First off, big shout out to my summer home, Camp Pocono Trails, who started color war this week. Camp is the best thing ever, you guys already know that. But Color War is by far, one of the best parts of camp.
***
So, I’ve finally had a chance to rest and compose myself after DCAC fitness conventions. All it took was about 4 naps in the back seat of my Kia, one afternoon out by the pool, and a trip to Shake Shake for a grilled cheese with tomato to start to feel like myself again.
In this photo, I was actually in the process of driving home, and I was starting to fall asleep. I pulled over at a rest stop in Virginia where a lot of families were, locked my doors tight, and crawled into my backseat where I have a dark tint on my windows and managed to sleep for an entire hour.
So for those of you guys who are wondering what the heck one does at a fitness convention, think about a convention that you might go to on any other subject. Basically, for an entire weekend, fitness professionals converge on a large space. So my first one was at NC State’s gigantic fitness complex. This one was at a hotel. And basically, what we do is we dedicate the weekend to learning. We go to sessions, sometimes a live class followed by a really short breakdown of what was done, and of course, some lectures regarding a lot of fitness trends, nutrition, and combating obesity.
A few of the sessions I took/observed?
A Marital Fusion Cardio Kickboxing Class. I described this one briefly over the weekend, but I went back and took the session again early on Saturday morning. It was awesome, and I was all in. By the end of the session I was absolutely dripping, and had to change my clothes.
A Barre Less Class. This class broke down teaching a Barre class without an actual barre. The girls were extremely talented, and at least one was a ballerina at one point. It was awesome, and I found myself stealing a few of the moves for my toning class when I returned.
A Schwinn session that was hybrid lecture, and practical class. The class focused on the SAFE way to incorporate toning into cycling class. I’ve been Schwinn licensed for about 5 years, and haven’t used it a ton, but I really do believe that Schwinn is one of the best formats for indoor cycling there is. I have been to Soul Cycle, and really enjoyed it, as well as Flywheel, and the music is great, but safety is often a concern I’ve had (as well as the price), so this session really addressed these concerns well, and when I subbed a cycling class today, I incorporated some of what I learned in the session in today’s class. Instead of having folks rapidly in and out of the seat while peddling away at some questionable speeds, we incorporated about 10-15 minutes of strength AFTER we got them off the bike, and it made a whole world of difference!
So overall, DCAC was totally a good investment. Next year, I will plan to go, and will take more of my instructors with me. I plan to pack a few pairs of better shoes (running shoes on the carpet just won’t cut it) some body/face wipes, and sign up more strategically for sessions without wiping myself completely out.
Also – maybe this time I won’t forget my makeup bag? I flinched when I saw myself in my front facing camera offhand on Friday morning…
I wanted to quickly say hey to you guys. I am in Reston, VA at the DCAC Fitness Conference, and I’m having an absolutely amazing time.
For those of you guys who don’t know, a fitness conference is when fitness pros converge on an area, and we spend a weekend taking classes and learning from master presenters. The goal is to learn, as well as to get some continuing education credits toward our certifications.
I drove up to Reston on Thursday night, and I was really anxious. Even though I can be extremely extroverted, I have trouble coming into a situation where I know no one, and my anxious mind was concerned that the whole weekend would suck, or I wouldn’t know where to go or embarrass myself, or whatever. Well, I monitored the doors yesterday for the conference, and today, I have had a wonderful opportunity to take some classes, and the conference so far has not disappointed.
I took or observed a Barre(less) class, Pound, but, but my favorite of the classes (so far) was a Martial Fusion Kickboxing Cardio Burn.
Here are a few snaps from the weekend so far!
I almost didn’t want to post this picture because I look like such a hog compared to Koh, but this woman is the reason I started doing what I do, and probably the reason why I work for the Y in the capacity I do today. Koh taught me that teaching a class was about the Y you could make the participant FEEL, and not about you. I ran into her on the first day, then ran into her again in a session this morning!This session was fantastic, a kickboxing cardio fusion. Guillermo, the name of my new boyfriend, pictured her in the red gloves, connected all of the movements to breath, which totally, totally changed the workout. Definitely one of my favorites.Pound! A format taught with drumsticks, known as ripsticks. I am looking to possibly go to a training in Asheville in November for this format, as a lot of my instructors have expressed interest!
This has been my (incredibly active) weekend so far! What have you been up to this weekend?
Hi! (Whenever I say that, it makes me think of this vine).
I hope you guys had a good 4th. I went to Atlanta with some friends from Elon, while my husband headed to his mom’s to help her move some stuff. It was really cool to see my friends, some of whom I haven’t seen since Elon Homecoming last year. Everyone seems like they’re doing well, and we all get a huge kick out of giving each other a hard time.
Peep how cute this high-waisted bikini I snagged from ModCloth is!
I appreciate the vintage style, and I snagged this bikini because I saw this style on a few girls at the beach last week, and was impressed by how forgiving it was.
How I Landed my Job
First off, I totally stole this from Kristyn at Chits and Giggles, who took us through how she landed her gig at Coca-Cola. It was really interesting because I too came to my job in a fun way, and I’m always interested to see how other folks land their jobs.
So, I am a Group Fitness Director at a Y here. The job is amazing, incredible, and I feel often like I’m living a dream with the position.
So the way I got it.
I’m not sure I even quite realized that being a Group Fitness Director was a thing until I worked for UREC at NC State. Suddenly, what I wanted to do started to become clear. My heart was in group fitness, teaching, weight loss, nutrition, and counseling, and I wasn’t really sure how to do it.
One of the best things I ever did was to get a job with Fleet Feet Raleigh shortly after I graduated, and I’m so grateful that Bob (owner) took a chance on me, and I’ll tell you why in just a minute.
So, in the summer of 2012, the woman who was in my position moved on from the job, and I applied for the position a clueless 20-something with not a whole lot of job experience. I think I remember the interview going well, but not having networked a ton around Raleigh, and not having a ton of job experience, the position went to another candidate, and I was devastated. For a few days after I got the news that I didn’t get the job, I took the hit extremely personally, and cried for days.
After crying, I think I wasn’t entirely sure what my next move should be, and I asked people around me what I should do. A few people were angry on my behalf, and told me that I should quit teaching my classes and sever all ties with the Y. And I think deep down, we all have that desire in there, but the thought of not teaching my classes anymore there was really even more devastating. I made the conscious decision to stick it out there, stick with Fleet Feet Raleigh, and begin applying to jobs, learning about the field, and networking with the hopes of eventually becoming Group X Director.
Fleet Feet Raleigh
I’d like to take a second here to talk about my time with Fleet Feet Raleigh (FFR), which I really need to credit for a lot. Fleet Feet Raleigh is a running specialty shop, specializing in running. Running shoes, apparel, nutrition, and hydration is our bread and butter. I have to credit FFRal with helping me to grow as a candidate. In my time there, Bob (our fearless leader), encouraged and supported my foray into this blog, provided me leadership opportunities, allowed me to learn and play with social media, and really provided me the tools I needed to become more marketable in this field. He and his wife, Kathy, are truly the bomb.
So, last year, in the thick of us preparing to get married, I received word along with the monthly schedule requests that our Group Fitness Director was moving on elsewhere. I wanted to go for it again, but I was honestly afraid of how humiliated I might feel if I didn’t get the job again. One night, walking around the mall parking lot, I asked Austin about what he thought. He was supportive, told me to go for it, and reminded me that if I didn’t get it for whatever reason, that I shouldn’t beat myself up, and that it didn’t mean that I wasn’t valuable.
So I sent Matt, my current boss, an email, and explained that I had applied for the position once before, and hadn’t gotten it, but was still interested. He responded, and called me within the next few days, and asked if I’d like to set up an interview.
!!!
I really don’t remember a ton about that first interview to be honest, because I was trying to approach it as chill as possible. Matt called me a few days later and asked me to come back for a second interview, this one an interview with maybe four people there. That was was intimidating, but I really tried to speak from my heart. I talked about my passion for group fitness. I talked about not getting the position before and the grown I felt like I’d had in the 2(ish) years since. I just was really honest.
Again, a few days later, Matt called and asked me to come in to meet with our branch director. This interview was really more like a chat, and Dan was really warm and welcoming to me. Again, I was really trying to be chill about this whole thing, so I tried not to get too excited, and with each meeting, I made sure to send a thank you and remind myself that if this didn’t go my way, there was probably a reason why it wouldn’t work out.
Matt stayed in touch with me. He assigned me to evaluate a class one weekend. He checked in with me regarding salary. And finally, one day when I was at work, I recognized Matt’s phone number.
“Hey Cheri! Is now a good time?”
Is that a trick question…
“We just want to thank you so much for going through this process with us..”
Oh dammit. He’s breaking up with me…prepare for it…here it comes…
“…With the passion and the growth you’ve demonstrated…and…we just wanted to go ahead and offer you the position. Now we don’t want you to answer us today, I want you to take a day or two to think about it..”
!!!
One fist went up in the air. But I had to keep it together so I wouldn’t look like a jerk on the phone and so I wouldn’t distract from the regular day going on at my job.
Needless to say I took the job. And I have not looked back. I truly feel like I’m living my dream. I get to teach classes, schedule classes, supervise a large staff, and develop my skills at a nonprofit – all things I feel truly passionate about. I actually enjoy going to my job, and can see myself there for a long time, and hope that they feel the same about.
I’ve been teaching fitness officially since 2010. I’d been taking Zumba classes from the time I was about 16 until 20 or so, and the entire time, had been really curious about what it would take, and what it meant to teach. I somehow got the balls to hunt around, and contacted the woman at NC State, the graduate school where I was attending, my first semester there, and asked if she was interested in a Zumba instructor. The next thing I knew, I was teaching to a staff at a staff meeting, and without realizing it, my future husband may have been in that meeting.
But Lindsay, who managed us, took a chance on me, and after a short 20-minute demo, she allowed me to get onto the spring schedule one day a week. And the response was absolutely overwhelming. I regularly had over 100 students in the class, and as my class gained traction, I began to look forward to my time on Sundays with the students.
One thing I remembered, and one thing that I took with me in my time taking classes with Koh Herlong, who apparently was a Zumba superstar and we never knew it, left her ego at the door when it came to class. She worked the room, starting from the front, and dancing in the crowd, dancing with students, and pointing out a nice booty shake or a great-looking bicep when she saw it. The class wasn’t about her, it was about us. And we left the room feeling that way each and every time we took the class.
Fitness instructors, your class is not about you.
I’ve certainly fallen into the trap before. When a student wants to take a pic with me or when I’ve seen myself talked about in a review of some place I’ve worked, I’ve wanted to dust myself off. And when I do, I remember that there’s always an instructor who’s better than I am, and that being a decent teacher doesn’t mean shit if I have a bad attitude, or think I’m here for folks to be amazed by me. There’s nothing amazing about what I do. I just love to do it.
That said, here are a few reminders for fitness instructors who are starting to feel their heads get a little bigger with each time they catch the eye of someone in their class.
The workout doesn’t belong to you. It’s theirs [your students]. My mom has often asked me why I work out when I teach so many classes, and simply it’s because the energy you devote you your workouts and and workouts you provide to your students is and should be different. In your classes your focused on the safety, the comfort, and the fun that your students are having, not your own.
But don’t give too much…everything needs a little balance. Don’t give so much that you’re hurt or that you hurt the people in your class. Balance is key.
Open your eyes! Are you stuck in the mirror? This is a terrible habit, and a huge pet peeve of mine. Look around your class. Face your class. Look into people’s eyes! If you find yourself “stuck in the mirror,” as an old tap teacher of mine would say, you’re doing it wrong. Your class can sense when you’re looking at them, and when you’re checking out your own biceps. And having an egotistical maniac for an instructor doesn’t do much for people.
And finally…
Make ’em feel good. Folks got in their cars and drove over, not for you to tell jokes, right? Thank folks for coming. Introduce yourself. Point out good work! Shout encouragement. Whisper adjustments.
QOTD:
What’s the best/your favorite fitness class you’ve EVER taken?
I did! Let’s lay it out right here in the beginning – I PR’ed at a half marathon on Sunday with a time of 1:55:40, at an average pace of 8:55 minutes per mile. Whew!
I can honestly say today that I am sore and hurting today. But more on that in a minute.
Weekend’s Beginning.
So I started the busy weekend off by heading over to Fleet Feet Raleigh, and working on Saturday, which I do from time to help them out. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that I get to be around a bunch of running stuff and running people. You really ARE the company you keep – it’s nice to be around a bunch of runners and not feel crazy once in a while.
So after my shift at FF, I headed out to Holden, where I spent the night with some friends. I was really paranoid about oversleeping the race, so I figured if I was with three other people who were running the race, it was nearly impossible to oversleep, right?
The Wrightsville Beach Half Marathon
The only thing I knew about this race was that it was flat. Previously, I had run one beach race before, the Shamrock Marathon, and it was a good experience, however, because it was at the beach in March, the weather was chilly and very windy. I was a little concerned that the same would happen this time because in the days leading up to the race, the weather app was looking pretty bad. Bad enough that I had to borrow some rain jackets from some of the staff at Fleet Feet.
So anyhoo, the morning of the race dawned….early. We had to wake up around 4:30am to drive to the shopping complex at the center of everything, and take a shuttle to the start, where we could run back to the center. It was warm-ish, like 51 degrees, and we headed out to the start on a trolley.
There were *ahem* facilities as far as the eye could see when we arrived, and I was able to quickly use the restroom before we started.
The race was flat, and the air was still. Because of how humid it was, I didn’t listen to music, and instead thought…a LOT since the humid air was causing my earbuds were slipping.
After the first mile, I looked down and noted that I was running a little fast. In the 8:20s. I tried to will myself to slow down, but kept things between the 8:30 mark and the 9:00 mark. It hurt – the course was really flat, and with the same muscles firing over and over, my quads and hips started to ache early on. Once I passed the halfway mark, and saw that I was holding that pace pretty steadily, I decided to push on for the following 6.5 miles, and held in there.
I quite obviously chugged a beer at mile 12.5ish, then pressed on to the finish, where I swung around to meet my friends. There was a beer stand, massages, pizza (not for me after a race), and most importantly, places to sit after the race!
This was Jeff’s first marathon!
The race was good, ran smoothly. Unlike Tobacco Road, there wasn’t the profound congestion on the trail, so there was no need to bob and weave and waste energy throughout the race. Water stops were frequent, and were FUN. My favorite water stop was the ECU stop (they don’t call it a party school for nothing), where they’d rolled out a camper and blasted music for us to enjoy.
I’m sore. I’m happy. And I think I would do that race again.
It’s been a while since I’ve done a post like this, but I think these posts are really good because they give you an accurate picture of what goes on inside my brain. Which is a LOT. And I don’t necessarily mean in the MENSA way, I mean in the ADD, pass the Adderall kind of way.
Onto the random things!
1. I wanted to run long on Thursday morning, but I fell asleep with a pretty severe headache and a touch of a sore throat. I almost NEVER get sick so it was sort of alarming. I woke up yesterday morning after some pretty fitful dreams, with an even bigger headache, and I spent most of the morning on the couch answering some emails and chugging coffee and water to try and get the headache to go away/flush some of that nasty stuff out of my body.
2. I noticed some people who ran Tobacco Road had posted some of their times and photos from the race. Check out this proof!
So I ran 13.1 miles after arriving at a race late, and since I was late I could not check a bag. this means I had my jacket (that was wayyyy too expensive for me to ditch), my water, and my phone, all with me. Oh well, race ended well despite some residual soreness from having to fight my way up from the back of the pack during the race. Check out that lobster red face!
3. I think I found some tickets in a really good section of Stevie Wonder in Newark in April to surprise my dad with. For the most part I don’t think my dad reads this blog super often. If he happens to be reading today my surprise is ruined. Also, is there a reason why ticket scalpers need to make all of our lives extremely difficult by buying up all the tickets? A lot of times they have to drop the price down in the final days before the concert. That has to be stressful. Is that worth it? Can’t they be normal people and get a second job that requires not gumming up Ticketmaster for the rest of us?
4.
I drink out of this thing on the regs. All sorts of watery beverages. Water, sparkling water. You know, I get pretty crazy. Well I happened to be looking at the bite valve on this thing last week, and it was full of mold. Which is kind of terrifying. But also explains why ::knock on wood:: that I’ve not been really sick in a long time. Like I don’t count a little sore throat that I’m dealing with now. But I’ve been ingesting all sorts of disgustingness while I’ve been trying to stay hydrated for some time. Gross. Also intriguing.
5. My performance appraisal is next week. Eep. I hope it goes well. It kind of makes my stomach hurt to think about it. I’ve done a good job at my job, and I love my job, but I know there are things I can improve on. And I want to take the time between this PA and next years to kill it even harder.
I started this post a few days ago – I was feeling a little nostalgic for Pennsylvania air and then we got the news that one of the guys from the resort had passed suddenly. Isn’t it strange the things that pop into your head at just the right time?
Fat camp is a little difficult to explain to anyone who hasn’t been there.
Like 8 or 9 years ago, my friend Morgan, this absolute party of a woman, and I were watching MTV, and we fixated on something called Fat Camp. The series was followed up like a summer later with MTV’s Return to Fat Camp. The place seemed magical to me, and something about the concept of this tucked-away place where kids went was incredible to me.
We had Adisa, throwing a birthday party in the rec hall and being monstrous to the other girls during color war. We had Dan and the play. We had the chick with head lice. We had some camp romance. It all looked amazing.
So, I applied, and I’m not sure how this happened, but one October day, I ended up on the phone with Tony Sparber, the boss-man at camp. I knew it was Tony, one, because he told me it was him, and two, because I recognized his voice. Which I’d heard in the documentary, because when you were in trouble, you got the bossin’ from Tony in his office. So anyways, I ended up on the phone with him one day in October after I’d applied. He interviewed me, and he told me right then and there that he would give me a shot.
The following June, I woke up early, and on a beautiful day, I drove my old Taurus up the east coast, and stopped only with enough time to visit my family in New Jersey. I had no money. And off to camp I went!
When I pulled up, the place was straight out of the movies. MTV had not misrepresented it in any way. And it actually was a little more beautiful than I’d imagined. I met someone from the resort, who directed me to the cabin where I’d be living with the other counselors for the next week or so. And when I pulled around to the cabin, I was greeted by this absolutely wondrous sight – the sun getting ready to set over the trees, over the lake, and over the two pools. My mouth was hanging open.
“Have you never been here before?”
I shook my head no.
The first night there, it rained, and I quietly cried into my pillow. I think I was homesick. But as the days went on, and training wrapped up, camp became my home. The kids arrived. I taught classes. And as I slowly, slowly peeled off the pounds I’d put on while in a bad relationship over the years, a new me emerged. I was happy. I wasn’t anxious. I had friends!
I settled into a beautiful routine. Color War Broke. The weather started to cool. And almost as quickly as the magic had started, it was over.
I got into my Taurus. Wove my way back down the east coast. And went back to my old life. Except this time, I was a new me! In the following years I ran. I ran. I ran some more. I ran a marathon. Taught many classes. Branched out and taught Toning, Cycling, Body Pump, Pole Dancing. Won the ever-waging war on anxiety.
I wasn’t a camper at fat camp. I was just a counselor. The fitness girl. And yet, I gained so much that summer. To to the summer of 2010, I owe so much.
And most of you that know me know that I’m a very strictly BB cream and mascara type of girl. And that’s not to say that there’s anything wrong with cosmetics – I absolutely love them, however, in my job, it really doesn’t make a ton of sense to do much more than the BB and the mascara.
I spend the daytime part of my job in business casual as much as I can, and then the other part of my job, especially when I’m running or teaching classes, is spent sweating up a storm, and if you’ve ever seen someone in full makeup after a good sweat session, it looks silly.
[Disclaimer: if you feel more comfortable wearing makeup while you work out, that is completely up to you, and I totally get it. Judgement-free zone.]
So all of that to say is that I rock a pretty natural look during the day. But last week, after a night of interrupted sleep thanks to the cats, I decided that not only would I go a little more heavy-handed with the tinted BB cream, but that I would even go for my liquid eyeliner, just to wake those eyes up a little bit.
As I walked through the doors at work, someone remarked with utter shock and amazement, “Cheri’s wearing makeup!!” loudly enough for everyone on the floor to hear. She accompanied this with her mouth hanging wide open. I was really embarrassed. I get it, maybe I looked a little different. But is it absolutely necessary to point out that I look scary without makeup (evidently) and that I put in a little extra effort that day?
Two things I think Miss Manners wants me to tell you if you’ve ever been guilty of making a statement like that one…
Don’t comment on when you feel someone looks “tired”. They might be tired. They might look like shit. But they certainly aren’t being told anything they don’t know, and are most likely hoping that no one notices how rough they’re looking/feeling.
There is a way to compliment someone if they put on some extra makeup and stuff. You look really nice! Period! End of story! Reminding someone that they usually come to work looking like Shrek, but today, things are different, which is a pleasant change for you, is not helpful. It’s actually rude.
So – just curious. How much, or how little makeup do you usually wear?
A few weeks back, I addressed some questions that folks have had for me regarding becoming a fitness instructor, which I did back in 2009. That was the catalyst for a major life change for me – I dropped a whole lot of weight, and changed the course of my career. I’m now a Group Fitness Director, and blog – a little about running, and a lot about life – two things I would never have done had I not signed up for a Zumba® Fitness Training like 5 years ago.
I talked about how to get to teach at a gym once you do get the appropriate certifications here.
Now, let’s talk about once you start teaching. How do you make sure that you’re a good – GREAT – fitness instructor?
Once you’ve started teaching, there are a few things to remember that will take you to the next level….
Keep going to other folks’ classes. Just because you teach a full schedule doesn’t mean you should completely stop taking other classes. For one, you get to work out, for two, you can learn a ton of new stuff. You get to see how other teachers cue, and cherry pick things you love about classes, as well as some that you’d rather leave behind.
Keep up with your continuing education. Fitness is not a one-and-done type of deal, and should never be. Continue to take classes that not only interest you, but those that will challenge you, and those that will strengthen you as an instructor.
At the beginning of each class? Introduce yourself by name, and introduce the format of the class.
Always ask if there is anyone who is new to class, not to embarrass them or single them out in anyone way, but to make sure that you explain some things to folks who are new to class. Are there any contraindicated movements? Anything you need to remind them off?
Always remind the class that there are modifications to every movement that should make the movement safe for any “special” population. That term refers to anyone who may be injured, our folks who are morbidly obese, folks who are physically handicapped in some way, elderly populations, or even pregnant folks. Remind the class that there are modifications, but don’t assume that just because someone is elderly, that they’re not interested in a squat. These mods are for everyone!
Eye contact is important. Make eye contact with every single person in the class. Make each person feel like they are the most important person in the room at some point. Because they are! They are the reason why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Your class is not the time to show out or show off. Leave your ego elsewhere. Your job is to be the ambassador to a good, safe, healthy time. Straight up, don’t be a douche.
Smile! Be genuine! Seriously. Nothing worse than an instructor who acts like the funeral march should be playing, or that they should be taken ridiculously seriously.
So there are my tips (just before the holiday) on how to be a great instructor that your students will <3. What is your favorite group exercise class to attend? Who is your favorite instructor?
Overactive Blogger 