BODYSTEP yeah!

I don't really like the "BODYSTEP yeh" that seem to end up in the warm-up tracks very much, but it is exactly what I wanted to scream to myself after my class this morning.

On Fridays I have a permanent class at a ladies only gym. I took it on in November. This class has had a large turnover of instructors (me moving isn't helping that statistic) and I was told that I shouldn't expect more than 5-6 people as 'they're not really steppers', that I needed to teach 'low options, then lower than low options' by a few instructors.

I was a little bit apprehensive about taking it on, particularly because I noticed in my years of participating in mid-morning classes whilst I was at uni, that the 'mummy' crowd tend to prefer more experienced and mature instructors.

There has been a few classes where I've said to myself that the class wasn't worth it, but I battled on through. Truth be told, if it wasn't so close and if it wasn't at such a convenient time for me, I would have given it up. These days, it's the highlight of my week!

The demographic of this gym is SO different to anywhere else I teach. Most of them come into the gym having never done an exercise program before, let alone group fitness... the staff are pretty good at recommending classes to their clients and the members are really good at letting me know if they've got injuries, new to the class etc. This makes things so much easier where at most gyms I get to play 'spot the newbie' at the beginning of the class.

Luckily when I started teaching the class we were just starting a new release, but mixing was a whole new ballgame. I wasn't sure whether to just stick with the same mix I did for the rest of my classes, or do something entirely different. I've been slowly figuring them out... at first, I was my normal, cheerful, happy joking self and I got nothing for them. I really did think I was having trouble with connecting with the members, but before and after the classes, the interaction wasn't a problem at all. My numbers stayed reasonably constant, but I was really playing it safe, both with my teaching style and the mixes I taught.

One week I was teaching "Single Ladies" from BODYSTEP #76 in my other classes. I love this track, but I got in the car and had a sinking feeling when I realised that I hadn't organised an alternative track. Ooops. I spent the drive trying to think about any other party steps for which I knew the choreography for... nope. "Single Ladies" it was. I decided to have fun with it anyway, and worry about the consequences later... to my surprise, they loved it! (4 weeks later, we're still doing the same track at their request)

I knew I'd cracked them when I discovered, much to my surprise, that the more I 'party', the more over the top I get, the more they liked it. I was told last week by one of my ladies that she felt like she was 21 again when she came to my class, and I think it's really cool that I can create an atmosphere and provide a release like that. They also now like to ask a multitude of questions about my social life after every class, and as much as I do enjoy a good night on the town, it's not particularly wild. I almost feel like I'm letting them down!

The best thing about this class though, is sharing their success. In most of the other classes that I teach, there's a few participants that are just starting out on their fitness journey, but the majority are settled - going to classes isn't really achieving any new milestones. My lovely ladies are so excited about everything from weight lost to going onto two, or even one riser for the first few tracks for the first time, to just getting through the class! I had a new lady today who came up to me, so stoked that she'd gotten through the class for the first time after not doing group fitness for 10 years due to a back injury.

Today it was hot, and it's a pretty well known fact that the air-con isn't that great in this particular studio. I was thinking I'd be coming to a class of about 7 members, 12 is about average (the gym is only little). I had 18. I think I poured every single ounce of energy I had... I wasn't going for big propulsions, but really connecting with passion, which really built the energy. I finished up feeling completely THRASHED afterwards.

I'll miss them!