A few months ago, I wrote about my Fitness Instructor Pet Peeves. Gosh I could add to that list as of recently… I always seem to get the crazies in my classes! Anyway, the other day in the shower (anyone else have some of their best ideas while in the shower?), I started thinking about things I do as a fitness instructor that members/class participants may not think I do, and I thought it would be fun to share!

1. Sometimes I… make my workouts on the way to the gym or while in the locker room, 5 minutes before class. What can I say? I don’t always have ample time to plan my workout in advance. I don’t like to make my workouts up on the fly, but it happens sometimes and I just have to roll with it!

2. Sometimes I… reuse workouts. Not generally for the same class two weeks in a row but if I am teaching similar classes on different days and don’t have time to make a whole new workout, I use the one I taught earlier in the week! I apologize to members if they end up coming to both classes, but they never seem to mind, or notice, that the workout is the same.

3. Sometimes I… Use workouts from other instructors or magazines. I think all fitness instructors can agree that we sometimes just run out of new ideas. What I love about the blog world is having access to so many amazing fitness blogs that provide inspiration and ideas for me. I don’t usually take the workout and do the exact thing in my class, but I do take some of the exercises or format ideas to help build my workout.

4. Sometimes I… Stop doing the workout with the class because it’s too hard and I can’t breathe, yell, instruct, correct form AND do the exercise at the same time. What?! Can you blame me? Just because we are fitness instructors does not mean we are in the best shape or are the strongest in class. We are human, too, and have off days where we don’t have the energy to do everything! My goal as an instructor is not to make the workout tough for me, but to make it tough for everyone else, so while I’m instructing, I try to do most of the workout, but more than that I try to walk around, coach, instruct, correct form, etc. And that can only be done if I can breathe 😉

5. Sometimes I… Dread teaching. Say, what?! I know it seems like I’m always up for a workout and excited to teach (99% of the time this is true), but sometimes I really just don’t want to teach. I don’t want to go to the gym. I don’t want to smile and laugh. I don’t want to be peppy. There. I said it. Again, we are human, too. Days like this take SO MUCH MORE energy than days when I want to teach. But in the end, it’s always worth it!

6. Sometimes I… re-wear my workout clothes before washing them. If it’s a big week of teaching and I don’t sweat TOO much in a class, I’ll wear them again before washing them. I know it may seem gross, but my rationale is that I am going to get sweaty in them as soon as I start working out. I don’t generally re-wear tops, but sports bras and pants? Yeah, sometimes.

7. Sometimes I… find pleasure in making members come close to getting sick from the intensity of the workout. Wow, that makes me sound terrible, huh? What I mean, is that I love when members find my workouts tough, yet still come back for more. I love it when they thank me for coming very close to getting sick during some of the exercises. I don’t want people to waste an hour of their day in my class, so I want to make it worth their time!

8.  Sometimes I… get upset and feel bad when members walk out of class. As much as I want people to work hard in my class and think I’m a tough instructor, I feel awful when people leave because the workout is too hard. There are ALWAYS modifications (which I show), so even though some of the members might be doing something crazy hard, if that’s not your level for the day, then just modify! No one is looking at you or judging, trust me. They are focusing on not dying 😉

9. Sometimes I… Feel empowered because I have the mic and am in control of the class. It’s just something about yelling into the mic and having all eyes on me as I instruct that is a wonderful feeling 😉 Especially when I have great music on and a full class with high energy… I absolutely feed off of that and tend to get even more intense than normal! And yes, I feel sorry for my members during these times 🙂

10. Sometimes I… avoid people in the locker room. I’m sorry, but the locker room is MY time to get changed, mentally prepare for class, etc. It’s nothing against the members who might also be in the locker room, but it’s more that I am not ready to chat yet.

Questions for you: Fitness instructor friends- Can you relate to any of my “confessions”? Do you have any that I didn’t list? Non-instructor friends- what’s a confession you have when taking a group ex. class or going to the gym?

Have a great weekend!!! 🙂