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I took off my earlier message becaue i feel it got lost in translation.  But for those who sent me messages thank you. I was hoping to bring some much needed light to a situation that may be occuring and not talked about. That is all.

I am sorry that you have had a bad experience. I assure you that it is an isolated case. I am 60 years old and have never experienced any age discrimination from my fellow instructors. I am pretty darn fit, so that helps. But I have found that Les Mills instructors are the cream of the crop. We all know that it is a tough gig to get. There are a few petty and jealous people everywhere but I feel that my fellow instructors always treat me as a peer and maybe even look up to me at times. I have to tell you that I feel a lot of love from them.

As older instructors, we need to realize that most of our peers are going to be young, sexy and vibrant. After all, healthy is sexy. No question about that. But there is something special that maturity and experience can bring to a class. We are never going to be able to charm a class like the young and beautiful, but we sure can help a lot of people get good results. The older students can relate to you and younger students can learn a lot from you. I use my age as a joke. And they all have a heck of a time keeping up with me. I have been body pumping for a long time. If you can keep up with me, you are a very fit person. No matter your age.

We all want all instructors to "walk the walk". Maybe there are some dietary and other modifications to your lifestyle that would assist in your personal fitness level. That may help your situation. I have no doubt that I have to work a little harder to maintain my fitness level compared to the twenty, thirty, forty and fifty-somethings that surround me. So I do! The greatest words to hear are: "I want to be like you when I am your age." 

I am happy that you found VIVE, but I hope that you don't stop doing BP. You will lose a whole side of your training. A man cannot live on VIVE alone!

Good luck.

hi there

oh i have sympathy with your post.

the worst part of the whole assessment process/trainnig process is when you feel not good enough or are made to feel not good enough by other instructors or trainers-there really is nothing worse so i do have sympathy with you there.for me,the attitude of others you have described simply made me personally work harder and harder towards my goals within this industry.If you get to the stage where you doubt yourself,then you need to learn not ever to let it show,or to maybe speak to another experienced instructor  about your doubts (confidentially)and get them to work with you.Self doubt in this process is horrible but the trick is working through it-someone else commented it will make you a better,stronger coach and they are truly correct.The trick is seeking out the right role models in this industry and ditching the ones who make you feel the way you have described.

I think you will find there are always certain instructors who will try to make you feel like this.For me,this attitude,which is not just something you've experienced,is prevailent in the industry but it just made me work harder and harder and harder towards being a good role model for the programme i love.To avoid your situation i also choose my role models very carefully - there are some true professionals out there who will work with you,help you and understand what you want to achieve and you should seek them out and avoid the ones who put you down and made you feel like that.

another thing i have learnt lately is that age doesn't matter in the slightest in this industry and that it is the quality of instruction that does-older instructors often have years more experience to draw on and this can only be a positive.You are also right that not being accepted by the other instructors in your facility doesn't matter-you aren't there for them,you are there for your class.If they are being so unprofessional as it sounds they are the type of instructors who give LMI a bad name and you shouldn't feel you need their acceptance (my opinion only.Work hard with your members,be loyal to the programme,and forget those idiots who are making you feel that way.

Very pleased you had a great experience with Vive but dont give up on Body Pump !!!!!!!!

XXXX

 

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"its not about how much weight you move,its how you move with the weight"

pumper101:

I think you will find there are always certain instructors who will try to make you feel like this.

I believe it doesn't matter where you work or in what industry you work in there will always be those who will try to make you feel like this.

Remember you are the one who passed your training for pump therefore you must fit the criteria to become a LM Instructor.  All I can say is try to ignore those who are treating like this and show them what you're made of. After all you say it yourself, what is important is your participants, sounds as if they enjoy your classes and as long as you deliver your class in a manner that is safe and effective, give lots of motivation and enjoyment you're not doing a thing wrong.

From here you can only get better and grow from this horrible experience.  Keep Pumping it would be sad to think that you pulled out because of others, if you love it stick with it.

Good luck!!!

Happy Pumping! (emphasis on the Happy)

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Always Be the Best You Can, Never Ever, Ever Give Up! Dare to be Different!

That Master Trainer should be ashamed of himself, what an ass. His job is too encourage, he's made me angry.

You give a good class and connect with people, that's what it is all about. I'm glad you have focussed on getting the buzz from participants rather than these other idiots who quite frankly just shouldn't be in the industry. Fitness is for everyone. They should support anyone who can get up the front of a class and drive people to push themselves.

Image does play a role, but there are other elements.

Keep it up.

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GO HARD OR GO HOME

image does only get you so far.

what if you had the perfect lmi "image" (whatever that might be??!!)but you couldn't cue,you did not know how to connect with members or how to crc and what safe and effective technique is??

Someone wisely said to me (and it was a male instructor,we were discussing this very topic)that image might get you in the door,or might get you intital attention,but if you can't deliver the class properly,to the correct standard,you would very soon fall flat on your face.you could have the perfect image of a LMI instructor or whatever they think the perfect body type for this is,but if you can't teach the class to the standard they expect,image won't solve that problem and you would only get so far.

image is important but only to a degree.

XX

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"its not about how much weight you move,its how you move with the weight"

Maybe im on my own here but this thread is almost making me vomit!

If the tone of self pity and "poor old me" that  this message is written in is the same attitude that someone takes along to a class-let alone the "real world"- is it any wonder that you are bound to fail?

First of all don't use your age as an excuse-its not! 

Learn to inspire people especially younger ones with your level of commitment, fitness and leadership qualities. If anything, an "older" instructor that looks good and teaches great is often much more inspirational than a young whipper snapper. In case your wondering-im 43.

On the subject of looking good, i get the feeling that perhaps you aren't in the best shape that you could be? If this is true, do something about it! You can pretend that your going to win the class over with your unique teaching style and dazzling personality and to an extent you can. Members aren't stupid though and when you start wheezing during track 3 of a  Body Step class or do a squat track with 10kg on the bar of a Body Pump class your bluff will be well and truly called by the punters in your class.

I have worked around and with lots of Les Mills presenters and trainers for over 10 years and in that time i have yet to meet one that wasn't helpful or encouraging. The feedback has at times been positive, at other times a bit more critical in which case i stood in front of a mirror and did something about it-not go away grumbling about being left out of the loop.

Instructors come in all shapes and sizes,  some good some not so good-just because someone is part of the Les Mills "team" doesn't grant that person any degree of respect or admiration from anyone! Just as in life in general,  respect has to be earned-it would seem that you believe that it is a forthright bestowed on you just because you teach a Les Mills class.

  

 

jonnyp:

Learn to inspire people especially younger ones with your level of commitment, fitness and leadership qualities. If anything, an "older" instructor that looks good and teaches great is often much more inspirational than a young whipper snapper. 

I have worked around and with lots of Les Mills presenters and trainers for over 10 years and in that time i have yet to meet one that wasn't helpful or encouraging. The feedback has at times been positive, at other times a bit more critical in which case i stood in front of a mirror and did something about it-not go away grumbling about being left out of the loop.

I highlighted these two because I agree with JonnyP.

First, I am 41 years old. I have more members coming up to me after class and complimenting me not because I have on the latest BP gear or because my hair is cute. It's because they see and hear the technique and passion I have for BP. I know my chorey inside and out. If you don't, it shows and the members know it.   

Second, every instructor, trainer, and assessor I've ever encountered have been helpful. They are hard but fair. Not because they want to see you fail. It's because Les Mills programs are known for its high quality. No one is given the pass on the assessment unless one deserves it. Do not enable someone to make you feel inferior! You trained in a lot of programs in such a small amount of time. I am glad to hear that you connected with a few. Really commit to learning as much as you can and really shine in those programs. Regardless of how your master trainer feels about you, the members will love you and that is what matters the most. The members are the reason why we have a class in the first place. How silly would we look if were just standing in front of a mirror and some weights with no one in class?  Talk about fitness magic right?

In conclusion, remove yourself from any negativity. Associate yourself with positive like minded people. Are there any other clubs you can work at? Not recommending that you quit but think about where else you can teach Les Mills and meet other instructors you can learn from.

 

Good Luck!!

 

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"With God's Help, ANYTHING is possible."

jonnyp:

Maybe im on my own here but this thread is almost making me vomit!

If the tone of self pity and "poor old me" that  this message is written in is the same attitude that someone takes along to a class-let alone the "real world"- is it any wonder that you are bound to fail?

wow, I think this is a bit harsh!

I'm a group fitness instructor and Personal Trainer that has successful made it into the industry. I've been teaching in total for 3.5 years and I teach combat, attack, pump and balance. But it wasn't all rosy and good.

When I was a participant and decided I wanted to become an instructor, I went and did my training. The GFM at the time was (is) a Trainer and when I approached her about doing voluntary observation hours in order to get my Certificate III in fitness I got told "no". When I did my combat training I got told (by said LM trainer) that I couldn't shadow.

Determined, I left the gym and started teaching elsewhere. 3 years down the track and I still never got offered classes at said gym.......despite the fact that I'm now a sucessful instructor and PT. 6 months ago she left the state and so it doesn't matter anymore, but I'm happy doing what I'm doing......teaching 13 classes a week and doing my PT.

jonnyp, I think you're wearing rose coloured glasses if you think that this stuff doesn't go on.....

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jonnyp:

  respect has to be earned-it

 

No, you should treat every other person with respect in first instance. People can lose their respect when they behave badly, but not giving respect before knowing how a person is, is simply wrong. An attitude like that makes me vomit.

This is for johnnyP.  I think when i said age you got the idea that i was over 40. let me clarify this for you.  I am one of the oldest instructors in my facility meaning i am in my early 30's.  Just so you know i am a certified Personal Trainer. I know the diffrence between constructive critisim and break your spirit critisim. I am not looking looking for pitty from anyone. I am making a point and by the tone or your response to my post you seem to be very judgemental and jummping to conclusions about me and what i said.  And you proved my my point exactly.  I posted so that people would be aware of some of the things that go on when it comes to becomig part of this Lesmills instructor group. I know  regardless that it is up to me to pave my destiny, which i am and up to me to succeed, it is made alot funnier if you have group x instructors that you can pave this journey with together. thats my point.  So no  i dont need a pitty party and when i say "looking the part" it goes deeper then age.....thats all i am going to say about that.

Maybe some of the instructors at your club are jealous of your good class numbers and the connection you have with your class participants.Just because they can be 19 years old and in perfect shape, looking great but still not be good instructors. Everybody has their own unique strengths they bring to their classes and you seem to have plenty of them. By the way, I trained in body combat when I was 45 years old; I was 15 years older than the next oldest person in my training group. Then earlier this year I trained in body attack. I also do pump and rpm but do not teach those. I am 47 and I teach 2 combat and 1 attack class a week. I am in better shape than I was when I was 20. But alot of people relate to me specifically because of my age, and I use that to connect with them. I encourage them that if I'm a doctor with a full-time practice, I have 2 teenagers, and I can do this, well so can you! One of my best friends trained last year in body pump and teaches 3 classes a week; she will be 50 later this year. She is a tiny person and her weights when she started were really light, but she learned great form and has a great connection with her class; her weights have really increased over the year and a half she has taught and she now does all her pushups on her toes. She is a very popular instructor. If you motivate and inspire people in your classes and connect with them in your own unique way, then you are a great instructor even if not everything about you is perfect. In fact, I think some of the perfect-looking instructors who become stuck-up are not as good as instructors because they do not seem as "real" to people, and reaching their level of fitness or looking like they do does not seem to be an achievable goal. And they may be so focused on themselves, on getting up there and preening and showing off their perfect body that they fail to connect to people or inspire them in a more meaningful way. I have people in my classes ranging from high schoolers to people around age 60, also people in great shape and those who are significantly overweight; the real challenge is to find ways to relate to each of them where they are and motivate them and encourage them towards their specific goals. Sounds like you're the kind of person that can do that because you care and because you are "real" to them. So keep up the good work and don't get discouraged.It's too bad you have the bad experience with the trainer because my trainer for BC and BA was awesome; and even though I am one of the older instructors in my club, we all support each other. I hope you can find a club sometime in the future where you will have that pleasure of really being part of a team.

traveller69:

 

No, you should treat every other person with respect in first instance. People can lose their respect when they behave badly, but not giving respect before knowing how a person is, is simply wrong. An attitude like that makes me vomit.

You seem to be confused so let me help you clear your mind.

By saying "but not giving respect before knowing how a person is, is simply wrong" you are in fact confirming what i said. Thats right, you  cant give respect before knowing how a person is so YOU HAVE TO EARN IT!

If you are still confused this means, in the case of an instructor, getting up before your class, doing a great job and earning the members respect. How can someone possibly respect you or the job you do if its not done properly?

Having been in this game for a long time i cant  remember how many instructors think doing some sort of training and getting some sort of qualification entitles them to some some sort of respect or credibility.

It doesn't! 

They are the same instructors that complain about so and so being this or  that, or so and so getting all the good time slots etc. Guess what- the good instructors usually do get the good time slots, usually do get the credit they deserve from their peers and yes, they get the respect of the members.

 

I'm sorry your experience has been negative so far.  I'm fortunate that the group x team here in Ottawa is FANTASTIC and I have only received support and encouragement.

I think that the Master Trainer is a jerk -- their job is to support and encourage new instructors -- no one becomes fab overnight.  It takes a lot of hard work and dedication -- however if you're constantly discouraged by words or actions (or inactions) then I can understandand how difficult it is.

 I'm glad you found your niche.  Considering you have trained in so many programs in such a short time, perhaps it's best if you perfect one at a time, IMHO.  Gain your confidence back and then go kick some butt.

cheers, rosa

jonnyp:

traveller69:

 

No, you should treat every other person with respect in first instance. People can lose their respect when they behave badly, but not giving respect before knowing how a person is, is simply wrong. An attitude like that makes me vomit.

You seem to be confused so let me help you clear your mind.

By saying "but not giving respect before knowing how a person is, is simply wrong" you are in fact confirming what i said. Thats right, you  cant give respect before knowing how a person is so YOU HAVE TO EARN IT!

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I've been invisible for a while - profile got deleted, so I'm back and 'friendless' with a post-count of about zero - so hello again everyone.