I need to say something that has been building for a long time.
Every scroll through social media.
Every new “viral class clip.”
Every instructor-centered reel.
I keep seeing the same thing.
Instructors performing instead of teaching.
They are dancing to the song structure.
Verse. Chorus. Bridge. Hook.
Hitting musical moments beautifully.
And the people in the class?
They look lost.
Late on the moves.
Unsure where the beat is.
Struggling to hear cues.
Trying to stay safe while chasing choreography that keeps changing without warning.
This isn’t a student coordination problem
This is a teacher problem.
And the industry needs to face it.
Let’s be precise about the issue.
Teaching to the song structure is not teaching.
Changing choreography without verbal instruction is not cueing
Changing movement because “the chorus hits here” is not cueing.
Changing choreography because “the bridge is coming” is not education.
Designing class around musical sections instead of the beat is not instruction.
It may look creative.
It may perform well on camera.
But it violates the most basic principle of professional teaching:
teaching exists to help people succeed.
Most instructors did not enter this profession to perform.
They entered it to help people:
- Move well
- Feel strong
- Learn confidently
- Succeed safely
Teaching is not about how the instructor looks.
It’s about whether students can follow, predict, and learn.
When students cannot anticipate changes, cannot find the beat, and cannot move with confidence, that is not a student failure.
That’s an instructional failure.
This is not my opinion. These are industry standards.
The fitness industry has already defined what professional teaching looks like.
Very clearly.
From AFAA’s “Finding Your Beat” course, instructors are taught:
“Finding Your Beat will introduce you to tempo and how tempo influences safety and exercise performance… as well as common music-based cueing techniques like 4-beat cueing, 2-beat cueing, phrase-based cueing… identify the beat, the downbeat, and various musical phrases.”
— AFAA
AFAA’s own study materials further define the structure instructors are expected to use:
“Downbeat: the first beat of a measure. 32-count phrasing: common musical structure used in group fitness.”
— AFAA Group Fitness Instructor Manual
From SCW’s Group Exercise Manual:
“Beats form a pattern. The stronger pulsation or sound is the downbeat. This is where group exercise instructors usually begin movement… One musical phrase consists of four sets of eight or 32 beats… Beginning choreography on the top of the phrase is important because it allows students to anticipate movement changes more easily.”
— SCW Fitness
From ACE, the guidance is just as direct:
“When music is in the foreground, tempo or music’s rate of speed (BPM) drives movement. Being able to distinguish the beat is a vital skill… Professional fitness music is developed according to industry standards so instructors can locate beats, measures, and phrases.”
— American Council on Exercise
Different organizations.
Same foundation.
Beat. Downbeat. Phrase. Predictability.
This is how instructors are trained.
This standard is industry-wide.
This expectation is not isolated to the certifying bodies above.
Canfitpro includes teaching movement to the beat of the music as part of instructor training and practical assessment.
IDEA Health & Fitness Association emphasizes structured cueing, clarity, and participant safety as professional obligations, reinforcing that creativity must never compromise learnability or safety.
Across organizations, the message is consistent:
Instruction must prioritize structure, clarity, and student success over performance.
So why is the industry ignoring its own training?
Despite what is taught in certification manuals, many instructors are doing the opposite.
Teaching to song sections.
Designing choreography around choruses.
Dropping movement on melodies instead of downbeats.
Why?
Because it looks creative.
Because it performs well online.
Because it is marketable.
But creativity without structure is chaos for students.
Songs vary in section length.
There is no consistent foundation there.
The beat is the only reliable anchor.
Without it, instructors are improvising at the expense of their students.
There is a real cost to performance-based teaching.
When instructors teach to song structure instead of the beat:
- Cueing breaks down
- Learning becomes reactive instead of anticipatory
- Students feel behind instead of empowered
- Safety margins shrink
- Confidence erodes
Fitness movement must be:
- Predictable
- Learnable
- Repeatable
- Safe
Those are not artistic constraints.
They are professional obligations.
And the industry bears responsibility.
Certifying bodies cannot claim professionalism while allowing their own standards to be ignored.
You teach instructors to:
- Find the beat
- Understand phrasing
- Cue on downbeats
Then you promote trends and accredit formats that abandon those principles because they are marketable and the certifying body makes money.
That’s not education.
That is branding.
And it undermines the credibility of the entire profession.
This is what teaching looks like when you want students to succeed.
Teaching to the beat.
Consistent phrasing.
Predictable movement changes.
Clear, audible cueing.
Instructors watching students, not performing for them.
It looks like students who:
- Know what’s coming
- Feel capable
- Move with confidence
- Learn instead of scramble
Teaching is an act of service.
Not a performance.
A challenge to instructors.
If your choreography looks more impressive than your students’ technique, pause.
If you are focused on the next musical section instead of the people in front of you, reflect.
If your class looks cool on video but confusing in real time, ask yourself honestly:
Who are you here to help?
Yourself?
Or your students?
Because the craft of teaching deserves better.
And so do the people who trust us with their bodies.
Referenced Professional Standards
Athletics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA): Group Fitness Instructor education and “Finding Your Beat” course materials
SCW Fitness Education: Group Exercise Instructor Manual
American Council on Exercise (ACE): Music, tempo, and cueing guidance for group fitness instruction
National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA): Group exercise teaching and music-structure education
Canfitpro: Fitness Instructor Specialist training resources
IDEA Health & Fitness Association: Group fitness cueing best practices and Code of Ethics