About Oana Terteleac

Q: How often do you teach a week and where?A: I teach about four standard classes at 168 Sport Station, ONE Fitness and the SwitchBack Ride, the Spinning® studio that my husband and I opened one year ago.Q: What is the most unique feature about your facility?A: I am very faithful to the Spinning Program as an engine for heart rate-based training. Therefore, what is unique to our facility is the SwitchBack Ride and its implementation of the Spinning Computers. Here, every class that I teach incorporates very extensive heart rate and cadence parameters, which gives infinite possibilities to be creative and making every session very interesting. All our participants know exactly what their cadence is and have the opportunity of correlating their biofeedback displayed on the computers with their rating of perceived exertion. We also are the happy users of the first Spinner® Blade Ion™ in Romania. Power is indeed the new dimension.

About My Profiles and Rides

Q: What song never gets old?A: I’m thinking “Kashmir” by Led Zeppelin is a classic that never gets old. I had it in one of my profiles two weeks ago, and a very young audience that had not heard it before said to me “Wow, that sounded fantastic, who’s playing that?”Q: What is the most unusual, yet successful, song to play in class?A: Not usual, but the best that I can think of is Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero” for a 15 minute Seated Climb with Resistance Loading, with extra loads when every new musical instrument that enters the stage.

My Favorite Things

Q: What is your favorite part of being a Spinning instructor?A: With every class I teach, I share this ideal; to enable the participants a sense of freedom, a sense of achievement, and a sense of being better in their own choices. A Spinning class will be, after years, like the memory of a great book you’ve read as a child. You may not remember the music, but you will remember how it made you feel. This feeling lingers to the point that it becomes a part of you, just as you are the sum of things you repeatedly do, day by day.Q: Describe a rider/client that has recently inspired you to continue your coaching as a Spinning instructor.A: In one of my recurrent classes, I have a person that had a heart attack six months ago. Cleared by his physician to work out up to 80% MHR, mostly endurance. After one of the classes, a lady approached him and asked: “What will happen if you get sick? Aren’t you afraid of adding resistance?” And the guy answered: “I am more afraid of dying than living in the right way.  If I did this one year ago, I would not have had a heart attack.”

What I've Learned

Q: Tell a story about an embarrassing moment that changed your outlook on coaching.A: I always tell riders to have water bottles on their bikes, and I still have participants that reject the importance of proper hydration throughout the class. Most of the time, I carry an extra bottle for special situations. So during one of my classes, I got off the bike to give the water bottle to a lady that didn’t have one. I slipped on the sweaty floor and fell. It hurt when I got back on the bike, but what hurt more was the lady who said at the end of the class that she cannot be forced to drink. What I learned is that people will not embrace everything we tell them as instructors. They will always decide for themselves, even though we may think we know the right way.

Being a new Spinning® Master Instructor

Q: How did you start a Spinning program in an area where this sport was not received yet?A: Spinning started in Romania couple of years ago, but it’s still in its beginning stages. I have a very strong mission and I coach every instructor that comes to Spinning Instructor Trainings and continuing education sessions that we all are ambassadors for the Spinning program. We are all responsible for the end result, which is actually how people get to be trained.Q: What strategies do you find successful for promoting Spinning classes in your area/region?A: Lead by example. Teach simple, straightforward classes that are appealing to normal participants and encouraging for the other instructors.Q: What was your goal in growing the Spinning program in Bucharest?A: When I became a Master Instructor in July 2014, only three instructors were present on the spinning.com webpage for Romania. And I knew there were many others that did the Spinning Instructor Training, but did not get certified. So, with support from Education Representatives, we managed to solve this. Forty new instructors have gone through Spinning Instructor Training and certification process and their names are the proof that we are on the right path.What’s next? Apart from teaching new instructors to become Certified Spinning Instructors, the real value of the program will be shown when we will have managed to create, in Romania, a strong current of people not being afraid to train with their hearts and for their hearts for a better life. When Spinning instructors will become trusted advisors and catalysts for a journey to health!Q: What advice would you give to new MIs who are still “green” and the challenges they face?A: As a very new MI myself, I know the challenges, but I also know the passion, the excitement and the extraordinary energy in Spinning. The only advice would be “don’t lose passion for what you do!”