AFLCA

i'm contemplating taking my fitness leadership certification in 2010.

four courses are required : exercise theory, group exercise fundamentals, resistance training, and a minimum of 44hrs of in class practicum.

i'm not gaga about the in class practicum.  as a matter of fact, i'm really not excited to get up in front of the class and don a microphone and sweat and show my ass off for the world to see.  too many anxieties over it, namely the whole "what if i cant DO everything and there are people laughing that i'm useless"?  because, seriously, i do that to instructors i do not respect.  fifi anyone?

i know that is not nice, but i do hold my instructors to a certain level.  it's like being a gym teacher but never working out...oops, is that too close to home, sil?  how about being a cafe employee but refusing to touch the meat because you are vegetarian?  or working in a cafe and refusing to clean the bathrooms because you "hate it"?  yeah, i worked with twats like that when i first moved here.

all i'm saying is that if i'm going to be an instructor, i have to walk the walk and talk it too.  i cant go in there half assed and expect and demand respect.  it doesnt work that way.  and of course in my mind a fitness instructor is a lean mean fighting machine.  well, let me tell you: after this xmas and past month, i'm anything but.  my knees are crackin, my shoulders saggin, and whatever else that should be tight is not tight.  i have at least 2 to three months of solid clean eating and working out to get to a respectable body shape that i can appreciate and feel confident about.  right now wouldnt be the ideal time....

but at the same time, the theory course is at the end of january.  it's a 24 hr course jammed into three days.  you dont need to DO anything, save study anatomy till your eyes bleed.  that's it.  so in the meantime i can still go to my classes and eat well and ace the course and still have time to get into good shape for the other ones which are in march and april respectively.  theoretically, by the end of the summer, i could be fully certified and onto teaching my own classes come september.

however, it's the practicum that frightens me a bit.  do i want to do it at heartbreaker?  i love it there, dont get me wrong, but it's the *idea* of working for marla that sets me off.  yes, i love her place, but i think she is the kind of person who continually takes until you either snap or quit.  i know instructors who were pushed to their max every day with demands, basically running the studio as if it was theirs with no thanks.  and i'm the type of girl who has a hard time saying no, so i could see me saying yes to teaching A class 5 days a week, which would suddenly balloon into 15 classes five days a week with weekends thrown in because marla isnt "feeling up to it".  no fucking way.  i want to enjoy what i do and get a good workout on the side.

at this point i think i could do the three certification classes and see what happens from there.  i dont want to get locked into working for marla, that i do know.  i'm not sure i want to pimp myself out anywhere else, but i would like the option to choose where i'd like to work.  would this become a full time thing?  hardly.  it would just be a new challenge to embrace and something to keep me motivated to keep on trying.

i still have a few weeks to decide, but honestly, for $200 and one weekend, what could i possibly lose?