities they cared about, She's the one
00:56
who spoke up for the Humane Society Animal League
00:58
for Life. I put all the nominations into a random
01:01
number generator and hers is the one that came
01:03
up. The universe picked her and I just did the
01:05
recording. Now on to today's episode. This one
01:08
is for anyone who's ever walked into a gym class
01:10
and wondered, is this instructor actually good?
01:13
Is this a real workout or are they just going
01:15
through the motions? Rhonda has 14 years of experience
01:18
under her belt on the inside of this industry.
01:21
She has watched instructors come and go, seen
01:23
trends rise and fall, and she has some very pointed
01:27
opinions about what separates the ones who build
01:29
real community from the ones who don't. We're
01:32
getting into what she looks for when she scans
01:35
a room, what drives her absolutely crazy in her
01:37
profession, and what she's learned from watching
01:40
others that she either adopted or actively ran
01:43
away from. I think you're going to love this
01:45
one. I surely did. Let's get into it. Okay, so
01:53
we're going to shift gears just a little bit
01:55
because I want to tap into 14 years of watching
01:57
the industry from the inside. You've seen a lot
01:59
of instructors come and go, good and bad, and
02:02
I think you have opinions and I want to hear
02:04
them. In the 14 years that you've been doing
02:07
this, what's the single biggest mistake you're
02:08
seeing fitness instructors make, the one that
02:11
costs their students results and costs them the
02:13
loyalty of their class? Oh, always not showing
02:16
up and canceling. That's always the case. Yeah.
02:20
And, you know, especially... When you're starting
02:24
out or you're not established or you're teaching
02:26
a format that people aren't familiar with, I
02:28
mean, and as far as your students and costing
02:32
them, I mean, if you don't show up, they don't
02:34
get anything. So, you know, it's the biggest
02:36
one, obviously. Yeah, it's my biggest pet peeve
02:40
and the reason I don't do it. Yeah. Well, there's
02:44
a big difference between an instructor who teaches
02:45
a class and one who leads a class. And you're
02:48
definitely one of those people who leads a class
02:49
because you actually do the work with us. In
02:52
your opinion, though, what separates the two?
02:54
And be specific. What does it look like from
02:55
where you're standing at the front of the room?
02:58
Well, I mean, you have to know your folks, you
03:01
know, and there are formats where it's much more
03:06
important to lead with form than others. I mean,
03:07
clearly. But when you see people. Doing things
03:12
that, you know, are probably not the best for
03:15
them or more at risk of getting hurt. You know,
03:17
that's why I say to the entire class, whatever
03:19
we're doing, keep your back straight, whatever.
03:22
And so when you're leading, you keep an eye on
03:26
everyone, though. You know, and sometimes I just
03:28
give some people the side eye and they know what
03:30
that means. Especially the front rowers. Because
03:34
I don't know what you're talking about. And then
03:35
sometimes I just look at them and say, don't
03:37
do that. Because I know every single person's
03:40
injury and body part ailment. And so if I say,
03:44
you know, we're going to do this and then they
03:45
start, I'm like, not you. That's got to feel
03:48
like a lot of pressure, though, doesn't it? I
03:51
mean, it doesn't after you've been doing it a
03:53
long time. At the beginning, it does. Yeah. But
03:55
but you've also got to have a good memory. And
03:58
that's not intuitive to everyone. So unfortunately,
04:01
you have too good of a memory. Now, what about
04:04
the flip side? Are there things you've seen other
04:05
instructors do really well that you thought I
04:07
need to steal that? Really and truly the main
04:13
thing with, I think no matter where you're at
04:18
or how you're instructing is you got to promote
04:21
yourself. And so some people do that really well.
04:24
And the reason I started my own page in 2012
04:32
was because everywhere I was at, I didn't find
04:35
that people necessarily communicated things to
04:37
people when we had to. Because sometimes like
04:40
a Berea class was canceled because the room was
04:42
going to be used and I had no choice. Yeah. But
04:45
after I was there for a while, I was like, there's
04:48
a gym downstairs. There's no reason to cancel
04:50
my class. We can move downstairs. You know, but
04:52
when you start, you can't say that. Yeah. So
04:54
communication with just your audience is the
04:58
most important thing. But word of mouth is your
05:01
biggest seller. That always is the case for this.
05:04
I mean. Because there's only so much that you
05:06
can do and there's only so many people you can
05:08
reach. And if you don't have a lot of people
05:11
to draw from, I mean, like myself, I mean, I'm
05:13
an only child. I don't have any, I don't have
05:14
family to, you know, come support me, sisters
05:17
and brothers and all this sort of thing. So I
05:19
had to just build everything organically. And
05:22
get people to tell other people about you. So
05:26
do you think you're still learning from your
05:27
peers after all this time? Honestly, no. Okay.
05:33
Not locally anyway. No. I mean, are there still
05:36
a couple people that I follow -ish? I mean, I'll
05:39
check their stuff occasionally just to see if
05:41
they have something different. You mean on social
05:42
media? Yeah. On, you know, a couple of YouTube
05:44
channels that I actually look at. People that
05:46
I know that know what they're doing, you know.
05:48
So I used to spend a lot of time when I was thrown
05:51
into classes that I didn't know how to teach
05:53
at all, which happened a lot at the beginning.
05:57
Yeah. Like Pilates. You know, I would spend a
06:01
whole lot of time. and stress about it. Like,
06:04
cause I was like, even if I, I mean, I'm not
06:06
going to be the best at this, but I also don't
06:08
want to be really, really bad. I mean, it's not
06:11
my fault that I've got thrown into teaching this
06:13
class that I'm not trained in per se, but you
06:17
know, so I used to spend a lot more time looking
06:20
and, but as you learn things, you know, you don't
06:23
need to, I mean, I used to stress about, and
06:25
even just formatting Tabata classes. I used to
06:27
spend 30 minutes at home and write out every
06:31
single round of what I was going to do because
06:34
I couldn't do things off the fly. I mean, it
06:38
was too stressful to think about, you know, but
06:41
once you're doing it for a long time, you can
06:43
make a workout out of anything. I can imagine.
06:46
And what kind of amuses me is that, you know,
06:48
you mentioned the Pilates and I've heard some
06:50
people say like, well, she doesn't teach real
06:52
Pilates. And it's like, yeah, she does. Like,
06:54
cause I've looked it up. Yeah, you do. All right,
06:58
another student -inspired question. Here's something
07:01
I've been thinking about since I started coming
07:02
to your classes, and it kind of ties into something
07:05
that this particular student raised. She talked
07:08
about how you can tell almost immediately whether
07:10
someone is really trying or just going through
07:13
the motions, whether they want to be there or
07:15
they're just checking a box. Can you talk about
07:17
that? What do you actually see when you look
07:19
in the room with people? Oh, you can always tell
07:22
when people are there to work or just there to
07:24
check off a box. You can tell it with their eye
07:26
contact. You can tell it with their movements.
07:29
Everything about them. I mean, it's written all
07:31
over their body language. And so, which I'm whatever,
07:35
but I don't waste any time on people that are
07:37
just there to check a box. Or there to chit chat.
07:40
Yeah, that too. And I know that's another pet
07:42
peeve of yours. Yeah, it is. I mean, people come
07:45
to the gym for social. That's why I give you
07:48
all plenty of time before I get there to get
07:49
all your chit chatty out. So that's why you're
07:52
late. Yes. Is it really? Yes. Oh, my goodness.
07:56
I always try to go five to seven minutes. Yes.
07:59
Because that should all be out, just like at
08:01
church. That should all be out by the time we
08:03
start. Oh, my God. I never knew it was intentional.
08:06
Oh, yeah. I thought you just didn't have the
08:08
ability to be punctual. No. It's intentional.
08:11
Oh, wow. Because you'll see when I get there,
08:13
like, early. Yeah. Like, yesterday, I was there
08:20
early. So we all walk in together. And then I'm
08:25
waiting for everybody to trickle in. And, you
08:27
know, and it's time to start class past time,
08:31
time past talking time. So I just turn on the
08:34
music so they'll shut up. Because otherwise they'll
08:37
just keep going. Yes. Yeah, you will. Absolutely.
08:39
Yeah. Because that's the signal. That's right.
08:42
Music's on, shut the hell up. It doesn't bother
08:44
me. Like, I don't mind it because, I mean, we've
08:46
got plenty of time and I only need a solid 40,
08:48
45 minutes to absolutely kill you. So the country
08:52
need less than that. No, I know. So but I mean,
08:55
so, you know, whatever. But yeah, I mean, so
08:59
everyone, for the most part, comes to the gym
09:01
to socialize. But the people that, you know,
09:04
in the middle of class just keep on. No, I don't
09:08
get that. I mean, I don't care. I mean, I don't
09:11
take it personally. Nothing offends me. I could
09:13
care less. But it's just a really bizarre thing.
09:17
If I was going to just go to socialize and chit
09:19
chat, I'd do it somewhere else. I think. So you
09:23
would never actually go anywhere to socialize
09:25
and chit chat? No, I would not. Other people
09:28
do. Go somewhere else. Where you look cuter.
09:32
I don't know. Well, it depends on the outfit
09:34
you're wearing. So the fitness industry, it's
09:37
flooded right now. There's social media instructors,
09:39
online certifications, people that don't have
09:41
many followers, no real experience, but they're
09:43
standing in front of the class. What is your
09:45
honest take on where the fitness industry is
09:48
headed? I actually think it's gotten away some
09:53
from a lot of the formats that, you know, are
09:58
just so little specialized. click type things
10:02
that don't produce a whole lot of real results
10:05
and because for a long time it was something
10:11
like yearly it was the next big thing you know
10:14
and I think that people have gotten away from
10:17
that and really stick to more just foundation
10:20
stuff because there's just foundation stuff that
10:23
works for everyone And so I actually think it's
10:25
gotten better as far as what I see. For a while,
10:29
it was nauseating because, you know, everywhere
10:31
I was at was like, hey, do you want to get certified?
10:34
No. I mean, no. Like I told you, I went to see
10:38
the first Pound class. I mean, I drove an hour
10:43
and a half to go check it out, the format out,
10:45
before it became a kind of a thing. And I was
10:50
like, well, I mean. this could be workable. I
10:54
mean, it's it's OK. You know, and then I called
10:57
and talked to the company and I was like, oh,
10:58
no, never mind. No. With their requirements and
11:01
all that, I was like, no, absolutely not. Complete
11:04
waste of my time. Well, some of the certifications
11:06
and stuff, because I mean, I have been looking
11:08
into a little because it keeps being crammed
11:10
down my throat because I'm every time I post
11:11
this podcast, the ads are just obnoxious. But
11:15
it seems like the whole business of being certified.
11:19
is just a business. And so it's just all money
11:23
and who's actually being helped. Well, and because
11:26
of, I mean, a lot of people are going to go get
11:28
certifications and things and they're never going
11:30
to use it. Yeah. I mean, that's just, but that's
11:33
the case for everything. I mean, a lot of people
11:35
decide they're going to pursue, is this another
11:37
hobby for some people? I mean, they decide that
11:40
they're going to do it. And then quite honestly,
11:42
fitness center doesn't pay very well. Talking.
11:48
You know, when people really I mean, if you were
11:52
really serious about it, once you really look
11:54
into it, then you tend to back away from it.
11:58
I mean, they may go get certified in something,
12:01
but you're not going to live off of it. I mean,
12:04
it's not going to be some sole income for you.
12:06
So between that and the amount of time that it
12:11
takes, you know, just like when I started teaching
12:14
Zumba. And the only class, the only songs I had
12:17
were from the other instructors. I didn't have
12:19
time to do anything yet. I mean, so, and I told
12:23
them, I was like, I'm going to use your material.
12:25
Oh, fine, whatever. You know, they didn't care.
12:27
But gosh, then you were like, do you, and I would
12:29
tell people, do you realize how many songs it
12:31
takes to build a class? Like, you don't have
12:33
to think about it. Do you realize how many songs
12:34
you have to have to fill the class? It's like
12:37
16 to 17. You know, and it's, oh, you know, they
12:41
don't think about it. But. I mean, a lot of it
12:44
is a lot of work. Well, and some of it, you wrote
12:46
your own choreography. Oh, yeah, a lot of it.
12:48
Now I do. Yeah, because some of the songs, they
12:50
don't match what's on the Zumba channels. Oh,
12:53
yeah. No, no, absolutely. Because I don't really
12:56
like anything that Zumba puts out now. Sorry,
12:59
Zumba. But, no, yeah, no. And then, you know,
13:03
I'll think of... when you've been doing it forever
13:06
some things come to you like you hear a song
13:08
you're like oh I know what I would do with that
13:10
part but then I may go look for something to
13:12
fill the part that I just can't figure out and
13:15
then I'll go look at six YouTube videos for the
13:18
song and I'll pick one thing out of it be like
13:21
I'll use that you know and then the rest of it
13:23
I'm like I don't like any of that is that how
13:25
you came up with the Lady Gaga abracadabra yeah
13:28
Choreography? Because that's really good. I like
13:30
that one. Yeah, just pieces. I took like one
13:33
piece from a YouTube video and then the rest
13:34
of it. I was like, I got this. Your choreo is
13:38
good. I'll give you that. If you could sit down
13:40
with a brand new fitness instructor before they
13:42
taught their very first class and give them advice
13:44
that nobody gave you, what would you say other
13:46
than run? Oh, you have to be yourself and just
13:50
let the chips fall where they may because not
13:52
everybody's going to like you. And if you don't
13:55
have a thick skin. Don't even think about it.
13:59
I mean, don't even think about it. Because if
14:02
you get offended and your feelings hurt, this
14:05
is not the industry for you. Because people are
14:07
going to walk out of class. People are going
14:10
to tell you they don't like your class. And you're
14:11
like, yeah, I mean, you know, I can care less.
14:13
But I mean, I tell everybody, I mean, the very,
14:17
one of the first classes I subbed to the Y, it
14:21
was Zumba at that point. But, and she's still
14:24
in my class. She's not like there all the time
14:27
because work. She's there rarely, but she used
14:30
to be there more. And she came up to me after
14:32
class and she was like, Rhonda, you know, you
14:34
did a, that was a really good workout. I'm surprised
14:36
because, you know, you're kind of big. That's
14:39
not nice. And I was like, oh, okay. And I thought,
14:43
you just wait. Yeah. I'll kill you. I'm going
14:47
to get you. Yeah. So, I mean, people and because
14:51
you're the up front. Yeah. You know, people will
14:55
say anything to you. People feel like that they
14:58
can say anything to you. They don't have any
15:00
filter. And so they'll they'll give you their
15:03
opinion about everything about you, whether you
15:06
ask for it or not, which, again, I could care
15:08
less. But if you're like tender hearted and soft
15:12
and all that or no, you don't even don't even
15:15
be in a position where you're up front and in
15:18
a leadership role. Because they're going to tell
15:20
you exactly what they think, whether you want
15:23
them to or not. You know, just like when I came
15:24
in with a new hair color. Oh, my gosh. You cut
15:29
all your hair off. I'm like, give it a month,
15:31
y 'all. Give it a month. Yeah. I remember I'm
15:35
in the Zumba subreddit because sometimes I read,
15:38
you know, just random stuff for the podcast and
15:40
whatever. And there was a lady in there and she
15:43
said that. one of her students was fat shamed
15:46
by another instructor. And I was just like, why
15:49
would instructors fat shame their students? Like,
15:51
I don't know, just I find that interesting. Well,
15:54
younger instructors, the kind that tend to be
15:58
the cheerleaders at the front. Those are the
16:02
people typically that will do things like that.
16:06
Do they think it's helping? I have no idea. Or
16:09
are they not mean? That's clearly why people,
16:12
I think, over time. followed me because I've
16:15
always been very straightforward about what I
16:18
do, what I don't do. And I also have a weight
16:21
loss story. And so, you know, they know that
16:25
I preach it, live it every single day. Yeah,
16:29
absolutely. I get there a few minutes late intentionally
16:33
so you can get your chit chat out before we start.
16:37
Rhonda Good, everyone. I'll tell you what, this
16:39
woman, she is a so no -nonsense, she tells it
16:42
like it is, 14 years of calculated moves, and
16:45
I add, no idea. But before you go, I want to
16:49
remind you that this episode is part of Podcast
16:51
Thon, and I'd love for you to head over to podcastthon
16:54
.org to discover all the incredible charities
16:56
being spotlighted by podcasters around the world
16:58
this week. There are some truly amazing stories
17:01
and organizations that are being highlighted,
17:03
and it's worth a look. And as always, please
17:06
check out my show notes with a direct link to
17:08
the Humane Society Animal League for Life of
17:10
Madison, Kentucky. Visit their page, share it
17:12
with a friend, or make a donation if you're able.
17:15
Awareness is the goal of this week, and you sharing
17:18
this episode for me, it's one of the best ways
17:20
that you can help. Episode three is the final
17:23
installment of this podcast series, and it'll
17:26
drop on Friday, March 20th. In that episode,
17:28
Rhonda will get into what she actually sees the
17:31
moment a new person walks into her class, what
17:33
tells her whether someone is going to commit
17:35
or walk away, and what she'd say to the person
17:37
who knows they need to make a change but hasn't
17:40
made the move yet. It's direct. It's real. It's
17:43
raw. It's Rhonda. And some of you need to hear
17:46
it. I hope you'll check in with us on Friday.
17:49
Onwards and upwards, my friends. Have you worked
17:51
out today?
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