Any fitness instructors out there?

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Kristen8912
Kristen8912 Posts: 32 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My gym is looking for Bodypump instructors and several people have suggested I get certified. So what are the pros and cons of being an instructor? Is it worth it or do you hate it? Just putting feelers our to see if I really want to do it or not.

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  • GOT_Obsessed
    GOT_Obsessed Posts: 817 Member
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    Not a BP instructor personally but a good friend is. Be prepared to spend a lot of your own free time learning the new tracks. Every 3 months as the new releases come out you need to be very familiar with them. That is 10 songs to learn.

    I have attended the classes a lot and got bored of the same tracks over and over. I could not imagine teaching the same ones 3 times a week! (Or x amount)
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    I have been a group fitness instructor since 2010. I used to teach BP. A LOT. Haha! I absolutely love being an instructor. It keeps you accountable and in shape...free gym membership....etc....but changing people's lives and helping them on their journey is incredible. Les Mills was fine to start out with, as I grew as an instructor, but it's a little bit of a ponzi scheme. You pay a LOT of money for releases with every format you teach, and you can't stray from what they teach. It has to be identical to the chorey. There are so many more formats out there now that give you the freedom to create your own programming and not spend a dime.
  • Strongfitmama100412
    Strongfitmama100412 Posts: 90 Member
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    I am a certified fitness and spinning instructor for over 12 years. Before kids I taught every night after work and saturdays. Now im only teaching one morning a week. I love it so much. I did take the bodypump certification but i dont teach it. I dont like someone telling me what to teach. and aside from the weekend cert which is $300 about every 3 months you have to pay $38 or so to get new dvd to launch class. I think its a little ridiculous. Every week i teach a new class, new music , my ideas and my moves.
    Plus you can only teach at gyms that offer it.

    My certification is through AFAA. Every two years i have to recertify by taking classes online which is doable.
    Plus every two years you have to get recertified in cpr. Which i do
    Anyways through work at a police department.
    Good luck. Hope this answers your questions.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    This feels like one of those "If you have to ask, then it's not for you" scenarios...
  • HilTri
    HilTri Posts: 378 Member
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    I just passed my initial training and am team teaching getting ready to make my video for review in order to finish the certification process. I am having a really hard time memorizing the tracks, it is a lot of work! Be prepared for that. I have no idea what Sprint instructors make, nor do I care. I just want to give the gift of fitness to others and help them crush barriers in their fitness journey. So I guess what I am saying is it depends on your motivation for getting certified, it it is your passion, go for it!
  • Sunshine_And_Sand
    Sunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,320 Member
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    I used to be an aerobics instructor. I taught whatever they asked me to teach, but my favorite thing to teach was always step.
    When the gym I taught at switched to mostly les mills classes, teaching was not as fun anymore. Not that they aren't great classes to go to, but for me, it wasn't as fun as using my own choreography. With being a new instructor, you only have and know choreography for a few of their CDs, so some of your students may get bored, but most of them will be understanding and supportive of you.
    Also, as others have said, it's expensive having to buy their stuff every 3 months. This would be really bad if you taught multiple types of les mills classes.
    Also, depending on the gyms you tried to teach at, if they didn't have les mills classes and they wanted to push it, they could say you are only qualified to teach les mills classes and not let you teach there without getting another certification. Then again, they may not care. Also, if you think you'll only ever teach at one place, you may not care about that either.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    Not BP but aerial yoga
    many certs will have continuing education like the Yoga Alliance. so even after you get certified, to stay certified, you have to keep paying

    that being said: i love teaching aerial yoga. i love seeing the light bulb turn on for some people. I taught for 5 years 3-10 hours a week. i'm finally taking off a month so i can go to other classes and learn from others.

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