Charlotte Smarty Pants is excited to get the inside scoop on Flywheel Charlotte’s new instructor, Sue Simko. She’s spunky, fun, and will give you a fabulous workout! If you haven’t tried her class yet at Flywheel, you’re missing out. Sue plays great music and her upbeat personality keep me going all class. What a great new addition to the Flywheel crew. Sue’s also a mom so today she shares with us ways to keep our families active at home this summer. Thank you, Sue!
Sue, welcome to the Flywheel Team! You’ve joined such a fabulous group! Tell us about your love for fitness and how you came to teach at Flywheel? I’ve always been a fitness enthusiast! My parents had me on the swim team at the age of 5 and then from there on out I was always involved in sports through college. It was when I moved to NC that I found being an instructor was truly my passion. I had been teaching in the Lake Norman area for about 10 years when I had a member of the gym come up to me and say “You HAVE to go take a class at Flywheel! They have the most amazing studio, I know you would LOVE it there.” So I took her advice and signed up for my first free ride with Steve. The moment I walked into the studio I felt super comfortable. Everyone was so friendly and showed me exactly what to do and where to go. It was when I walked into the Stadium that I knew I found my new home! The lights dimmed, the music pumped and Steve took me through the most amazing class I had ever taken in all my years of attending and instructing classes. I left the studio and as soon as I got home, immediately reached out about becoming part of the team and the rest is history! Here I am, a Flywheel Instructor, I am truly blessed to be a part of this team! 
What do you like best about teaching at Flywheel?
What don’t I love!? This is truly the most amazing place I have ever been a part of. From a team member standpoint, the group of people that I am lucky enough to work with are the most warm, welcoming, supportive and caring co-workers. Each person that is part of our team goes above and beyond to not only make you feel comfortable from the moment you join the team, but also to do whatever it takes to help you build your own personal classes. Everyone wants to see everyone succeed. It’s not a competition of who the best instructor is. It truly is how do we make sure we ALL are the best! From an instructor standpoint, well that’s easy, the members! Ya’ll rock it out every day! Everyone comes in ready to work, ready to release the tension of whatever may have them stressed, and everyone leaves sweaty but with big smiles on their faces! It is impossible not to love being an instructor here!
Why do you think cycling gives us such a great workout? I mean I am dripping with sweat every time and I can’t wait to come back. How do y’all do that?
I honestly believe it’s due to the atmosphere of Flywheel. When you walk into the Stadium, your intention is to just get on a bike and workout. However, when the instructor turns the lights down, cranks up the music and begins to guide you through each song, you forget it’s even a workout! Everyone gets to forget about the reality of their own personal life and get lost in the moment. You forget you’re even working out, but at the same time want to push yourself to the limit.
The music at Flywheel is a HUGE part of it! There are many moments I get chills or even have tears come to my eyes because of the song playing. When you’re able to let reality go for a bit and focus on yourself, you hear words in the music you never realized were there before, or the music just simply does something to you and makes you want to crank the torq a little higher or push your RPM a little faster. During your ride you realize how wonderful it is to just think about you and what you want to accomplish. When class is over you leave feeling refreshed, less stressed, ready to take on the world…it’s that feeling right there that will bring you back the next day. It’s a euphoric feeling that leaves us all addicted to Flywheel!
I know you’re also a mom. Can you share with us a little bit about your family?
I have three amazing little boys (I think I’ll call them little for their entire lives). My twins Caden and Rylen are 8 and my baby boy Teagen is 6. They are my heart and soul. I went through a lot of hard times after they were born and at many moments of my life they were the reason I got out of bed, they were the reason I breathed. I love those little guys and thank God everyday for bringing them into my life.
Any ideas on balancing working with family life? This is one mystery we all want to solve!
I think it will always be a mystery we will all want to solve and not sure we’ll ever solve it. I’m a single mom and there are many mornings when I wake up and I wish I could just drive them to school, go home and run errands and do everything I need to do to keep my house in order and then pick them up and get to spend the rest of the day playing with them. But, work is a part of my life and always will be. The hardest part of the balance is learning sometimes you have to let go of the things that you feel you have to do. I’m a clean freak, so laundry or house chores are hard for me to look past. I work full time, plus teach at Flywheel, when the boys get home from school that’s also my time to get the work at the house done. However, I’m watching my little guys grow up right before my eyes. There will come a time when they won’t ask me to play tic tac toe, or when they don’t ask me to lay on the couch and cuddle. Housework will always be there, there will always be dirty clothes, kitchens to clean, floors to mop, but there won’t always be three little boys there that want their mommy. I’m embracing that now. When the lights turn off and they are sleeping in their beds is when I take care of what needs to be done in the house, and if I don’t get to it, then there’s always tomorrow after bedtime!
Is fitness a family affair at your house? Do you have any great ways to incorporate fitness with our families at home?
My boys have watched me workout ever since they were born. I’d put them in their bouncy chairs and do videos at home, at times I even used them as my weights (little boys make a good barbell for chest presses HA). So now that they are older they are aware of why I do workout, why I do eat healthy. They are aware that it makes us healthy and strong. Bike rides are their favorite, if I selfishly have to sneak a run in they’ll go with me on their bikes or on their scooters. With three boys it’s easy to have an active life with them. It can be football at the park, swimming at the pool, or playing on the playground. I make sure I’m always involved! It’s important for them to see me active with them, it creates a bond between us.
Since we are now midway into summer. Do you have any tips for us on how to keep our kiddos active over the summer? It’s hot out there so I realize it’s hard to keep them outside unless you are in the water at all times. Even the pool and lake water isn’t cold enough to cool us down. I try my best to find indoor activities to do. Our recreation department has open gym times for basketball so I’ll take them there a lot. One thing we’ve adopted now is a family walk in the evening once the sun goes down. After dinner we’ll put on our tennis shoes and put the dog on the leash and head out for about a 45 minute walk. My kids love video games and I used to think that’s all they wanted to do, but I believe we all forget that our children really do just want to be with us. My kids now ask for the walk, want me to hurry up with dishes so we can go outside with the dog. It sounds boring to some, but I’ve learned a lot about my boys on our walks, there isn’t much to do but talk so that’s what we do, we talk and we walk. I feel confident in saying that fitness has brought me closer to my boys and has made them realize that they can tell me anything and I’m there to help them, never judge them and I’ll always be proud of them. I am their mom, and I am strong and they see that and I believe I make them proud as well.
Find out more about Flywheel Charlotte and book at class on their web site.
