So You Wanna be a Gym Instructor huh?

I do! Dreaming Reality hasn't been updated as regularly in 2009 as last year but its because I've been busy busy busy! And this year has been filled with more quality interesting discoveries than little wonders... discoveries that take up more time to experience and do.. so do kindly forgive me if you came and refreshed and refreshed only to realise.. eh! Still same post! How come?!... but don't worry! More to come in the coming weeks. Keep me on your favourites list! :)

So what have I been up to the past week? I've embarked on fitness instructor training! Yep! My mom very very graciously sponsored the program for me! *love love*

Finally I'm on a training course towards being a certified instructor as opposed to only volunteering my time and efforts at the gym *since I work out there so much anyway* just because I didn't have the relevant paper certifications and fundamental knowledge to be one officially. Very soon, it will be a different path for me where I move from being a enthusiastic participant to leading a group class of my own and I'm damn bloody excited!!

I'm now undergoing a Fitness Instructor Core Course conducted by Fisaf which is required of all fitness professionals in the industry to ground themselves with the basics such as body physiology, ie muscles/bones and how the body works, human kinetics, exercise methodologies, communication guidelines, exploring the various types of teaching methods and personal training methodologies etc...

And it was conducted over 5 full 830am to 7pm days. For personal reasons, I was only able to commence on day 2 but I was given a one-on-one session to cover the topics I had missed on day 1 and caught up without a hitch.

I was expecting lectures obviously and perhaps some demonstration work and practicals but I was NOT expecting the course to be literally BOOTCAMP STYLE.

Frankly, I have not worked out for SO LONG and SO MUCH in my LIFE. Even when I went for 3 classes a day, it was not as intense as this. And the first day literally shocked the hell *and a hell of alot of calories* out of me. It was like doing 6-8 hours of continous workout with a smattering of 1 hour of lecture & discussion that was inserted ever 2-3 hour intervals of exercise. At the end of each day, we were all sticky and EXTREMELY smelly. It was hilarious how we all used jackets to "try" to mask our stink but we all knew.. the PONG from our group WAS A KILLER.

Throughout the day, we ran around the stadium tracks, did core muscle work, worked out with various types of resistance equipment, bands, balance discs, swiss balls, bosu *which is those semi circle ball like equipment that you may see at the gym, practiced body weight resistance, did 4 point circuit training and balance training.

I was practically DEAD on the ground at the end of that day! Insane!! My legs literally wanted to detatch itself, drop off and run away and never come back.... *sobs*

Other than Diane Haslam who was the master trainer and the person who represents and trains all Fisaf certified instructors, various other reputed fitness professionals also came in to take and lead certain topics. For day 2, we had Joan Liew who is a National Body Builder and also runs Fitness Factory. She covered Nutrition topics.

Above are my classmates with Joan. Having gone through the program with them, I wish them all the best of luck towards their career in the fitness industry. Perhaps one day you might have one of them as your trainer! They're all nice people.

From Left to Right:
Sophie, Annie, Michelle, Ashton, Me, Roy, Joan.
*I forget her name bc she only came for 1 day & had to leave because her father died that very day*, Sarah and Raohan.

Day 3 was filled with a group exercise class which was really my kind of workout. Did some dance, did some aerobics. Worked with some floor exercises and did many group discussions throughout the day on various body functions like the heart, respiratory systems, dietary systems, blood pressure calculations and heart rate calculations.
The man below in blue was with us for 3 days conducting theory segments of the course. His name is Luc Tai and has an impressive built! He even SOUNDS like Arnold Schwarzeneger with that accent. And he personal trains national and international athletes! I was very impressed with his level of competence and knowledge that he was able to impart to us and not to mention.. he is pretty hot.. hahahaaha! *smacks & blinds self*

Day 4 was just as challenging workout wise but still a huge workout day with Aqua Aerobics all morning, sprints and hill runs where we literally strapped ourselves with our partners and sprinted up and down slopes and hills with the bands on our waist. *Can die larh! Pant! Pant Wheeeze! ~thud~* then we had the rest of the afternoon till late evening in the weights and machines room doing personal training analysis, weight training and spotting methods and learning the correct use of equipment.

Day 5 was exam day. I was dragged up from the sofa where I passed out from exhaustion the night before, CJ cleared up the table and turned on all the lights while he amused himself by watching me study "so funny lah! this reminds me of when you were doing your "O" levels!".... -.-'' That was like.. SO MANY years ago can!

We had a light morning of further theory on energy systems and further group discussions before we had a session of Qi Yoga/Pilates with Antoinette Chang and her son, Theodore. While I am sure the various types of yoga/pilates is gaining popularity, this session confirmed that I will never be a yoga practitioner. Not because of flexibility, I'm quite flexible due to my regular dance classes and stretching sessions. But also because it was just so S....L....O....W.... *snore*

I am not a person who would like to take in holistic healing or slow therapeutic movements to heal my "inner organs" and "balance my Qi". Seriously now.. I'd rather shake my Qi all over the place and go for a massage instead. Me + Yoga? = Not in this life baby... Pffft...

"do you feel relaxed? can you feel your body as one?" NO. But I won't mind taking this time to ....*zzzzz....snore...*

And with that, I'm pretty sure I passed the exam, I learned SO MUCH the past couple of training days and now I'm waiting for the 5th to the 10th of April 09 for the commencement of my Group GX Aerobic Instructor certification training where I would be immersed in the dynamics of a group class with its structure, planning and execution and then its ...

COME SWEAT N'SHAKE UR BON BONS with PAM SESSION! It'll be fun! Check out the video of the creator of Zumba Beto Perez and his master trainer, Tanya Beardsley below and you'll see what I mean by ZUMBA ZUMBA ZUMBA!!... if you don't know how to booty shake.. you will after a few sessions with me. :)

Any takers? EMAIL ME! or leave me a message and I'll keep you on the list when I start classes! That being said.. I have a Hotel Review Package coming up at the end of this week and news on Group X training after I've completed it! Wish me luck! :)