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.
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