Presented by Gin Miller

Saturday, December 3rd

Gin Miller Productions Facility
1281 East Main Street
Canton, GA 30114

6 Hour Workshop ACE Credits .6
AFAA credits will need to be petitioned

Cost $60.00

Pre-register – www.ginmillerdvds.com – Workshop Registration 

Time – 8:30 to 4:00 pm
Lunch Break 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm (on your own)

For more info, contact Donna Dye 770-846-937

Three components of fitness all in one workshop, each with an exciting twist! Get cardio fit with a high intensity, yet lower impact, lower speed stepping workout. Gain strength by combining all four limbs and the trunk in a workout designed to bring out the ELITE athlete in all of us. Finally, stretch and lengthen the limbs with a new concept based on flexible strength that utilizes a traditional mat with the addition of attached bolsters to assist you in achieving hard to reach positions.

Soft Step Hard Body
Empower your stepping workout with the use of soft, easy grip resistance and Gin Miller’s new Soft Step Hard Body workout! Come and experience an upper body toning alternative that will raise energy expenditure, tone and shape the upper body, and improve posture. The results are empowering.

E.L.I.T.E. Strength: Extreme Levels in Exercise Training

This is a high intensity strength training workshop designed to elicit a cardio-respiratory response as well as maximum muscle recruitment. The goal is to teach participants how to combine all four limbs and the trunk in a progressive series of movement patterns that challenge pre-conceived psychological and physical limitations. Make your move toward bringing out your inner elite athlete!

Empower 3DP

EMPOWER 3DP (3 Dimensional Power), is a system that adds a whole new realm of application to flexible strength workouts. For beginners, this system makes all flexibility positions accessible, while for the more flexible participant creates a whole new level of achievement. This new systemic connection helps develop focus, balance, strength and flexibility at multiple levels!

Aerobic Hecklers come in a wide variety: The Flapping Birds, The Grasshoppers, The Peacocks, The Racehorses and The Hot Doggers.

The Flapping Birds are the most common.  They wave their arms incessantly like they are attempting to take flight for the first time.

The Grasshoppers add an extra hop or ball-change to every single step.  They usually just like the fun feel of it. 

The Peacocks have taken someone else’s class and they either have unbreakable steel-like neuro-muscular pathways or they just have a preference for the other instructor’s variation of a move.  Instead of actually challenging their brain to learn your version, they just do what they already know.  At times it can feel like they are suggesting that you adapt your version to theirs.  This can be especially annoying when you know that where you’re going with a move will leave them on the wrong foot - something I secretly enjoy.  This category also includes the Struttin’ Peacock who just launches into their own or someone else’s complete choreography collection.  Way beyond mere modification, their stuff totally differs from what you are trying to teach.  The seem to be in your class only to borrow your music for an hour.

The Racehorses are amazingly proficient at moving a half-beat faster than you and the music.  You somehow know it’s not that they can’t find the beat.  It appears to be an effort to suggest that you need to pick up the pace.  Actual horse blinders would fail to block them from your peripheral vision.

Hot Doggers are a mixed breed of some or all of the above, and they mostly appear when you are subbing for another popular instructor.  You just can’t teach these dogs new tricks - they already know it all.  Everything about them screams “I’m so much better than you!” and they are willing to pull out all their best stops to demonstrate the fact.  They are hard to ignore because, like the Struttin’ Peacocks, they typically like to perform for all to see, usually smack-dab in the middle of the front row.  But they differ from them because they’re not just doing their own thing, they’re trying hard to tell you to do their thing too!

How To Deal with Aerobic Hecklers

To maintain a position of authority with most heckling breeds, I usually choose first to ‘give’ them permission to modify.  Flapping arms and hopping ball-changes are relatively small modifications that participants use to add a little something extra to their own workout.  Even though you may not deem such extras as necessary and, for as much as you may be concerned for their tendons and ligaments in the long run, I say let them have at it.  If they later complain about little aches and pains of the shoulders and feet… bingo!  You’ve got an answer!

As for The Peacocks, I do give them permission as well, but I like to make some kind of point about the brain benefits of establishing new pathways.  Doing a class with moves you already know is like doing the exact same crossword puzzle every Sunday.  You can do it fast and efficiently - with little to no effort - but it’ not going to expand your vocabulary. I’ve decided that this breed just hates the discomfort of learning something new.  You’ll typically see this occur with uber-fit people who are new to you – your cuing, terminology and choreography - in which case, I like to remind everyone that if you’re not messing up, you’re not learning anything new.

The Struttin’ Peacocks can be a different story – especially if they are a ‘regular’ who struts their stuff in the front row. If they are totally doing their own thing, not following the general directional movement of the class, it can present a safety hazzard for those nearby.  Additionally, the people who are behind them have difficulty following because this person can be quite the distraction.  It is best to talk to repeat offenders after class and explain that modification to a degree is okay, but their over-modifications distract others who are trying to follow your instructions.  Most cognizant people would know to take doing their own thing to the very back of the room, but you may need to show them where the back row is where they can spin less obtrusively. If they still present a hazzard to those surrounding them, then address the issue from a safety standpoint and explain the importance of moving directionally with the rest of the group to avoid collisions with neighbors.

Racehorses – Do your best to simply ignore them, unless they become consistent offenders and you’re sure they are not just beat challenged. Speed is the main thing you control and even if they are insisting that you’re too slow, your responsibility is to the entire class.   Chances are they will find another class.

Handling a Hot Dogger takes some serious skill.  First, check to make sure that you are not projecting your own insecurity onto them. Second, resist the temptation to say “You think you can do a better job teaching?”  In stand up comedy, the profession that birthed the heckler,  it’s a golden rule to never, ever give up the microphone.  No matter how tempted, you must resist because it will be a disaster.  You might think that calling them to task is the way to put them in their place, but a proficient follower does not necessarily an instructor make.  Your job is to teach the class and turning it over to someone else is not what your participants showed up for – they are there for your class, not someone else who may or may not be able to teach.  But let’s say they actually can teach… then what?  Either way, it’s lose - lose.

The best way to handle it, if you can’t ignore it, is to first give them what they want – attention!  Yes, you heard me right…  say something nice or complimentary. If you just can’t summon up something to say, then recheck your own insecurities.  Truth is, saying something positive is not giving up your authority, it serves to reinforce it. 

Choose Your Battles Wisely

When faced with outright defiance, you can choose to ignore or choose to correct.  If you assess that the acts present immediate danger to either the partcipant or to those around them, you need to correct.  Some people may actually be able to keep up with 3 risers on their step, but if you know that your music and choreography combined with excessive height equals a wreck waiting to happen, then say something. 

If unsure, start with a general correction directed at everyone – state the level of complexity and the speed of your music and suggest that one may need to adjust their step height if they can’t execute the patterns with control.  As you proceed, if the participant missed the message and you feel that imminent danger calls for a direct correction, start with a compliment (Wow, You Are Really Fit), state the correction (The Speed and Complexity Combined with Step Height is Compromising Your Form) and then finish with a compliment (Which I Noticed Your Fine Technique During The Warm-Up).  Surrounding a correction with compliments helps to diffuse what can feel like an attack that puts the person on the defensive.  Confrontation tends to make everyone, including others in the class, awkwardly uncomfortable. 

When your concern is that of potential injury over time and the participant ignores general corrections, you may need to give them a pass on the first couple of classes - let them off easy with just a warning (general correction) rather than giving them a ticket (direct correction).  If they come back and still don’t get the message, you can go with the ticket, but with repeat offenders, if at all possible, talk to them one on one before or after class.

In stand up comedy, the pros carefully craft one-liners to throw out to hecklers – they may sound ‘off the cuff’, but the truth is they have an arsenal of snappy comebacks.  All they are doing is pulling up the line that fits the situation.  Aerobic professionals can learn to handle aerobic hecklers the same way by building their own arsenal of positive niceties and succint corrections to dish out wisely as needed.  While the comedian’s goal is to make everyone laugh – often at the expense of the heckler – your’s is to host the party and make everyone feel comfortable – keeping in mind that the ultimate goal is for all of them to want to come back.

photo credit: billsoPHOTO ~ Keerasel asked a question about safety in step class when a participant came in wearing Five Fingers athletic shoes. I  responded to the shoe situation on the original post but, in that there were several facets to the situation, I decided to address them here in a new post.  Here’s her question:

A woman came to my class yesterday wearing the running “shoes” that look like gloves for your feet- each toe is separate. Additionally, she had three risers under the step (she was maybe 5’6″) and since I was unfamiliar with her skill level, I asked her to remove one set of risers, which she did. I’m very safety conscious, and continuously remind my participants to be sure to place their foot completely on the bench, and put their heels down (except during lunges and repeaters). This woman (I’ll call her ‘Jo’) was bouncing a lot, obviously trying to make up for the missing risers. At one point, she grabbed a pair of hand weights, and I had to ask her to put them back ~ using them on the step at the Y is not allowed during a regular step class.

My question ~ should I allow those shoes to be worn in class? (another participant told me she wore Crocs to a class, and the instructor didn’t say a word…. I wouldn’t have let her continue). She’s very fit, but I’m uncomfortable with the three risers at her height, and concerned that she’s going to hurt herself – I’m all too familiar with the cumulative damage that can happen over time. What options can I give her to make her workout challenging for her fitness level, without injuring herself?

I really appreciate the fact that you are safety conscious and aware of proper step technique.  You mentioned that your club does not allow the use of hand weights in a regular step class.  For years now, we have been recommending that clubs develop standards for their own facility based on industry guidelines with their own clientele in mind. 

With regard to injury and cases of negligence, liability can be found in either what was done or not done. If there are known risks and the instructor does what is against the club standards, liability can be found.  Likewise, if the instructor does not do what is expected of them, liability can also be found. 

To that end, the question should be addressed with your group fitness director or club management to determine if this is a risk that needs to be defined.  When management defines the standards, it puts all instructors on the same page and reduces the club’s liability.  If they don’t define it as a specific risk, as a fitness professional, you may still decide, based on your assessment of the specific situation, to act or not act.

Specific to this situation, you assessed her to be ‘very fit’, but knowing the ‘cumulative damage over time’ you had her lower her step height. One factor that you didn’t mention was step speed.  If you teach a slower step class, a fit participant may feel the need to have a higher step height to get what they need out of the class.  IF your club has defined those standards, you were correct in having the participant lower the step height.  But, if your club leaves it up to you as the instructor, based on the other factors of intensity relative to your format, then making a pre-class announcement would have likely covered any liability. 

In this case, I might have said:  “If you are new to my class, I teach at a tempo of ??? bpms.  Beyond 128 bpms, a lower step height of 6 or 8 inches max is recommended.  If you find that you are having difficulty maintaining proper form at your selected step height, you should stop and adjust the height to ensure a safe and effective workout.”  This statement should cover you in the event of an actual injury. 

Remember, Jo had not yet taken your class so she did not know the variables that you control, which is speed and choreography.  Also, keep in mind that your concern of risk is one that is ‘cumulative’.  If she did come back to your class, you could then discuss your concerns with her one on one.  By making the general disclaimer first, you can then watch to see if her form is compromised at the height that you have identified as risky, and express your concern direct with her upon her return.  But in that she has personally elected to ignore your stated guidelines, she is assuming the risk.  If indeed she did injure herself, which is less likely with a fit participant, you would then file an incident report and have witnesses from the class attest to your warning.

Now, if you had not assessed her to be fit, or you were unsure, you may indeed handle it in a different way.  For instance, is she was wearing Keds or Crocs, you would certainly be more direct - under the assumption that risk of injury may be increased or even an imminent possibility. 

If you do deem it necessary and choose to be direct, prefacing your comments with a positive statement like “You look like you are in excellent shape” or “You look like you know what you’re doing” can help diffuse what can potentially be a contentious conversation.

I’m not saying that you were wrong in the way you handled the sitution, because you were the one who was there.  I have the luxury of thinking about it long and hard in order to decide what I would do in the given circumstances. In the short and often hectic moments that precede a class, such unexpected situations can pop up and it can be difficult to determine how to handle them in the moment.  You made a decision to act on the side of safety and you really can’t go wrong there if safety and liability is your concern.

But, the result of your decision to be direct and have her lower her platform height set up a new challenge – that of the ‘aerobic heckler’.  I’ll cover that in the next post!

photo credit: billsoPHOTO  Question posted by User Keerasel:  I found this site because I need information ~ I’ve been teaching exercise classes for over 30 years; and step for the last 15.  A woman came to my class yesterday wearing the running “shoes” that look like gloves for your feet- each toe is separate. Additionally, she had three risers under the step (she was maybe 5’6″) and since I was unfamiliar with her skill level, I asked her to remove one set of risers, which she did. I’m very safety conscious, and continuously remind my participants to be sure to place their foot completely on the bench, and put their heels down (except during lunges and repeaters). This woman (I’ll call her ‘Jo’) was bouncing a lot, obviously trying to make up for the missing risers. At one point, she grabbed a pair of hand weights, and I had to ask her to put them back ~ using them on the step at the Y is not allowed during a regular step class.

My question ~ should I allow those shoes to be worn in class? (another participant told me she wore Crocs to a class, and the instructor didn’t say a word…. I wouldn’t have let her continue). She’s very fit, but I’m uncomfortable with the three risers at her height, and concerned that she’s going to hurt herself – I’m all too familiar with the cumulative damage that can happen over time. What options can I give her to make her workout challenging for her fitness level, without injuring herself?

Gin was featured in a segment done by Lori Corbin of ABC7 in Los Angeles:

If you look back at exercise trends you’ll think of things like high-impact aerobics, step classes, spinning, and mind-body workouts like yoga and Pilates. So what’s next in the world of fitness?

Read Full Text Article

For the last decade – at the very least - we’ve been contacted by frustrated instructors and program directors for information on the issue of step speed.  (You can read the archive article about the evolution of step or the pages about step speed that start here.)  Truth is, while Gin Miller is well-known as the creator of step, she doesn’t exactly considered herself as the arbiter of what’s ‘right’ or that the final word belongs to her, even though she’s deemed to be the expert who started it all.

Step grew way beyond Gin - and way beyond the purview of Reebok.  Reebok University, who first commissioned the research and set the initial guidelines, last weighed in on the issue in 1997 pushing the top limit to 128 bpms, up from 126 bpms.  And then Reebok University quietly dissolved.

My recent conversation with Julie Upton (stepgirl4fr – see her post) covered several aspects of the topic.  What prompted the discussion was that she had been told that AFAA had upped the high end speed of step to 135 bpms, a fact that I have since confirmed with Kathy Stevens (former Reebok Master Trainer, now associated with AFAA, pictured above w/ Gin):

Based on research provided over the past decade, here are the recommendations AFAA has listed in their updated training materials:

Step aerobics: 118–128 bpm (up to 135 for advanced, highly-skilled participants)

The original guidelines were developed when step was a vertical climbing activity and typically performed at a much slower pace than today’s classes – relatively speaking, alot slower.  Intensity was provided by step height (participant controlled), levers and range of motion (participant controlled), power options (participant controlled), sequential patterning (instructor controlled), and music cadence or tempo (instructor controlled). 

Thru adaptation and evolution, step height came down as music tempo increased – or vice versa.  Whichever was the cause and effect, step became less of a vertical climbing activity as step height decreased and tempo increased beyond 128 bpms – the speed that had been determined in the original guidelines to be the threshold between low impact and high impact.

No doubt the AFAA materials will cite sources for the research, but I decided to do a little of my own with a recently discovered tool called “Google Scholar“.  By using the terms “step aerobics speed“, I reviewed articles on at least 10 pages of results.  The frustrating thing about trying to research something on your own is that many of the results require you to sign up or pay to read much more than a brief summary on a paper.  Understandable, of course, but it takes time to find anything that is accessible to the average inquisitive instructor.  Second challenge, if you do find a full article,  is trying to understand what it means!

Here’s what I found. 

First, you can read the first page of an article Michele Scharff Olson, Ph.D. and Henry Williford, Ed.D., FACSM did for ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal back in 1998, where they cite the 1993 study about the expenditure and impact levels associated with various step heights and the increase in expenditure with the addition of arms.  (Content is clearly labeled as ‘not for reuse’ so I’m being vague here.)  One can safely assume, based on the date, that the study is the same one done at the aforementioned slower speed.  Nevertheless, the information about impact associated with various step heights is good foundational knowledge.

I also ran across an article published by American Fitness (AFAA’s magazine) in 2001 written by Jonna Hayden Robinson called “Speed Demons – Step Aerobics“ :  

“Excuse me … Please stop teaching this step aerobics class right now!” I demand from the doorway of the gym, official badge in hand. The instructor and her students look at me with puzzlement as the music pounds in the background. She asks, “Who are you? And what is my offense?” I reply, “I am a member of the Step Speed Patrol–and you were speeding! My job is to ferret out step aerobics instructors who are conducting classes at speeds faster than the recommended industry standard of 128 BPM.” The step aerobics instructor frowns and says, “But my students are demanding a better workout! I have to speed up the tempo to give them what they need.”

Yes indeed, that article is a classic.  So now, in that AFAA has officially given instructors permission to up their speed, let me skip the research stuff and just talk some common sense.

Provide variety: If your step classes are all the same or perhaps the numbers are dwindling, consider that new members may find it difficult to learn step at today’s faster speeds.  Think about providing a variety of types of step and clarify the classes for the potential participants.  Since few want to be considered ‘beginners’ and everyone wants to be ‘advanced’ or at least attempt the ‘hard’ class, try labeling classes by types such as ’basic, athletic or vertical step’, ‘moderate choreographed hi/low step’, or ‘fast & fancy high impact step’.

You can’t be all things to all people:  If you have someone who is complaining or rudely hinting that you need to pick up the pace, make your general recommendations for how the individual can increase their intensity with step height, impact or levers, and from there, focus on the rest of the people who are there because your class fits their needs.  Same goes for program directors.  Thank the complainer for their input and kindly suggest a different class or instructor.

Have the courage of your convictions: For the last decade, we’ve tried to encourage program directors to consider who they have as members and determine their needs.  Everyone wants to know the final word on what is right, but you have to look at your demographics to determine what is right for your club. If you have predominantly young 20-somethings, your program offerings will likely differ from a club with an older population or mixed membership.  The same goes for individual instructors.  Assess, determine and decide – YOU are the expert!

To summarize, arm yourself with knowledge, apply good common sense, stick to your guns - but keep in mind WHO the workout is for… or perhaps who most NEEDS to be participating.  If they are not, don’t be afraid to ask why.  The answer may surprise you.

********

Below, I’ve listed some articles to save you some time in clicking the same links that I visited – although you may wish to try some different keywords in your own research - some are full articles, and others you can glean at least a little insight:

Metabolic Cost of Aerobic Dance Bench Stepping at Varying Cadences and Bench Heights - Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.  2002.  This may be worth paying for access – abstract says:

In conclusion, it appears that bench height is more of a factor than cadence in increasing metabolic cost of ADBS. Results from this study provide information about the energy cost of ADBS at the common bench heights and cadences used in this study and, therefore, may be used to help aerobic participants select the proper bench height and cadence combination to control body weight and develop cardiorespiratory fitness safely and effectively.

Efficiency of Walking and Stepping: Relationaship to Body Fatness- Obesity Research (2004): Especially good if you want to target the market that needs help the most – lots of letters and numbers in this full research article pdf!

Effects of Ballates, Step Aerobics, and Walking on Balance in Women Aged 50-75 Years- full pdf article from the Journal of Sports Medicine and Science (2006).  (Especially good if your class members tend to be of an older population.)

International Journal for Consumer perceptions of injuries sustained in aerobic classes: “The conclusion of the study is that the intensity or nature of step classes may be contributing to overuse symptoms. Beginners may have to be monitored so that they progress gradually in program frequency.”  Australia, published 1996 (Interesting because this is about the time that step height started to come down.)

Osteogenic index of step exercise depending on choreographic movements, session duration, and stepping rate – July 2006 - Just the abstract, but you have options to investigate further.

If you run into other research articles using different keywords, please let us know by making a comment below – and as always, your comments are appreciated!

Finally, life as an instuctor just got easier!  YES! Music, Petra Kolber and LoLo just released an app for the iphone and ipod touch that gives you total PITCH CONTROL for your music! 

Historically, the ability to control your music with pitch control has always lagged behind the progress of technology. Back in the days of cassette tapes, you had to spend big bucks on a ‘special’ tape deck for pitch control.  By the time it became standard on decks, technology had moved to CDs.  And there you’d be once again without the ability to speed up or slow down your music.  Same thing happened with CD players – just as pitch became standard, the ipod came along.

Nevertheless, I’ve been using an ipod since 2005.  The ability to line up your music in a playlist was certainly better than carrying around a bag of scratched CDs.  The music companies soon made their mixes available for download – even though it was at first tricky to get them to play without a gap.  The downside was, for me at least, if you hit a song that dipped in energy,  it was harder to hit another playlist quickly. 

I also found that using an ipod required a bit more homework to prepare my music.  But I loved being able to mix in music from iTunes with  music company tunes for my cycling class line-up.  Even so, I did find it hard to judge sitting at my computer what songs would work best for each part of the workout.  I almost dreaded working in new tunes – not quite sure if the tempo would be right for the actual workout.  My playlists got to where they would have about 50 songs - just in case I needed to quickly jump to the next tried and true song in the playlist.  

When the Yes! Music guys (Mike & Mike) gave us a preview of Tempo Magic at IDEA, I couldn’t wait to try it.  So I got ready for the release. I downloaded their Cycle Mega Pack and had already tested some of the tunes.  There were quite a few songs that I really liked, but the tempo was not right for where I’d prefer to use them in my workout.

As soon as I received notice, I downloaded it the app.  The only bummer is that I have to retire my 3rd generation ipod and switch ALL my music and playlists over to my iphone.  But from first impressions, I think it’s gonna be worth it!

It’s really simple to use. 

You just import your music and the app gives you options similar to iTunes to organize your music by playlists, songs, artists or albums.  To use the pitch you can select individual songs or entire playlists by selecting “Add All Songs”.  Click Done and after a few seconds, the line-up is ready to go  – once you’ve added them, they’ll be there for your next class.

The display shows the original song tempo on the top left, a large slider in the center and the “Magic BPM” top right.  Below that is “Magic Percentage” (if percentage is how you roll) and then Up and Down arrows that allow you to bump the speed 1 beat or percentage point at a time.  The slider allows you to adjust it up to 12 bpms faster, or 12 bpms slower for a full range of 24 bpms.  Even adjusting to the top and bottom levels, there’s no distortion of the music or the vocals (I know, you were thinking “chipmunks”, weren’t you?)

On the left side of the screen are three more buttons in a gray box which are smaller and a bit harder to see. (Hopefully, no one will ask me what the name of the song is – it’s scrolling in tiny print at the bottom of the screen.)  The top button in the gray area is to RESET to the original speed which, if you have applied any pitch, glows blue (thankfully!).  The second one is a LOCK button and you can slide it to either BPM or Percentage.  This is awesome for people who need a steady tempo for cardio workouts – select the tempo you want, LOCK it and ALL your song selections will play at the same speed!  MAGIC!

Okay, so I know I told you the range was a total of 24 bpm’s (12 each way), but there’s one last button called ULTRA shift and it DOUBLES the amount of available pitch!  I can’t quite think of a slow song that I would like to increase in speed by 24 bpm’s - but the slider also goes the OTHER way.  And, in case you are wondering, pitching your tunes does not change the vocals to sound like the chipmunks!

Tempo Magic, at $4.99 to download from the iTunes store, is not only perfect for fitness instructors, but DJs will likely find it useful too.  Regular folks will no doubt love it for keeping their pace on treadmills, ellipticals and while walking, running or cycling.  As for me, I’d just like to thank Yes! Music, Petra Kolber and the geniuses at LoLo for making my life as an instructor a lot easier, finally… and once again!

PS - If you don’t have an ipod/iphone, check out Gin’s favorite selections of Yes! Music CDs available in our online store!

Talk about being WAY FLATTERED!   Step IS my passion and has been for 14 years.  I can honestly say it is one of the best things that has ever come into my life and that is why I am so adamant about keeping step alive in the fitness industry and trying to keep it alive in the manner that it SHOULD be taught, not the way that it has become in the industry. 

 The passion I have for step led me to contact Gin Miller’s website and I had a conversation with Mary Griffin.  I wanted to know about current step guidelines….why not go as close to the source of the creator of step as I can???  I told Mary that I had heard through a friend that one of our certifying organizations is now promoting step speed at 130 and a high BPM to 135 for advanced classes.  I have had to up my BPM because of all the other instructors in my area teaching at 135 and above…even up to 145 and 150….can you say OMG??? 

So Mary and I had a very interesting conversation about the evolution of step and why Gin had created it.  Some of it I knew and some I did not.   The conversation brought a lot of things about step back into focus for me.  I have tried very hard over the years to inform my participants and new instructors that I have come across on the step guidelines and how we as instructors should be setting the tone of the class with proper instruction.  I think the members have a right to expect that their instructor in any class is certified and knowledgeable about what they are about to teach.  But as a lot of you probably know, many gyms do not even require certifications anymore or that the instructors have CPR.  Again can you say OMG???

But the point of my first blog post is that, tonight as I taught a step class, I was trying to impart to my class about step speed and how we create intensity in the workout.  I had a new member to my class (not to step) who normally attends another instructor’s class at the club.  I have taken this other instructor’s class, although it has been many years ago.  I let her know that my class may be a little different because I do step at a slower speed.  But I encouraged her and the other members in the class that if they felt at a slower speed they were not getting the workout they felt they should be getting, then to raise their step up a level…which I actually did myself this evening.  I had not done that ever…I have always taught on a 6-inch step.  But again, after my conversation with Mary I decided I needed to practice what I preach as they say….so up to an 8-inch step I went!!!

This particular new member to my class throughout the entire class kept adding in lots of jacks and power moves and lots of other things that I believe would not have been needed ( I guess she didn’t like my choreography!!!) if she had raised her step height up a level.  I actually said that three different times during class….I had one taker, but not her.

I was somewhat annoyed that this particular member didn’t feel the need/desire to try what I had recommended as the instructor.  However, that will not deter me from always encouraging my members to strive for their best workout.  Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one out there trying to do this right but to no avail.  I have heard many times my class is too slow….but I actually like hearing that.  I want to be the class that is “too slow.”  To me that means I’m doing SOMETHING right and that puts a smile on my face.

Because isn’t that what we as instructors are there to do???  In my opinion we are there to lead the members through a SAFE, EFFECTIVE AND FUN WORKOUT.  It is NOT about us….it is about the members.   I think I have achieved that.  What about you?

Contributed by Julie Upton - aka: stepgirl4efr

Really? Seriously?

32 Count Self Reversing Step Combinations by Melissa Layne

Melissa Layne resides in the outreaches of Metro Atlanta, where she is a College Professor. Melissa has had a long and diverse career in fitness and has quite the reputation as a choreography queen.