Reflections on Fitness Instructing

It's been slightly a year since I started teaching group fitness at my company's gym. I can say I've come a long way since those first few classes.

I used to copy more or less my entire class from Les Mills programs. And my cueing and execution was really weak. I still remember the first class after it was officially announced to the company - more than 30 people turned up and it was sooo packed. But I only saw less than 15 the following week! And it kept on decreasing after that.

I took that in stride and kept on evolving. Release #5 of my class was the first release that I completely stopped copying from Les Mills. The format and feel is the same, but I choreographed all the tracks myself. It is a great achievement because I consider choreography a step higher than instructing. As an analogy, there are many great piano players, but how many of them can write their own pieces?

Last month my company's new group fitness hall was opened and it can finally accommodate 30 - 50 participants (compared to 15 before renovations). I'm glad that it only opened recently - it gave me ample time to improve myself and be a better instructor.

Unfortunately, no matter how good one is, most employers look for that little piece of paper that states you're certified. And that's stopping me from teaching in the large gyms. Hopefully that will change once I get my BodyJam cert next month. It's time for another chapter in the interesting world of fitness instructing!