So...lets' start over, shall we? LOL
Lots has happened since 2013. Lots of loss, lots of gain, lots of stress, lots of fun.
But a big thing....LOTS of stepping wayyyyyyy out of my comfort zone!
Ok, not LOTS. But one BIG thing.
After being prodded gently...with a big ol'pitchfork!...by a couple of people I know from the gym, I finally took the plunge and attended initial training to become a Les Mills Body Combat instructor.
I have been taking the class since May 2011. I LOVE the class. It is FUN. I look forward to the new releases. I look forward to class every day (ok, just 5 days a week lol). I have bonded with a few instructors, who are the ones who prodded me to do this. For crying out loud, hubby and I coughed up the cash and attended the Les Mills OneLIVE mega-quarterly in Chicago last August (and we hope to do it again some day!). But...Me...a group fitness instructor. HA! Me, in front of people, guiding them thru a 1 hour fitness class?? HAHAHA. A fat girl teaching a group exercise class? Preposterous!!
But....I am.
Or, rather, I hope to be. While I passed the initial training module with flying colors and much love from the trainer, there is 1 more step I need to complete.
Filming myself teaching an actual class.
WHAT?!?!
Yeah...I have to film it and submit it and get graded on it and all. This part makes me much more nervous than the initial training did!
Body Combat is a 55 minute mixed martial arts inspired workout. Moved from Karate, Tae Kwan Do, Capoiera, Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing. Plus a little core conditioning. (well, a lot if you take into account they say you can get the effects of up to 1700 crunches per class!). A new "release" with nrw music and choreography comes around (usually called a "launch") every 3 months or so. Gyms generally keep the release for 4 weeks and then the instructors are free to mix up tracks from different releases or just teach full releases from the past until the next launch comes.
You can check out more at lesmills.com if you are interested.
Initial training is 2 days. 2 full days of doing the class several times, learning proper technique, learning how to coach, learning how to learn each release. Presenting the one track you are assigned to learn forwards, backwards and sideways 3 times and improving each time. 2 full days of mental and physical exhaustion.
But it was FUN. Seriously. It was.
After you pass that training, you go home and practice at your home gym. The general plan is to team teach the release you are trained on so you gain practice coaching (getting the cues out for the moves, coaching the moves, etc) and confidence in front of a crowd. Then, you tape yourself teaching a whole class and submit it for assessment. Sounds easy, huh?
Except in my case, a wrench was throw in. I had auditioned and got the OK to shadow until the launch of my training release and then team teach when my training release was launched. Good feedback from the group fitness manager after my audition. YAY!
BUT....then all of a sudden a "new policy" was enacted that yanked that rug out from under me. No team teaching, no practice in front of people, no being on stage until you are fully certified. Allegedly, "liability issues" were cited, even tho NOTHING had changed. (except maybe a fat girl actually passing training and trying to become an instructor! hmmmmm).
SOOO...I have been on my own. I am fine with the choreography and most of the technique. But the coaching aspect? That's gonna get me. I have been allowed to "shadow" next to the stage facing the class so I can work on my right-is-left-and-left-is-right (since on stage, the class mirrors you so you say right but you are actually using your left, and vice versa) so I have had my husband in front of me so I can spit out my coaching for him to hear and assess. But that's hard because I am distracted my the actual instructor's voice and I don't get everything I want to get out, out. Not conducive to practice! LOL But, that's what I have to work with. That and listening to the music and doing the coaching while cooking dinner hahaha. I must be a real sight in the kitchen!
So here I sit...my taping is set for 48 hours from now and I am PETRIFIED. I know its only going to get worse over the next 48 hours!
And my getting this out? NOT HELPING!! HAHAHA. But there, I said it. I am nervous as all hell! How will I feel on Saturday afternoon?!?!?!
But, one day soon...instead of being a participant, I can be an actual instructor. Motivating people. Coahing folks thru a fun workout, one that they will want to come back and do over and over. Even if it is JUST for fun!
Working out is not always about weight loss (as I am so painfully aware, not having lost an ounce in the last 2 years after having success and losing overall about 70-80lbs since 2004), but just about movement and activity. Getting off the couch for a while and stretching your muscles. But, if you don't have fun, you wont want to continue. So...why not find something you enjoy, no matter what it is?? This is my FUN.
(photo from OneLIVE in August. Ignore the socked feet, we had to get in line early to get a good spot up front for the class, and my feet needed to breather while we were waiting LOL. this was the final workout on a day filled with them!)
I could be a convincing instructor, right?? :)
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