Fitness, Fun, Friends, & Finance

For many years I've enjoyed going to they gym and taking group fitness classes-- for me it's never mattered what class was offered, if the time was right I'd be there to get a workout and socialize.   Each time we move, hanging out at the gym is the way I end up meeting my new friends.  I had often thought what a great job it would be to teach the classes.  Back in December 2013, the fitness director at our community gym let me know they were having a person come onsite to do a group fitness certification and if I was interested I could join the group.  Well, you often don't get obvious signs like that, so I figured this was my opportunity and it couldn't be any clearer.  I got certified as a group fitness instructor and then also as a TRX instructor.

About a year ago, I was hired at our gym and started teaching classes.  I wanted to teach a cardio sculpt class that the director was doing, so she worked with me to get started, however, I found I have a hard time keeping beat and counting.  I realized I would need to adjust the class to not have to worry about the beat of the music.  I tweaked the class a few times and now have a a circuit training class and a group of 8-10 regular attendees.  Below is a photo of my group.

For me the best part of being a fitness instructor is having a group that regularly attends and getting to know each of them.  I've seen so many people loose weight and become stronger over the last year and I'm happy to know I have made a difference in their lives.  I will admit, that many mornings I'd like to just crawl back into bed and do nothing all day, but having a job now,  I've got to go, be positive, and make sure anyone else who dragged themselves to the class gets what they came for. When the hour is done, even if I didn't work out myself, those endorphines got flowing and I feel great heading off to start my day.

If that opportunity never presented itself to me over a year ago, I'd still be crawling back into bed skipping my workouts when I wasn't feeling great.