Friday 30 July 2010

Water Works-Diary of an Instructor 2

My second class was with a different group. A slightly younger crowd, between 30 and 50. I was covering for another Instructor at a weight loss group.

The feedback from the group was really quite phenomenal, they told me that they knew when the pool we were at was free and I could rent it to teach WaterWorks, they said they would come bring their friends and would pay double what they were paying for that class! (I have my suspicions that, that could have been a slight exageration!)

Main feedback...
-The repetitiveness made it so much easier for them to follow
-Tempo was spot on, with their other instructor they felt that she doesn't know what it is like to perform the exercises in the water as its all too fast for them. I stayed for a chat at the end and discussed with them the training that I went through for WaterWorks and that on the course we were advised to practise in the pool so we truly understand the workout. Yes I have done that, and yes people who didn't know what I was doing probably thought I was a bit mad, but I'm used to that :)
-Enjoyed the music choices and wern't afraid to sing along.
-They loved it when I got in the pool! Lots of giggling and screeching when I got in!

The only place I went wrong here was that I don't know that pool well, and didn't realise there was a deep end, so whilst I'm spotty dogging off to the other end, I didn't know why they weren't following, 'We don't want to drown' was their excuse. Woops!

Unfortunately there were no dumbells available at this pool, so we had to use woggles, which I just didn't think was the same :( By the way, I heard through the grapevine that woggles can no longer be called woggles. Noodles apparently is the new name. I prefer woggles!

Overall, WaterWorks is being really well received and I'm enjoying teaching the programme.
Go WaterWorks :D

Click here for more info on the programme.

Thursday 29 July 2010

Where has my motivation gone?

I can jump around in a studio teaching all day, which is pretty much what I have been doing throughout the Summer so far, but my training has gone out the window.

One day I want to be able to do the half Iron Man, but as I haven't ran for about 3 weeks haven't swam in 2 the future is looking bleak. I just cannot be bothered!


How do you keep yourselves motivated? I need some inspiration (and a kick up the back side) Please help!

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Witness the Fitness- Chest press


This week you are witnessing the Chest press.



Muscles worked in the execution of a chest press:
Pectorals minor and major (chest muscles)
Triceps (back of the upper arm)
Anterior deltoid (front of shoulder)
Serratus anterior (muscle from the bottom of the armpit to the middle area of the ribcage)
The forearms to a certain degree

Now you can WITNESS THE FITNESS

Beginners should start using a bar bell.
A


Intermediate dum bells (works the stabiliser muscles also)
B


And advanced on Swiss ball (works the core)
C


Set position:
Lay on the bench
Feet just outside hip-width apart
Engage your core by bracing your abs and pushing your lower back into the bench
Hold: barbell wide, hands outside shoulder width apart.
         dum-bells in the centre push them up above your chest, allow them to touch
THE WIDER YOU HOLD THE BAR THE MORE THE PECTORALS ARE ISOLATED, CLOSE GRIP ISOLATES THE TRICEPS
Tuck in your chin keep shoulders down away from ears
Draw shoulder blades down your spine
Soften elbows

Execution:
Allow your elbows to bend (pointing to the sides
Slowly lower the weights down to about a fists distance above the centre of the chest for a count of 3 allowing elbows to bend to 90 degrees
Hold for a count of two
Drive up through the heel of your hands to start position for a count of one

Ensure that:
You keep your elbows soft at all times
Your lower back remains pushed into the bench at all times
You keep both feet flat on the floor
You do not allow your elbows to drop lower than the bench


For advanced users looking for a core workout in addition to your chest work out, rest upper back on the ball, squeeze the glutes, keeping your back lifted into a straight line. Follow all the above instructions

For complete beginners or those of you who have previously broken sholders, elbows or wrists begin on a chest press machine.
D

Friday 23 July 2010

WaterWorks - Diary of an Instructor

Having passed module training for WaterWorks I have now been unleashed on the pools of Eastbourne! I can't describe how chuffed I am when people ask about WaterWorks, what is it all about and how the course was, for me to be able to tell them that I trained on WaterWorks One and am one of the first 50 Instructors :D

The time to teach my first class has arrived, its a lunch time class, which consists mainly of ladies from the erm...older generation. Being very talented at ignoring the feelings of nerves I was surprised at just how nervous I was when it came to 5 to 12! I've been removed from my comfort zone of the Studio and placed on poolside. Prior to this class I have only practised the WaterWorks choreography in my bedroom so I would be lieing if I said that I felt prepared. To teach in such a hot room, with no mic, with an audience in the jacuzzi and seniors who have been doing aqua for years gawping at me from the pool was daunting to say the least, but the moment that Cher kicked in all my nerves disappeared to be replaced with my confident Instructor head.

Before doing WaterWorks I had never even participated in aqua aerobics before, perceiving it as a bit of a namby pamby workout, created for old people, and I am ashamed to say that I thought the Instructors I had seen teaching were lazy for not carrying out all of the moves with the participants. I can now admit just how wrong I was, there in no way in this life that you could perform all of the high impact choreography throughout the whole class...(try it out, see how long you can do spotty dogs for!)

The class went swimmingly :) It was great fun to teach, and was an amazing workout for not only my participants in the water, but also for me aswell. The ladies all kept up with the choreography easily and understood which direction to go at which point. They enjoyed the mix of track types such as conditioning and cardio, and commended the amount of options there are to raise or lower the intensity of the moves.

As standard procedure goes, I of course had to get in the water for track 5 :) Not only did it really help to control the class and what direction they had to go in, but it also woke the women up a bit, there were smiles all round, they all found it really quite amusing. Boy did I need to get in the pool to cool down buy that point too! (Top tip for female WaterWorks instructors teaching this track...don't wear a a normal bra under your top...wear a sports bra! Mine just soaked up all the water, and needed a lot of squeezing out...also to my participants amusement)

Overall the feedback from class number one was all positive
-Nice to do a different routine
-New moves they haven't done before in aqua
-Fresh Instructor (ie I still get excited when I get to teach classes, and apparently they can tell that!)
-Good having different tracks to do different things
-Working to the music helps the keep up as in other classes the music just seems to be on in the backround
-One lady in particular liked the punching in track 3 ALOT
-The use of dumbells was also enjoyed by the ladies, as the only equipment they normally use is woggles, it had been such a long time since the dumbells were used that I had to give the club notice so that they could get them out of storage!

The time in the class absolutely flew by! I loved it and the aqua ladies seemed to aswell!

For more info on WaterWorks click here.

Check in at the same time next week to hear all about my second class!

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Best Sports Bra EVER!

I came across this bad boy in Sports Direct a few days ago. I didn't yet own a pink sports bra so I figured it would be a good investment at £10.99, absolute bargain!


After wearing it in the gym I took it off and chucked it on my bathroom floor before getting in the shower. I left my dirty washing on the floor until the morning (naughty I know). When I picked it up the next day it was inside-out (not to my knowledge). I was confused to say the least and just couldn't figure out when I had bought this new black sports bra.


When I took it out of the wash it was the right way round again. I didn't remember putting this bra into the wash and was again confused, where was the random black one? Eventually realisation hit me like a truck....I unknowingly bought a reversible Sports bra! AWESOME!

Sunday 11 July 2010

WaterWorks

I have recently been on a course to enable me to teach WaterWorks aqua, the pre choreographed to music answer to aqua aerobics.



WaterWorks is the effective total body workout where you are immersed in a fun environment and can choose your intensity level. WaterWorks provides a new concept 45-minute aqua class to appeal to all shapes and sizes.  All our instructors are fully trained and supported; ensuring that WaterWorks is FUN and WORKS!



 It was a two day course where we learnt
-what is essential for teaching a WaterWorks class
-about the strucure of the class
-the break down of all the moves
-tips on learning the cjoreography
-the properties of water and why WaterWorks works!
and so so much more

Taught by Jenny Jolliffe herself, it was a fun and inspirational two days which really helped me to realise how good a workout aqua aerobics can be. With a blend of music from Cher, to Justin Timberlake to Sting, there is music to suit everyones tastes, and with simple yet effective choreography it is easy to keep up with the routines.


Water Works is a 45 minute class featuring 9 tracks from a warm up, to speed, to conditioning, to power peaks and aqua running, it is an extremely fun and enjoyable workout.

If you see WaterWorks advertised in a pool near you I would highly recommend trying it out, you may surprise yourself!

For more information on WaterWorks, click here

I just want to say a massive thankyou to Jenny for being so great on the course, and to herself and Damon (founder directors) for creating WaterWorks. I love it!

Congraduation!!

(stolen from awesome film Eclipse!) Team Edward if your wondering:)

A massive well done to Jason Day BSC who has passed his degree (Bsc honors degree in Sport and Exercise Science with Physical Education)  and achieved an awesome 2:1!!!

                                   Congrats boy :) I'm very proud of you

                                                                                     xxxx