Posts from — March 2008

It may not be very incredible to you, but I am astonished that it has been exactly one year since my very first post on this blog.  It has been an incredible year, and I am still amazed and humbled by how rewarding this process has been.  I had the honor of being interviewed (first one ever — how fun!) a couple of months ago, and if you have ever wondered what my purpose in doing this whole thing is, you can read it on Biray’s blog. 

I think birthdays are the perfect opportunity to reflect on the milestones of our life and to measure ourselves against the goals that we have set.   Have I grown and gotten closer to my ideals?  Where have I fallen short?  What did I learn along the way? 

 My initial goals for Group Fit Power were very simple:  provide valuable content and advice to other group fitness instructors and see if anyone is interested in what I have to say.  Well, it appears that you *are* interested; and, even I have found my own advice to be valuable, as writing on each of these topics reminds me not only to “practice what I preach” but also to be sure that what I “preach” isn’t hype, and it isn’t over-fluffed.

 Many thanks to you for returning here regularly to find spinning profiles, choreography and tips on being a better-than-average instructor.  As we move into year 2, I hope to find new ways to provide content and useful tools for you.  I am working to take this blog further, and I hope you will come with me!

 Finally, if you have been lurking (and, yes, you have), please take a moment today to leave a comment.  There are ways to do it anonymously, so you don’t have to sign up for anything.  I would love to hear any thoughts you have about what we can add to this concept to give you more of what you were looking for when you landed here.  What tools do you want to have access to?  What content do you want more of (or less of)?  I appreciate you and want to hear your thoughts.  Please take a second and say hello.  Letting me know how you can be better served is definitely a good thing for you!!  If you aren’t comfortable with commenting, you can email me:   ABCkmXYZleopold123 [AT ] yahoo [DOT] com.  To actually reach my email box, you will need to remove the ABC, XYZ, and 123 and then make the appropriate [replacements].  Have to outsmart the spam bots, you know.

 So, Happy Birthday, GFP!  It has been a fun year, and I couldn’t have done it without you!

Hey folks!  I mentioned in a previous post the discount you can get on SCW Fitness MANIA events through PT on the Net.  Just wanted to update you and invite you to join me in Orlando, FL May 30-Jun 1 for the Florida MANIA.  There are so many conferences each year, and it can be difficult to decide which one you should attend, if any.  The cost goes far beyond registration fees, you might have to pay for transportation, hotels, and food, not to mention wanting to load up on vendor goodies.  This year, I opted for a conference close to home and where I can visit family rather than stay in a hotel.  The workshops look interesting, and I’ll take care of nearly all the CEU’s I need for each of my certs in one stop. 

I encourage you to check it out and if you decide to register, drop me a line.  I would love to have a chance to thank you in person for visiting this site!

Step aerobics is to group fitness what the immigration issue is to politics — divisive.  Members either love it or hate it, walk out if the instructor taps, get confused if she doesn’t, one bench or four…  As for me… I’m one who loves to take a highly-choreographed, super-advanced, prancing all over as many benches as we can fit in the room.  But teaching it?  Holy crap, I can barely cue one move every four counts and I seem to fall off the step at least once a quarter.  (I’d like to blame my clubs slippery floors, but alas, I am that clumsy.) 

So I admit it, I am a weak Step instructor.  How, then, does one explain why one of the more popular classes at one gym where I teach happens to be my Step class?  Is it possible to teach Step using the K.I.S.S. forumla and still keep die-hard Steppers satisfied?  I dare say it is.  Here are my secrets to satisfying all ends of the Step Spectrum.

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