I walked into the room where group fitness certification lecture was taking place at the YWCA where New Face of Fitness runs and where three of my gals were taking the day long certification. Two of them will be teaching for NFOF and the other one was filling requirements for group fitness teaching in the pool at the YWCA. (I recently accepted the position of Interim Aquatics Director too!)

Their faces read and sweaty from just finishing the practical part of the day---I knew what they had been through....Two seconds of warm-up followed by 80 zillion beats per minute of music blasting out moves that even seasoned instructors might have to step back on.....

Mainstream group fitness actually should be called UP stream or not-in-the-stream-at-all, because wailing at warp speed around at step in a step class or light speed in a high intensity aerobics class is far from mainstream when you think about the percentage of people who actually show up for these classes versus those who sit on the couch wishing they could or being thankful they do not have to.
I mean come one now-- " the agony of da feet?" eh? How about some REAL TIME AEROBICS that people can actually follow and keep up with?!

I remember the feeling well. Walking into my first group fitness certification and feeling the horror of being the only big person there. Trying to modify the moves and faking it when I could not modify. I survived and I passed with 100 % score. My world was enlarged and enhanced because of that experience. It was not an easy thing to do!

And so it is with my BRAVE SWEET SOULS! I am so proud of them all for their courage and for having the guts to go through this experience. It reminds me how VITAL the message and philosophy of NEW FACE OF FITNESS really is.

Patty even said it to me, " Dee, if I thought I had to do the things we did in this certification from a class exercise point, I would never go, let alone teach."

Ahhhh, and so many of us do not "GO" for that very reason. Hail to Patty, Jenny, Peggy, Angie, Marcy, Christel, Aileen, Corrie, Shirley, Nancy and so many others who have helped themselves and others by getting certified to teach for NEW FACE and other classes.

By the way, we have a 100% pass rate for all NFOF staff since we started in 1991! Let me say that in other words--

EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS GONE THROUGH CERTIFICATION TO TEACH FOR NFOF HAS PASSED....REGARDLESS OF THEIR SIZE OR SHAPE!

WE ARE THE MAINSTREAM BABY!
HEAR US ROAR!
LOVE & CONGRATS~ DEE

" You may not think you can reach it--
Climb anyway---
You may not think you'll be heard--
Speak anyway---
You may not think you can CHANGE things--
TRY ANYWAY! " .... ---- m.angelou