Monday, April 30, 2012
Back....and Happy
I know I taught last week, but it felt tonight like I was really back.
I'm still recovering from my arm, but I was able to increase my weights just a bit. I'm fine with coming back gradually as long as I can teach my beloved classes. I was warmly welcomed, and was happy to have 3 new members. Sadly, we ran out of weights even though we are passing out numbers and had a packed class, but that didn't deter the new people from sticking it out once other members shared weights with them. I did 81 again because even though I should be switching it up now, I've hardly taught it and honestly I had no brainpower to create a mix. That is my goal for Thursday, to give my amazing members something new to kick their butts!
Surprisingly, even though I was super sore yesterday from CXWORX training, I was not today. Other than some deep oblique soreness, I felt pretty great. I had a massage after school, and it wasn't until she started digging in my glutes and said "have you been squatting this weekend?" that I realized how sore my butt was! Such good stuff, that program.
I'm out of the classroom tomorrow in San Jose for a kindergarten in service. Never enjoy sitting on said glutes all day
but it is what it is. The end of the year is coming, and while I'm excited, it is going to be a ton of work. I'm looking forward to the summer bridge program which will go until the end of June, but give me much needed money to get through the summer without regular pay. Plus it is considered enrichment, so while it's work, it's more relaxed and enjoyable than the school year. The countdown begins :)
Friday, April 27, 2012
No Longer a Single Format Instructor
I'm so tired that it took me 6 attempts to get logged in, kept putting in the wrong email or password. Time for bed but need to just write a few words.
Tomorrow I embark on the next leg of my job journey....to a stronger core :) I have my initial training module this weekend for CXWORX. I have practiced over and over, listened to the music 143,000 times and I am as ready as I'll ever be. Still feeling a bit anxious but part of that is not knowing what track I'll present this weekend. I know them all but I want to be able to focus on the one that will make or break me! I'm hoping for 1,3 or 4...my faves.
I know I'm not at the optimum fitness level. But seriously, after two weeks of almost daily practice on a format that is so core intensive......I feel stronger already. It's THAT good. Alexander is hooked, after only doing it with me twice. I am strong, and even though I may not be super fit, I am excited about another les mills training. They are always top notch and I get to know two more trainers, meet more tribe members, challenge myself, push myself and grow even more on my journey. Who wouldn't love that?
More after this weekend.....all packed, snacks ready, all that is needed is to drop Cassie off in the morning, hit Starbucks and be on my way to San Jose!
Changing lives, one core at a time......
Thursday, April 19, 2012
I'm BAAAAAACK.......Almost
It's been more than two full weeks since I've taught a BodyPump class. I swear it feels like a month! So imagine the thrill I got tonight when I "guest" taught the warm up in my class taught by Deb! I had taken a Boot Camp class right befor mine and to see the looks of my members outside the GX room as I ran, pushed, burpeed, side stepped, hovered, etc. was classic! I had told Deb I would stay and do the warm up with a light bar just to see how it felt again before I jump back in this weekend. Instead she asked if I wanted to teach it and so I strapped on the mic and it was such a thrill to be in front of my participants again! I was greeted with smiles and I had a blast! No pain with the bar, but I was wiped out from an hour of a beating with Andre. Plus I had spent time in the afternoon at school practicing CXWORX......so I'm pretty well toasted.
Yes, I've decided to add a second format. Les Mills CXWORX, a 30 minute core strengthening class. The difference between preparing for this one and preparing for my initial BodyPump training? Light years apart! With BodyPump I basically didn't have to prepare, other than take BP before and rest for a couple of days prior to the training. I didn't have my release to practice and I received my tracks there. It was a 3 day training. With CXWORX, its a 2 day training, I've had my release for a week, have to know all 6 tracks 100% and be prepared to present one of them, which I won't be given until the first day. I also have to layer in the coaching, which is every different from BP. So I've been working HARD. Every single day. None of this resting a day in between. It's very intense, and in only a week I feel stronger in my core, my glutes and back. But it is the most challenging thing I've undertaken so far. In a good way. I've planned out on my calendar which tracks I'll learn each day, when I'll use music and notes and then music only. I've made Amanda do it with me and today after my grade level meeting, had all three kinder teachers on the floor of my classroom doing most of the tracks! That's when I realized how challenging it is to teach this program. I'm fine if I don't have to open my mouth and speak!
I'm also doing more cardio work than I have done since the half marathon. Spin classes, elliptical, running, and boot camp. While I love teaching BP with a passion, being injured has shown me how important it is to balance my own workouts and find time for my own fitness. Yes, I've known this all along. But when you are faced with the knowledge that you can't work out a certain way, you adapt. You don't stop, although I did rest and I still am taking care of myself - seeing my chiropractor, twice weekly massages and stretching/icing/heating daily. I am truly enjoying taking time for myself, which I have neglected to do with any regularity. I aim to keep it up once I add my classes back in.
My plan is to teach at PAC this Saturday and 24HF on Sunday. I'm excited to get back to it, and work these muscles before they go to mush. Even though it's time to mix up my playlists, I only got to teach BP81 twice before I went out so my poor members will have it this next week so I can continue to concentrate on my CXWORX preparation before training. I have 3 classes to teach and will probably sub next Thursday out to Deb to give myself time to recover and prepare for CX.
I am really loving this program. I've downloaded the manual to review and the research that has gone into this program with relation to the core muscles and how they all work is fascinating. While I realize I am not at the peak of my fitness, and it's a struggle to get through the class, it is going to make me a better instructor and I'm going to get more fit as I continue to train for it. I have most of the choreography down but am struggling with what happens when I open my mouth! That's my focus for the next week. I'll have the chorey nailed by this weekend, am getting together to practice on Sunday and Thursday with two other instructors who are going through the training to work on the coaching and cueing. By coming into the training weekend with the release already memorized and learned, I imagine we will focus a great deal on form and technique, so it is promising to be a very challenging weekend, more challenging than anything I've done yet on this journey of mine.
I'm ready. I will ROCK it. At the end, I'll collapse in a sweaty heap ;-)
Yes, I've decided to add a second format. Les Mills CXWORX, a 30 minute core strengthening class. The difference between preparing for this one and preparing for my initial BodyPump training? Light years apart! With BodyPump I basically didn't have to prepare, other than take BP before and rest for a couple of days prior to the training. I didn't have my release to practice and I received my tracks there. It was a 3 day training. With CXWORX, its a 2 day training, I've had my release for a week, have to know all 6 tracks 100% and be prepared to present one of them, which I won't be given until the first day. I also have to layer in the coaching, which is every different from BP. So I've been working HARD. Every single day. None of this resting a day in between. It's very intense, and in only a week I feel stronger in my core, my glutes and back. But it is the most challenging thing I've undertaken so far. In a good way. I've planned out on my calendar which tracks I'll learn each day, when I'll use music and notes and then music only. I've made Amanda do it with me and today after my grade level meeting, had all three kinder teachers on the floor of my classroom doing most of the tracks! That's when I realized how challenging it is to teach this program. I'm fine if I don't have to open my mouth and speak!
I'm also doing more cardio work than I have done since the half marathon. Spin classes, elliptical, running, and boot camp. While I love teaching BP with a passion, being injured has shown me how important it is to balance my own workouts and find time for my own fitness. Yes, I've known this all along. But when you are faced with the knowledge that you can't work out a certain way, you adapt. You don't stop, although I did rest and I still am taking care of myself - seeing my chiropractor, twice weekly massages and stretching/icing/heating daily. I am truly enjoying taking time for myself, which I have neglected to do with any regularity. I aim to keep it up once I add my classes back in.
My plan is to teach at PAC this Saturday and 24HF on Sunday. I'm excited to get back to it, and work these muscles before they go to mush. Even though it's time to mix up my playlists, I only got to teach BP81 twice before I went out so my poor members will have it this next week so I can continue to concentrate on my CXWORX preparation before training. I have 3 classes to teach and will probably sub next Thursday out to Deb to give myself time to recover and prepare for CX.
I am really loving this program. I've downloaded the manual to review and the research that has gone into this program with relation to the core muscles and how they all work is fascinating. While I realize I am not at the peak of my fitness, and it's a struggle to get through the class, it is going to make me a better instructor and I'm going to get more fit as I continue to train for it. I have most of the choreography down but am struggling with what happens when I open my mouth! That's my focus for the next week. I'll have the chorey nailed by this weekend, am getting together to practice on Sunday and Thursday with two other instructors who are going through the training to work on the coaching and cueing. By coming into the training weekend with the release already memorized and learned, I imagine we will focus a great deal on form and technique, so it is promising to be a very challenging weekend, more challenging than anything I've done yet on this journey of mine.
I'm ready. I will ROCK it. At the end, I'll collapse in a sweaty heap ;-)
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Elated yet Sad
I wonder how it's possible to feel really happy yet have an underlying feeling of sadness. It's an odd feeling, really. I have to say, I don't like it much.
I had a couple of emails/texts from instructors/friends today congratulating me on my AIM2 outcome. It was nice because each one brought a smile to my face, even though I did not expect the outcome. Hearing one of my new friends who lives in Seattle made Elite also made me so happy!
Part of the sadness comes from not being able to teach BodyPump right now. It really hit me tonight. I know it's temporary, and I also know its necessary because if I don't heal properly I will cause further damage and not be able to teach even longer. My last class was last Tuesday, a full week. I've been to the doctor, the chiropractor and have had two massages, with another scheduled tomorrow. I'm icing, heating, taking Advil, stretching and doing everything I'm supposed to. The pain is almost completely gone. I had a great adjustment with my chiropractor yesterday and wish I had gone last week. I've been having more tingling and numbness in my hands for about 2 weeks but it's been worse the last few days. I was afraid the carpal tunnel was getting worse and the doctor told me i should consider surgery which does NOT make me happy. After my adjustment he told me that my wrists and elbows were a mess, he released tension in my neck, and I have to say I have had NO tingling in my hands since yesterday. Yippee! He said I don't have true carpal tunnel, and it was a subluxation mod my bones so that does make me happy. I go back one more time on Friday. He suggested I take one more week off, so I've arranged for subs until a week from Saturday, when I hope to be able to get back to it. I have all classes covered except this Sunday so I may have to teach, and if I do, I'll have to use no weights. I don't want it to come to that. I hope someone picks up the class.
He also cleared me to exercise, just no weight bearing activities but he said I could run, do the elliptical. In fact he said the rotation of my shoulder is a good thing, as the shoulder is just fine and the pain I had was unrelated to the elbow. That pain is totally gone already.
So with that info, I happily planned to go to the gym tonight. I knew it would be weird to go when my class was being taught by Alex so I attempted to get in and out before class so I wouldn't run into my participants. Getting stopped by the police and getting a ticket kind of blew those plans, plus I had a heck of a time finding parking. This put me in the gym at the same time, and while I had hoped to avoid everyone to respect the fact that my class was going on without me, I still ran into a ton of people. But this is why I love my members. So many of them told me they missed me, gave me hugs, told me to get better so I can get back sooner. I know I left my classes in good hands, but it still left me with a strange ache knowing that I was in the cardio room and my class was going on without me.
I ran on the treadmill and actually enjoyed it. Only made it 1 mile, not that I couldn't have gone further, but the pants I was wearing, while a bit big on me and is okay for teaching BP, were HORRIBLE on the treadmill! They literally kept falling off of me, and I kept having to hike them up because I swear if anyone was behind me they would have gotten a show. I suppose it's a good thing but I was frustrated because I really felt like running and I couldn't continue. After a quick bathroom break and chats with a couple of participants, I went back to the cardio room and hopped on an elliptical. Knowing my class was starting, I jacked up the resistance to a 10 and plowed through for a straight 30 minutes. It felt great and I would have kept going but Cassie had been in the daycare long enough so I stopped. Had a conversation with Justin and Jason, looked longingly in the the Group X room as Alex taught my favorite back track and then couldn't torture myself any longer and left. But not before I signed up for 3 spin classes. I also ran into one of my regulars who came out to get water and she told me how nice my complexion looked! I told her it was from the cardio I had just done! Nothing like sweat to make you look dewey :)
I know it's crazy and dramatic to feel sad about not teaching. But BodyPump is my passion and I truly love teaching. So it's sad that I can't right now. I'll instead focus on my own fitness for once, and try to get in as much cardio as I can since I can't strength train. Cassie, Franklin and I went on a one hour walk Sunday and did a bunch of stairs at Canada college which was fun and really wiped her out.
There's another reason I feel so sad, which puts a damper on the happiness I'm also feeling. I won't go into detail, but a close friend said some things to me that really cut me like a knife in the heart. I can't understand why, what was said was meant to hurt and cause pain and it is something that I can't shake. People don't understand the power of words, especially the written word, when it's there for you to read and re-read over and over again, it hurts so
much. I am just confused because....well just because. I'm not looking for an apology, just some understanding. I don't think this person even realizes that was was said was so hurtful. I'm teary just thinking about it so it's time to just stop because I'm good at wallowing.
Sigh. Boy I can bring myself down quickly....
I had a couple of emails/texts from instructors/friends today congratulating me on my AIM2 outcome. It was nice because each one brought a smile to my face, even though I did not expect the outcome. Hearing one of my new friends who lives in Seattle made Elite also made me so happy!
Part of the sadness comes from not being able to teach BodyPump right now. It really hit me tonight. I know it's temporary, and I also know its necessary because if I don't heal properly I will cause further damage and not be able to teach even longer. My last class was last Tuesday, a full week. I've been to the doctor, the chiropractor and have had two massages, with another scheduled tomorrow. I'm icing, heating, taking Advil, stretching and doing everything I'm supposed to. The pain is almost completely gone. I had a great adjustment with my chiropractor yesterday and wish I had gone last week. I've been having more tingling and numbness in my hands for about 2 weeks but it's been worse the last few days. I was afraid the carpal tunnel was getting worse and the doctor told me i should consider surgery which does NOT make me happy. After my adjustment he told me that my wrists and elbows were a mess, he released tension in my neck, and I have to say I have had NO tingling in my hands since yesterday. Yippee! He said I don't have true carpal tunnel, and it was a subluxation mod my bones so that does make me happy. I go back one more time on Friday. He suggested I take one more week off, so I've arranged for subs until a week from Saturday, when I hope to be able to get back to it. I have all classes covered except this Sunday so I may have to teach, and if I do, I'll have to use no weights. I don't want it to come to that. I hope someone picks up the class.
He also cleared me to exercise, just no weight bearing activities but he said I could run, do the elliptical. In fact he said the rotation of my shoulder is a good thing, as the shoulder is just fine and the pain I had was unrelated to the elbow. That pain is totally gone already.
So with that info, I happily planned to go to the gym tonight. I knew it would be weird to go when my class was being taught by Alex so I attempted to get in and out before class so I wouldn't run into my participants. Getting stopped by the police and getting a ticket kind of blew those plans, plus I had a heck of a time finding parking. This put me in the gym at the same time, and while I had hoped to avoid everyone to respect the fact that my class was going on without me, I still ran into a ton of people. But this is why I love my members. So many of them told me they missed me, gave me hugs, told me to get better so I can get back sooner. I know I left my classes in good hands, but it still left me with a strange ache knowing that I was in the cardio room and my class was going on without me.
I ran on the treadmill and actually enjoyed it. Only made it 1 mile, not that I couldn't have gone further, but the pants I was wearing, while a bit big on me and is okay for teaching BP, were HORRIBLE on the treadmill! They literally kept falling off of me, and I kept having to hike them up because I swear if anyone was behind me they would have gotten a show. I suppose it's a good thing but I was frustrated because I really felt like running and I couldn't continue. After a quick bathroom break and chats with a couple of participants, I went back to the cardio room and hopped on an elliptical. Knowing my class was starting, I jacked up the resistance to a 10 and plowed through for a straight 30 minutes. It felt great and I would have kept going but Cassie had been in the daycare long enough so I stopped. Had a conversation with Justin and Jason, looked longingly in the the Group X room as Alex taught my favorite back track and then couldn't torture myself any longer and left. But not before I signed up for 3 spin classes. I also ran into one of my regulars who came out to get water and she told me how nice my complexion looked! I told her it was from the cardio I had just done! Nothing like sweat to make you look dewey :)
I know it's crazy and dramatic to feel sad about not teaching. But BodyPump is my passion and I truly love teaching. So it's sad that I can't right now. I'll instead focus on my own fitness for once, and try to get in as much cardio as I can since I can't strength train. Cassie, Franklin and I went on a one hour walk Sunday and did a bunch of stairs at Canada college which was fun and really wiped her out.
There's another reason I feel so sad, which puts a damper on the happiness I'm also feeling. I won't go into detail, but a close friend said some things to me that really cut me like a knife in the heart. I can't understand why, what was said was meant to hurt and cause pain and it is something that I can't shake. People don't understand the power of words, especially the written word, when it's there for you to read and re-read over and over again, it hurts so
much. I am just confused because....well just because. I'm not looking for an apology, just some understanding. I don't think this person even realizes that was was said was so hurtful. I'm teary just thinking about it so it's time to just stop because I'm good at wallowing.
Sigh. Boy I can bring myself down quickly....
Monday, April 9, 2012
AIM 2 results
I just received my assessment results from my AIM2 training in Seattle and I'm a bit in shock, considering my last post and how I blew it on day 2. Josef gave me great feedback and an outcome of Advanced Instructor! He told me to implement the feedback and submit a DVD if I want to elevate my status to Elite. I fully expected to come out with Instructor with a plan, happily.
Well that just made my night :) especially after some really crappy days...Yipee!!!
Well that just made my night :) especially after some really crappy days...Yipee!!!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
AIM2 Reflections
As I sit here, late on the first day of Spring Break 2012, I am recovering physically and mentally from two huge training weekends for me. I should have blogged last week after AIM2 was over, but my goodness - the brainpower that would have taken? It would have come out a jumbled mess. Coming back to school for a final week before break, with students bouncing off the walls ready to be on vacation! I had no time or energy to attempt to put my thoughts on "paper". I am still in awe of how amazing that weekend was. It's still processing, still brewing in my head. Yesterday was another big day in my Les Mills journey......I don't even know where to start. I'll do one weekend at a time.
AIM2: I write all the time about how amazing Les Mills instructors are, how amazing the programs are. I was going to another state, knowing NO one except the instructor I was staying with (and she had her own training to go to but arranged for me to be picked up by Tracy, a Combat instructor going to the training). It amazes me that I got into Tracy's car and there was not a moment of silence the whole way to Starbucks before we hit the gym. Walking into Gold's, she introduced me to several instructors as they arrived, and not ONCE during that weekend did I ever feel out of place or uncomfortable because I didn't know anyone. My reservations and fears going there were completely unfounded. Sure, there were moments where because of whatever drill/exercise/emotional place we were going to during the training made me feel reserved, but that's all part of the journey and process of AIM2. The feeling of One Tribe was never more felt by me before until that weekend. AIM1 was great, and I made many friends, but the depth to which this second level of advanced training took us all to was more emotionally felt, more emotionally connecting to complete strangers that really were not strangers. It is hard to put into words, or to explain to a non-LM person. It's like being part of an exclusive club (with 70,000 + members!). It's strangely unifying, wonderfully unifying. I bonded with so many people and now have friends from Washington, Idaho and Arizona. It's a great feeling.
The weekend was physically demanding, emotionally demanding, fun, exhausting, emotional, and a host of other adjectives. Our trainers were Amanda Scales and Josef Matthews. We had 5 programs represented there -(8) for BodyPump, (8) for BodyCombat, (2) for BodyStep, (5) for BodyAttack and (3) for BodyFlow. If we weren't presenting, we were the participants for the other program presenters. We presented our tracks 4 times. 26 instructors, and because some were presenting at the same time in different groups, we had 20 presentations overall. Multiply that times 4? We all did 80 tracks that weekend. It's the equivalent to 8 classes (10 tracks per average LM class). Sore? I am still recovering from that!!
I was given the squat track for my 2 Saturday presentations. I went in to this knowing that I was there for honest, hard feedback. Josef was the trainer that evaluated me all weekend. He looked so intense in pictures I've seen, and instructors that know him told me he is actually very nice. I couldn't agree more. I was very happy to have him be the one to work with me, knowing he would take me to where I need to go to with my teaching. My first presentation went well - I nailed the choreography and my coaching was spot on - he said I coached one thing at a time, let it land, and moved on. In reality? It's because I was SO freaking nervous that I forgot to say more! It worked in my favor, ultimately. I only had one technique adjustment - my elbows rotated as I came down to squat so he had me adjust that (and every class I've taught since then? No more rotation!) I needed to take my coaching to another level now by adding in more layers and follow up, giving more information.
After 2 solid hours of presentation, sweating, grunting, working hard (and feeling more than a little clumsy at BodyStep!) we had several hours of coaching, lectures, drills and exercises. Then came presentation #2, where we have to take what we have learned throughout the day and apply it. I came out of the second presentation with perfect technique but still some advanced coaching that needs to happen. It's all good, and I was thrilled to get shoulders for the next day's presentations. It's a HARD track, and I knew that I would be challenged in terms of feedback, but the other group of BP instructors, who had the back track on day 1 (I was envious because I LOVE back tracks), they got lunges - NO thanks!!
Ingrid and I went out to dinner and I enjoyed a very yummy mojito. We both had had very physical days and enjoyed some downtime and the chance to get to know each other better. It was a great evening and ended with some chorey review, advanced scripting and a nice cup of green tea.
Day 2 was even more phenomenal than Day 1. Lots of emotions, lots of team bonding, and a disaster of a presentation #1. I had a rough night the night before, struggling with the scripting for a complicated, fast moving track. Me, the overthinker. Finally had to slip the notes under my pillow and call it a night. Ingrid was a love the next morning, making me a bowl of oatmeal before she left at 6:30am. During shoulders, I knew I had the chorey down. For the deltoid work, I carry my own 5lb plates with me to my gym because I have ones that I can grip. Not wanting to look like a wimp to Josef, I used the 2.5 KG plates (6 lbs) that are hard to grip (the thumb goes in the center hole and is difficult to grasp). I KNEW this, because during one of my BP tapings last year, the plates slipped out of my hands because they got sweaty. However, I knew I had to suck it up. BIG MISTAKE. I move into the mac raises and what happens? I get a THUMB cramp in my left hand, which caused the plate to drop down, affecting my form and technique, which caused my chorey to have a blip because it threw me off. Josef happened to come over to me at that EXACT moment......and my heart sunk. I knew I was done. I was SO upset with myself. I kept going, of course, even though one of the instructors in my group came to hand me the smaller 2lb plates instead. I waved them off and painfully kept going. For my feedback, my coaching was still spot on, coached to one outcome but needed to work on the voices and nail the chorey. Technique wise, my chest was too forward during deltoid raises. AARRRGGGGHH. I had it. I tried, and I was very disappointed. I know s*** happens, but I was so looking forward to a better outcome. The good thing was that I knew what I needed to work on for the next one. Of course Josef said I had to nail my choreography. UGH. I already had. I explained about the cramp, but it is what it is. I asked Josef if I could go with the smaller plates so I wouldn't have to worry about the grip and he said yes. That was a huge moment of relief for me!
The rest of the day was amazing, fun, and so incredibly relevant. There are no words, but it was the BEST day. Presentation #2.....we were all feeling sore, emotionally and physically exhausted, but knew we had to give it our best and just have fun with it. Josef and Amanda really stressed having fun with the last presentation, but I was still kinda caught up in my head and my mistakes from earlier. I tried to put it aside and focus on teaching with contrast. While we were waiting for Amanda to finish up feedback with someone, Ola had already done her BP intro and I was waiting for Josef, he told me to go down and hover with my group! So we did, and next thing I know, Ola is on my BACK while I held the hover! Josef got a good laugh from that (but I did all my pushups on my toes during my track!!)
So presentation number 2. I used small plates and really nailed the chorey. I tried my hardest to use the voices and give contrast. I though it went well. Feedback? Sigh. He didn't hear enough of the voices because he was going back and forth between me and Ola. Then he said my shoulders were rolling forward a bit while standing during rotator raises. My shoulders forward is a constant issue that I am working on correcting. He said this isn't negative, they gave us a LOT to work with this weekend, and I am ticking all the boxes, which is good, but not good because now it needs to be more natural. My coaching again, is great and the one outcome, I got it. I know I am more natural in my classes, and I thought I had moved past the box ticking thing.
In retrospect, and I have been processing this for days, is that I am right where I need to be. I am not a seasoned instructor with years and years of experience. I am a GREAT instructor and I have made HUGE leaps and bounds after teaching only 15 months. I have done 3 major trainings in that time and I have grown exponentially. I am happy. I know I have a lot to work on, but I have a goal, a plan now and I can work towards that and get even better. Things are starting to click and shift and that is why I came. I am sure I will come out with Instructor with a Plan status and that is JUST FINE. I had not come to this hoping for more, and even though after my feedback, the tears welled up and I left to go to the locker room and shake it off because I have learned so much and I have so much more to learn and it is so exciting to still be on this journey. I've been made to feel a part of a wonderful tribe, near and far, and feel a part of something global, something bigger, really for the first time. It is a wonderful, exciting feeling and I am shivering at the thought of what is to come.
It was made even better by the HUGE bear hug that Josef gave me before we left, with the compliment of great job. It was so nice to have Amanda give me a huge hug and tell me she looked forward to seeing me the next week in Burlingame. The connection already on Facebook to all who were there, and the photos.....I feel a sense of family that I didn't feel in Texas, even though that was an AMAZING experience. In Texas, I only knew a few, and it was still a great experience, I still felt like a bit of an outsider because I felt inexperienced in comparison to everyone else. This AIM2 experience really helped me to see I am part of the greater good, the ONE TRIBE.
I would recommend to ANY instructor to go through the advanced trainings Les Mills offers. We can get very complacent, very comfortable in our teaching. Even though I only have a year under my belt, there are instructors who have many years of experience and don't ever advance because they don't take advantage of the education that is out there. Both AIM1 and AIM2 are invaluable. I have not a single regret. I don't even regret waiting longer before I did these trainings. I had a bug up my butt.....one that insisted I go further, go harder, get better, for me but more importantly for all the participants in all my classes. This weekend really cemented in the fact that although this feeds me, I don't do it for me.
I do it for others. To be Brave. To make a change in the WORLD. One class at a time. What a huge privilege. I am very lucky. Kia Kaha.
AIM2: I write all the time about how amazing Les Mills instructors are, how amazing the programs are. I was going to another state, knowing NO one except the instructor I was staying with (and she had her own training to go to but arranged for me to be picked up by Tracy, a Combat instructor going to the training). It amazes me that I got into Tracy's car and there was not a moment of silence the whole way to Starbucks before we hit the gym. Walking into Gold's, she introduced me to several instructors as they arrived, and not ONCE during that weekend did I ever feel out of place or uncomfortable because I didn't know anyone. My reservations and fears going there were completely unfounded. Sure, there were moments where because of whatever drill/exercise/emotional place we were going to during the training made me feel reserved, but that's all part of the journey and process of AIM2. The feeling of One Tribe was never more felt by me before until that weekend. AIM1 was great, and I made many friends, but the depth to which this second level of advanced training took us all to was more emotionally felt, more emotionally connecting to complete strangers that really were not strangers. It is hard to put into words, or to explain to a non-LM person. It's like being part of an exclusive club (with 70,000 + members!). It's strangely unifying, wonderfully unifying. I bonded with so many people and now have friends from Washington, Idaho and Arizona. It's a great feeling.
The weekend was physically demanding, emotionally demanding, fun, exhausting, emotional, and a host of other adjectives. Our trainers were Amanda Scales and Josef Matthews. We had 5 programs represented there -(8) for BodyPump, (8) for BodyCombat, (2) for BodyStep, (5) for BodyAttack and (3) for BodyFlow. If we weren't presenting, we were the participants for the other program presenters. We presented our tracks 4 times. 26 instructors, and because some were presenting at the same time in different groups, we had 20 presentations overall. Multiply that times 4? We all did 80 tracks that weekend. It's the equivalent to 8 classes (10 tracks per average LM class). Sore? I am still recovering from that!!
I was given the squat track for my 2 Saturday presentations. I went in to this knowing that I was there for honest, hard feedback. Josef was the trainer that evaluated me all weekend. He looked so intense in pictures I've seen, and instructors that know him told me he is actually very nice. I couldn't agree more. I was very happy to have him be the one to work with me, knowing he would take me to where I need to go to with my teaching. My first presentation went well - I nailed the choreography and my coaching was spot on - he said I coached one thing at a time, let it land, and moved on. In reality? It's because I was SO freaking nervous that I forgot to say more! It worked in my favor, ultimately. I only had one technique adjustment - my elbows rotated as I came down to squat so he had me adjust that (and every class I've taught since then? No more rotation!) I needed to take my coaching to another level now by adding in more layers and follow up, giving more information.
After 2 solid hours of presentation, sweating, grunting, working hard (and feeling more than a little clumsy at BodyStep!) we had several hours of coaching, lectures, drills and exercises. Then came presentation #2, where we have to take what we have learned throughout the day and apply it. I came out of the second presentation with perfect technique but still some advanced coaching that needs to happen. It's all good, and I was thrilled to get shoulders for the next day's presentations. It's a HARD track, and I knew that I would be challenged in terms of feedback, but the other group of BP instructors, who had the back track on day 1 (I was envious because I LOVE back tracks), they got lunges - NO thanks!!
Ingrid and I went out to dinner and I enjoyed a very yummy mojito. We both had had very physical days and enjoyed some downtime and the chance to get to know each other better. It was a great evening and ended with some chorey review, advanced scripting and a nice cup of green tea.
Day 2 was even more phenomenal than Day 1. Lots of emotions, lots of team bonding, and a disaster of a presentation #1. I had a rough night the night before, struggling with the scripting for a complicated, fast moving track. Me, the overthinker. Finally had to slip the notes under my pillow and call it a night. Ingrid was a love the next morning, making me a bowl of oatmeal before she left at 6:30am. During shoulders, I knew I had the chorey down. For the deltoid work, I carry my own 5lb plates with me to my gym because I have ones that I can grip. Not wanting to look like a wimp to Josef, I used the 2.5 KG plates (6 lbs) that are hard to grip (the thumb goes in the center hole and is difficult to grasp). I KNEW this, because during one of my BP tapings last year, the plates slipped out of my hands because they got sweaty. However, I knew I had to suck it up. BIG MISTAKE. I move into the mac raises and what happens? I get a THUMB cramp in my left hand, which caused the plate to drop down, affecting my form and technique, which caused my chorey to have a blip because it threw me off. Josef happened to come over to me at that EXACT moment......and my heart sunk. I knew I was done. I was SO upset with myself. I kept going, of course, even though one of the instructors in my group came to hand me the smaller 2lb plates instead. I waved them off and painfully kept going. For my feedback, my coaching was still spot on, coached to one outcome but needed to work on the voices and nail the chorey. Technique wise, my chest was too forward during deltoid raises. AARRRGGGGHH. I had it. I tried, and I was very disappointed. I know s*** happens, but I was so looking forward to a better outcome. The good thing was that I knew what I needed to work on for the next one. Of course Josef said I had to nail my choreography. UGH. I already had. I explained about the cramp, but it is what it is. I asked Josef if I could go with the smaller plates so I wouldn't have to worry about the grip and he said yes. That was a huge moment of relief for me!
The rest of the day was amazing, fun, and so incredibly relevant. There are no words, but it was the BEST day. Presentation #2.....we were all feeling sore, emotionally and physically exhausted, but knew we had to give it our best and just have fun with it. Josef and Amanda really stressed having fun with the last presentation, but I was still kinda caught up in my head and my mistakes from earlier. I tried to put it aside and focus on teaching with contrast. While we were waiting for Amanda to finish up feedback with someone, Ola had already done her BP intro and I was waiting for Josef, he told me to go down and hover with my group! So we did, and next thing I know, Ola is on my BACK while I held the hover! Josef got a good laugh from that (but I did all my pushups on my toes during my track!!)
So presentation number 2. I used small plates and really nailed the chorey. I tried my hardest to use the voices and give contrast. I though it went well. Feedback? Sigh. He didn't hear enough of the voices because he was going back and forth between me and Ola. Then he said my shoulders were rolling forward a bit while standing during rotator raises. My shoulders forward is a constant issue that I am working on correcting. He said this isn't negative, they gave us a LOT to work with this weekend, and I am ticking all the boxes, which is good, but not good because now it needs to be more natural. My coaching again, is great and the one outcome, I got it. I know I am more natural in my classes, and I thought I had moved past the box ticking thing.
In retrospect, and I have been processing this for days, is that I am right where I need to be. I am not a seasoned instructor with years and years of experience. I am a GREAT instructor and I have made HUGE leaps and bounds after teaching only 15 months. I have done 3 major trainings in that time and I have grown exponentially. I am happy. I know I have a lot to work on, but I have a goal, a plan now and I can work towards that and get even better. Things are starting to click and shift and that is why I came. I am sure I will come out with Instructor with a Plan status and that is JUST FINE. I had not come to this hoping for more, and even though after my feedback, the tears welled up and I left to go to the locker room and shake it off because I have learned so much and I have so much more to learn and it is so exciting to still be on this journey. I've been made to feel a part of a wonderful tribe, near and far, and feel a part of something global, something bigger, really for the first time. It is a wonderful, exciting feeling and I am shivering at the thought of what is to come.
It was made even better by the HUGE bear hug that Josef gave me before we left, with the compliment of great job. It was so nice to have Amanda give me a huge hug and tell me she looked forward to seeing me the next week in Burlingame. The connection already on Facebook to all who were there, and the photos.....I feel a sense of family that I didn't feel in Texas, even though that was an AMAZING experience. In Texas, I only knew a few, and it was still a great experience, I still felt like a bit of an outsider because I felt inexperienced in comparison to everyone else. This AIM2 experience really helped me to see I am part of the greater good, the ONE TRIBE.
I would recommend to ANY instructor to go through the advanced trainings Les Mills offers. We can get very complacent, very comfortable in our teaching. Even though I only have a year under my belt, there are instructors who have many years of experience and don't ever advance because they don't take advantage of the education that is out there. Both AIM1 and AIM2 are invaluable. I have not a single regret. I don't even regret waiting longer before I did these trainings. I had a bug up my butt.....one that insisted I go further, go harder, get better, for me but more importantly for all the participants in all my classes. This weekend really cemented in the fact that although this feeds me, I don't do it for me.
I do it for others. To be Brave. To make a change in the WORLD. One class at a time. What a huge privilege. I am very lucky. Kia Kaha.
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