Becoming a fitness instructor
When Linda suggested I be featured here, I hesitated. There is nothing remarkable about me. If statistics I’ve read are to be believed, I’m average height (5’4”), and normally average weight (i.e. when I’m not pregnant or, like now, recently post-partum). I wear the most common shoe size (8), dress size (10), and bra size (38B). I’m just your average, mesomorphic woman.
I don’t have an awe-inspiring story to tell. I’m not one of these people who was a star athlete and always into sports; who got their degree in kinesiology and went on to a career in fitness. Nor did I lose an impressive amount of weight to “get where I am today.” Sometimes I choose the low-fat stirfry, sometimes I choose the pizza. I have no problem refraining from grocery store cake, but I never say no to my mother’s baking. Ever. And I’m not unlikely to say no to seconds either.
So why am I here, on a website dedicated to health and fitness? Because I am a certified group fitness instructor and the fact that I’m very average is kind of the point. I know it’s a cliché, but I truly believe that if I can do it, almost anyone can do it. Unlike the hard-bodied, washboard-stomached people you often see leading fitness classes, I represent a realistic, attainable goal for people who can’t spend hours on their physique every day.
I was the person picked last for teams in gym class. I have very little hand-eye coordination. In fact, I also have very little foot-eye coordination. This does not make me a hot commodity for team sports and, as a teenager in the late 80s, sports were, as far as I knew, the only way to get exercise. Well, there was also this new-fangled thing called aerobics, but I just could not see myself in leg warmers and a butt-floss leotard over spandex tights.
Then in 1997 I decided to try the university gym. I gave the weight circuit a whirl and I still remember how hard it was to finish 8 minutes on the huge, clunky stair climber machine. But I went back, and yeah, it still sucked, but maybe, just maybe, not quite as much. When my limited trial time was up I took the plunge and got a membership for the rest of the semester. Then I found a gym in my hometown when I finished school. I’ve never looked back and I’ve rarely missed a week at the gym since.
For a couple of years I stuck to cardio and weight machines, with a smattering of free weights, then a new class called BodyPump caught my eye. It was set to music but it was weightlifting with a barbell and plates. The participants looked sweaty but cool and kind of tough. I wanted to look like that. So I tried it. Three years later I took the certifications for both BodyPump and CanFitPro Fitness Instructor Specialist (FIS). I’ve now taught Pump for 6 years, including through both my pregnancies. I’ve never gotten tired of it and don’t imagine I ever will.
SNIPPETS:
Qualifications: Certified BodyPump Instructor and CanFitPro Fitness Instructor Specialist
What is BodyPump?: A Les Mills class that is taught worldwide, literally to over a million people a day. It’s choreographed weight-lifting with a barbell and interchangeable plates to adjust the weight for each type of muscle move, which changes with every song. It’s a full-body, hour-long workout. Try it. You may hate it, but even if you do, try it again. Trust me on this.
Typical workout: In addition to BodyPump, yoga and cardio machines/running bring balance to my routine. It would be more accurate to say that I’m proud of the fact that I do these and enjoy the results of my efforts, rather than profess a love for the activities themselves. I also take random other classes to shake things up from time-to-time.
Tip: Find something active that you like so you’ll want to come back, but don’t overdo it. I’ve seen a lot of people throw themselves into fitness but then burn out in a relatively short time and stop altogether. If you make it part of your life instead of the focus of your life you’ll have room for fitness amongst the other things that make life worth living.
Quote: “I think everyone should be able to lift their own weight once, so if you’re ever dangling from something you can pull yourself to safety. Part of the reason I started going to the gym was the realization that, in that situation, I would plunge to my death.”
– article by Shawna, who blogs at Compartment 14B
December 9th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
“Unlike the hard-bodied, washboard-stomached people you often see leading fitness classes, I represent a realistic, attainable goal for people who can’t spend hours on their physique every day.”
This was so refreshing to read. I would much rather have “realistic” and “attainable” teaching me than the dogmatic washboard-perfect ADHD on-testosterone person in my life (actual, not Internet!) who corners me constantly for my own benefit. Yeah, right. (With the exception of Jillian, of course, but I can turn her off after twenty minutes.)
December 12th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I started doing Bodypump in July, on a whim, and I am still going strong. I really do love the way the class is set up– I don’t love lifting weights, but the music/choreography component feels very familiar to me since I danced for years.
Thank you so much sharing your story!
January 15th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Body Pump is awesome! I did it for over a year (before I moved and had to change gyms) and it gave me a smokin’ hot body. I had major definition in my abs and arms. Ahh the good told days.