PiYo Certification or Bust!

A year ago, if you had asked me the likelihood of me a) getting some kind of fitness certification or b) getting pulled over for speeding, I would have said, hands-down, getting pulled over for speeding would be much more likely.

Just shows you that the more things change, the more they also stay the same.

Or something like that.

Rachel and I took the plunge and decided to sign up for PiYo certification back in December.  You may remember I described it as my "soul workout," helping me rehabilitate my knee after surgery and lose two inches around both my waist and hips.  Both Rachel and I love it, finding it challenging, fun, and a necessary component to our fitness routines.  I had a little familiarity with the concept of being trained to teach a Beachbody (or any) scripted program, because my coach is certified to teach Insanity.  Rachel and I really didn't have any concrete plans to teach in a fitness studio, but the idea of spending a day learning about our favorite workout, along with the option to continue to receive new workouts in the mail, was really appealing.

Concealing our excitement.

We traveled about an hour to the gym where the certification would be.  Our Master Trainer, Kara Buono, was awesome, and we found out that she was the number 3 Master Trainer in the country last year!  She is certified to teach PiYo, Insanity, TurboFire and P90X.  If you get the opportunity to take one of her classes or go to one of her trainings, take it!

At first, Kara introduced herself.  When she asked the group how many people were certified to teach other scripted programs and/or were ACE or AFAA (group and personal trainer) certified, I was shocked that Rachel and I were two of the only ones who didn't raise their hands.  It was a little awkward.  I think people were wondering why we were there!  However, I was also surprised to see how many people there had not tried PiYo before!  We definitely had an upper hand in that area, but I was excited to see, as the class progressed, that there was really no need to have much, if any, prior knowledge about PiYo.  We discussed the program and reviewed some of the most common positions and moves in the program.  We had all received an electronic copy of the manual, which some people printed and some accessed on their iPads and laptops.  We talked about what the script for each lesson looks like and how to read it.  We talked about the music and how to count and cue.

Then we got to take an actual class with Kara.  The live classes are usually 30-60 minutes long in a gym, but the script and music that Beachbody sends you is longer than an hour, so as the instructor, you get to pick and choose what sections you want to do with your class.  The Warm Up is always the same (which was awesome for me and Rachel, because it was basically the same warmup as in the videos).  Then comes Heat Building, Lower Body, Full Body Fusion, Flow, Core and More, Stretch and Strengthen, and Cooldown.

Kara took this picture of me while I was instructing the class.

After lunch, we split into three groups of eight in order to really learn the Heat Building section of the most current routine.  Kara played the music over and over as our group discussed the different moves, how to remember what came next, and how to count and cue them.  We were told to pick one person from our group who was not already a group fitness instructor to lead the ENTIRE CLASS in one round of Heat Building.  Guess who won that game?

It was pretty great actually.  Everyone was so supportive of one another!  There was one part I kept forgetting, and my group offered to call it out to me while I was in the front, so I wouldn't forget   It was challenging to remember to do everything.  Not only what moves came next, but what they were called and then to announce them to the class before they happened so everyone would know what to do.  I tried to insert some form tips and modification suggestions, most of which I have internalized from doing the videos so much.  I knew I had been successful when the music ended at the exact moment that our routine was finished.  Big #win of the day.

#Epicfail of the day?  Getting pulled over for speeding on our way to get some dinner.  The cop was nice enough to let me off, only writing me up for my break light that was out.

In the end, it was a great day.  Rachel and I came home, poured a glass of wine, and popped in the instructional DVD for the lesson we received to get an idea of how the lessons are taught.  While I don't know that I'm going to run out and knock on the door of every gym in town to see if they will pick up a PiYo class, I already know that we will get to teach it at our local Super Saturday (Beachbody event) in April!


As always, let me know if you'd like more info about PiYo, or maybe want to be my guinea pig if I want to experiment with teaching!