Last week, I applied to be an instructor at Orangetheory Fitness and I was invited to take a staff workout to see if I liked the workout and was interested in moving forward in the process. I was a little nervous for the floor/strength portion of the workout, as I come from more of a cardio side of the fitness world.  When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was how hard they're working to make sure everything is sanitized, cleaned, and everyone's temperature was checked before we entered the building, so that participants will feel comfortable with the sanitizing and social distancing in the gym (once they open again in NYS). It was also required that we wear a mask during the workout. I was given an armband that tracked my stats on screens in the room. Here's the gist of the what happened during the hour workout (from the Orangetheory website): 

Heart-Rate Based HIIT Workout
The 5 Heart Rate Zones - Your coach will guide you through our 5 different heart rate zones: resting, easy, challenging, uncomfortable and All Out, telling you when to push harder and when to pull back for recovery. The goal is to spend just 12 to 20 minutes with your heart rate elevated in “The Orange Zone” to boost your metabolism, burn fat and burn more calories.

What Happens In Class - You rotate through the following: Rowing, Cardio (Treadmill), Strength Training (varies daily)

Depending on what you start with first, you will rotate around the room and through the workout. The coach had great energy, kept us energized, and was super helpful explaining everything, considering I never done it before. For a first time participant, there are a lot of numbers to try and pay attention to (what's on your treadmill/rower and the stats your armband is projecting onscreen). Overall, I had a great time at this workout! I loved the variety of what you do in the hour class and for those like me that favor one format, it's great to be pushed out of your comfort zone.  Have you tried an Orangetheory workout before? If so, what did you think? 

This winter, Zumba® created a brand new e-learning course called Cue Like A Pro. What's so great about this course, besides the fact that the instructor is the amazing Steve Boedt, is that he really breaks down cueing in a way that is totally understandable and applicable. Cueing isn't something that comes naturally to most instructors. Most of us have to work at it, by learning the cues while learning the choreo so it sticks in the brain. 

Due to COVID-19 and all of us being stuck at home, Zumba® gave all of the instructors this course, for FREE (!). It was a treat and made being stuck at home with no way to teach classes a little more bearable. I recommend that every instructor take this as once you pass, you will have the materials and videos to reference as you work toward becoming better at cueing and therefore, a better instructor. 

After getting my Zumba® license, I wanted to make sure I had all the knowledge I needed to run my classes the way they should be run. I decided to pursue getting my AFAA Certification as a Group Fitness Instructor. This was not an easy task, as I had no medical background, so all the terms for muscles, bones etc., were all new to me. I broke up all of the chapters and modules and began learning all this information bit by bit over the course of 13-15 weeks (I also work full time). I started around March and tested on August 4th. I passed!!!! Now, the reason why I look so happy in this photo is because this test IS NOT EASY. Many people do not pass on their first try and have to retake, so props to me, because during the test I wasn't so sure I would pass! One amazing source I would highly recommend is joining is AFAA Study Group on Facebook, which was full great information and camaraderie among those studying for the test. I also bought the whole package on the AFAA site (book, free retest, practice tests etc.). Note, if you got your Zumba® license first, they offer steep discounts on the certification so you can save a lot of money.  Now that I have that out of the way, I feel educated and equipped to run my classes in a safe manner.