Week 2: Tuesday and Wednesday Jess

Yesterday I participated in three group fitness exercise classes, a power sculpt class, a stretch and firm class, and a yoga class. The power sculpt class was jam packed; it was very difficult to find a spot to put down the necessary equipment for the class (free weights, a band, a step, and a mat). However, I quickly understood why it was such a popular class. The instructor was extremely charismatic and gave an amazing workout that I am still feeling pain from. The stretch and firm class was basically a light aerobics class and wasn’t very difficult for me, but the instructor was catering to the majority of the students, older women. Later in the day I did a yoga class where there was much emphasis on back bends. We had to do inversions, a lot of “cactus” pose, and downward dog pose, just to name a few.

Today I took four classes, a cardio blast class, a zumba class, a stretch and firm class, and a restorative yoga class. I sweat the most in the cardio blast class than I have in any other group fitness class, which I think definitely has some significance. It was basically a kick boxing class because there were so many kicks, punches, and squats involved. The next class I took was a zumba class, the type of class I plan to voluntarily teach at Hawken. I was less than pleased with the instructor because she only stared at herself in the mirror and failed to focus on anyone else in the class, she didn’t introduce herself, she didn’t speak or describe to the class what to do, and she kept losing the class and not doing anything about it. The stretch and firm class, like the previous cycling class, had a little catastrophe. The instructor, someone different from yesterday’s class, really wasn’t paying attention to anyone in the class and made too difficult moves for the students, who were older women. One of the older women fell on her side and refused to ice her elbow and thigh, the first body parts that hit the wooden floor. Despite the disaster, the instructor still didn’t change or describe ways to modify the moves. I also took a restorative yoga class that was focused on lowering the blood pressure so most of it was seated and very simple. The next part of the day I put together manuals for new instructors about the guidelines and procedures of their job.