Mark Grevelding

This is a three part series based on Mark’s original 2002 article, Reinventing Yourself.  Mark has written a 2009 update that includes a wide range of tips and ideas for recreating excitement in your classes and renewing passion in your instruction.

Part 1:  Includes an excerpt from the original article, as well as Mark’s own journey of reinvention and the introduction of his 2009 Guide to Reinventing Yourself with a look at choreography websites.

Part 2:  Includes tips for reinventing your classes and your approach to instruction with choreography DVDs, equipment usage, documenting routines and attending other instructor’s classes.

Part 3:  Concludes with more tips for renewing your passion, including attending workshops & conferences, learning new formats and exploring new career dimensions. 

January, 2002

Edited Excerpt from the article “Reinventing Yourself”

There is obviously something about the New Year that creates a desire for a fresh start.  For fitness instructors, this fresh start may translate into, “Please dear God help me think of a new routine before I get booed out of class.” 

I’ve been an instructor for seven years and I’ve reinvented myself more times than Madonna, from the clothes, the music, the routines and to my very demeanor.   I’ve evolved through various stages as an instructor, some impressive and some shameful.

I’ve killed step classes with complex choreography and then brought them back to life with a whistle and boot camp theatrics.   I’ve chased women out of the pool with Mike Tyson style boxing drills and then lured them back with Carmen Miranda inspired “kick, jab, and shimmy” routines.

As an instructor, I have learned to manufacture change with the help of DVDs, choreography websites, workshops and more.   The efforts always seem to arrive just in time to rescue me and my classes from the brink of lethal boredom.

Some instructors resist change because they are unwilling to devote time outside of class to work on material.  Others resist change because it invites criticism and instead they stick with tried and true routines that wear thin over time.  It has been my observation that students are much more forgiving of instructors who screw up for the sake of change, as opposed to instructors who leave them uninspired with stale routines.  

As instructors, we want to excite, we want to motivate and we certainly don’t want the dubious honor of having the smallest class in the club!  (Refer to my April 2001 article, “Small Class Phobia.”)  I have always feared boring my students and I have exhausted and explored just about everything I can to prevent this from happening.  Naturally, I feel compelled to share my trade secrets, the good, the bad and the weird.

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January 2009

Anyone who has ever read any of my articles, promo materials or class descriptions is probably sick of my use of the word “reinvent.”  Truthfully, I just can’t think of a better word to describe the shared experience of all seasoned instructors in their quest to renew their passion for teaching and there never ending efforts to recreate excitement in their classes.  In 2004, I even presented a workshop at IAFC entitled “Reinventing Yourself.” 

 My first use of the word “reinvent” occurred in 2002 when I wrote the above article, Reinventing Yourself, for the AEA website.  The article included tips for reinventing yourself and your classes by utilizing DVDs, choreography websites, workshops, new formats and much more.  At the time, I was authoring a series of articles for the AEA website under a column called “Light Hearted Leadership.”  This article appeared in the series, along with other memorable titles including, Confessions of a Choreography Monster, Small Class Phobia, My Most Embarrassing Moment in Class, Music Freak, Relapse of a Choreography Addict and  Mean Students. 

AEA’s Executive Director, Angie Proctor, stumbled across the Reinventing Yourself article recently and asked me to update it for 2009.  According to Angie, I “owed” her some articles.  How could I say no?  

Rereading this article for the first time in seven years, I was struck by how brutally honest I was in my assessment of the industry and of my own trials & tribulations of teaching.  Back in 2002, I was still going strong on land and had only recently crossed over to aquatic fitness in 2000.  The 2002 Reinventing article, along with other articles that I wrote back then clearly demonstrate a studio diva that at one time had crossed over to the dark side and was self-declared guilty & convicted for teaching impossibly complex choreography.  Even worse, I was a repeat offender.  The articles I was writing back then seemed to reflect a certain amount of repentance, along with a more sober approach to fitness instruction. 

At the time, personal training was my main source of income and I was teaching a mixture of kickboxing, step, stability ball and aqua classes.  Flash forward seven years to 2009.  The little club where my fitness career started and my personal training business flourished finally locked the doors in 2007, a casualty of the larger fitness chains moving in.  My career as a personal trainer ended the day the club closed.  I tried teaching step and other land classes at one of the big chains but it just didn’t work for me and I quit four months after starting.  The unthinkable had finally happened.   I was officially retired from the step!   However, the legacy of the step and my rock star antics on the bench live on in the enormous boot I wear to bed every night thanks to my friend Plantar Faciitis.

When I wrote the Reinventing article in 2002 I had been teaching group fitness for seven years.  In 2009, I will celebrate 14 years in the fitness industry and I am proud to say that I have wholeheartedly embraced aquatic fitness as my primary fitness passion.  In 2002, I became a continuing education provider and taught my first workshop, Kickboxing Waves.  In 2005, I became an AEA trainer and in 2007 I joined AEA administration as their Promotions Coordinator. 

Yes, I owe this article to Angie, but I also owe Angie, Julie and the Aquatic Exercise Association (AEA) a great deal more than an article.  Aside from my own personal gratitude in the trust they have placed in me, I discovered an interesting revelation while I was penning this rewrite.    While reworking the tips for reinventing yourself, it occurred to me that almost every transformation that I have experienced professionally since 2002 has been facilitated by an AEA program or service.  In 2003, I transitioned from shallow to deep courtesy of AEA’s in-depth deep water program along with many excellent deep water workshops at IAFC.  Now, deep water is my favorite class to teach.    

Attending IAFC every year, as well as local AEA events, I was exposed to the latest equipment and learned lots of body conditioning ideas to take to my classes.  On Wednesday nights, I now teach a full hour aqua group strength class and the format is quickly gaining popularity in my club.  Thanks to AEA, I have even transformed myself from Cardio Boy to Zen Boy!  After being trained in AEA’s affiliate program, Aqua PiYoChi, I expanded my horizons and got certified in Pilates and embraced the practice of yoga.  The mind & body training allowed me to reinvent my class cool downs, body conditioning and stretching routines with challenging Pilates, yoga and Ai Chi movements.

All of the above are prime examples of reinventing yourself.  Honestly, I could not maintain my passion for teaching if I did not continuously expand the scope of my training and education.  AEA is a not-for-profit association dedicated to advancing aquatic fitness worldwide. An AEA membership and certification is your opportunity to advance aquatic fitness in your own community.  The association and all of the programs and tools it offers has everything you need to continuously reinvent your passion and approach to teaching aquatic fitness.  Whether you are teaching aquatic fitness classes, conducting personal training sessions in the pool or looking to expand your horizons in the fitness industry, AEA has the resources to take your aquatic fitness career to the next level.

Therefore, it is with a grateful heart that I present my updated 2009 tips for reinventing yourself. 

Mark’s 2009 Guide to Re-inventing Yourself

Choreography Websites:

When the first article was written, I was still teaching a lot of land fitness classes, including step, kickboxing, Resist-a-Ball and body conditioning, along with some aqua fitness classes.  At the time, Turnstep.com was my best friend.  The Turnstep website features choreography and teaching tips shared and submitted by hundreds of fitness professionals.  The site includes separate pages for aqua, cycling, step, body conditioning and more.  The only downside to the site is that some instructors who submit material use their own lingo when describing moves.  Trying to decipher the moves can be a lesson in frustration, thus one more argument for establishing a universal language within the fitness industry.  To visit the aquatic section of Turnstep.com, either click on the link below or paste it into your browser.

http://www.turnstep.com/Patterns/Aquatic/index.html

Closer to home, AEA also has a section on their own website devoted to sharing class tips.  This area is exclusively available to AEA Members and if you haven’t visited it yet, you need to!  After logging onto the website with your member user name and password word, simply click on Class Tips in the tool bar.  In conjunction with this article, I have posted some of my own favorite class tips for cardio, strength and flexibility.  Be sure to check them out!

THE 2009 RE-INVENTING GUIDE CONTINUES IN PART 2.  DON’T MISS IT!

Next up, reinvent your classes with choreography DVDs, equipment usage, computer documentation and “borrowed” ideas from other instructor’s classes.