I'm Preparing for Bodycombat Training and Certification

The gym where I teach Bodypump needs another Bodycombat instructor, so I have decided to sign up for Bodycombat training in hopes of getting my certification.

I was planning to get another Les Mills certification eventually, maybe even two more certifications. I just wasn't sure which ones I would do. And I definitely wasn't planning to do any of them this soon.

However, with the chance to start teaching classes,  I am motivated to go ahead. The training is in less than two weeks, so if I do well, I can start helping my gym with classes sooner rather than later.

I'll be assessed on Bodycombat 61, tracks 2 and 8.

I have a lot of experience teaching various kinds of group fitness classes including Bodypump.  I even have a lot of experience teaching freestyle cardio kickboxing classes.  But I have hardly any experience in Bodycombat.

In fact, I've only ever done one Combat DVD I got from Beachbody with their Pump DVDs. I've done that one Combat DVD a lot of times.  But I have only ever done that one Combat workout and I have never been to a live class.

So that pretty much makes me a total Combat novice.

I would not have considered doing Combat training unless my mentor had approached me and told me she believed I could do it.  She told me I am a good coach and she thinks I can handle the choreography, etc. I hope she's right.

Bodycombat is very different than cardio kickboxing in ways that I haven't been able to fully articulate to myself yet.  I am sure in time and with more experience, I will be able to understand and explain the things that make Combat different than traditional kickboxing.  But right now, all I know is that some of the kicks and punches are really foreign to me and some of the timing feels off. I feel really awkward doing some parts of the workout. And I bet I probably look really awkward doing those parts, too.

But I have to say, the workouts are really effective, more than I thought they would be.  I have been wearing my heart rate monitor while I practice the release and I burn a lot of calories. I will look down at my heart rate monitor and think, "Woah! How in the world is my heart rate that high just doing punches?" It seems like punches wouldn't be that effective, but they are!

Tonight, I will attend my first live Bodycombat class. My mentor is teaching and it's the same release I'll be assessed on, so it will be nice.   

I've got a lot of work to do, but I am excited about.

Interestingly, I'm excited, but I am not as nervous about this Bodycombat training as I was about Bodypump training.  That is really odd to me.  It seems like I shouldn't be this calm since I am really out of my depth with Bodycombat.

But, when I think about it, I realize that I have been through a Les Mills training and certification process already, so I think that experience helps me have more confidence looking forward.  I know I really only need to know my two tracks, 2 and 8. And I know I will have time to learn the other tracks before I have to film, etc. That makes me less nervous.

And I think I'm less nervous now because I am such a novice to Combat.  I think it actually helps that I know I don't know anything.  When I went to Bodypump training, I had been teaching freestyle barbell classes for several months and I thought (hoped) I was really good at it. I think I was really eager to be approved of and I was really nervous because I did not want to find out that I actually sucked at something I had been doing for so long.

With no real experience in Combat, I have no ego to be crushed if I screw up.  I have no misconceptions about my experience.  At this training, I will just have everything to learn and nothing to prove.

So I think I will simply be glad to pass.  Period.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

On a more personal note, as many of you who read this blog already know, my faith is important to me.  This Bible verse hangs on one of the walls in my workout room. It's inspired me for a long time. 

I've liked this verse for as long as I can remember, way before I knew I'd be in training to be a Bodycombat instructor.

But, as I was doing Bodycombat 61 in my workout room yesterday, I looked up and read the verse in the middle of all those punches and kicks and I had to recognize how appropriate the verse is to Bodycombat.

I keep hearing the program directors say, "Stay with the fight." It really encouraged me to read this verse and realize that there is a fighter inside me. She's been there for a while.  Maybe Bodycombat will be a much better fit for me than I could have imagined.