My First Body Pump Class!

I taught my first Body Pump class on Saturday, and it went GREAT! 

Social media promo!!

As soon as I finished training, I was able to 'team teach' with a certified instructor, which I did maybe 5 or so times, and that was a HUGE help to being prepared. The very first time I taught I was shaking so bad from nerves/adrenaline, and every time after that I felt so much more confident.

My timeline for getting certified was pretty fast, and I was super okay with that because one the timer was counting, I just wanted to GET IT DONE. I had the greenlight to record starting February 8 with a deadline of submitting my video on April 8. I had to learn 10 routines and record an entire class which I did on February 28, submitted the video March 1 and got my pass on March 8. 

My official class starts March 30, and I'm really excited! But I got to sub for another instructor over spring break and it was so fun and went off fantastically. Luckily I wasn't nearly as nervous as I had been my first time getting up on the stage OR recording my video. I was a NERVOUS WRECK doing that and actually messed up in the second track and said 'F*ck' and sat down on the stage...so needless to say we had to start over. {grin}

The main thing I was nervous about was getting everything set-up correctly. I needed one device for music {our family - mostly Drew's - iPad}, a device to live stream for our customers who can't/don't feel comfortable coming to live classes {my phone}, my headset, and then I had to get everything turned on and working. Once all that was on/working and I started the first routine, I was all-in, and it went off without a hitch! Yay!

I'm going to be team teaching several times over the next week as we are launching a new release {once happens each quarter} and all the Pump instructors are going to do it together. So this week I'll be working on learning 4 new routines - I think that's going to be the hardest part for me at first - building set lists to keep it different/new/entertaining but also not taking up a lot of my time to do it!

My official class starts March 30 at 5:30 am, and the goal is to eventually be teaching Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but since this is a new class time for the studio we're starting with one day/week. I haven't consistently worked out early since pre-kids, so it's going to be an adjustment, but I'm also super excited!

Boom! Getting work DONE!

I only look a little bit manic in our after class group pic, ha!

My Workouts

For the longest time I considered myself an athlete. I ran varsity track in high school, continued running and exercising all throughout college, joined a gym and maintained healthy habits in the early years of our marriage. Then I became a mom and couldn't for the life of me figure out how to be a mom, wife, employee, AND exercise. I didn't recognize myself for a long time - I was out of shape, heavier than I'd ever been, never worked out. 

I tried joining a Gold's Gym Express but missed the group exercise classes and never went. I couldn't motivate myself to do much at home. I joined Orange Theory but found it too repetitive. Then 2 1/2 years ago I discovered Amped Up where I go now and haven't looked back. I am the most active I've been in my adult life and, while I still have some weight I'd like to lose, am super happy with where I am. 

I thought it would be fun to talk about what I do for exercise these days!

• Jazzercise - This used to be all Amped Up offered and is what got me moving again. I did Jazzercise with my mom when I was in college, so I was familiar with the format, and group exercise is definitely my jam. It's choreographed cardio with weight training and SO MUCH FUN. I love that I just have to show up and the awesome instructors have so much energy that you can't help but work hard and have fun.

Getting my 150 class tank on December 31 in 2019!

• Running/Walking - I love taking walks with my wonderful neighbors/ second wives, but I decided to get back into running at the start of the COVID quarantine a year ago. Running used to be my main form of exercise and I hadn't run consistently since getting pregnant with Trent. Fun fact - I ran a Turkey Trot the Thanksgiving I was pregnant with him {5 miles} and HURT for days after. That was the last time I ran for YEARS. Ha! Now I'm running about once a week for 3-5 miles at just over a 10:00 minute/mile pace. Very proud of myself for getting back into this and keeping it up! My last run was Sunday - I went 4 miles at an average of 10:12/mile.

Kelly and me running in HS and in a virtual 5K over the summer

• Body Pump - I can't leave off WHAT I'M CERTIFIED IN!!! I used to do Body Pump all the time pre-kids and love it so much. I love that it is a full body weight workout but you also get your heart pumping. It is such a good workout.

Messing around with 2 other instructors

• Pop Pilates/Body Flow - In the last year I've also started adding in some pilates and yoga. I love that I have seen my flexibility and strength increase through these workouts as well...although the part of me that wants credit for my workouts doesn't like that these don't burn as many calories haha.
• Body Combat - Another class more recently offered at the studio is Body Combat which is cardio kickboxing. It's fun and a killer workout, but I still lean towards Jazzercise the most because that is the MOST FUN. There's also a hip hop dance class called UJAM that I tried once and it was fun but dang am I not coordinated haha.

So that's all my variety of working out! I would say I do anything from 5-7 workouts I week. I try to have Sunday be either yoga/Body Flow or a more relaxed walk, but I love being so much more active now!!

Body Pump

I hinted in my last Currently that I had something exciting going on that I hadn't shared yet over here on the ol' blog. And I finally got the news I was waiting on, so I'm ready to share!

I AM GETTING CERTIFIED TO TEACH BODY PUMP!!!

I have loved group fitness FOREVER, and you guys know I am constantly gushing about my studio, Jazzercise, and the other classes offered there. I've also secretly wanted to be an instructor for a long time - it looks like so much fun and such an amazing group of ladies I wanted to be teaching alongside.

Well, I finally bit the bullet and talked to the owners about it, and here we are!

I had a weekend-long training last weekend where I learned everything I need to know to get certified. I had to submit a video before and after training. The before video was so the instructor could see what my knowledge level was pre-training. The after video determined whether I passed training or not, and I found out Sunday that I passed the training portion!!

I now have 2 months to learn a full-set and record myself teaching that set. I get graded on that video which determines whether I become certified. What is very cool is I get to start teaching with other instructors now, so I've been on the stage a few times getting comfortable and it has been so much fun!

I, of course, had to get approval from my real job and my boss was great about it. I'll be teaching at 5:30 AM once I'm certified {oof, that's early, but honestly it's the best option with a full-time job}, and I can't wait!

Who's going to come to class with me?!?! {grin}