I don't have an awesome Bodypump action shot, that's just me and my son Tommy, when he was about 4 months old, in April, 2007
I've been a certified Bodypump instructor since June, 2007, teaching at a YMCA in Cudahy (near Milwaukee), Wisconsin. Presently, I teach one class a week, 8:00 a.m. on Saturday mornings. My class started with 6 participants and has been as large as 24, with a solid core (my set position members!) of about 15. In addition to my class, I will sometimes serve as a substitute for the Pump instructor on the Monday and Wednesday evening class.
I don't have a particularly inspiring story as to how I became a Bodypump instructor, and it certainly isn't my full-time job. At one point in my life, I was well over 325 lbs, and completely inactive. I was worried I was going to die before my time, so I joined the local YMCA, primarily focusing on cardiovascular exercise on treadmills and cross-trainers with some weight training. I joined in February, 2004. I was pretty embarrassed by how I looked and felt about myself at the time. Whether we like it or not, people judge us on our appearance, and mine was not flattering.
After getting serious about an exercise routine, I spoke to a physician, and ultimately underwent gastric bypass surgery in April, 2005. I lost 145 lbs. following the surgery, and the year or so before I had the surgery was well worth it, in getting me into a habit with exercise. I eventually focused on starting distance running to supplement my activity.
Weight-loss surgery isn’t a magic bullet. You need to work the program. I explain it as being somewhat like recovering from alcoholism. Everyday, I need to make choices to exercise and eat right. Everyday, I need to recommit to that process. Keep that in mind if you ever meet someone that made that choice. Some days are easier than others and, whether we admit it or not, every one of us is day to day.
After I had lost about 130 lbs, I found that my YMCA had an advertisement for part-time strength training instructors. The pay isn’t great, but it did come with a free membership. One interview later, I had a part-time job at the YMCA. Ultimately, I also became a YMCA lifeguard and building supervisor. I have to thank my first supervisor Kim M., who gave me a chance. I've told my Pump classes that you can either thank her for hiring me or hold her accountable for setting some events into motion that ultimately inflicted me on our Bodypump program.
After about a month at the YMCA, Kim asked me if I would like to go to Bodypump instructor school. This was a Thursday, and the school started on the next day, apparently an instructor candidate had dropped out at the last minute, and the decision was to either find a replacement, or lose out on the money that the branch spent for the instructor’s tuition. I had no idea what Bodypump was, other than we offered it as a group fitness class at our facility. Kim gave me one of the releases to take home, and watch so I had an idea before the school began.
That very night, I sat and watched the instructional DVD. I was eating a small bowl of ice cream at the time and I remember thinking, “Well that doesn’t look too hard; it’s just prancing around a room with weights to music...”
On Friday, I showed up to instructor school, got my release (56) and my first assignment, biceps – “Everybody Dance Now.” Then the pain began. I’d never actually done any of the exercises, and I certainly didn’t understand the choreography notes that I was given. I was a hot mess.
Physically, I kept up with the class, and even lead on some portions of it (like the running) during the Bodypump challenge. My technique, timing, and choreography were all horrible though. Every muscle in my body hurt. Don’t even get started on my clean and press…
I got a fail. At the time, I was disappointed, but looking back on it now, and how completely unprepared I was, it was understandable.
Kim was quite understanding; she later told me that she actually didn’t even expect me to come back to carpool area for the training on Saturday. I did return on Saturday and Sunday, mostly out of fear of losing my job.
I never finished my remedial training or taped for release 56. I didn’t even go back to a Bodypump class for about 3 months.
But for some reason, Kim talked me into it, and I started taking classes in the summer, just as a participant. Again, I thank her, or hold her responsible.
And as my skill improved as a participant, I started to enjoy it, even re-arranging my regular Friday workout routine to include the class.
In the fall of 2006, our Bodypump classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings were packed with participants. We have equipment for up to 32 participants, and most nights, we had at least 24 or more. I was still working as a strength training instructor, but there was a need for additional coaching on technique. Kim arranged my work schedule so that I would spend about 45 minutes with the class as they worked the release. I would just spot correct technique as best I could while our instructor Mary taught. I started to enjoy working with the participants.
Eventually I had to cut back on my job at the YMCA when I took a new full-time job. I was able to start taking Bodypump as a participant though. After a few classes, I decided that I had left things undone, and asked Kim to get me into a class at the next available opportunity. I agreed to pay for the class, my hotel and travel if necessary, and then do the work and get the certification.
In February 2007, I attended an instructor school hosted at the YMCA in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. It was Release 60, and I had been working on the choreography since our YMCA received it in January of 2007. I had 1-6 down at the time I showed up to the school, and as I lucked out, I got assigned 3 and 4 as my work.
I attended with another fabulous Bodypump instructor to be from my facility named Michelle. Physically, she’s one of the toughest women I know. I’m absolutely thrilled when she has the time to come to my class as a participant and helps me by doing some of the spot correction for our new members.
Michelle later commented to me that the school was tougher than giving birth. I guess she’d know. I thought that this school was easier physically, although I don’t know what amount of that was due to the fact that I mentally knew what I was going to be facing as opposed to my first trip to the school.
I got a pass withheld the second time around, and started doing some shadowing, on the tracks that I had studied in the school. I finished my school on February 11, 2007, and taped on March 23, 2007. Some minor technical problems later in transferring the mini-discs to a standard DVD, (thanks to Michelle for fixing those!), I submitted my release and got a notice about a month later that I passed.
I got assigned a newly opened Pump class, Saturday mornings at 8:00 a.m., beginning in June, 2007. I was a bit suspect as to the time, of the class, but it grew, as I did. That class is now a part of my life that I genuinely look forward to each week. Other than one Saturday, I haven’t missed one since I began teaching. Thankfully, the YMCA has a place I can put my son while I teach classes. I usually study my choreography during my lunch at my full-time job, and at nights and weekends as needed. I just started teaching 64, and I usually will teach a release for about 3 or 4 classes before changing it up. With 5 to choose from, I don’t get bored with it, and hopefully, either do my classes.