i joined rateyourburn ONLY to comment on the accuracy of this post. Douglas Johnson is a compact, muscular ball of motivation. here are some of my favorite comments....

to a person wearing a sweatband - "woman, work the headband!"
to a person with a ponytail - "honey, work the ponytail!"
to a pregnant person - "c'mon now, work the baby! work the baby!"
to an entire class before thanksgiving....
"if you are eating nothing but lettuce for your thanksgiving dinner next week, i'ma need you to slow down on these next few intervals. but if you're having the turkey and the mac&cheese and those sweet potatoes and OH GIRL that pie!!! if you're having that pie, i'ma need you to pick it up right here."

i love dougie johnson. even tho he's a mad man, i trust the method to his madness. high intensity cardio-driven workouts give us results and he is living proof of it. he's my weight-loss guardian angel and my fitness Oprah.

addendum: i used to go to the upper west side equinox but then i moved to brooklyn so the only equinox i could use was in brooklyn heights. i was devastated because i wasn't sure that i'd ever see douglas johnson again. then one day, 3 months after i had moved, i was running on the treadmill and he walked over to me in the coolest way possible and said "girl, i didn't know you could run," which was his way of saying that i had made progress since he last saw me in one of his classes. the man is too cool, just TOO COOL!

he teaches at the Brooklyn Heights location on Mondays from 12:30pm-1:15pm and on Thursdays from 9:30am-10:15am.

oh my! Thank you so much for your lovely comment and glad to see we think the same of Dougie. I have to say, there is not much info on him online (meaning there is NONE) so glad to hear from you - another satisfied customer. If you know him personally, please share this review with him and tell him we loved him too!

(and now the *subtle* sales pitch) Now that you have joined our site, please feel free to browse through our tons of other reviewed instructors, some are probably teaching @ Brooklyn as well. You can try them and write your thoughts. Even better, if you have suggestions for us on other of your fitness gurus to check, please share! we'd love to discover new names and faces.

cheers!

the squirrel.

btw, "work the baby"? brilliant. even more enamored

does not knowing the difference between "peddle" and "pedal" while writing about cycling make you a lesser human being? yes, I do believe it does.

Fair enough. English is my second language.

"girrrrrl, WORK the accent!"

In that case, taking an ESL course or two would be an appropriate course of action before publishing your thoughts in this particular language. and by the way, "We weren't using our panels at all. Douglas wasn't giving any RPM values or levels of difficulty..." not really something he pulled right out of Equinox playbook.  here's hoping they get rid of his dumb ass right quick.

What's going on with all the hate sweat puddle? If you don't like the class why don't you give constructive feedback instead of going on an anonymous hate rampage. Not to mention... GymSquirrel is better at English spelling/grammar than a lot of people who were born here so...

where do i begin... first, people who write and publish are not graded on a curve with the general public.  simple work ethic and self respect demand that they hold themselves to a higher standard, hone their craft and don't make their readers cringe. the same goes for fitness instructors who should really know better than conducting classes without asking the participants for for specific and precise amounts of work.  if "woman, work the headband!" and "honey, work the ponytail!" or "c'mon now, work the baby! work the baby!" is all you need from your fitness professional than you're more of an idiot than you probably realize. and lastly, this isn't hatred, this is constructive criticism and it's anonymous because this forum demands it to be so.

And where do *I* begin? I think I'll start with the fact that upon one of my first visits to this site I'm reading some pretty unnecessary negativity from this sweat puddle guy or girl. As a professional cultural critic (who has made a living writing reviews) and editor (of 15 years), I'd like simply say to you, Mr./Ms. Puddle, chill out! GymSquirrel has put him/herself out there to share thoughts not only to inform, but to entertain. The fact that English is a second language for the writer is only more impressive since I'm sure that whatever GymSquirrel's native language is, most of us couldn't form a coherent sentence writing or speaking it. Beyond that, if you're going to choose to be a grammar fascist, the least you could do is make sure your own writing is pristine. To wit: your intermittent e.e. cummings homages, extraneous "for", lack of understanding of the difference between then and than and your complete misunderstanding of what "constructive criticism" is. How much less of a human does this make you?

way to stand up for the abused and persecuted, gymnastinerd. may your name be inscribed in the book of life.  the negativity is absolutely called FOR because when these amateurs opine on a subject they know precious little about they not only mislead their readers, but also put them in danger on injuring themselves or simply wasting their time.  and for the  then/than thing you can blame iphone auto spell.  i am guilty of not checking my post before hitting send.

Goodness! If mistaking peddle for pedal is going to cause you a physical injury, I would actually recommend seeing a doctor about your excessive frailty! I don't see that GymSquirrel misinformed anyone or got factual information dangerously wrong. She failed at homonyms. Let it GO! I forgive you for the then/than, for the extra "for" and the lack of capitalization. But please do reconsider your approach to "constructive criticism." All you had to write was "Oops!!! It's pedal, not peddle." And nobody would have blinked, the editor would have made the fix and GymSquirrel would know for next time. You could have gone to the class and written an informed rebuttal. You could have done a lot of things. Instead you took out your crappy day on a complete stranger in a public forum over something ultimately insignificant. I hope tomorrow's a brighter day for you, sweat puddle. I truly do.

all my days are bright, gymnastinerd. unfortunately you completely missed the point. i couldn't care less about her mastery of the language. what i do care about is the fact that she gave that loser 4 out 5 stars recommending what he does to other people.

I'm sorry sweat puddle, but I think different things can motivate different people without those people being idiots. And I think a humorous approach - though always in addition to solid teaching skills and ability to make one seriously sweat - is definitely motivating, at least to me, and not just in this case (please try Violet Zaki for kickboxing @ EQ if you haven’t). Humor might not affect my numbers, but liking an instructor might make me come and work more often or harder once a personal connection is established. Haven't you ever taken a class where the instructor was excellent at what s/he did but was so dry and lacking a personality that you preferred not to come back?
I have also been taking spin before those panels were on bikes, and in gyms where there are no panels (and trust me, even at EQ they're far from accurate half the time), and still I felt I got a good workout. People work out for different reasons, and for me it is to feel fit and strong. I don’t always come to class to kill myself, and never to vomit, and I still manage to look and feel good thanks to a combination of good classes and diet.
If you have taken Doug's class and didn't like it, you're entitled to express your dismay. I'd actually love to hear from you on instructors you do like and I’ll be glad to try them. We can exchange our opinions then.

Thanks for your passionate comments,

GS

Well said, gymnastinerd.

GymSquirrel, your English is great, just ignore this guy.

...also love the e.e. cummings reference, that is golden

Please spare me your ridiculous patronizing, your ridiculous excuses and your ridiculous friends.  If you're writing about cycling you must know the difference between pedal and peddle. It's as simple as that.  It doesn't matter if the  language you're writing is your second or third or fourth.  How can anything you're trying to say be taken seriously if you didn't bother to learn something as basic as that?  Besides, if you've lived here long enough to go to spin classes when they didn't have electronic panels you've lived here long enough to learn the damn language. This isn't your 6th grade book report.  I'm not going to be gentle with you.
When you give Wil Ashley's class a raving review you can't be satisfied with Douglas Johnson class.  They're diametrically opposite.  One requires you to work at an exact cadence and difficulty level without any modification the other runs an Oprah giveaway on stationary bikes.  It's like going to a Radiohead show and having a great experience and then enjoying yourself at a Bieber concert.  It doesn't happen and it makes no sense!
It's one thing when you're just shooting shit with your girlfriends but  it's quite another when you're giving your opinion in a public forum on professionals who are supposed to know what they're doing.  If you recommend someone who obviously does not, you expose your readers to a potential injury. I know it may come as a surprise to some people but it is possible to sustain an injury if you're working out in an unsafe manner.
I know you're trying to be funny. I know you have to get more eyeballs on this thing.  But please try and keep the ridiculousness at a tolerable level.

sweat puddle why are you so angry why are you so upset?

I am WAY late to this comment chain, but have been following since it came out. I was IN that Thanksgiving class.  But his class this past Saturday (6+ person waitlist!) inspired me to voice my opinion. He will work your a**, hamstrings and your quads off, he will make you RUN, his music is great and he is funny as hell.  At the end, you will be able to wring your clothes out (if you were true to yourself and the tension dial) and you will have to make one with a foam roller.

It is absolutely possible to love a class like Wil's and a class like Doug's. I've sat Wil's front row for years (way before RMP and Wattage monitors). He is hard and he is a drill sergeant, who clearly cares about what he does and can get results. I come out feeling like I've accomplished something, but I don't always come out smiling and inspired. With Douglas, I do -- how can you not when you've been mentored by Darryl Transcendcycle Gaines and are also friends with/inspired by Carl "The Master" Hall?  

In the last 4 months alone, Douglas is getting better and better, really connecting with individuals and finding his own groove.  I'm curious to know if SweatPuddle has even TAKEN Doug's class... and why so much hate and venom is spewing.  

Douglas is fantastic and definitely a great spin instructor, who is only getting better!  Love you, Doug!

Doug's fun sense of humor is a welcome side dish, but the main course is a kick ass workout. Doug's personality is great, definitely smooth and funny, however, as a serious fitness enthusiast who has enaged in a variety of atheletic pursuits, from winning multiple bodybuilding competetions to running marathons, what I appreciate most about his classes is that he simply rocks you (if you follow his routine).

Doug spends an appropriate amount of time emphasizing proper form, he moves around the class, pushing individuals to their full potential, and yes, on occassion, he drops a humorous line. But please, do not be mislead, his class is no joke.  His spinning courses have improved my overall fitness; definitely, improved my running times as a result of his cardio driven sessions. Love it! This dude kicks my ass, and that alone, keeps me coming back for more.