From Couch to Coach!

Growing up in the country, I was a bookworm. We lived way out of town on a dirt road and my parents were not into sports and didn't care about enrolling my brothers and me into any organized athletics. We played outside and rode bikes and helped my dad on the farm but I was never what one would consider athletic growing up. I spent a lot of time indoors reading, reading, reading. To be honest, I just wasn't all that active in my childhood. That's one of the few regrets I have and one small thing I wish my parents had done differently...I think I would really have loved the opportunity to play sports such as basketball and cross-country....but...I didn't, so here I am, the awkward, uncoordinated adult.

When I got to college, I started getting more interested in being more active. I participated in club soccer and indoor soccer (although I was FAR behind those who had been playing all of their lives) and intramural flag football and volleyball. I had an aerobics class as an elective where the instructor was nine months pregnant and still fully teaching several classes a day and looked fabulous doing it. Somewhere along the way I picked up running and it became more and more of my routine. Gradually I started enjoying incorporating more activity and fitness into my life although I was not yet a complete fitness junkie.

I started my career in education in my early 20's and from the time I moved to Dallas I worked with kids year around. I worked for a nonprofit after school program, taught school, became a librarian, worked at an 8-week summer learning program for 12 summers in a row, and tutored at the Boys and Girls Club for 5 years. After 14 years in education and working with children year around.....I found myself getting a little burned out. I still love kids and I will always love kids but if I were going to be able to give them the best parts of me, I needed a break! I needed to pursue other things I loved and was passionate about as well. In my earlier blog post "More Life" I described how over the past few years I had fallen more and more in love with running, with fitness, with feeling physically stronger and the mental and emotional outlet it provided. I began to toy with the idea of turning my interest and enthusiasm for fitness into an additional stream of income (a career in education doesn't really cut it in Dallas in case you guys were unaware...almost all educators have to have some kind of part-time income in order to maintain). I thought about it from time to time but never acted on it because it kind of seemed out of reach, similar to how running a full marathon once seemed out of reach (see previous post "Chicago Bound").

The only thing holding me back was my own lack of confidence and my self-doubts about whether I had the personality, the motivational abilities, the knowledge and expertise and even the physical appearance to be a "trainer." I have a somewhat introverted personality and have never enjoyed being at the center of attention. I had fallen in love with group fitness through Camp Gladiator and Les Mills Bodypump but it was extremely hard to picture myself leading a large group of people through a fitness workout/routine. I loved being a part of it, quietly working amongst the others, but....could I actually lead such a group?

Over the past several years, I have gotten more and more particular with how I steward my time. Being an individual one-on-one trainer in my mind seemed to fit my personality and comfort level more...but with limited hours a day available to train and still be able to perform my full-time job, running schedule, and my own workout routine...it didn't seem feasible to launch a one-on-one coaching service. Group fitness would allow me to impact a number of lives within the same hour of time that I would spend training an individual one-on-one. But again...I cowered at the thought of having to be the outgoing, boisterous leader that would keep everyone's energy up, motivated, and having fun throughout 60 minutes of hard work, sweat, and discomfort. Many of my friends and family encouraged me to pursue this new path and reassured me that I would be a good fit for this role. They seemed much more confident than I was at my abilities but their encouragement kept it on my mind.

Last spring, I decided to take some sort of action and go for a personal trainer certification. That at least would be a step in the direction I was still too scared to actually take for real. After talking to several trainers in the industry that I respected and trusted, I decided that a NASM certification would be the route to take. I procrastinated until the last possible day that I could take the test and felt quite nervous that I would pass....but I will never forget the feeling of relief and exhilaration mixed with a twinge of nervousness when I saw that simple word "PASSED" print out! I was relieved because I hadn't wasted several hundred dollars by failing. I was nervous because now I would actually need to make a decision about how to use the certification. It was time to take the next step even further out of my comfort zone and cocoon of the status quo.

After toying with several ideas including training at a gym and becoming a trainer for Camp Gladiator but nothing feeling quite "right" in my spirit, I randomly and accidentally came across information about a company called Orangetheory Fitness that was currently hiring trainers. I had heard of Orangetheory but had never taken a class. Almost impulsively I filled out an application/resume and signed up to take a class. The rest is an orange blur!!!

Within days I had taken a class and completed an audition and been invited to training the first week in training. I loved Orangetheory's concept, its values, and format. The week of training was literally one of the most difficult things I had ever done. So much new learning was packed into a short frame of time. Expectations were high and the learning curve was short. Not only was it a lot of technical information to absorb but I was also having to adjust to stepping outside of my box with personality, with confidence, and with leadership. We would be opening a brand new studio with brand new members in just a few short days and we as coaches had to be fully prepared and knowledgeable on the OTF way. There were times that week when I felt completely drained physically, mentally, and even emotionally but the fantastic and positive support of my fellow team members, head coach, and training coach kept me pressing forward. Amazingly, I have now completed almost 2 months as a coach but each new day and workout is a new challenge. A new opportunity for me to grow, learn, improve and to help our members do the same. I'm still learning how to get uncomfortable to grow and to be a better, more motivating coach. There is so much for me to learn on the technical aspects to be able to better assist our members with form and technique for each exercise. Some days I feel like I am getting better as a coach and other days I feel like it's the first day all over again. But even with all the adjustments to my schedule and learning to balance my full-time job, running, coaching, and my own workouts and personal life, I have loved every minute of the past 2 months. I have loved being able to guide people through the workouts, push and challenge them to power through the moments they want to give up, and just to have a small role in their journey to better health and fitness. Because I feel so strongly about how important it is to take care of our bodies and our health and to be the best versions of ourselves physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, I feel it is a blessing to be trusted by Orangetheory Fitiness to deliver their brand, their workouts, their experience to the members and at the same time, impact their lives in positive, healthy ways. An Orangetheory workout is a challenge, it is a release, it is a community...all things I absolutely love being a part of! Even on the mornings it requires me getting out of bed at 3:15am to coach an early class, I don't find it difficult. Passion is a heck of an alarm clock!

Sometimes all people need is structure and someone to push them toward their goals. I am loving my new role and the opportunity to do just that! To some, it's just a 60 workout. But to me, it's a 60 investment in our members' future health, in their purpose, and in their quality of life. To me, it's so much bigger than just a part-time job. It's an opportunity to make lives better, to help people achieve better versions of themselves so they can give back even more to the world, to their families, to their callings. It's an opportunity to be a part of extending their lives and decreasing their future health issues and making their current life more energy-filled and joyful. What an amazing thing to be a part of! From couch to coach....God has brought me a long way and I look forward to being an instrument to help others do the same!