ICC Group Fitness Sampler

On any given day, I am typically a fairly laid back person. I don't let the little things stress me out; however, there comes a time about once a quarter where I majorly stress. 

Quarterly Launch Time. 

Add in participating in a launch at a facility where I've just begun teaching classes and haven't met any other instructors besides the GFM and you have me majorly stressed. On October 6th, I participated in the group fitness sampler and Les Mills Launch at Illinois Central College. where I would be participating in the launch for Body Pump, Body Flow as well as Zumba. For the launch, all of the instructors were asked to wear black in order to create visual consistency. 

The morning kicked off at 7:30 am with the RPM launch. A little after 8 I was finally up. My first track to teach was the squat track from Body Pump 83. The song, a classic - "The Summer of 69", really pushes the legs with lots of bottom halves. Body Pump is such an empowering class. While all of the repetitions fatigue the muscles, the feeling of empowerment from Body Pump can carry you a long way. 

After participating in the Body Step sampler, I went to change while everyone else participated in CXWorks. If I get another Les Mills certification, I'm pretty sure it will be this program. Who wouldn't want a 30 minute class to work their core? I know I do.

"Indian Moonshine" a Bhangra Folk Fusion song

While Body Pump is empowering, Zumba is uplifting. Even if you arrive at Zumba in a bad mood, you will not leave that way. Zumba is colorful, loud and alluring which is why I had to change out of my all black garb. It was time to bring some la especia into the day. 

"Fuera de Control" - Reggaeton

Zumba is a based on 70% of the music being international rhythms. Each instructor can determine the mix of songs which can range from typical Latin rhythms such as salsa, cumbia, merengue and raggaeton, but also African dance, techno, and Indian.

"Getting Nasty" - Techno Dance

When it was finally time to launch Zumba, the class was full with over 20 participants who were fitness center members, instructors and couples. Just about everyone I talked to claimed not to have any rhythm, but to me Zumba is not about hearing the beat. It's really about moving your body in a fun way. When you get done with Zumba, you should say that was fun and walk away feeling good about yourself.

Every Zumba class is different. You never know how your class participants are going to react to any given song. Most of the time I have ladies about my age look at me as if to say, "You honestly expect my body to move that?". Well, believe me, without practice it won't. You have to remember how to re-engage your obliques in order to make those hips swivel once again. Like riding a bike, it all comes back with practice.

Michael (GFM), Tina and myself doing Tai Chi

After Zumba, I changed back into my Les Mills clothing while the launch for Turbo Kick and /P90X was going on for the launch of Body Flow. Body Flow is the toughest class I teach as far as learning the movements, but I will never give it up. It always leaves me feeling very centered and balanced. Some mornings I will arrive at class feeling very frazzled after pushing the kids out the door for school; however, when I leave, all of those stressors have been forgotten and I feel ready to take that zen feeling out into the world.

Down Dog

I love the various track focuses for Body Flow. Following a tai chi warm up and sun salutations, we hit the legs with some standing strength challenging them through intense pose, lunges, and warrior 2 poses. Some standing strength tracks can be extremely challenging. Don't ever think yoga is easy. It will surprise you. 

Balance

For Body Flow, I taught tracks 4-6: Balance, Hip Openers and Core-Abs. The Balance track is definitely quirky and fun with the song "Somebody That I Used to Know". Balance is something we all struggle with as we age. If you do not work on it, you will lose it. I also find that I struggle with balance if I've not been getting enough sleep as well.

Sun Salutations

The Hip Openers track is always one of my favorites. Because we hold so many emotions within our hips, the release through stretching is a very calming and soothing process. Pair that up with a beautiful song like "Every Little Thing She does is Magic" and you have an incredible release for the hips and energy for the mind. Finish with the frog pose and you definitely have Magic for the hips.

Hip Openers

The Core-Abs track for Body Flow 58 is one of the toughest we've done. The movements are very slow and require long holds. Can you say "Ouch"?

ICC Group Fitness Instructors 

As usual, I was very relieved when the launch was over. One less hurdle to worry about and yes everything went very well. I enjoyed meeting the other group fitness instructors at ICC and received some very positive feedback from Michael.

And now it's time to prepare for a fun filled weekend at the Midwest Mania and Les Mills Quarterly. I can't wait to attend all of the great classes offered and drink in some Les Mills Kool-Aid. A little bonding with my fellow instructors over some sweaty workouts....who wouldn't want to spend their day like that?