Recently, I (Jerrican) was running the Personal Trainer course for Core Fitness at Kota Kinabalu. After class, I had a chance to speak to Euphrasia who recently got her ACE Group Fitness Instructor certification through our 24-hour exam review. Yes, I have never been a group fitness person, so I thought I could learn more about group fitness scene in Sabah and also how the certification has helped her.
1. Congratulations, you have passed the ACE certification, what’s your feeling? (I know your first word is `Fussshhh’)
Thank you very much. I feel relieved and extremely glad that I managed to get through this. I am also very excited as not only do I have the experience and skills to coach my students but now I have a world class certification to attest to that. This has been a fulfillment of my goal for Year 2012. I am indeed grateful for the support FIT Malaysia which helped me to get through to this tough exam.
2. How was the exam? (I know your first word is painful)
It was painful for I was filled with anxiety and stress as rumors has it, the exams are very tough to pass, let alone excel.
I had so many things going on in my mind while I was sitting for the exams. Among them were trying to remember everything I have learned whilst trying to calm down myself. Nevertheless, I find that a lot of the actual exam questions were similar to the practice questions that were given to me much earlier by FIT Malaysia. On the score, I am indeed very glad that I had time to familiarize myself with the exam format.
3. You are a GX instructor already. So tell us, what’s your day like?
As I have a permanent day job handling operations at a Hotel, hence I usually start off my day at work then off to teach aerobics classes at the end of the day. So my teaching session usually starts after 5.30pm. Although my day job makes me feel tired , I actually enjoy my coaching sessions. To me, this is the best part of my day as I derive much pleasure by helping others stay healthy & fit. At the same time, I get the ancillary benefit of a great workout which kicks up my energy levels and rubs off the tired feeling I have accumulated throughout the day.
4. How do you get into the industry?
I have been attending aerobics classes since I was in university and as the years passed, I developed an interest towards teaching aerobics especially since I enjoy dancing & music very much. Plus, I have incorporate exercising in my lifestyle to the point it is now a habit & it feels like second nature to me now. Hence, I thought why not give instructing a go & spread the positiveness of exercise to others as the way I have experienced it.
5. So, why did you do ACE GFI?
I actually have been instructing for quite some time before I decided to take the ACE GFI. My classes are filled withmany kinds of students, from bored housewives to harried professionals. They are from various age groups and I make it a point to actively solicit for feedback as a means to improve myself.
From these feedbacks, I understood that my students want something new and creative as the sessions unfolds but crucially, they also want to be trained by a certified instructor. This makes me realize that it is important to have a credible certification to back experience and skills that I have gathered thus far.
I also strongly believe that one has to be professionally certified to survive and excel in this industry. Surely, a patient will only see a certified doctor and that same line of thinking will be demanded by participants in our industry too. Our industry is maturing fast and I have to quickly evolve with it.
6. How was the preparation with FIT?
I must say the preparation was challenging. Trying to juggle between my day job, my daily activities and studying after work for the exams is tough. However, with proper planning & guidance from FIT, I manage to handle it. FIT has also been very supportive for they were ever ready to reply to my enquiries whenever I seek their help and their response were fast too. That helped a lot.
7. What have you learnt that is helping you in your job now?
To be honest, everything! I can’t exactly name a specific thing for everything we study is interrelated.
8. Do you think ACE GFI is useful for GX instructors?
In my opinion, I definitely think it is. Although there is so much available information out there and some are even free, you can actually get overwhelmed and confused by all of it. Thus, to me taking ACE GFI is worth it for it helps me direct my focus to the areas that makes me a better and effective GX instructor.
9. How do you see fitness in Sabah in 5 years’ time?
I believe Sabah’s fitness level has huge growth potential as our economy improves just like the rest of the country, people’s lifestyle requirements tend to increase as well. As usual, once the basic needs like food, lodging etc are fulfilled, the populace will tend to have more time and money to spend to pursue leisure activities which includes health & fitness.
Its great that Sabah is still in it’s early days in this industry as compared to our Western counterparts in Malaysia. There will also be more opportunity to educate & expose new & exciting forms of exercises to this market.
10. Any word of advice for someone wanting to be a GX instructor?
I would say don’t have second thoughts, just go for it! It is challenging but so worth it! Feedback from my students has been very good, and this spurs me to come up with fresh new routines. My classes has expanded and I am teaching at more places and getting strong referrals all the time. The best compliments though are from fellow instructors; they say that I have professionally grown much from the exposure I have gained by being a GX instructor.
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