Episode 49Mar 18, 2026· 18:23

14 Years at the Front of the Room: What a Real Fitness Instructor Actually Sees

▸ Show notes from the creator

No show notes.

About this episode

Veteran fitness instructor Rhonda Goode discusses what separates effective group fitness instructors from ineffective ones after 14 years teaching Zumba, Pilates, Tabata, and other formats. Topics include: the most common instructor mistake (canceling class), the difference between teaching and leading, tracking student injuries and correcting form in real time, reading engagement through eye contact and body…

Listener reactions

💡0

🤝0

🔥0

😄0

0 reactions

Share your reaction

Pick how this episode landed — then leave a public review or a private note to the host.

You

Your name will appear with your review

0/300 Visible to everyone

Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You're a new fitness instructor about to teach your first class and nobody has told you what it actually takes to hold a room — the prep, the criticism, the cancellations you can't make.

You're a group fitness instructor trying to build a class following from scratch with no built-in network — no family showing up, no existing audience, just word of mouth.

You've been thrown into teaching a format you weren't trained in and you're trying to figure out how to not be terrible at it before your first class.

You're evaluating fitness certifications and wondering whether the cost and requirements are actually worth it or just a revenue stream for the certifying company.

You teach group fitness and you're trying to figure out practical ways to manage a room — when to correct form, how to handle people who are there to socialize, how to read who's actually working.

You're a fitness instructor who has been in the industry long enough to have real opinions about where it's headed and you're tired of gimmicky trend-chasing formats being pushed at you.

What you’ll learn

Show up consistently — canceling is the fastest way to lose your class

Know every student's injuries and body limitations — and correct in real time

Arrive intentionally late so students get their socializing out before class starts

Build your audience through communication and word of mouth, not just social media

Develop a thick skin before you stand at the front of a room — people will say anything

What makes this episode interesting

what does a fitness instructor actually see when they look at the class

answered

Rhonda says she can read it immediately — eye contact, movements, body language. 'It's written all over their body language,' and she doesn't waste time on people who are just there to check a box.

"Oh, you can always tell when people are there to work or just there to check off a box. You can tell it with their eye contact. You can tell it with their movements. Everything about them. I mean, it's written all over their body language. And so, which I'm whatever,"

can my instructor tell if I'm not really trying

answered

Yes, according to Rhonda — she also gives people the side-eye when their form is off, and she knows every single person's injuries well enough to call them out mid-class.

"do that. Because I know every single person's injury and body part ailment. And so if I say, you know, we're going to do this and then they start, I'm like, not you."

what does it actually take to build a fitness class from scratch

answered

Rhonda describes things most people never think about — needing 16 to 17 songs just to fill a Zumba class, and early on writing out every single Tabata round at home because improvising was too stressful.

"tell people, do you realize how many songs it takes to build a class? Like, you don't have to think about it. Do you realize how many songs you have to have to fill the class? It's like 16 to 17. You know, and it's, oh, you know, they"

why do some fitness instructors build a cult following and others don't

answered

Rhonda points to showing up consistently as the foundation, and says word of mouth is the biggest driver — she built everything organically because she didn't have a large personal network to draw from.

"I"

are fitness certifications actually worth it

answered

Rhonda's take is blunt: the pay is too low to live on, most people who get certified never use it, and the certification business is largely just that — a business.

"So you"

Setting expectations: This episode is not a guide to becoming a fitness instructor or a breakdown of workout programming and certifications. It's a candid conversation with a 14-year group fitness instructor about what she actually observes from the front of the room — who's really trying, which instructors drive her crazy, why she shows up late on purpose, and what a student once said to her face after her very first subbed class.

Tone & style

Lived experience and personal opinion from a working fitness instructor. Not research-backed fitness advice or industry analysis.

toneCandid & no-nonsense

focusWhat 14 years at the front of the room actually looks like — the pet peeves, the read-the-room instincts, and the blunt opinions Rhonda has developed from watching the industry from the inside.

styleinterview

energymedium

complexitybeginner

pressure Levellow

emotional Texturedirect, dry humor, unfiltered

Notable quotes

"but I don't waste any time on people that are just there to check a box. Or there to chit chat."

— Rhonda Goode

"Because that should all be out, just like at church. That should all be out by the time we"

— Rhonda Goode

"to be there more. And she came up to me after class and she was like, Rhonda, you know, you did a, that was a really good workout. I'm surprised because, you know, you're kind of big. That's not nice. And I was like, oh, okay. And I thought, you just wait. Yeah. I'll kill you. I'm going"

— Rhonda Goode

"have a thick skin. Don't even think about it. I mean, don't even think about it. Because if you get offended and your feelings hurt, this is not the industry for you. Because people are"

— Rhonda Goode

"even just formatting Tabata classes. I used to spend 30 minutes at home and write out every single round of what I was going to do because I couldn't do things off the fly. I mean, it"

— Rhonda Goode

Episode transcript

Organized into 11 chapters — open any part to read the full text.

0:001. Podcasthon and Why Rhonda Is BackAshley introduces the episode as part of Podcasthon, explains the charity spotlight (Humane Society Animal League for Life of Madison County, Kentucky), and sets up why Rhonda Goode is returning as a guest.1:512. The Biggest Mistake Fitness Instructors MakeRhonda names not showing up and canceling class as the single biggest mistake instructors make, calling it her biggest pet peeve and the reason she doesn't do it.2:543. Teaching vs. Leading: What It Looks Like from the FrontRhonda explains the difference between teaching and leading a class, describing how she tracks every student's injuries and body limitations and uses side-eye and direct callouts to correct form in real time.5:004. What Rhonda Stole from Other Instructors: Self-Promotion and Word of MouthRhonda reflects on what she learned from watching peers, landing on communication and self-promotion as the most important skills, and describing how she built her audience organically through word of mouth as an only child with no built-in network.6:455. Still Learning or Not? Rhonda on Peer Observation After 14 YearsRhonda is candid that she's no longer learning much from local peers, but describes how early in her career she would spend 30 minutes writing out every Tabata round because she couldn't improvise, and how being thrown into formats she wasn't trained in (like Pilates) forced her to study intensely.8:006. Who's Really Trying and Who's Just Checking a BoxRhonda describes how she can read a room immediately — eye contact, body language, movement — to tell who's there to work versus who's socializing, and reveals that arriving five to seven minutes late is intentional so students can get their chatting out before class starts.10:147. Where the Fitness Industry Is HeadedRhonda gives her honest take on the fitness industry, arguing it has moved away from gimmicky trend-chasing toward foundational work, while also noting that certifications are largely a business and that the pay is too low for most people to stick with it seriously.12:448. The Hidden Work Behind Building a Class: Zumba and ChoreographyRhonda talks about the unglamorous labor of building a Zumba class from scratch — needing 16 to 17 songs, borrowing material from other instructors early on, and eventually writing her own choreography, including piecing together the Lady Gaga Abracadabra routine from YouTube fragments.13:589. Advice for New Instructors: Thick Skin RequiredRhonda's advice to a brand-new instructor is to be yourself and develop a thick skin, recounting a student who told her after her first subbed class that she was 'kind of big' — and how she responded by deciding to outlast and outwork the doubt.16:3310. Fat Shaming, Cheerleader Instructors, and Why Rhonda's Students StayAshley raises a fat-shaming incident from the Zumba subreddit, and Rhonda connects that behavior to a certain type of younger, cheerleader-style instructor, contrasting it with her own approach rooted in straightforwardness and a personal weight loss story.18:2311. Outro: Podcasthon Reminder and Episode Three PreviewAshley wraps up with a Podcasthon call to action, directs listeners to the Humane Society Animal League for Life, and previews the final episode in the series where Rhonda will discuss what she sees the moment a new person walks into her class.

Open full transcript

Mentioned in this episode

personRhonda Goode

14-year fitness instructor and returning guest, the central voice of the episode discussing what she observes from the front of the room.

organizationHumane Society Animal League for Life of Madison County, Kentucky

The local animal welfare organization Rhonda nominated and that Ashley is spotlighting as her chosen charity for Podcasthon.

eventPodcasthon

A global event in its fourth edition where thousands of podcasts participate in one week to raise awareness for charities of their choice; the episode is part of it.

websitepodcastthon.org

The website Ashley directs listeners to in order to discover all the charities being spotlighted by participating podcasters during Podcasthon week.

companyPound

A fitness format Rhonda drove an hour and a half to evaluate before it became popular, ultimately deciding against getting certified after speaking with the company about their requirements.

companyZumba

The dance fitness format Rhonda has taught for years, though she now writes her own choreography because she no longer likes what Zumba officially puts out.

websiteZumba subreddit

An online community Ashley reads for podcast research, where she encountered a post about a student being fat-shamed by a fitness instructor.

Key themes

Showing up as the baseline

Rhonda names not canceling class as the single biggest mistake instructors make, calling it her biggest pet peeve and the reason she never does it.

Teaching vs. leading from the front

Rhonda distinguishes between instructors who teach and those who lead, describing how she tracks every student's injuries and uses side-eye or direct callouts to correct form in real time.

Reading the room

Rhonda describes how she can immediately tell who is there to work versus checking a box, reading eye contact, movement, and body language across the whole class.

Intentional lateness as class management

Rhonda reveals that arriving five to seven minutes late is a deliberate tactic so students can get their socializing out before class starts, a strategy Ashley had assumed was just poor punctuality.

Building an audience with no built-in network

Rhonda describes building her following entirely through word of mouth and her own social media page, noting she had no siblings or family base to draw from as an only child.

Early-career stress and over-preparation

Rhonda describes spending 30 minutes at home writing out every round of a Tabata class because she couldn't improvise, and studying intensely when thrown into formats like Pilates she wasn't trained in.

Certification culture as a business

Rhonda and Ashley discuss how fitness certifications are largely a commercial enterprise, with Rhonda noting the pay is too low for most people to stick with it and many who certify never use it.

The unglamorous labor of building a class

Rhonda walks through the hidden work of constructing a Zumba class — needing 16 to 17 songs, borrowing material early on, and eventually piecing together her own choreography from YouTube fragments.

Thick skin as a prerequisite

Rhonda's advice to new instructors centers on not being tender-hearted, recounting a student who told her after her first subbed class that she was 'kind of big' — and deciding to outlast the doubt rather than be hurt by it.

Instructor credibility rooted in lived experience

Rhonda connects her student retention to being straightforward and having a personal weight loss story, contrasting herself with younger cheerleader-type instructors who she links to behaviors like fat shaming.