Is my SoulCycle instructor my idol?
In some ways, I’m a cliché. I’m a twenty-something who loves boutique fitness studios and frequently plans brunch around my workout classes. I dress head to toe in lululemon — but that’s mostly because I work there — and I talk about my favorite fitness instructors as if I know them.
This all started in 2015 when I was introduced to SoulCycle. And in 2017, I started going often enough that you could say it became a part of my personality. I was enamored with everything about the boutique workout, but I was especially drawn to the instructors. They acted like celebrities, walking in five minutes before class started and selectively calling out the names of their riders. And in a way, some of them actually became celebrities. They were quickly verified on Instagram, they monetized off of product placements and partnerships, and they developed loyal fan bases.
I could get lost in their Instagram profiles for hours, going from one instructor to the next. And it wasn’t because I needed a discount code or wanted to know their teaching schedule. Instead, I just wanted to know more about them. I needed to know if the person they portrayed on the podium was the same person they were in real life. I wondered what I could do to embody the qualities they had while teaching. Their confidence, their stamina, even their great taste in music. I wanted to be like them.
This desire was so much so that every year since 2018 when I wrote out my vision and goals and listed three people I admired, I almost always included my favorite Soul instructors. In my opinion, the names I listed stood out from the majority of instructors-turned-influencers. They didn’t let their large following go to their head or develop an ego based on their genetically gifted abs. They had degrees in exercise science and focused more on someone’s form than their looks. They inspired, rather than intimidated.
For a minute, it felt superficial, and certainly comical, to look up to a SoulCycle instructor as much as I did. Admittedly, being a regular in class did feel like some sort of stamp of approval that I was working towards. But as I got to know them more over the years (and I weeded out the others), I realized that there’s nothing wrong with finding your role models in your fitness instructors.
The people whose classes I love to take share some of the qualities that I admire most. They’re passionate, down-to-earth, and welcoming. Sure, they might have a few things that I want for myself, whether it’s a house in Montauk, a happy marriage, or a hot bod, but that’s not what motivates me to take their class. What motivates me is seeing someone achieve the things that I want, while embodying the characteristics that I value.
I’m starting to think that as a society we put a lot of pressure on fitness professionals to have it all figured out. Somehow because they look the way they do they’ve cracked the code to a fulfilling life, free of anxiety, worries, and insecurities. But one of my favorite things about the ones I know personally is that they’re relatable. They remind me that they “suffer” from the same ailments as I do — or at least something like it. And it doesn’t disqualify them from giving advice or mean that they’re faking it when they’re teaching. It just means they’re human.
Getting a shoutout in class or a follow back on Instagram still gives me a feeling of pride I can’t explain. Knowing that they’ve got anxiety and struggles hasn’t taken away from the fact that I still look up to them. I can acknowledge that they’re not perfect and still maintain a feeling of admiration.
At the end of the day, just like celebrities, we can’t put them on a pedestal so high that we forget they’re people just like us.
