I few months ago I downloaded the TimeHop app after seeing posts shared from it all over social media. You can connect it to your social media accounts and it gives you a daily feed of your day in history. It’s become part of my morning social/email/blog check-in routine to scroll through my TimeHop feed. It’s kind of crazy/fun/bittersweet/cringe-worthy to see what you were doing/sharing/posting on that day in history. I’ve had some posts that go back on Facebook up to 9 years!

This memory in yesterday’s TimeHop was an extra special one.

Seven years ago I completed my first fitness certification. Little did I know that this small step outside of my comfort zone would be the catalyst that would lead me to where I am today.

For those of you who don’t know the story, I was NEVER a group exercise person and always preferred running groups or working out on my own. I always found myself feeling lost and unable to pick up the choreography in group ex classes. A friend invited me to a BodyPump class and it was unlike any group class that I had ever taken. I loved the focus on strength, minimal choreography, amazing instructors and engaging music. I was hooked after the first class. After about a year of taking classes at the Y, I saw a sign for instructor training. I can close my eyes right now and remember standing there, reading it and thinking “should I try? Am I ready?” I asked two of my favorite instructors and they encouraged me to sign up.

That weekend of training was equal parts one of the hardest and most empowering things I have ever done for myself. Back when I took the training, you didn’t receive materials or track assignments ahead of time. The training started after lunch on Friday and we were assigned tracks to learn and teach. I got lunges and shoulders (and trained on BodyPump 66). I spent the entire weekend immersed in learning my choreography and I can’t tell you how many times I practiced those tracks. I think they will be burned in my memory for life.

Standing up there to teach for the first time in front of my trainers and fellow trainees was terrifying but we all supported each other through it. The weekend was full of practice teaching, lectures, form drills, challenges and more. To this day, I still credit my BodyPump training for truly teaching me how to teach, how to cue, how to connect and how to use my voice. For anyone looking to get into group fitness, I can’t recommend Les Mills certifications enough.

I was thrilled to receive a “pass” at the end of training to start teaching (and later submitted my video to receive my full certification). I got on the sub list at the Y and taught any and every class that I could. When I moved to Charlotte I took BodyPump classes at the Y and continually checked in with the group exercise director until a class opened up. I taught BodyPump on Mondays at 6 a.m. and Thursdays at 6 p.m. for four years!

I couldn’t believe how much I loved teaching group exercise…something I disliked for so many years! I felt so alive an full of passion when I was teaching and I loved helping people feel better and get stronger. I went on to start teaching other class formats, completed yoga teacher training, got my personal training certification and eventually quit my job in advertising to teach and train full-time. I seriously believe none of this would have happened if I had never taken that first small step to try BodyPump instructor training.

So my message with this whole post is just TO TRY! You never know where one small step in a new direction might take you. My decision to do BodyPump training opened me up to a whole new world of possibility. If something is speaking to you or calling to you…listen! Discovering and exploring your passions is one of the best things you can do for yourself and often creates big and amazing change!

Tell me about a time that you stepped out of your comfort zone and got a big reward from it.