P90X Certification

Yesterday I became a certified instructor for the new P90X Live!! If you know anything about me at all, you know I am obsessed with P90X. I have been doing it off and on since 2010 & I lost all 67lbs of baby weight by doing a round of P90X, two rounds of P90X3 and a round of P90X2. It's my soulmate workout.

I was extremely excited about getting this certification and was not nervous at all. Yesterday morning at 8:45 I showed up to get certified. Twenty-three of us were there to become instructors and as far as I could tell I was the only one who had no experience teaching classes. The best part about being the least experienced is that you have something to learn from everybody! I swear I learned just as much from the people in my class as I did from our Master Trainer Steph. (Steph is amazing & also did my TurboKick training last week.)

The first thing we did was go around the room and introduce ourselves and then Steph talked a little about this new P90X Live format. The classes can be structured to be 30, 45 or 55 minutes. They have a warm up, 12 minutes of cardio X, 12 of lower strength, 12 of upper strength, 12 of core and a cool down. One of these blocks can be removed to make a 45 minute class or remove two for a 30 minute class.  The class itself is SO MUCH FUN!! We all got our butts kicked as she led us through the master class. It has awesome music and everything can be modified to make it easier (or harder!)

After our master class we had a short break to refuel and then we were put into groups of four. Each group was given a move (ours was plank) and we had to demonstrate it to the class and talk about  kinetic checkpoints (ie how to position our bodies to do the move correctly). Then within our groups we paired off and went through every move in this P90X round to make sure we knew how to do it and that we can correct the form of those in our classes. I was super lucky to pair off with somebody who has a ton of experience. I really learned a lot from him. He even helped me with my push-up form!

Next came our lunch break - we were all starving by then. After lunch we got to sit down as we went over choreography notes and listened for the cues in the music. This is already so much easier for me than TurboKick. We don't have to worry about 32 counts or having everybody move together. This workout is all about moving at your own pace. Love it!!! 

Once we knew how to listen for the cues, it was time for more group work. We were put into four groups and each group worked on a block of the workout (cardio, lower, upper or core). In our groups we listed the things we needed to say when we teach our block. I was in the upper group so for us it was talking about setting up the moves, proper form for pushups, curls, etc. Then we formed groups of four with an expert in each block and we had to teach our group. I was a little nervous here because I was the only newbie but my group was so nice! It also helped that I didn't have to worry about keeping the beat of the music, I could just focus on coaching and instructing. After we went through our blocks, it was back to our bigger groups to list more in depth coaching cues we could give and then back to teach our groups of four again. By the end of that final group session we were all dead tired! I swear, that was one of the most physically demanding data of my life!

Now that the physical aspect of the day was over, we got back into one large group to discuss motivational cueing and a final Q&A. Then we were done!! 

This class is seriously so much fun and I am so excited at the prospect of teaching it. I don't have as much practice to do as I do with TurboKick. Honestly, I think I could teach it in about two weeks! It's also something I can easily teach in the park. I just need to buy some resistance bands.

Up next I'm going to get my group ex certification so I can get hired somewhere to teach classes!

Here's North Carolina's first group of P90X instructors:

Bring it!!

TurboKick Certification

As of yesterday I am officially a Certified TurboKick Instructor!  Yay!!!  Yesterday was challenging, a ton of fun and also really took me out of my comfort zone.  I thought I would write a little blog about it because I know whenever I am interested in something I search the internet for any and all info on it to know what to expect.

I've really become motivated to help people reach their health and fitness goals in all aspects so I started looking into fitness instructor certifications.  I love the TurboFire program so I figured I would try out TurboKick.

Before my training I read over my TurboKick manual and highlighted all of the important information.  The night before my family and I made the 3.5 hour drive from Charlotte, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC.  Surprisingly I didn't start to feel nervous until we pulled up to the YMCA for my training.  But my fears were quickly put aside when I met my fellow trainees.  Everybody was so nice!  I was immediately put at ease.  We all wanted each other to succeed.  Five other women were training with me and only two of us had no teaching experience.

The training started at noon and our Master Trainer Stephanie sat us all down and went over a few basics with us about being an instructor and TurboKick in specific.  Then it was time to workout!  Stephanie led us through the whole workout and let me tell you, it was so much fun!!  The music is great and you really work us a sweat.  Stephanie showed us how to modify as we went through the workout, which was good for me since I don't love jumping!

After our master class, we had a short lunch break and then it was time to talk about choreography, counting beats and cueing.  When I read over the manual, this was the part I felt like I would struggle with because I had no idea what a 32 count was and it all sounded so foreign to me.  We listened to the music to hear the beat and how to count.  We also made up our choreography notes for the intro part of the workout.  Each round of TurboKick has the same intro so once we learn it once, we are good to go.

Next, we worked on our punching and kicking skills.  I really feel like I learned a lot during this part of the training.  Obviously it is important that instructors have good form!

Once we practiced our form it was time for us to work on the intro.  We practiced it as a group and then we were paired up to teach the intro to our partners.  As I predicted, this part was difficult for me because I am not yet familiar with the 32 count or cueing.  Thankfully my partner was so nice and helpful!  She teaches Zumba so she was really familiar with counting and cueing and helped me out a lot!  When we each taught the intro, then we took turns teaching the punching section.  I absolutely know I need to work on cueing and counting the most before I can teach classes!  I will fully admit that it is hard for me to mentally count beats, cue the next movement, remember the choreography and keep a smile on your face!  I know this will come with time but man it's hard!

The physical portion of our training was over (thankfully...we were all worn out!) and we were given the option to join Pro Team and receive an additional TurboKick round.  I signed up.  Stephanie told us that as long as we had a tiny chance we might teach, we should sign up so we would have a little library of rounds.  The cool part is we can mix & match the music and rounds together to keep our classes fresh.

We ended the training with a little wrap up and Q&A session.  I think we all felt excited about TurboKick once the training was over. I have a TON of practice to do but I am hoping to be able to start a Fit Club and teach some free TurboKick classes in the park this summer and fall.

Here is the group of new Instructors along with our fabulous Master Trainer in front:

Up next:  P90X LIVE Certification next Saturday.  I will make sure to blog about that one as well since the format is brand spanking new.  I am so excited about that training.  I am a p90x girl for life!