While reflecting on 2014... one word that can sum up the year for me is CHANGE.
And while change is never comfortable or always welcomed with open arms & an open heart... it usually is what brings growth.
At the beginning of this year, I had ideas of where I wanted my life to go, things I wanted to do, changes I wanted to make... but one thing that changed me the most this year wasn't even on my radar.
BODY PUMP.
Never heard of it.
Didn't know a damn thing about it.
Sure as hell never expected to be teaching it.
But thanks to my AAFA Group Fitness certification & the required continuing education credit hours necessary every 2 years... I decided that getting 14 of the necessary 15 CEU's with Body Pump training was a good idea.
So I signed up. I stepped out of my comfort zone & signed up for something I knew nothing about.
It was a 2-day certifcation... Saturday & Sunday... 8 hours each day. We each were assigned 2 tracks to memorize in advance, which we would have to present during the weekend in order to pass & move on to the next part of the certification.
I went through it with my boss & another instructor friend. My boss would later tell me that in over 10 years of teaching & all her certifications, this would be the hardest, most challenging process of all. Which made me feel much better after crying all the way home after day #2 when I PASSED. Don't think everyone did that day either.
I seriously thought... what the hell am I doing?
I'm mentally & physically exhausted.
This is not me.
This is not what I want to do.
I'm a Zumba instructor.
I dance.
I don't do barbells.
The next part of the certification would be to team-teach with another instructor for a certain amount of time. After that... we were required to present the entire hour, all 10 tracks, on video in front of a live class on our own. This meant memorizing all their choreography with their music, all their verbal cues, all the muscle groups you're working, etc.
Not to mention I don't do verbal cueing in Zumba... it's all non-verbal (well, minus my yelling) so it's totally different.
All that within 60 days of the initial training weekend. Or... you'd have to pay extra if you needed an extension to submit your video.
Really?
And all this would be easier than trying to figure out how to record using their requirement of less than 2 GB's & the lowest video definition. Who knows how to do all this? I have a college degree, but it's NOT in computers & video. I'm just trying to be an instructor here. Once again, NOT an easy process. Once again, my boss would tell me she had to go to a computer guy to get it figured out & that nothing has ever been this complicated.
Reassuring that I wasn't the only one losing my mind.
After 2 tries of first not getting my class recorded correctly, and then thinking the 2nd wasn't perfect, but good enough... I submitted it, crossed my fingers & toes, and figured they could make me re-record if they wanted to but I was DONE thinking about it & stressing over it.
10 days later, I got an email saying I passed. I was officially a Les Mills Body Pump instructor.
I saw it first thing before even getting out of bed & I think I screamed.
And somewhere during that 2 month process, my thinking changed to:
This IS me.
This IS what I want to do.
I'm a Zumba instructor AND a Body Pump instructor.
I dance AND I do barbells.
In fact, a lot of people are doing barbells now because of this class.
Body Pump has changed my body like nothing else.
Yes, I eat mostly right.
Yes, I do a lot of cardio.
But cardio alone, won't give you the definition you necessarily are striving for.
Weight training is the key.
A combination of cardio + weight training + clean eating.
Women will not become big muscle heads by adding weight training to their fitness routine.
Well... unless you're planning on taking steroids & why the hell would you want to do that?
And did you know that muscle burns fat while at rest? It does.
Changes are coming for 2015. Some that I know of... some that still remain to be seen.
While I didn't know that 2014 would bring Body Pump into my life... I DO know that I'll be adding another Body Pump class to my schedule very soon, that will hopefully bring it into more of my friend's lives too since it's closer to home.
Fitness Fuzion is the place... can't wait!!
Change happens when you step outside your comfort zone.
Bring on the new year...
