On Saturday mornings, there is always something that attempts to throw me off and keep me from getting to the gym. Working out in the mornings is very important because your metabolism runs while you are in the midst of your daily activities and can burn longer. Additionally, it’s best just to get it over with and not risk getting tired or distracted later in the day and risk not going at all. Over the past two months there have been outside factors that tried to prevent me from taking my Saturday cardio class: some family drama, scheduling conflicts, a good friend needing to chat about something. I have been able to press through each of these with the exception of an illness a few weeks back. I really like the class because of the instructor. She is just a lively, positive and energizing person. She has a way of drawing you in and making you feel a part of the class. Her favorite line is “there are no mistakes in this class, only solos.” You leave the class feeling really great.
Last week our instructor let us know that she wouldn’t be there today. She has a pretty regular following, so folks in the class asked who the replacement would be. She announced who it would be and a number of them groaned. I am pretty new so I am not familiar with the replacement. I could tell however, that the class would be light. When I got there today, you could feel the negative energy in the air and a few of the ladies were complaining and making random comments about the replacement: she probably was going to be late, works people too hard, and is too intense. I wondered why they even showed up and who this woman was. Six minutes after the class was scheduled to begin, this ball of fire entered the studio. She began asking people to move their bags and clothes to a more appropriate area so they wouldn’t cause a safety hazard. She was very loud, boisterous and arrogant. Immediately, I was NOT feeling her. She began telling us the way she runs her class, what she does and does not do, about hers and colleagues certifications and how she is not sure about where our instructor got her certification. That’s when I became pissed off. I didn’t care about her certification and didn’t appreciate the cheap shot at our instructor. Her whole conversation was tacky and unprofessional and at that point I wanted to complain to the manager about this chick.
She started the class and her style was totally different. After five minutes, I was still irritated and ready to leave. I couldn’t focus on the class. Right before I was about to step out, I heard my own voice to my students when they come down in attempts of dropping a class or complaining about a teacher’s class. Phrases like “what is your overall goal of being in this class?” or “when you go to college you can’t just change to a different instructor—you have to make some adjustments and just ride it out” came to mind. So with my overall goal of getting 60 minutes of cardio in and not sabotaging my Saturday, I stayed.
Something weird occurred over the next 50 minutes– I actually liked the class. Her style is a bit manic, all over the place, really a little bit crazy. She definitely is gifted at what she does (if that makes any sense after the last sentence). I stopped watching the clock and enjoyed the class. I left the class feeling that I burned a lot of calories and a desire to check the schedule at one of the other locations to see when her class runs. Go figure!
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