Maddogg Fitness

Getting certified

Thanks for all of the nice comments and congratulations on my last post. A little info on the Spinning course:

  • I received a manual to read before the orientation
  • I had to attend a 9-hour orientation
  • Lastly, I had to take a 50 question test

I left off in my last post saying that I had a lot of doubts before I took the course.

I had no idea my parents were getting me this as a Christmas gift so I was a little taken aback (but def. not ungrateful!) on Christmas. They said that me becoming an instructor is kind of like a Christmas gift that keeps on giving because I can gain employment from it.

They also said I didn’t have to take the course if I didn’t want to–they just didn’t know what to get me for Christmas and went out on a limb with this idea. So I thought why not? If I get certified and hate it, at least I tried and had a cool experience!

What the orientation was like

The orientation was at a local gym about 35 minutes from my home. It began at 10am and ended at 7pm. Needless to say, it was a long day. Twelve people were at the orientation and it was all in one room. We each had a Spinning bike and a chair next to it.

Here’s a breakdown of the day:

  • 10am-12:30pm: Learned about the history of Spinning and how to properly set up a bike.
  • 12:30-2:00pm: Performed a “form ride” where the teacher checked everyone’s form and we all practiced basic spinning skills like jumping and standing climbs.
  • 2:00-2:30pm: LUNCH! (I packed a pb&j, an apple, carrots, a Luna bar, hard boiled eggs, a tuna sandwich, popcorn, and trail mix—> We were told that we would need to eat a lot because we were going to be riding the bikes a lot.)
  • 2:30-6:00pm: Learned about endurance, strength, recovery, and interval training as well as heart rate training and how to put together a class and choose music.
  • 6:00-7:00pm: Rode the bike again for a tough class.

(^ I packed a lot of stuff for the day…!)

*So overall, I had three hours of riding, five and a half hours of learning, and thirty minutes for lunch to make it a nine hour day.*

My thoughts on the orientation

  1. I wish it was broken up into two days of four and a half hours instead of one nine-hour day.
  2. It made my butt really sore :p.
  3. I really enjoyed the instructor–she was very knowledgeable and nice.
  4. I was whooped by the end of the day. My body was really tired from spinning and my mind was really full. It took me all day Sunday to process everything in my head!

Tomorrow or sometime soon I’ll do another post on the 50 question test and what I plan to do with my certification!

That surprise…

Last month I said I was going to be doing something surprising on the 21st of January. Then, a few days later, I said that the surprise sadly had to be postponed until February due to an ice/snow storm in Pittsburgh.

February is almost over and the surprise happened yesterday.

I’m a certified Spinning instructor!

*

A little background: I started regularly attending spinning classes with my mom and sister in the fall and my mom commented on how it didn’t seem too hard to teach a class. I agreed (to an extent.. lol) and thought nothing of it.

Fast forward to Christmas. My parents bought me the materials/orientation pass/exam to become a certified Spinning instructor through Maddogg Fitness.

I was really surprised and nervous.

I had to read the instructor manual before the spring semester for PSU began and my orientation (class day of learning) was scheduled for January. I couldn’t attend the January orientation because Pittsburgh got a mega snow storm so I rescheduled for February.

Going into the class yesterday I had so many thoughts swirling through my head as to why I couldn’t become an instructor:

  • I’ll never get hired, I’m too young
  • I’m too shy to teach a Spinning class
  • I don’t even know if I’ll like Spinning
  • I haven’t done Spinning long enough
  • I don’t have cycle shoes, biking gloves, etc.

Now that the orientation is over and I’m certified, I feel a lot more confident, but not 100% confident in my skills and abilities. I think part of this is my personality. I’m a perfectionist and I want to teach “the best class” and feel like a teacher. I know these feelings will come with experience.

*

So this post doesn’t become too long, my next post will discuss:

  • What the orientation was like
  • What the exam was like
  • What I plan to do with my certification

Hope you’re having a great weekend 🙂