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Hey all,

I will be going through BodyPump training over the weekend. I am a Personal Trainer but have no group fitness background. I'm a little nervous and wondered how many of you were in my position before your training? Did not having any previous group experience slow you down at all? Any advice?

My 2 cents...

First, I think if you are a trainer, that will help you in some ways.  I would think technique may come easier for you than a first timer that has no experience.  Have you taken pump before?  Keep in mind that things like Dead lifts don't go all the way to the floor in a pump class, so with things like that, it may be a little different for you.  

 Other advice, take lots of snacks and water to the training.  Know your chorey when you present. Bring a sweatshirt or pair of pants to throw on over your work out clothes.  You'll be going from sweating to sitting down and talking and it gets cold.  Most of all have fun.  Pump training was more challenging for me than bodystep for some reason and pump was my second training.

 Oh, if your club has the release you will be training on, take it as many times as you can before you leave.  If you can, snag a cd from someone and listen to the music.

Good luck 

Michele
 

Hi there. My first training was Combat and I had no teaching experience whatsoever, no personal training, nothing!  I am now a qualified BC, BP, BB and BS instructor and a trainee RPM instructor (about to submit my video)!  I have found all of the training modules very nurturing and I find that if you go in with an open mind, knowing what your goals are for the training ie: the key elements you have to pass during your training - then you don’t end up setting your expectations for yourself too high and without a doubt you will end up surprising yourself.  Nerves are good though, so don’t lose them.  Make sure you have absolutely nothing planned on the weekend/s that you are training and give yourself plenty of time to learn and practice.  Most of all......have fun!    You might even find a hidden personality inside that comes out when you are on stage!  Good Luck.

Hi

 I am also a PT and had never taught a group before doing my BP training. It didn't slow me down but I was nervous at first, mostly because everyone else in the training had group fitness experience. The training days were fantastic, the teacher (Hi Shaun!) was brilliant, the group were really friendly and we all helped each other out and put each other at ease - we were all in the same boat! Just go along and have a great learning experience and be prepared to work HARD.

 For me the hardest part was getting out there and teaching to 'real' people, thats when my nerves really kicked in. I was terrified! I just attended as many classes as I could, picked up hints, cues, ideas etc from the different instructors styles, and also gatecrashed loads of classes just teaching one or two tracks - the other instructors were more than happy for me to do this, as they'd been learners once - in fact a couple of them regularly asked me before their class which tracks I wanted to teach, encouraging me to do it! The more practice I got the less nervous I became. Now I love teaching to large groups - the energy in the room is amazing - its much harder teaching to a small group.

 The main advice I can give is learn the music inside out, back to front, the rest will follow.

 Good Luck!!!

I also had no teaching eperience at all, in fact I was kinda shy and did not like to be in front of a group of people. I had been taking Pump for about a year and a half so I felt confident that I would do well. But, everything changes when you get in front of the group, in a good way. The training was absolutley fantastic and my trainer, (hey Darren!), was great. I passed and am now, IMHO, rockin the house 6 times a week! The whole experience really opened me up and gave me a brand new perspective on the way I exercise not only in class but in any setting.

 To prepare as said above, attend as many classes as you can, talk with the other instructors for tips on coaching, motivating cues, and form specific to Pump. As a trainer most of it will come naturally but as Michelle said some of the movements are modified slightly. Bring snacks, a few dry towels and plenty to drink.

Have fun with it. You are sure to make some great friends and really find that you can lift way beyond your limits!

 Welcome to the Les Mills Family!!

KIA KAHA!! Happy Pumping

Rachel..first off..congrats on your decision to dive into the world of Les Mills.  You will love it.  First, your training weekend will be one of the best experiences of your life.  I just did my Pump training Sept 28-30.  I had no training whatsoever before I went.  I was just a Pump participant for 2 and a half years, so that helped alot.  I was very fortunate that the training was only 5 minutes from my house, so I am not sure how far you will have to travel.  I'll go on the assumption it may not be close by.  Be sure to bring a change of clothes with you each day.  You will be working it girl, so you will need it.  You will also want to bring a portable CD player/DVD player as well.  They will assign the track you have to learn and teach.  You will want to listen to that CD & watch that DVD as often as you can.  Don't be thinking you'll get too much sleep that Friday night!! :)  Bring snacks/food that will not be too heavy on your stomach.  I brought cut up apples, protein bars, peanut butter/cheese crackers, PB&J (stuff like that).  And bring lots of water.  They will give you a break for lunch.  The trainers will determine the length, but check out the area to see if there are any places you can go to eat.  Once we got 30 minutes & the next day we got an hour.  We were lucky.  There was alot around us for food.

As far as exercise the week of..that's really up to what you can handle.  My normal workout is 5-7 days a week, but my training week I only went to the gym Monday and Tuesday.  I knew what I was in for and did not want to wear myself out.  I will not lie, you will feel like a truck has run over your body.  On Saturday night, I went home and just sat on my couch.  I did not want to move.  I felt like someone had beaten me all over with sticks.  You will do that routine (probably release 64) over and over and over.  And after you teach your track, guess what, you get to do all the others while everyone is teaching.  We had so many people in our training that we had 5 groups, so we had to do each track twice for people to teach.  That is not the normal scenario though.  Lord was I sore!!!!!  You will have what they call the "Body Pump challenge".  Basically they set up different stations around the group fitness room of different weight levels for different exercises.  It is a way to challenge yourself as well as to motivate your partner.  They may have you run outside to warm up depending on your location.  You will also get some video feedback after you teach your track.  That was the best thing for me.  I could see what I was doing wrong so it was easier to fix.  We were assigned a track to teach on Saturday and then we got another to memorize and teach Sunday.

 Lastly..just have fun.  I know you will.  It completely changed the way I look at Body Pump.

You're gonna love it! With that PT background you'll be even more special to your class members and they'll love listening to you.  Just do what you do the best as a trainer and you will shine! Those safety tips and form corrections you use during a 'one on one' training session are going to be relevant and very helpful to a class of individuals !  You might want to keep your focus on the new ones struggling with form and tech once you start teaching, until you learn how to scan the class and then divide your attention more evenly as you progress with your teaching skills. It all takes time, relax and enjoy yourself.

Sometime when you first start out your classes may be smaller and that will help you build the confidence of being in front of a 'class'. You can always practice and train in a small group environment for a while, with friends and other instructors until that magic starts to happen. Remember many of the people in your classes are going to be fresh of the block too, and those older and more experienced participants can also be your 'helpers'. ("Joe knows how to keep a proud chest and his shoulders down, great job... that's the way!") ....Of course, team teaching for a while is great too. Make those friendships and enjoy the ride.

You've also got a bunch of support here on this website with a whole army of fellow instructors backing you up in spirit while you're up there doing your thing!

Our team consists of experienced GX people and inexperienced people.  What I think is the hardest for the inexperienced is the cueing, timing, and the microphone.  Try to get with someone ahead of training to show you some tricks on cueing.  You have to tell people BEFORE they do something or they will be "off."  When you are teaching you will notice right away that the class is waiting for you to tell them what to do...unnerving, at first. 

Get that and you are sure to be a great BP instructor...good luck.

Good luck on your training!

BODYPUMP is a little tough to teach because there are so many changes and the cues can come fast and furious at times. It is easy to get "lost" at first as the change approaches and you draw a blank. I also teach Karate where we have to learn complicated forms. I learned long ago to think of the next move as soon as I start the current move.

Thinking slightly in the future helps you flow smoothly and will eventually allow you to coach and chat with the class between cues without getting lost. For example, if the choreography is

4 - dead lift 2 and 2
4 - dead lift 3 and 1
8 - row single

as soon as I say "2 and 2 dead lift", I think "3 and 1 dead lift", etc.

This only helps after you have learned the choreography from top to bottom. A lot of instructors will write out the choreography in their own code. It helps me to look at it in my code to recognize patterns, etc.

When you practice while listening to the music, say the cues out loud. It is one thing to think a cue and another thing entirely to say it out loud. Cue far enough in advance to allow it to sink in.

There are some good threads here about learning choreography. Just do a search. The first couple of releases you learn may take a lot of effort. It gets easier.

Steve